Missing Duster...

At 20 years old I was finally beginning to feel settled enough to take on the responsibility of another living being. My father shows, breeds and trains dogs so I put the call in to him for a puppy. "Daddy...?" (said in my best princess gets what she wants tone) "I want a puppy!".

Dad,"Well, I'm gonna need more to go on than that."

Me,"I want a Pomeranian. A small, female, blond, red or tan- show quality puppy. Someday I want her to have puppies."

At the time he was engaged to a Pomeranian breeder so I figured this would be an easy task. I was told that he'd see what he could do. Shortly after that my brother called to say he found a pom in need of rescue. I'm not sure if it was the truth or guilt trip but he told me that his original owner passed away and he went to a not so nice home. He was Male, all black but greying in the muzzle, large for his breed, 7 years old, not even close to show standards and he was fixed. I told my brother no. I wanted to hold out for my perfect dog.
Being the Daddy's girl that I am... when he described the same dog and the situation he was in I caved. He sent me his picture and hesitant but he needed a good home. Heck, at least he got the breed right!

Weeks later I flew home to surprise my family for Christmas and pick up my fur baby. I crept into the kennel entrance waiting for the right moment to surprise my brother when these 2 little hairballs came running and spinning around me. One was my brother's new dog, Contessa. Contessa was only 4 months old, blond, picture of show quality and my brother had the breeding rights. But I didn't care...

Duster knew immediately who I was to him. He just started jumping up and down in front of me and circling my feet. He didn't even care that Contessa has just stolen his favorite toy. Took some effort to catch him because he's not a fan of being picked up, but as soon as I had him in my arms he was all kisses and just very happy to be there. That was 9 years ago this week.

Duster turned 16 in November. His vision and hearing started to evade him last year. now he was running into things and falling down. The recent moved proved too much for my little guy. Hardest thing I've EVER had to do. I didn't want to see him suffer or get hurt worse. His quality of life just wasn't the same. Shane and I took him and and on December 9Th he went quietly in my hands.

If you have never put an animal down let me tell you it wasn't what I thought. The vet was amazing and explained everything. Honestly, I just wasn't' ready for it. It was so quick. She said it wouldn't take long but it was instant. Looking back now I am relieved it wasn't a drawn out process. It truly was peaceful...until the embarrassing display of hysterics that followed on my part.

I am still tearing up as I write this but I am in a much better place. I still forget that I have to pick up the dropped food now because he's not at my feet waiting for it. Occasionally I go looking for him when he doesn't meet me at the door after work. I dream of him frequently and he's young and happy again.

Help Me be a Better Blogger.

Once again I have been missing in action for quite some time. I have been making a lot of big changes in my life. I am now a single gal living on my own. It's exciting because it's really the first time I'm living for just me. Things are finally settling down for me a bit more and I'm slowly finding my way back into the craft room and out on the social scene. I am still teaching classes on a regular basis at A Scrap In Time in Hastings, MN.
Here is where I need your help... I'm looking to be challenged and inspired in the new year. If you have any requests for blog topics, tutorials, pictures or what ever you can think of please let me know. I am holding off on design team participation for now and challenges are time sensitive. Suggestions are not limited to crafting. I love photography, cooking, decorating and dabble in drawing. I am hoping that my newly unfettered status will bring me some fun stories. Hoping to find a little innocent mischief to share with you all.

Teaching Classes at my local store...

Just a quick pop in to update with my latest venture. I'm teaching Copic and other Card classes at my local Scrapbooking store, A Scrap In Time.

I {heart} Copics Fabulous Friday Challenge

This image is just begging to be paper pieced but my printer is psychotic and it's unpredictable when it will work. I was so happy to get it to print out and still had fun coloring. Used my Copic Air Brush System for the sky. Glad I had the refill for BG72! I'm all out of ribbon though. Time for another trip to I {heart} Papers! I have a full cart I just need to hit send...Can't wait to get to do more shopping once I get teaching more. Eek! I'm excited. Back to work for me. :)

New find! Kenny K digi's!

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This is totally my style! I personally think this sassy lady looks like my friend Jen but she didn't agree, either way she's fun. I did this one for their first Challenge, Pastels.

I love this Piggy Tales paper and just thought the colors were fun. These girls are so much fun to color.

Notice how her jeans actually have a denim texture? Thats my little secret ;)

Finally Some Progress in my "Studio"

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I sat down to make some cards and prep for some classes but I couldn't even find my desk let alone my paper cutter. I made some coffee and got right to work.

I had the pegboard prepped but I haven't been using it because I wanted to paint it. Heck with that, I'm now choosing function over form for the time being. I hauled it out of the closet and now it's just laying on the ledge. I can't believe the difference!
Just about everything else has been IKEA, Thrift store/garage sale or coupon purchases.


The white surface is a table thing from IKEA that is meant to go over a bed. I got it from the scratch/dent for cheap. It works to give me an L shaped area. Basic papers, box of cards I've made and my Carosel...Oh and my Laptop.


Copics (I need MORE!) are stored in a Close To My Heart organizer so that I can take them with me where ever I go. They like to travel.


This stand is from the Goodwill. $5 or so. Holds my Cuttlebug, Decrative Papers, scanner, and boxes for flowers, rhinestones and so on.

This metal bin is meant to hold legal size files. Works perfect with the paper holders. I group my papers by brand/theme. If I'm stuck I just grab a random holder and get to work on what ever I grabbed.
Still sooooo much work to be done but it feels great to have gotten this much done. I have several cards I would like to get done tonight yet so I'm off. I hope to share more on Friday! Thanks for checking in to see what I'm up to.

Tinkering All Day...

Made a quick trip my my LSS and was asked to start teaching there in a couple weeks. Came home to put some things together and was just inspired/motivated so I got right to work...

Happy Canada Day and 4th of July!

It's a bitter sweet weekend for me. I miss my family so much and wish I could be home with them in Canada for the Holiday weekend... If I were there I would miss my friends here during 4th of July. Just happy to have people to miss.
I had a moment of self realization the other night... I'm hooked on easel cards. Here is the card I made for the I {heart} Copics Challenge. RED WHITE AND BLUE!


I found this We R Memory Keepers paper and it called to me. I just loved the vintage feel, what better to marry it with Shooter from The Greeting Farm? I finally got to use my Big Scalloped Circles LG that I got from I {heart} Papers. I have a shopping cart full... I'm sure I'll hit "place order" tomorrow. I {stick} Papers, Ribbon.... and tons of clearanced papers. I hope I get some more time to craft tomorrow. I've been busy with other projects lately including some pretty sassy etched shot glasses for a friends birthday.

OOH! I am going to be experimenting with a new technique soon... if it works then I wont hesitate in sharing it! Off to find some bold stamps... Good night/day all!

I {heart} Copics Friday Challenge(s)

A little catch up again. Blogging was so much easier when my I had access from my work. Now it's blocked and I can't read any sort of blog nor post my own. I'm at home and catching up on my blogs.
It is Friday though and you know what that means! Fabulous Friday Challenge for the I {heart} Copics Group at PCP. This week is a recipe Challenge: 3 Embellishments, 2 Patterened Papers and 1 Chicken Girl Design image.


I used Cosmo Cricket "Mr. Campy".
The bear is from Chicken Girl Designs "Into The Forest". I masked his arm and stamped the flower and paper pieced the scarf.
My embellishments were the addition of googly eyes, brads and ribbon.

I wanted to keep it simple. Being a girl with mostly male friends- I find it challenging to come up with masculine cards. Less is more.

It's about time! Playing some serious catch up!

I'm so sorry that i haven't been around at all lately. To be honest there have been many ups and downs the last month or so. Thanks to some amazing friends, I'm finally begining to feel like myself again. I have been dabbling in my craft room here and there but really only taking care of design team assignments. It was nice to focus on something. For that reason I would like to thank I{heart}Papers and I{heart}Copics for getting me in my craft room. I would love to catch up now and show my projects off.

Injured Officers

A couple weeks ago we had a tough night at work. Thankfully I was at home sleeping and didn't have to go through it with my partners. Our K9 Deputies take their squad cars home because it's sort of like the K9's house. On his way to work he swerved to miss a cat and ended up rolling his squad. Both have been checked out and are ok. Sore but only minor injuries. He's got a pretty good sense of humor so everyone has been giving him a hard time about swerving for the cat. (in most cases you are better off hitting the animal than trying to avoid it, break but don't swerve is the advice I've been given). I made this card for him using a Victoria Case digi. I couldn't find a cat digi that worked so I drew my own. I didn't want it to be the main focus of the card so I snuck it on the back.

An hour after that deputy airing that he rolled his squad and he was injured, they sent officers to a Domestic call. I don't wish to comment much on this incident so I will simply link the news story. This is the Card I made for our Sergeant. He his home recovering with his family. His partners and dispatchers are all ok. There is no best case scenerio in these types of calls and everyone is affected. All I can do is thank him for keeping our city, and my officers safe. Here is the card I made for him.


Due to the stress of these incidents I neglected to mention that the first week of April was National Telecommunications week. A week devoted to recognizing Public Safety/911 Dispatchers all over the United States. It is never too late to send a thank you card to your local dispatch center for being there 24/7, 365 days a year and holidays, birthdays and family events to answer your calls for help. Remember, it only takes a second for a life to change.

I {heart} Copics Friday Challenge #11

This week's challenge over at I {heart} Copics is to use 2 patterned papers and 3 embellishments colored with Copics. I thought the paper I used was already pretty busy so I didn't want to clutter the card with 3 or more colored flowers. I colored pearls for her buttons, colored the ribbon stripes behind "beautiful" and the Color Me Crazy flowers with my copics to coordinate with the card.

I did some layering for a 3D affect on the umbrella. Of course it's a Miss Anya Stamp. Never used this one before so I couldn't resist.

Tonight I'm working on a basic scrapbook for my brother in Canada. Not sure any of it will be picture worthy when I'm done though. It's WAY basic, black pages and photo corners. Yup, thats it.

I {heart} Copics Friday Challenge

I {heart} Papers just released more Chicken Girl Design Digis! Here's one of my favorites! I played around with a rainbow colored Giraffe but I just wasn't a fan with how it turned out. Fun sketch too. Simple put inspired something new with the ribbon. I'm in love with this ribbon! Faux suede. Feels luxurious! Very user friendly! I might just have to sneak some more of that in my next order too with my refills and schtuff.

BTW I made the look of clouds by using my colorless blender. Just kept coloring in circles until I reached the effect I liked. Let it dry between circles for more demension.

So Similar But So Different.

I played around with a sketch I had found at the Mojo Monday but I can't remember what week it was. I had 2 cards to get done so I used the same sketch, same papers and similar embellishments. Thats where the similarities end. One is for a coworker that is getting married in 3 days.


The other card is for a friend who's Grandfather is very ill. She sent a message last night that she didn't think he would make it through the night. I haven't heard one way or the other so I'm simply leaving it as a 'thinking of you' card. I hope it will not be a sympathy card.

Either way I'm pretty impressed with the turn out. I'm always eager to use my favorite shade of green.
I was so elated to get my package from I {heart} Papers yesterday, being that I just placed the order on Sunday. I really wish I had done inventory on supplies before I placed the order because I found 3 things that I'm out of 2 adhesives and a Copic refill. Time for another order. Thankfully I have a whole roll of I {stick} Papers red tacky tape. That stuff is up there with super glue!

TGF Battle- We need votes!

The Greeting Farm Battle week 3! Stop over and show some love to the Crazy Copic Chicks. This gorgeous page was done by Louise Forsyth. It's just so sweet and I love the colors. TGF has been having some technical difficulties with the gallery today. Please be patient if it's not working right away and be sure to keep checking back.

*This is not created by me*

I {heart} Copics Challenge #9

Finally made it long enough with out my Albuterol to make a card. No more shakes! Ok enough of my whining. When I read the color combo for this week's challenge, B91, Y21 and BG15... It sounded so strange... But it is SO pretty.

I'm glad to have this challenge because I've been struggling with a card for my Brother and my SIL that are expecting. I'm happy to have the inspiration...and a niece or nephew on the way.

Dabbling in Photograhy...

I always joke that I only hang out with attractive people. I'm fortunate to have some beautiful friends, both inside and out. It is a lot of fun when we go out though. My friend Heather is persuing a career in acting and modeling. I've been taking her headshots and such thus far. She's recently gotten a comercial gig and wanted to redo her comp card so we spent the day playing. Just thought I would share a few of my favorites.





Ok, I snuck a picture of Duster too. He usually hides the camera.

Another week another Battle...

I'm asking again for votes over at The Greeting Farm Battle. My Blog friend, and Crazy Copic Chicks team mate, Danielle, created this bright and fun card. Stop over and help us stay in the battle for another week :)


As for me, I'm still battling with my asthma this week. 2 or more Nebulizer treatments a day are keeping me shakey. I'm waiting another 30 minutes then trying to escape to my room to see what crafting or cleaning I can get done. Thanks for stopping by.

Recovering...

I think I got a little carried away last weekend with my friends and I'm paying for it now. All that partying took it's toll on my immune system and I caught the bug I was trying to avoid. I've had a cold all week. I'm finally starting to feel better but my asthma is slow to catch up with the rest of me. Inhalers just aren't all that affective for me so I use my Nebuilizer. (Machine that vaporizes meds so they can be inhaled). That makes me shake terribly so there has been no crafting/coloring this week. I'm hoping that on my days off I can catch up and maybe get ahead of the game.

Cast your votes!

Be sure to stop over to The Greeting Farm Battle to cast your votes. Our team is the Crazy Copic Chicks. This challenge had me written all over it. I love all things retro one of my favourite color combos is red and aqua. I had so much making this card. Please give us a vote! It's "Idol style" so the lowest votes get the boot. Please vote so we can stay in the contest and play again next week!

As for a little mischief... I went out with my girls last night... some of them had been drinking since 3 o'clock in the afternoon. It took a couple shots to catch up and bring out "Red" but a great time was had. Pleasantly surprized to arrive at the bar (last minute change in venue) to find my favorite local band playing. No Jag this time, although, Quervo and I were friends. Ran into some of my "co workers", danced, laughed and made some new friends. I really needed a night out so I'm glad I was convinced to join them...by the way... this is a pic of my 2, usually modest, friends. This is what they look like after 7 hours of drinking. Everyone is home safe and with minimal hangovers. All mischief was completely innocent. :)