Does Your Cat Play Dead?

Awww...pretty, kitty cat. She looks innocent enough...

 She is not. Actually, she's a bit of a diva only 'allowing' you to pet her when it suits her mood. She does have a keen sense of humor---a sarcastic one, and enjoys tantalizing the dog(or humans) with a twitchy tail or 'playing dead' till the dog comes near, at which point she bolts out of range. An artist at opening drawers, cupboards and louvered doors, she is quite the 'cat burglar'. So accomplished at hunting, I have not seen a lizard, rat, mouse, or many birds in the last year. I believe she cleared the area within 100 yards of our house in the first two years we lived here. There's probably skeletons all round the property marking her turf(the ones she didn't gift me with--ew!).

I have never included Polly in a scrapbook so I paired her with a nature photo that I had taken last year. She loves to hear me say 'pretty kitty cat' with emphasis on the t's and I like to watch her ears twitch. In the spirit of recycling, I have used a metallic heart tag from a gift bag to put her name upon.

I also used a piece of packaging from some charms behind the vellum tag here. The butterfly is actually two of them cut from scrapbook paper and stacked with wings folded open and  a little stickles added.

And here is the 'dead' cat. Does your cat play dead? What a life.

Welcome Laurie!

I would like to welcome Laurie Dorrell as my 4th blog follower. Laurie is a mixed media and assemblage artist. Her very cool work can be seen on her blog at Moonwild Art Studio. I'm confident that you will find inspiration on her blog as I did when I tried my hand at doing her Artist Prayer Flags. Thanks Laurie!

Artist's Prayer Flags

Project 52 #3
Somerset Workshop is such a fabulous magazine! I can REALLY learn new techniques and play along with the big kids! Artist Laurie Dorrell had many wonderful pieces in the Autumn 2009 issue.  Laurie has an amazing blog showing her unique assemblage art, I recommend checking it out!

I chose her prayer flags to imitate because I wanted something inspirational to hang in my craft space(a shared office). Highlighting areas with white paint is a technique that I learned here. Also, I put thought into and learned how to reflect movement with shapes. Thanks Laurie, wherever you are! They really brighten up the craft room...errr office, I mean.(furtive look in D's direction---he doesn't know of my secret evil plot to take OVER the office, hee hee!)

Hanging by a Moment Here With You

It's a song by "Lifehouse" that I've always loved. One day, I was bound and determined to get a clear photo of a dew drop on a leaf whilst learning how to use my camera. (still learning) It took a great many shots to get it, but tenacity paid off! Ironically, my photo printer was almost out of ink when I printed it so it's a bit fuzzy. Making lemonade from lemons is my specialty so I went with it anyway and added Glossy Accents to the drop.

Enjoy the moments of your day!

Trip Out!

Do you ever just see something an immediately know what you need to make with it? Well that happened to me here. On the covers I used Crackle Paint. I also cut a mini vintage car from a 7 Gypsies package.
(front cover)

(back cover)

I saw this fabulous vintage car paper by Graphic 45 and the cute ticket book by Maya Road in a local scrapbook store. Remembering the little printed quotes I've had in a jar for a while, the piece was born in my head right there in the store.

I picked out quotes that supported my theme of moving forth in life and used Distress Ink and stamps on the backgrounds.

Then I found the license plate words in my stash of paper.

The pages were covered with Distress Ink and stamps as backgrounds.

Onward!

Welcome Lisa!

Blog Follower #3

Nature Nutz is Lisa's spectacular blog! If you love nature and outstanding photography; you will love this eye candy! She also creates beautiful nature artwork and shares yummy garden recipes---I want to try her version of salsa once my herbs thrive! Lisa has a passion to inspire and motivate all of us to treat the planet with care. I'm sure you'll all agree with her. Check her out! Thank you Lisa!

Wandering Minds

My mind often wanders, how about you? Call it daydreaming, thinking, ADHD; whatever. Anyway, I saw this quote on an advertisement for Tim Holtz products(love!). And, I happened to take a bunch of photos of hummingbirds. The two seemed to go together. I was thinking of how the little birds migrate south each year. Many die flying over the ocean between North and South America. Their hearts simply give out. I am inspired by their mission and effort. Such fragile beauty.

Meet Lidia!

Blog Follower #2

Truly a find! Lidia at Breaking Barriers is a treasure. She is a wife and mother of 2 children. Nine months ago, she began scrapbooking---9 people! You will be stunned and amazed and MUST check her out! Thank you Lidia!

Tribute to Human Spirit

You might have seen this photo before on an old project; you're not seeing double. No worries. When I found the vintage-aeronautical themed paper, I had to use the photo again. This picture is of my partner when he was 17 years old(about 1970). He had just received his pilot's license. At 16 he began lessons with money he earned from an after-school job. Despite his parents that often took his money to have utilities turned back on or buy food because they had spent it all on booze, he had the fortitude to make something of himself. Among other things, after graduation, he became foreman of a steel plant within 3 years. His father who had been at the plant for 20+ years was now under his son's supervision. Anyway, eventually my sweetie became a professional pilot; which had always been his dream. Even though I never knew him then, I feel proud of him. These days, he cannot fly due to diabetes, but has successfully risen to VP status at a casino; having never been to college. I love my take-charge guy!

Meet Deb!

Blog Follower #1

Thank you Deb at Sparkling Scrapbooks for being my first follower! If you haven't checked out Deb, she is incredibly creative and is especially renowned for her bling factor! She has been featured in Memory Makers magazine and has been on several design teams. Currently, she designs for Paris Hilton's 'The Creativity Collection'; which is geared towards young girls. Deb wants to inspire girls to express themselves creatively and she does an excellent job at it! Thanks Deb!

I would like to add that I took a page from Lori at the Skoog Farm Journal in deciding to recognize my blog followers. It seemed like such a nice thing to do and it will introduce new friends to old ones and potentially help everyone!

thank you template