Look Alikes

You know how they say people tend to look like their dogs . . .



I laughed myself silly when I saw this picture.  They have the exact same expression!  What will they look like after a few more years, I wonder?  Hope this tickled your funny bone.  Have a great day!

Wally and LuLu

Wally and LuLu are in the prime of their lives – healthy, vigorous, and very happy.











I’m thinking today of a friend’s family dog, Olivia, also a Golden Retriever, who passed on Thursday.  She was well loved and had a good life, and we know it’s natural for a dog’s life to be relatively short, but it still seems unfair when they’re so good.  My heart hurts for Olivia’s family’s, bless their hearts.  I thought my dedication to Wally and LuLu’s happiness could not be more sincere, but it has just stepped up a notch.  I need to reciprocate that goodness, to let it spread out around me, to be thankful for every moment and for how they’ve enriched my life and filled my heart.  Thank you for being here with us today.  Love.

Peek-A-Boo LuLu

Wally and LuLu both like to pretend that if you toss a blanket over them they completely disappear, and if they hold very, very still you’ll never find them.  “Where’s LuLu?  LuuuuuLuuuu…   Have you seen LuLu?  She was here just a minute ago.  LuuuuuLuuuu…”  Wally likes to toss the blanket off with a flourish and a big smile, so proud of himself for fooling you.  LuLu inches her way out a little at a time.



Just a little Saturday smile.  Enjoy your weekend!

Indoor Doggies

The camera stays in my pocket when we’re out in the rain, so if I’m going to photograph Wally and LuLu it will have to be in the less favorable indoor setting.  I’m rarely happy with those pictures due to the eye shine from the flash.  For these photos I corrected the eye shine in Photoshop Elements by cloning an area of nose and dropping it into the eye.  I then cloned a shiny, glistening area of the nose or lip and positioned a tiny spot for the eye glint, using the original photo as a guide for size and placement.  It may not be perfect, but at least I was able to get some photos of them dry and still for a change.  I love my sweet Golden babies.  Can you tell?

LuLu



LuLu and Wally



LuLu



Wally



Soft hugs with slobber on top from Wally and LuLu to you.  Have a sweet day!

He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother

Usually it’s LuLu using Wally for a boost up, but this time it’s the other way around.  They were after a stick that landed in the tree when Rich threw it.



Golden Retrievers aren’t such good tree climbers, but LuLu gave it her best shot.



Question:  Can you even see these photos?  I’m hearing something about Blogger requiring you to link your photos from Picasa.  I can see my blog photos at home, but on my computer at work all I get is a red “x” which I can click on and then see the photo.  Just wondering if I should be doing something differently.  Thanks!  Have a great day!

Thought I’d Let You Know…

I’ve made yet another change to my blogging practices.  I’ve decided to resume posting cards and crafty things on my previous TypePad blog, Running With Scissors…, and reserve this blog for Wally, LuLu, and the garden.  I’ve never really liked mixing the subject matter and I found I didn’t want to give up posting cards.  I won’t be sacrificing any of my precious home and family time, I’ll just be posting one place or the other.  You’ve all been incredibly patient with me and I’m amazed you’re still here.  You must think me the Queen of Indecision.

If you’re of a mind, I’ve published my first stamping post, Tea and Roses, here ----->  Running With Scissors…

We’re off and running!



Have a super day, and thank you again so much!

Just Saying Hello

A puppy will steal your heart, but a mature dog you’ve raised from a puppy has full legal and binding ownership of your heart.






I just wanted to take a moment to drop in and say you may not hear from me for a while.  I don’t know how long, but I wouldn’t want you to worry.  For a while there I thought I might resume regular blogging, but I just don’t seem to be making the time for it.  I’ve been allowing myself more relaxing time between being a better homemaker and, of course, I’m a fully dedicated dog mom.  As I write this, we’ve just finished dinner and Wally is squeaking a toy as a prelude to a song.  He has a lovely tenor voice and LuLu is learning to harmonize in a very sweet soprano.  They’ll be expecting me to make a big fuss, telling them how beautiful their singing is.  When that’s done, pretty brown eyes will peek at me over the back of the couch until they tug me right on over there to cuddle with them.  After all, this is our quiet time.

I’ll be around, still stamping… I sincerely miss the days of my stamping blog and the desire to jump back into it is strong, but I know the time is not right.  Frankly, I feel quite conflicted over the whole thing.  Perhaps we’ll talk more about that later.  Hopefully, I’ll be back with a post of some sort soon, but just in case… don’t worry, be happy, love to all.

Framed Roses

Happy Saturday!  After making all those mail-friendly Christmas cards I decided to make something pretty just for me.  It’s got all the layers, shapes, and doo-dads I love, plus a favorite Flourishes floral (A Year in Flowers 2).  I really must use more of the florals from these sets (note to self) as they’re all so beautiful.



I cut out the roses and glued them to the center circle after coloring with Copic markers, and used rather muted colors for the framing and matting to let the roses pop.  I think the recipe below will explain all the other elements.

Well, that was fun!  If I don’t make it back here in time, I’d like to wish you all a happy new year!

Stamps:  A Year in Flowers 2  Paper:  Stampin’ Up! Crumbcake textured, Flourishes Classic Ivory, Prima Romantique designer paper  Ink:  Memento Rich Cocoa, Copic markers for coloring  Accessories:  Pearls, silk ribbon, corner punch, Spellbinders Large and Small Standard Circles, Lacey Circles (used the negative cut to form the scalloped frame), Basic Lattice, Floral Flourishes

Merry Day After Christmas!

I hope you all had the most beautiful Christmas ever and will continue to enjoy the season at a more relaxed pace for a few days yet.  The days leading up to our Christmas were full of the usual – shopping, wrapping, cleaning, decorating, baking, a potluck and gift exchange at work, visiting friends and family to spread Christmas cheer and deliver gifts, making more long distance phone calls than usual – it’s all fun and all part of the season.  In the photo above Rich and I were visiting the spectacular light display at our local Shore Acres Botanical Garden.  If only I had a photo that did it justice, but you’d really have to be there…







Wally and LuLu opened presents on Christmas Eve, just like the rest of us.  Here’s LuLu…



And Wally…



They loved their new squeaky toys, and Christmas Eve got a little noisy for a while there.



I’m looking forward to the rest of my (much needed) post-Christmas vacation.  I plan to spend some quality time in my stamp room when I’m not out having fun with the doggies.  Wishing all of you merry days as we count down to the new year.  See you again soon!

Pretty Ornaments

I hesitated to share this card because I can’t tell you where I got this image.  It was a free digi from somewhere.  I saved it to my computer and then promptly forgot where I found it.  The thing is, I’ve been enjoying Pinterest lately and one of my boards is titled “Free Digital Stamps”.  Mostly I repin other free images I find on Pinterest.  I repinned one such image recently and shortly thereafter got a message from Pinterest stating that the original pinner had taken the image without the owner’s approval and it had been removed from all boards.  I sincerely hope I’m not doing wrong by sharing this today, and I’d love to say “thank you” to whomever made this very pretty image available.



This is another one of those simple cards – a pretty image surrounded by pretty paper (BasicGrey Jovial).  I printed on Flourishes Classic White cardstock and colored with Copic markers.  I dared to add a gold glittered sprig and bow, hoping it will be indiscernible to the post office officials.  The ornaments are glittered as well.  Perhaps you can see it a little if you use your imagination.  The sentiment is from JustRite.

Happy Holidays!