Love at First Sight

I'll bet by now you know that I am a dog lover. Can't deny it. Won't try to hide it.
I am also a cat lover and horse lover and bird lover and .....oh ....what the heck.....
I love ALL animals.....
even the ones that most people don't.
( but that's another story )

This story is about Goldie. It's a bit out of sequence but you'll see why in a minute.

a little background ..... 

My husband,    ....who from this day forth,  on this blog,  shall be known as "Lifeguard" ,  also loves all animals. But for now he says only dogs.
So we have dogs.
We have had dogs since 1990, when we became Niki's people.
( but that's also another story )

Being dog lovers, our name was on several lists. You know....mailing lists. Especially the ones who ask for money. Yes I know everyone is on those lists. But I actually read what they send. In 1993 we became supporters of Best Friends Animal Society while on a trip out West. We didn't actually stop to visit at the time because we were  passing through on our way to the Grand Canyon. But I saw their sign in Kanab Utah,  and remembered that they were one of the organizations that were asking for money. The sign was enough proof for me that they were "real"
So we...   meaning   " I ",    started to send them money. They in turn started to send me their bi-monthly magazine.    A bond was formed.     I saved every single one.
I became their biggest fan.


Now fast forward to October of 2005......

Just before leaving for a short vacation, Lifeguard brought in the mail. We had received the latest issue of BestFriends magazine. I was too wrapped up in packing at the time so I told him to tuck it in with my other magazines and I would read it when we get to our destination.  Well you know how vacations are. We were having so much fun that we didn't look at the magazine until the last day. As I was packing for the trip home I found it in my suitcase.  But just one look and I was stunned. I could not stop looking at the poor dog on the cover. It had been a couple months since Hurricane Katrina had left her mark, and I really didn't want to read about it anymore. You know how it is. I was suffering from  media overload.  I was about to put it back in the bag when Lifeguard told me I had  to read the story and  asked "Hey, doesn't that dog look like Ginger?"

She did look like Ginger. A very wet and frightened Ginger.
Well , sorry honey,  I really didn't want to read it.

 but found myself reading it over and over again.......and staring at the dog on the cover.
Yes, it looked like our Ginger. But there was something else very captivating about the dog. You could see it in her eyes.  I needed to know more.

That was the first time I saw Goldie. And I knew the feeling I was feeling. I had felt it before.  I contacted Best Friends. I wanted to know more about the dog on the cover.
Was she ok? 
Was she reunited with her family?  
What I really wanted to know was.....

" Is she available for adoption? "

I was smitten.  We had three dogs at the time,  Ginger and Shadie, and Dutch. Niki had had died in 2004.
I was used to 4 dogs. So I had room for one more. I could make room for Goldie. 
I wasn't able to get any information about her. Everyone at Best Friends was still overwhelmed from the rescues and no one seemed to know what happened to the yellow dog on the cover of the magazine.
Lifeguard said it was their way of saying "Don't bother us we are busy"   Yes I guess they were busy.....
so I put the thought aside.

but only for a while............

to be continued






This story is being told as a tribute to Best Friends Animal Society.  Five years ago,  Best Friends  led the charge to save the animals being left behind in the aftermath of Katrina.  Best Friends has also played a big part in helping me start RuffHaven.  I thought now,  the 5th anniversary of the rescue of so many animals, would be a good a time to share this story with anyone who cares to read it. 

Circle of Friends

I sometimes sit with my laptop at a small table that was constructed using salvaged wood from an old barn in Pennsylvania. This is where I sit when reading your blogs and it's where I write my posts for this blog.  I usually have a dog at my side.     So one day as I was blogging and  blurffing I happened to look down. I liked what I saw, so I held up my camera very high over my head to get the shot.  Yes, now that I am a blogger,  my camera is always within reach.

hhhhmmmm.....

Well that's close, but  this shot did not capture what I wanted you to see. 

 So I had to get creative.

I started at my right

and worked my way around

counter-clockwise

very carefully so I would not disturb them

all the way to my left

Then I made one daring move

I decided to try to stand up

To get the shot

without one of them having to move

very

very

slowly

then quickly grab the shot.... before Shadie gets up

because Shadie would be the first to get up

YES !

I did it !

That's the chair where I was sitting

I was able to get up and take the pic without disturbing them

It does help that we had just been on a very long walk and they were

dog  tired

(  sorry.....I had to say it    )

< smile >

Have a great day !

 

shhhh......whisper

     Living in a forest has unexpected moments that make you stop and whisper ......

......awwww

I am so glad I had my camera with me when I was on my walk through our woods. This baby was so sweet. Mom was nearby, so after taking a few quick photos, I turned around and went the other way. Our deer are so used to us that they don't run when they see us.  I love that.

 Have a gentle day

Seven Steps

Just like most of you, I have a lot of projects in various stages of "finished". So why on earth would I join more challenges or swaps?

     Why? 

Because I love the thrill of a deadline. 
Yes I love a deadline. Sometimes that is the only way I can kick my butt into gear and actually "finish" something. Otherwise the projects pile up and ....well......you know......there's always just one more thing to make it perfect. So you stare at it for days and weeks until that one more thing shows up. By then you have already started several other projects that just couldn't wait to be born.

So in comes a challenge or a swap.....with a deadline and  my usual swap strategy:

1. Sign up
2. Gather materials.
3. Start the project.
4. Set the project aside. ( so I can work on other projects )
5. One week before swap is due.... frantically finish the project.
6. Mail swap items just in the nick of time.
7. Publish a Post on the blog about the swap, ( now that I am a blogger ) .....This step , of course, requires that I take photos of every step along the way, just so I have something to show my readers.

One of my favorite swap organizer is Lenna Andrews. She has a blog dedicated to her swaps.  I have a link posted below.

So this is step # 7....... a post about my contribution to her most recent Garden Variety Post Card Swap.

Now if I can get all these photos posted and in the right order, it will be a small technical miracle.

 I had punched  out 1 inch squares from the required product. In this case it was Garden Style images from Alpha Stamps.  Once the pieces were all punched out I stuck them to the back of a 4x6 piece of sticky back canvas in a random mosaic pattern. Then I adhered a layer of  gauze over the whole thing to hold it together and also tone it down a bit.

The next step was to  "ruff-ly"  trim the gauze to the edge of the canvas. I also added more texture but rubbing some gesso around the edge of the post cards.  I added more gesso in the corners.

 I like how the gesso laid between the threads of the gauze.

                                          You can really see the gauze and gesso in this photo

 love love love texture

No gesso here because I liked the look of this ruff edge

Then I added some color by rubbing Staz-On ink lightly over the edges and corners.

I used my finger to apply the ink.

( fingers are my favorite art tool )  

Now the only step left was to add some embellishments and mail them to Lenna.  I didn't  add too much because I want the background to be a major player in the design.
Why work that hard and then cover it all up?

 Here are the four finished postcards.            YES !           f i n i s h e d  !         yay!

I love how they turned out.

here are the backs

Here's the link to Lenna's creative swap site. You can see more postcards as well as art swaps she has hosted in the past.  Go on over and take a look.     

                                                     Creative Swaps

I'll be back with my contributions to week 2 and 3 in the Creative Color Challenge.
Oh and I have been working on the lovely pink lady found in the cornfield.  Yes I have been having fun.

See you soon,

Just a quick note

Thanks to all of you who commented on my last post . You are too kind.
Along the lines of not being able to force creativity....The art quote of the day made me laugh. I have it on my sidebar and thought I would copy it here because it will not be there tomorrow.


Art Quote of the Day
An artist never really finishes his work, he merely abandons it.
Paul Valery

That's what I did with the "Yellow Taxi"

A toast to all of our unfinished art!  Thank heaven we know when to stop.

I hope you all are having a wonderful day.

You don't know what you've got til it's gone

Louise Gale is hostess of the Creative Color Challenge. There is a button on my side bar if you are interested.
I needed to stretch my creative muscles since I have been stagnant for so long. So I joined. The first color she chose was Sunflower Yellow.....UGH ! This has got to be the one color that I wished with all my might that she would not choose. We are also permitted to use white and black. Still a tough combo for me. The upside is that all challenges after this one should be a piece of cake. The other reason why this challenge was so hard is because I still haven't unpacked everything in the studio after the flood. So I grabbed the yellow pages some yellow and black paint and some Golden's matte medium. That's enough for a quick collage. This is what came out of that combination of items.

It's on a 5x5 canvas.  

I think I was having a flash back.   

Can you hear the music? 

"Don't it always seem to go. You don't know what you've got til it's gone....."

  I hope next week's color is one that I can get along with. I 'm not happy with this one and my poor photos don't help a bit. I know we should always try to put our best work on our blogs. But, I'm human and sometimes we humans just can't force creativity. Hopefully you can at least enjoy the effort and the idea behind it. 

The House that Art Built

While cleaning out my studio ( basement ) I found some projects that were left stranded. You know, you get this idea and work at for a while then the honeymoon wears off, and the next thing you know that project is in the far corner never to be seen again.

Well, I found a few of those that need some attention. They are too good to throw away, No-one wants them because I've tried Craig's List and Free-Cycle. So I guess I am stuck with 'em.  Perhaps the universe liked my original idea and wants me to finish these projects. No point in questioning the universe. So this my dear friends is what I have in store for August.

The House That Art Built

Can't you see it now?  

All painted and pasted and hammered and sewn?

This is going to be fun!

The Artist's Chair

a great roadside find 

Crayola - the horse of many colors

                                          I can't wait to get my paints and ribbons out for this filly.

So with these projects and the Pink Lady I found ( read previous post ) I will be busy enough this August.
 Which is a good thing because it is still too hot to go outside.

Oh and here are a few shots of my studio floor. The flood in our basement urged me to clean up the joint. I am proud to say that as I load stuff back into the room, I have not yet put anything on the floor that doesn't belong there.  So far so good. Let's just see if I can keep it this way.

That's all for now.
Have a great week!