Using the kit Angels Among Us by Dancing Princess Designs sold at GoDigitalScrapbooking!

scrapbook pop

Created for the creative team challenge at GoDigitalScrapbooking. It was so much fun to document the little guy's day! Used a kit called A New Day be designer Christy Skaggs.

DPD Info

I just LOVE to scrapbook my babies. All of them! So here is a page I did using the recent pics of the boys. The layout is made with a kit by Dancing Princess Designs called Bliss. Bliss is actually a 3-part series, two parts being sold (on sale now!) at GoDigitalScrapbooking and the 3rd as a give-away during September at Scrapbook Dimensions Magazine. Also, Jenn, the designer, has some contests and giveaways going, so be sure to check her BLOG for more information!

Tiki in the Sunshine

These pics were taken just the other day when Tiki was helping me with the mulch pile. Actually, I got to work and she got to close her eyes and put her face to the sun and soak up all the good rays. We had moments of sheer bliss. It was definitely a good day.

Just a reminder - I'm having all this fun on godigitalscrapbooking.com. I just finished up a BUNCH of layouts this month using kits from Dancing Princess designs. And since I hurt my foot in the parade yesterday, will probably get many more done today!!

Petunia & Her Greenie

No worries - this picture was taken several years ago before the dangers of greenies were known. Even though they have been reformulated, we haven't been brave enough to try the new ones. But this is still one of my favorite pictures of a carefree Petunia, running through the yard on a summer day, as happy as it gets!

Takeover

The full story is somewhere in this blog (try key words for storytime, Isabelle, or Ellie Mae), but this page's journaling talks about when Isabelle was having a false pregnancy and tried to take over Ellie's litter! Int he end, Ellie, won, but welcomed Isabelle's help feeding and caring for the little ones.

Kangee's Story

A distant relative of Tony's called one day to say that his elderly german shepherd probably wasn't going to make it through another winter, to keep an eye out for something that might come his way. He would prefer a male puppy, if at all possible.

Enter Kangee. Two weeks later, in early January 2009, he was born and his mother immediately rejected him. The breeder, who found himself in unfavorable circumstances, contacted his friends to see if someone would be able to bottle feed him. He was born in the wee hours of the morning and by the time the breeder woke and was handling the litter, and called around, almost 12 hours had gone by. When I got to him, he was cold and practically lifeless.

I immediately stuck him in my shirt so that my body temperature would help raise his temperature on the way home. While stopped at a traffic light, I had a flash of insight, a vision of him as an adult. I was stunned at the beauty of him, at the powerful presence he possessed. Once we hit the house, he was so lifeless he could not even suckle a bottle, which he desperately needed for energy.

We pulled out all the stops and between the two of us, we alternated caring for him. Puppies require feeding every 2 hours, and he had to be tube fed until he was able to adequately bottle feed.

In the first week, I noticed scabs all over his body - where did those come from? Did the mother dislike him enough that she tried to kill him? It didn't make sense, but I couldn't figure out what else it could be. As it turns out, he was actually born with a systemic staph infection. Between tendons that didn't stretch properly, the staph infection, and corresponding signs of being premature (very tender skin), he certainly had the odds stacked against him. Due to complications with the infection, he lost the tip of his paw before he was even a week old and smelled of gangrene. I was worried we would have to amputate, but the vet encouraged me to see how it might heal up before we made that decision. Besides, we had to get his internal infection under control before considering a major surgical option (HUGE props to colloidal silver for clearing things up right away once we figured out what the problem was).

There were so many times I wondered if he would make it, or even that we were doing the right thing. What quality of life would he have? Were we playing God and fighting against nature? But then I'd remember that vision of him as an adult. He certainly seemed to have a higher purpose on this earth. Together with the encouragement of lots of other people who also sensed something very special in him, we worked our way through one scenario after another until he was truly on his feet. During that time, his prospective family did a lot of soul-searching as well. They lived in the woods, where sometimes strays are dropped off or he might meet a coyote or two. Would it be fair to put him at a disadvantage? Maybe they should wait for the next shepherd that became available? But in their hearts, they simply could not say no. So they made other arrangements to protect him in case he might prove to be at a disadvantage as an adult and they welcomed him with open arms.

At 8 weeks old, Kangee went to his new home where he is growing into a gangly, loveable adolescent, full of vim and vinegar. He has charmed the elderly shepherd to the point where they have caught the two of them together outside in the dogbox, with both heads sticking out the same hole. He never messed in the house, and has Mom so wrapped around his paw that someone would have to fight her to get him away from her. He simply could not be in a better home!

And although he lost his paw, the pad that traditionally grows behind the dew claw wrapped itself around the base of his stump so that he has a pad to walk on. When I look at him, I'm in awe of the miracle after miracle that I've witnessed. I have been so blessed to be a part of his journey; the gifts he gave me in the 8 weeks he was with us are priceless. He is an old soul, with a special purpose, and a proud heritage.

God be with you and protect you, my little friend.

More scrapbook pages

Scrapbooking was my late night, I-can't-sleep, stress relief for tax season. I hope you enjoy the pages of the kids as much as I do!

Charity Scrapbook Package for Australian Brushfire

The wonderful talents of 34 creative designers have combined to create a mega kit of scrapbooking designs, the proceeds of which will be contributed to the victims of the Australian Brush Fires. Check it out:

http://digilovers-addiction.blogspot.com/2009/02/are-you-ready-for-big-surprise.html

This was created for another challege at www.godigitalscrapbooking.com. The challenge was journaling and I also did a scraplift (where you find a layout you like and use it as the basis of how you place your elements.

Kangee is now 6 weeks old and full of vinegar. He is biting everything in his path to try out his puppy teeth. I gave him a limb from a bush yesterday and he was in heaven! He almost discovered shoelaces yesterday, but the unsuspecting victim moved their foot in the nick of time while I distracted him to something else.

Here is a picture of his mom. Check out the distinguished pedigree!!

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/pedigree/401089.html

Fabio's scrapbook page

The scrapbooking challenges at godigitalscrapbooking.com have been keeping me busy. It's so much fun to relax at the computer, putting pieces of beautiful artwork together in new and creative ways. The best part is that I can walk away from the project and there's not a whole table that has to be dedicated to scrapbooking stuff!!

Here's the latest with Fabio made up primarily with pieces from the Plumbago Kit and the February Collaboration Kit.

More Scrapbook pages

Can you tell I'm having fun with the new digital scrapbooking pages?

The elements, papers, etc. for these pages came from the designers at godigitalscrapbooking.com

New page for Gator

This was made for a challenge to learn how to blend a photo into the background. All paper and elements are from various artists online, none are original creations.

There is a lot of meaning to the word where this little guy is concerned. Maybe one day his whole story will be posted. He's a brave little soul, with lots of (hutzpah?).

Digital Scrapbooking fun

More fun with scrapbooking. The layout with Kangee is a template and paper kit from No Reimer Reason at www.godigitalscrapbooking.com and was the product of a challenge to do a multiple photo layout.
Jolene's is also from a challenge on the same site from speedscrapping night, but using a paper pack from www.shabbyprincess.com called Promise.

Scrapbook Page - Ellie's first litter (Jan 07)

Scrapbook Page - Ellie Litter 2