Tips and Instructions for my December pages

Hello everyone! It's my turn to share my tips and instructions for the Creative Kit pages from My Creative Scrapbook.


Blake's First Christmas:

I really liked the background and wanted to leave as much of it showing as possible. This is a very simple page and I didn't take any extra closeup photos.

I first tapped some gold and red ink on the background. I didn't spray it, I just pulled out the spray top and flicked the end of the tube.

I chose just one sheet of patterned paper and chose green to help accent my grandson in his green pajamas.

After the photo was matted onto the green pattern paper, I simply just added stickers, carefully making sure I was making a few visual triangles.

I have a triangle with the wooden snowflakes and with the red stickers.

Some of the stickers are on 3-D glue dots to help them stand out more.

I used a little red rick rack to ground the photo.

That's it. Easy Peasy.

Merry Christmas 2013:

I was determined to use this picture, darn it, with this kit. My only issue was that I had a purple background and not a stitch of purple in any of the papers.

That wasn't going to stop me, though.

First, I sanded the background to make it look worn.

sand, sand, sand...don't make any holes.

Sprinkle some Heidi Swapp gold lame ink on the paper. I also used white ink. 

Uh oh, it looks like the cat is on the prowl again. Don't let your cat mess up your project. If she steps in your liquid ink, she'll track it everywhere. Just blow on the cat. Yes, blow on her. She'll move along and your liquid ink will dry at the same time.

Then I added (my favorite) gesso and some purple paint. Ooops, I don't have a picture of the purple paint but it's a Tim Holtz distress paint.

I ripped up the background pattern paper that I wanted to use to highlight the actual photo. I inked it up and added it back in kind of the same order it was.

That red bow on top is made with a Tim Holtz die. It's really very cute and very handy. I made sure to use a visual triangle this time with the color red to move your eye down the page. I broke up the big solid chunk of purple with a garland sticker.

The washi tape was added at the bottom as part of the triangle.

The green holly and the tree in the bottom right are also a visual triangle.

Santa 2012:

Now that my children know the truth about Santa, I had to make a page on it.

In my house, Grandma is Santa. That is also my journaling that is written all around the circle.

"Santa is really Grandma"

My family comes over to my home every Christmas Eve and every Christmas Eve, my mother is late. My mother has never been late to anything in her life but my kids never picked up on that. Every year, she was scolded because Santa would come and leave and she would miss him EVERY STINKIN' YEAR.

"Grandma!! You missed Santa again! Where where you?"

"I forgot the olives", was her response every year.

Poor Grandma.

Once the kids figured it out, they no longer felt bad for Grandma.

Anyway, I wanted this page to be simple, too. One patterned paper strip down the center. A circle of green dotted pattern paper to highlight the photo. If you've read any of my posts in the past, you know I have just a plastic template for circles. I just trace it at the size I want and cut it out by hand. I'm tired of goofy machines. I don't have room on my desk for all these things, especially when the cat wants to visit.

I cut the doily in half and put each half behind the circle to accentuate the photo.

I added some stickers and called it a day.

Oh, and the journaling. Don't forgot the journaling.

We're ready!:

Everyone is ready for Santa but where the heck is he?

Standing on my fireplace, we have my son, my neighbor, my daughter, my grandson and my neighbor.

They're all waiting for Santa and they're getting impatient but I'm doing a good job of keeping them distracted by making them hold still for photos.

I don't know if you know this, but I'm kind of a texture girl. I like texture. I wanted to do something different for the background and since I'm in Vet Assistant School (did you know that?), we've been practicing folding towels for surgery.

My entire life, I have folded towels in thirds and this is wrong. You're supposed to fold them accordion style like my picture above. Of course, you don't need to make as many folds but I will say I was inspired by class for this technique.

After I folded it all up, I sanded the edges. You can't see them very well in my photograph, but there are little creases and white lines on the green background.

For the rest of the page, I just kind of put it together. The snowflake is on a punched piece of red pattern paper, the ribbon is tied and glued down and those nasty little puffy mint candy things are on 3-D glue dots. Does anyone even really like those candies?

That's it for this month everyone. Thank you for reading and please join and get a membership to this fabulous place. Pam really does an excellent job at putting these kits together and she is SO ORGANIZED! I love that about her. :)

Have a wonderful holiday season everyone.

We've talked about this before...

It's one of the reasons I wanted to go to vet tech school.

Low Cost Euthanasia

Better Low Cost Euthanasia

Improved Low Cost Euthanasia

One of the hardest situations at the Help Desk is when the working poor come in to euthanize their family pet.


They've spent 10+ years with this animal and because they don't have $200-$300 for euthansia, they have no choice but to drop their suffering animal off at PACC.  For $15, PACC will euthanize them. However, before that happens, their beloved pets will sit on a cement floor next to the cooler that reeks of death. The animals can wait for hours, sad, alone, scared and confused.

The family doesn't get the option of sitting with their animal and holding their paw while they pass.

They don't get their ashes back but they can ask for the body.

Animals are killed usually during a scheduled time. Animals may have to suffer a bit before they are put down at scheduled euth times.

I don't know if everyone knows this, but since it was brought up in the vet's euthanasia meeting that I had to miss, I'm going to share it here... catheters aren't always used. A catheter will get the poison to the place it needs to be quicker. Miss a vein, it hurts and the tech tries again until they get a vein. It's not always "humanely done". "Humanely done" would be at least be with a catheter. Unfortunately, shelter life does not give time for this. Too many animals need attention and care. This is also an emotional drain on the tech that has to do so many of these in a day.

I can't even imagine how difficult it is to leave your suffering pet with strangers and walk away with nothing.

Today my mother donated air drying clay and several copies of the Rainbow Bridge poem. 

The other volunteer and I made paw print impressions for the families that had to bring in their pet for euthanasia because they can't afford anything else. Each paw print also got a Rainbow Bridge poem.

It was the first time I felt like I was helping people. We're not just there for the animals but we're also there for the families.

I'll never forget today the large woman bending over her dog and saying goodbye. She was bawling and her family was crying. She didn't want to leave and the family was coaxing her to go. The coat she wore was tattered, dirty and coming apart at the seam in the back and I could see the lining. It was just falling apart in front of me.

People leaving their animals at PACC to die should never leave empty handed. I'm glad I was able to help her with the smallest of tokens...a paw print impression of her beloved dog.

I always add a picture to my post. This is Gigi and Shannon. Gigi died last month and we had to pay nearly $400 for her euthanasia, cremation, and return of her ashes.

Crayola makes an air drying clay if anyone would like to donate to this cause. Michael's sells it and you and buy it in a tub for $7.00. Use a coupon, and you'll get it even cheaper.

Thank you.

Merry Christmas

Well, here it is.

The final product after fighting with the kids for what seemed like hours the other day.

I originally wanted a sunset in the background, but I've decided that I really like the green of the saguaros instead.

Both liked and wanted the serious face pose.

Merry Christmas

Sorry, again no card from us this year.

The annual Christmas card photo shoot

It's that time of year again where I spend the day yelling at the kids to take a shower and brush their hair.

We gather up the photo equipment, make Kat change into normal clothing, make Trent take off his favorite skull t-shirt and find a place to take a picture.

We didn't go to our normal spot this year. We just drove west on Ina until we got to Saguaro National Monument. We waited for the sunset.

I wasted the normal amount of time yelling at the kids to stop goofing around.

I took the goofing-around-photos to get them out of the way so I could get some normal ones later.

Here are the ones the kids chose as their favorites. Of course, none of these will be used as the Christmas card. These are just the photos I have to take as required by Kat and Trent.

Mom, take a picture of us like this!

OK. Done?

No MOM! This is a Kenpo move. Take a picture of us like this!

They both run over to look at it on my camera.

Are you done?

NO MOM! Take a picture of us like this!

They both run over to look at it on my camera.

Can we take a nice picture now?

OK. Both of you need to look at me at the SAME TIME.

Maybe this was an accident on Trent's part, but I can pretty much guarantee that Kat did this face on purpose.

Now, I'm getting really pissed. I'm cold. I'm hungry.

CAN WE TAKE A NICE PICTURE NOW?

Sure MOM!

It was OK, until Trent grabbed her neck.

This is when Erik stepped in and started threatening lives.

I did get my picture but you won't see until Christmas.

In case you missed other year's photo shoots, here are some links:

2009
2010
2011
2012
2013

There will be no hard copy Christmas cards this year. Thank you to all of you that have sent me Christmas cards. I have them all displayed and I love looking at them.

It's been a very, very financially tight year. We are borrowing our neighbor's Christmas tree it's so tight. Thank goodness I had so many prescriptions this year that I acquired 100,000 points at Walgreens which equals $100 worth of gifts to put under our borrowed Christmas tree!! WOOHOO!!

We have each other and a roof (right now anyway) over our head so we are OK. I'm going to school to hopefully get a decent job in the next year or so.

The official Christmas Card photo that I'll send to all of my friends and family will be on my blog on Christmas day.

XOXO,

Heather

Dogs of Sickbay 12/10

These aren't all the pups. Just the few that I was able to interact with. Not all of these pups are even in Petharbor or showing as available for adoption.

Sweet Agatha - A502607. Rottweiler and Sharpei mix.

1 year, URI

I think this is Cameron - A502614

1 of 18-20 chihuahuas that were confiscated. 

2 years, URI

Dodger - A503540

2 years, Male, URI

Kenneled with Scout

Dottie - A502710

3 years, tumors on her belly, URI

Judy & Dottie - A502710

3 years, tumors on her belly, URI

Ghost - A501361

Beautiful and Elegant, a volunteer favorite.

18 months?, possible amputation of front left limb

Ghost - A501361

Beautiful and Elegant, a volunteer favorite.

18 months?, possible amputation of front left limb

Hooch - A503445

2 years, Male, URI

 

Phoebe-A502621

2 years, 7 month, URI

She is in a video on my Facebook page. She can barely breathe, but she wants to shake my hand. Very, very sweet girl that is soooo soft like a teddy bear. Kenneled with Agatha.

Savannah - A502036

4 years, URI

I love her T-rex leg

Kenneled with 4 other chihuahuas. She was part of the big confiscation.

Scout - A503070

8 years, URI

What a sweet and loving dog. Kenneled with Dodger.

Ruby-A502342

5 months, broken leg

Marked as a black lab but I see Sharpei.

There is something about this dog that reminds me of my sister in law's ex. Don't know.

Unknown male. No paperwork

Unknown male with broken leg. No paperwork

Unknown chihuahua.

There were 4 or 5 in a separate kennel. Part of the 18-20 that were confiscated.

 

Toby -  A501071

1 year, URI

Now Toby is a dog that is really full of energy. He was bouncing all over everywhere. BUT, all I had to do was to tell him to knock it off and he sat down nice and still for that picture. He is ready to play but listens well. He'd be a great dog for a family with older kids.

and that's all I have today. Pass this around please. Not all the dogs are on Petharbor or showing as available for adoption.

 

CaliDogz

A few weeks ago, I attended the Pet Expo in Tucson.

I was walking around with Cassie, trying to get her acclamated to the scene when I heard a voice from behind me:

"Take my picture, send it to me and I'll send you something!"

I turned around and there was a gentleman surrounded my smiling balls.

How could I not take his picture?

So I did.

I took his picture, emailed it to him and thought I wouldn't hear back.

But, I did hear from him!

He asked me for my address and within just a few days, I received one of his smiling balls!

It was an orange tennis ball sized ball with giant smiling teeth. I turned it around and noticed that it had a hole for treats to place inside. It also bounced like a tennis ball.

My dalmatian LOVES tennis balls. Was she going to like this one?

We went outside and I threw it. It took her a few tries before she accepted it as one of "hers" but eventually she took it on.

I love this ball. It's very durable and the best part is that it doesn't absorb water. It was a rainy day today and tennis balls always get wet (usually with dog slobber) and muddy. I just bounced the ball on the bricks and wiped it off with a towel and it was clean.

Here are some pictures of Zoe playing with the Grinz Ball. You can order them here: Grinz Ball.

New December pages

at My Creative Scrapbook!


Here are my pages. Be sure to go to the above link to check out all the others. It was a great kit! A fabulous selection of paper and oodles of embellishments!

Instructions for My Creative Scrapbook November pages

Hi everyone,

Here are the instructions/tips for my November pages from the fabulous Creative kit at My Creative Scrapbook. 

4 kittens:

I had a small pile of ribbon collars sitting on my dining room side table and knew I better do something with them before they were lost.

While we were fostering kittens, my daughter gave each one a pretty ribbon. We took them off before we took them to Petsmart for adoption.

If you've ever considered fostering,  DO IT! It's so worth it. These kittens and mom were going to die if someone didn't step in and rescue them.

Anyway, I printed the picture as shown and set them on top of some scrap patterned paper from a previous layout. I inked the sides.

The title was placed at the top and the little pink "Hello Kitty" tag is from one of my daughter's shirts.

I used the computer to type out the rest of the title "grew out of their ribbons", cut them up and inked each piece.

I added some heart stickers here and there to help move the viewer's eye down the page.

The ribbon is just tied in a bow and stuck down with glue dots.

I used the Mini Attacher to staple down the kittens' ribbons.

Hello Sunshine:

 

I remember waking up in the tent and seeing this. I grabbed my camera (yes, always kept close) and took the picture of Katrina peeking through the screen. There is just something so serene about the photo for me. 

I positioned the photo on the right with her looking up. I then added the yellow circle to represent the sun and added a few butterflies.

After I finished, Kat said that it looked boring and too simple so I used the masks to spray some gold ink around the page. I sprayed some on the saying (and then added a bow).

I had already arranged my photo and stuck it down, so I used another piece of paper to protect it from the spray. I used the mask two more times around the page and I think it gave it some more interest.

I used some Stickles around the triangles in the patterned paper and then added the journaling under the photo.

Mickey & Me:

I'll never forget this day. Trent was almost 6 and we were in line at Disneyland for a ride. We had waited quite a while and Trent had become friends with the very young ladies in front of us. He was trying to make an impression on them when he asked me to take his picture with Mickey Mouse. He leaned up against the rock and had that very serious smile on his face.

I kept the cut off border on the red and white dot paper. I turned the stripe paper horizontal and attached it to the red and white dot.

I decided where I wanted the photo and then used my Martha Stewart anywhere punch to cut out the stars. If you don't have an anywhere punch, you can use any punch and add the punched parts to the page.

I arranged the cameras around the photo and turned the red & black circle stickers into a Mickey Mouse head.

I just kept adding stickers until I felt it was balanced.

Pirate Patti:

When I was a kid, I would babysit for Patti who lived 2 houses down. She and my mom were best friends. All of us stayed in Tucson, but years later we moved to different neighborhoods.  We had always kept in contact with Patti and her family. We love them like family.

Patti had always had some health issues and things seemed to be getting worse for her. She threw herself a giant pirate party on what she thought for sure would be her last birthday. She even invited Jack Sparrow. You can see him behind my son. ;)

The party was a blast and it was her last birthday party. We will never forget Patti and I'm grateful that my kids got to know her, too.

BTW, the page isn't that crooked in real life. The flowers make it bumpy on the scanner so it scans weird.

I wanted to do something different with the masks this time. I used some modeling paste and swiped it over the mask to give the corners some texture. After it dried, I add some distress ink to help it stand out a bit more.

I sprayed gold ink on the flowers and arranged them on the page. The other flowers were cut from the patterned paper. Some of the flowers are on 3-D dots and others are flat. Distress ink was swiped on the edges of the flowers.

After arranging the flowers and photo, I added the title and used stickers around the page.

The bow is tied and I just used a glue dot to stick it to the page.

That's all I have for now! Thank you for reading and have a great day!

Rest in Peace, Storm

Rest in Peace my sweet love .I'm sorry I didn't get to know you.

Storm was one of our sick bay boys. Giardia and Kennel Cough. He just got worse and worse and he was so sick he could hardly lift his head. Dr. Wilcox put him down to keep him from suffering.