DEAR GOD,

THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THE BLESSINGS IN MY LIFE!

AMEN

Happy Thanksgiving to my family and friends --- I hope all of you are richly blessed today and always!

Wordless Wednesday

More of Her Royal Cuteness!

Emilie is such a good pup! She explores her surroundings and comes to everyone to give kisses on their hand --- plus she has gone potty on the paper every time! That alone is most impressive. She also got a bath, blow dry and brushing today, so now she smells much better!

We already have applications to adopt her, so I doubt I will have her for more than a few days at the most. Before she leaves, I had to take more photos. She is just so darned cute!

Introducing Emilie

Emilie is the newest arrival at Hands, Hearts & Paws! She is a tiny 2 year old, 4 pound, female Yorkshire terrier. Three months ago she gave birth to SEVEN puppies! She is lucky to be alive, and I'm thankful the breeder surrendered her to rescue. Isn't she precious?

Wordless Wednesday

Another Morning Collage

This morning's collage started as one of my reject leaf photos, then got several layers added to it. I keep my reject photos, offcuts from other projects, etc. on a corner of my work table, and they often get incorporated into my collages. Right now, I am in love with the Autumn colors!

Wordless Wednesday

Morning Collage

Here is this morning's collage. It started out a little boring and bland, but once I added the horizontal paint stripes, it all came together for me. These are fun exercises, and I'm glad they are small. I allow about 15 minutes max for each one, and that includes drying time in-between layers.

Autumn Oaks

Normally I am enamored with the red maple leaves at this time of year. This year the oak leaves are clamoring for my attention. They usually turn from green to brown, with no real in-between color. But this year, they are glorious oranges and yellows! These photos were taken at the lake by my house, and I have made several trips there to photograph the leaves and trees, and to gather leaves for art making.

Evan

Evan is our current foster dog, and he is such a little sweetheart! He loves to cuddle and snuggle, and he gets so excited when he sees me and thinks that I am going to pick him up. When I remember the scared little guy that I got from the puppy miller, it is very rewarding to see how much he has blossomed. He is housebroken now; he sleeps in his kennel at night without crying; he plays with toys; and he is starting to play with other dogs. All huge steps for a little dog that spent the first 3.5 years of his life in a puppy mill!

Thankful for the Dogs

I am thankful for the dogs that have come into my life. They have taught me many lessons, and I think that I am a better person for having known them. Some of them are purebreds from a breeder, some of them are mixed breeds, and some of them are puppy mill survivors. All of their temperaments and personalities have been different, but they have all given me as much, if not more, than I have given them.

Lessons I have learned from the dogs:

1. Be patient.

2. Love unconditionally.

3. Always forgive.

4. Don't be afraid to show unbridled enthusiasm.

5. Be persistent if you really want something.

6. Live in the moment.

Wordless Wednesday

Friendship

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, so I celebrate it all month long. For me, today is the first day of Thanksgiving, and I am thankful for all of my wonderful friends. Time and time again, they amaze me with their thoughtfulness, their generosity and their loyalty. I am truly blessed, and I am grateful for each and every one of them!

For Cat Lovers

When I was at a local animal shelter with my camera the other day, the manager asked me if I would mind photographing some of their cats. I am not really a cat person, mostly because of allergies, but I agreed to give it a try. These are my favorites from that photo shoot. I could have photographed the top cat all day --- he was so beautiful and photogenic!

Artist Trading Cards

(click image to enlarge) - SOLD OUT!

I just finished this series of Artist Trading Cards (3.5"x2.5"), and they are available for sale for $20 each, includes US postage. All proceeds will go to Hands, Hearts & Paws --- an all breed dog rescue where I volunteer. Recently they have had several owner surrenders that have needed extensive medical care, and their bank account is depleted. Email me or leave me a comment if you would like to purchase one (or more). Thanks!

This is one dog's story...

This dog was left tied up at a local shelter with a note that said he had been "injured for 3 months". He had a prong collar embedded in his neck that left several puncture wounds all the way around his neck when it was surgically removed. He also had a huge drain hole in the underside of his neck, that thankfully was allowing the infection from his wounds to drain. He later had a second surgery to remove a huge piece of wood that was puncturing his trachea. After all the x-rays, tests and surgeries, he is finally pain-free and healing, but his vet bills total $1000.

This is why I am fundraising for this rescue. Instead of euthanizing him as a hopeless situation, this rescue fought to find a surgeon that would try to save this dog. And now they need help paying his bills.

Another Dog Day

(Seems like every day is a dog day around here......LOL)

The newest photo of Mya and Zeke in the yard with their favorite ball. They were tuckered out, and both of them actually looked at me when I called their names for the photo!

This is one of the new guys in Hands, Hearts & Paws rescue. He is a little 12 pound terrier mix, and totally sweet and friendly.

I loved photographing Gilligan! He is so photogenic and fun-loving!

And one last photo, just to convince you of his cuteness!

Wordless Wednesday

One of Those Things...

I am not a big fan of making or wearing nametags. Unfortunately, one of my art groups has added several new members recently, and as a result, it was decided that everyone should wear nametags for a while. So, last night I got busy and made a unique one for myself. And ... it is designed so that I can remove my name when I am done using it as a nametag, and I will have a small frame-able piece of collage art. Now that I can live with!

P.S. On another note, I sold two pieces of art to a new collector in the Netherlands this morning, and I am thrilled about that!

Another Adoption

Little Ms. Felicia was adopted on Friday morning, just one week after arriving in rescue. She was picked up as a stray and taken by animal control to a high kill shelter. We rescued her from there and transported her to Omaha. She loves playing in her new backyard with her cairn terrier sister, Gracie (on the right).

Here's the newest photo of Mya and our current foster yorkie, Evan. They are quite the pair --- similar in looks, but very different personalities. Mya is a little spitfire, always ready to play or chase something. Evan is a cuddlebug, always wanting to be held and loved.

Wordless Wednesday

A Learning Experiment

I have been playing with spray paint and stencils, in an attempt to accentuate certain areas of a collage. In this collage, I wanted to bring the emphasis to her facial features. I used a piece of plastic needlepoint canvas as my stencil and spray painted around her face. I like the look, but next time I need to be a bit more precise. Black paint on her teeth is not very becoming! LOL

Play Time for the Pups

Our current foster dog, Evan, really needs some socializing around other dogs. So I took him over to a friend's house to play for the afternoon...

JB in his basketball jersey, with his favorite ball

Annabelle in her new hoodie

Bella in her rhinestone-studded muscle T

Ribbons, one of her foster yorkies, about the same size as Evan

Mya with a toy that she discovered in the backyard

And Evan, just looking cute!

Wordless Wednesday

Autumn in the Yard

We love the large ash trees that shade our backyard in the summer and provide privacy from spring through summer, but now is the time that we realize how many leaves it takes to provide that shade and privacy. So far we have bagged 10 HUGE bags of leaves, and that is after the leaves have been mulched into tiny pieces!

After all that leaf raking and mulching, it was time for a little fun! I made 3 new chickadee feeders --- one for Mom and two for us. The little chickadees love the peanut butter or suet in these feeders. Once in a while I see a downy woodpecker on them, but usually it is the chickadees enjoying the feast.

And lastly, a couple more blushing peppers from the garden. Our tomatoes are done, but the peppers are still growing and producing. These two will be part of our supper tonight.

Wordless Wednesday

A Great Day!

Today started with a papa cardinal at the feeder with his two fledglings. He was trying to keep them both fed and teach them how to eat on their own. Throughout the day, they made many trips to the feeder, and I had such fun watching them!

(Sorry for the photo quality --- it was taken through the window screen, as I didn't want to disturb them.)

And my day ended with a great adoption! This is little Hope (now Roxi), who is a maltese/yorkie mix that was rescued from a horrible breeder situation. She flourished in her foster home, and now she has a wonderful forever family with 3 little girls that are already spoiling her! These are the moments that make all the hard work and heartbreak of rescue work worthwhile.

Whirlwind Week

I don't know where the week went, but it flew by. On Thursday I traveled to Lawrence, KS to spend time with friends and attend a workshop on Saturday. On Friday we spent some time with our cameras at Clinton Lake and in downtown Lawrence.

Here are two of the many deer that we saw grazing and playing around the lake. They weren't easily spooked, so we got to enjoy them for quite a while before they ran off.

There were spider webs everywhere in the morning light! Almost every patch of grasses had a zillion webs to photograph, and the sunrise cast the perfect lighting.

This was one of my favorite photos from downtown Lawrence. I guess every town has its share of street artists!