Fellow Blogger Needs HELP!

Good morning everyone! I am going to attempt to help a fellow blogger this morning.
Her name is Shannon & she is at http://livingwithapug.blogspot.com/. Shannon has 2 pugs & a frenchie, Stella, Gunther & Betty. Shannon works tirelessly helping other furry friends through the French Bulldog Rescue Network. She has a new frenchie named Large Marge!
Marge has several health problems & I have posted her story below. PLEASE, if you can, stop by & chip in to help with Marge's vet bills. So sorry I can't provide a clickable link for you but I've had problems with that for quite some time & can't seem to get it fixed. The only place it won't work is on my blog...UGH!!
THANK YOU EVERYONE!!

Marge's story from: http://frenchbulldogrescue.org/htdocs/foster/marge.html


Let's all give a big shout out to FBRN's newest member of the family, Marge! This lovely 6 year old girl was surrendered by her family because they wanted her to have more care and attention than they could provide.

Marge is already receiving lots of attention and love from her new foster family and foster fur siblings, which is helping her to come out of her shell. Despite being deaf and partially blind in one eye, Marge is a goofball who loves to play and wrestle with her foster family.

Marge has some medical issues that required prompt medical attention upon arrival. Our volunteers involved in transporting her, observed she had severely inflamed and painful ears. She was immediately whisked to the vet where she was diagnosed with untreated, chronic ear infections which caused a build- up of scar tissue and infection in her ear canals. She's currently being treated with antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and ear drops to try to open up her ear canals to give her some relief. Marge is also one of loudest breathers to join the FBRN brood. She has a hard team eating and drinking without needing to take a breath in between each bite. Upon examination, the vet said Marge needs to have soft palate resection surgery so she can live a more normal life. While she's under anesthesia, the vet will also scope her ears and see if there's any hope of restoring her hearing. And last but not least, Ms. Marge will be spayed. No more puppies for this retired mom!

If you have a soft spot in your heart for this deserving gal, please click on Marge's picture to make a donation to get her on the road to recovery.

And now....meet Large Marge!

BOOOOO!!!! HALLOWEEN IS COMING!

Good morning! I have been working on some Halloween pictures over the past couple of weeks & I am posting a couple this morning. I am going to attempt to post Halloween pictures each week throughout the month of October. I gathered some free google images & backgrounds. The doll's head I posted (some may think she's a bit spooky looking) I actually found her head in a bag in my garage. Apparently my husband bought her some time ago & stuck it away in the garage. Not sure what his plan was but I was thrilled to find her! I think he would love this picture I did with her.
Happy Sunday everyone. A pleasant day of art & football. GO PITTSBURG STEELERS!

Out with September & in with October

Good morning everyone! Here we are...just over two months til Christmas! Oh, good grief...what a thought! Two new pics this morning using some various free images & backgrounds. Both done with PSE. Today, I am going to try & finish up my fabric collage I started two months ago! Wish me luck! Happy Friday!

Dexter found Tweedles' Bubbles

Good morning world! Oh dear, is it HOT!!!Had a tough time sleeping with this weather. I am so glad it will be gone by the weekend. This morning I am posting an eyeball for your enjoyment as well as my little Dexter surrounded by bubbles. I just thought the eyeball might be fun & a little different. I believe my little Tweedles sent her special bubbles down to Dexter. The 3rd image of the young woman is from the Graphics Fairy. They were all done with Photoshop Elements.
Have a fabulous Tuesday everyone!

1ST Fall Weekend is a Scorcher

Glad to say I am heading for the coast today. The weather here will be around 100...so...there's no better time than this to escape!
The pictures this morning were done on PSE using images from morguefile.com & pdphoto.org. Have a wonderful weekend!

More Mosaic

Good morning everyone! I completed a couple more mosaic pieces yesterday & now my basket is almost full. I did one of the balls with broken glass this time & the other with the half marbles. I really like the look of both but I think my favorite is still the 1st one I did on the far right. I used no grout on that one & it looks more lively to me than the others. What's amazing is that they all started with a piece of styrofoam! I think I need to try one with some terra cotta colored grout next! Hope you're all having a creative week!

Fall is Rolling In

Good Morning! It looks like Fall is rolling in even though they are predicting a huge jump in temps by the weekend. I think it will be our last little heat spell.
I am posting a PSE pic this morning (what a surprise.) I don't think I will ever get tired of doing these. The background is from a Flickr texture group & the image was from The Graphics Fairy. Today I will be working on grouting a couple more mosaic balls. Happy Tuesday everyone!

300th post & new mosaic pieces

Good Friday morning everyone! I am amazed at the fact that today is my 300TH post on my blog since February 2008. I do love my blogging friends & thank you all so much for dropping by.
Today is mosaic day! When I was visiting my sister & brother a couple of weeks ago we slipped in a little mosaic class with Julia Jae at the Black Door Studio in Everett Wa. I am making a point, from now on, to attend one of Julia's classes on each trip. She is positively wonderful & so very generous with herself & all her supplies. I completed three pieces. These all started with styrofoam. We spread the tile adhesive over each piece & applied the glass/marbles etc. I did 2 with grout & 1without grout. They were quite fun to do. Thank you so much, Julia!!

Please Help the Dogs

How often have you had a chance to have a 20 pound bag of dog food donated to a shelter simply for writing a blog post? It’s really that easy. Pedigree has upped the ante big time. And please spread this message: The food drive is not limited to pet blogs. Imagine if we could spread this message beyond our circles and see how far it goes? The numbers could be substantial. Here is the full scoop:

Each year, more than 4 million dogs end up in shelters and breed rescue organizations. Pedigree created The PEDIGREE Adoption Drive to help shine a spotlight on the plight of these homeless dogs.
This year the PEDIGREE Adoption Drive is raising awareness for homeless dogs by donating a bowl of food to shelter dogs for everyone who becomes a “Fan” or “Likes” The PEDIGREE Adoption Drive on Facebook. So far more than 1 million bowls have been donated.

Special for BlogPaws West: For each blog that posts about the PEDIGREE® Adoption Drive through September 19th, PEDIGREE® will donate a bag of their new Healthy Longevity Food for Dogs to shelters nationwide. It’s simple: Write a post, help a dog.

It is so easy to make a big difference. Please set aside a few moments to write a post. Include the bullet points above. Copy the pics if you’d like. Add whatever you’d like in addition to help get the message out. Because this is not limited to pet bloggers, there is tremendous potential. Know bloggers in other categories that might be interested? Please share this post with them, write one of your own, and go to their site at http://www.lifewithdogs.tv/2010/09/write-a-post-help-a-dog/ on Thursday to leave a link to your post. Let’s make this huge. It would just feel great.
Please....don't miss the chance to be a part of this!

New PSE photos

Good Morning! Yes.....I am so hooked on Photoshop Elements it is ridiculous! I feel like it's one of the only things I care to do right now (aside from a little yard art that I will post soon.)
The bottom photo is from pdphoto.org & the background is from a free flickr texture group. The middle one is some type of plant background that came from pdphoto also & the image came from The Graphics Fairy. On the top pic, I believe both of these images came from morguefile.com.
Happy Tuesday everyone!

Home from the Northwest

Good Morning! I am home from Washington State & getting back in the swing again.
I had a wonderful trip. My family (plus the dogs) drove down to Oregon for the Dahlia Festival in Canby. We also met one of our fellow bloggers there....MS. TWEEDLES & her moms. We had a fabulous day...enjoying the dahlias, going out to Tweedles big forest for a visit & then a wonderful dinner with our dear friends.
Thank you, Georgie, Paulette & Tweedles for joining us!
Today's posting is all about the dahlias....hope you enjoy all the pics. I also have more on my flickr link. Wishing you all a beautiful weekend!

Happy Labor Day!

Good morning everyone! I am still in the Northwest enjoying time with my family. I am posting a couple more photos done last week. The backgrounds & images are from
pdphoto.org & morguefile.com. They have wonderful free images.
Enjoy the end of a beautiful long weekend!

New Pic of Tweedles & a Psychedelic Look

Good morning to you all! I've been playing around with some animal images & came up with a new one of my dear little friend, Tweedles! Her moms haven't seen it yet so this will be a surprise for them to see their sweet girl up here this morning. Both of these images were done on the same background. It's pretty amazing how the look differs with a little color alteration. It was a free Google background. The other image was a freebie from morguefile.com.
Happy Tuesday everyone!

New Blog Design & More PSE

Good morning! Friday has arrived & it appears to be a bit cooler today.
I did a blog makeover yesterday. I like to change it up every few months or so. I never thought the day would come that I would actually use a piece of my own art for my blog header. I've come a long way baby!
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Hot! Hot! Hot!

Well, it is going to be quite hot today....probably upper 90's here. Time for a dip in some water!! The bottom picture I am posting turned out looking like a young woman rolling into shore from the ocean. I thought she looked very cool. The images both came from pdphoto.org. They have become one of my favorite sites. The top image was done on my art paper as a background & the image was a freebie. I positively LOVE this image. I have also acquired images from other VERY generous bloggers, another one being http://thesumofallcrafts.blogspot.com/
Happy Tuesday everyone!

Happy Friday

Good Friday morning to everyone! Today's pictures include a family one. The bottom picture is my mother-in-law & her mother back in the early 30s. The background, I believe, was from Elizabeth Golden. People are so generous with their artwork but sometimes I have a hard time remembering where I got something. On the 2nd photo both the background & foreground came from pdphoto.org. The top photo was a free clipart image & the background is some of my art paper I tweaked a bit.
I hope you enjoy & have a wonderful & creative weekend!

Friday Pictures

Friday is upon us! How quick it arrived. The week just flew by.
I have a couple of new pics I am posting this morning. It is getting very difficult to pull myself away from the computer. My preference is to sit & play all day with it. I did have a new follower this week that referenced a free image site called PDPhoto.org. That is where the image on the top photo came from. It is a wonderful resource for photos. You can donate (and I did!) to help keep these photos coming.
The 2nd photo was a freebie...the background & the image.
Have a great weekend everyone!

Obsessed with PSE

Good Monday morning! Hope everyone had a nice weekend. I am officially obsessed with Photoshop Elements! I am starting to feel fairly comfortable with some of this so it's time to branch out a bit. This week I am going to sit down & read Susan Tuttle's book, Digital Expressions. Hopefully, I will learn to incorporate a few other steps in the PSE mix. I am certainly enjoying myself!
Todays piece is a freebie background as well as the image itself.
Wishing you all a creative week!

More Creating with Photoshop Elements

Good Thursday morning! This has to be the most pleasant summer EVER in California.
Still getting June gloom in August! Predicted high temperature today is 76!!!
That's about 20 degrees below normal for August. I LOVE IT!
I am posting yet another Photoshop elements creation. I was very pleased with this one. The background just made it for me. It was a freebie from Elizabeth Golden at lastdoordownthehall.blogspot.com. Elizabeth shares images with us quite often & I am very appreciative of her generosity. The other image was a freebie also but I can't remember from where! I hope you all enjoy it.

Home again from Paso Robles

Good morning everyone. I just returned yesterday after spending 5 days at our 2nd property in Paso Robles. I got a few things done there so that's a good thing. The place is looking great. The trees my husband planted seem to be growing very well.
I am posting a few pics of the property this morning. My husband loved this place but unfortunately, it brings me a great deal of sadness now in spite of its beauty.
You will see the entrance to Independence Ranch, some pics of the Poplar trees lining the driveway, various trees on the property & the BIG BARN. My husband put his heart & soul in this property & I know he would be loving the way it looks today.

I'm on a Photoshop Roll!

Monday morning again! It is a bit dreary outside but feels wonderful with the cool weather. This has to be the most unusual July weather I have experienced in a long time!
Here is another photoshop piece I did. The background was a freebie from ELizabeth Golden at http://thelastdoordownthehall.blogspot.com/http://thelastdoordownthehall.blogspot.com/. Elizabeth does gorgeous work & she is always sharing with her blogging friends.
Have a terrific week everyone!

Photoshop Heaven

Good morning to everyone. I am picking up a little obsession here with Photoshop Elements. It's becoming a morning ritual which I am enjoying so very much. The picture I am posting today was a free background from Julia at http://cemerony-share.blogspot.com/ & the image was under Google free images. This was one of my favorites so far.
I also picked up my best friend from the airport yesterday. She is here to spend three weeks with me & I am so glad to have her here.
I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday!

More Experimenting with Photoshop Elements

I like to always start my blog posts with a big "GOOD MORNING" to everyone!
I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend.
I am posting another experiement using Photoshop Elements. The background was a picture I shot in Pioneer Square in Seattle. The angel image was a Google freebie.
I really like the look of layering the photos & I will be playing a lot more with this program. HAPPY SUNDAY!

Experimenting with Photoshop Elements

Good Morning to all my blogging friends! I am really treading in unknown waters now! I have been experimenting with Photoshop Elements & really don't have too much of a clue on what I am doing. Basically, I am attempting to familiarize myself with all the PS lingo. I have been playing with hue saturation, opacity & layering one photo over another. I like the pieces I have come up with but they would probably look very simple to the digital artist.
Nonetheless....I had so much fun! I sat at the computer for hours & ended up with a sore shoulder. I am feeling like it was worth it for the enjoyment it brought.
Have a fabulous weekend everyone!