Sunday, August 31, 2008

The Dog and the Turd




So here I am, Labor Day weekend and all excited that I have my first pet sitting job with a pet that doesn't belong to a friend. Ooooh Boy. A cute yellow lab named Maggie. She is sweet, she is huge and she is adorable. I will make three visits a day and spend about 35 to 40 minutes with her. We will walk, I will talk and we will have a fabulous time together while her Mama and Daddy are away for 6 days.
Day one, fabulous. Day two, fabulous. Day three... the turd. yep, the turd. You see Maggie has this invisible collar/fence, shock the crap out of ya thing which means she can run around the yard "free." This also means that she can get into whatever she wants to get into before "auntie," that would be me, can get to her and rip it out of her mouth. Well.... she found a cat turd or some kinda turd buried in the pine straw. Of course, by the time I could get to her, she was running with the turd while I chased her. This is fun, thought Maggie. Auntie thought.. what the *$@**& are you doing????? Gulp... she ate it. Oh dear. Oh my. Not good.

Before I left for the evening I made Maggie promise me she wouldn't puke. So, upon arrival the next morning at 6:45 a.m. Maggie had kept her promise. She didn't puke, but she did have diarrhea in the house. Peeeeuuuuu! Then to make matters worse, I took her for a walk and she had pure blood pouring out her butt!!! I almost passed out! I get her in my car and drove her to my house to get all her paperwork so we can go to the emergency vet. Then, I can't get her out of the car. She won't budge! So I pick up this giant dog with a bear hug and get her out of the car. Later, at the vet's office I find out that Maggie weighs 84 lbs. I weigh 89 lbs. Amazing what adrenaline and fear can do!

So after a brief visit with the vet and $296.00 later, Maggie is at home and happy as always. Auntie is happy that Maggie no longer has blood spraying out of her butt and Auntie is ever grateful that Maggie's parents don't' hate her for letting their child eat naughty food.

Kids... a full time job.

Have a great week.
Hugs,
Shell
This week IGF understanding parents and emergency vet clinics.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

If the Shoe Fits






































I was on a roll this weekend! I had a total blast and felt like I got alot done. Of course that meant not answering my phone (sorry friends, still love ya), but I really needed work and the inspiration was there. Time is of the essence these days.

I don't know what it was about these shoes that caught my eye, but I thought they were so pretty. All my work is quilted not paper. I'm just a fabric junkie at heart. Sooo, I transferred the images onto silk and then cut them out. The background fabric has been heavily quilted and then washed for that oh so wonderful aged, old, quilt look. I then made tags that have cardstock on the back so you can write a fabulous message. I just had to make a "doodle book." I loooovvve to doodle and I carry a doodle book in my purse. I write quotes, make little sketches and heck... doodle! They are so much fun to carry around. I find myself doodling all the time. People always inspire me.

Then there are some of my "mail art" cards. These are so much fun to send and to receive. They come with a clear envelope so the recipient actually gets a piece of art in the mail and the post office people can enjoy looking at it to and are all jealous because someone loves you enough to send you something so special and handmade and one of a kind! I also made a little piece of art that would look good on a shelf, a dresser or a nightstand. It sits on this adorable wire easel. Ooo la la it is fun! Everything is available on my site if you are interested. Free shipping in the USA! Purchase here.

Today is also Worldwide Rabbit Love and Appreciation Day. What a wonderful day it is. Of course I have to share some photos of my kids as I love and appreciate them every single day. They bring me so much happiness and ask for very little in return. Please visit my friend Paula if you are interested in adopting a bunny and if you want to look at some more fabulous bunny photos, please visit my nephews here.


Well have a great week. Be good and love some bunny!

Hugs,
Shell

This week IGF Razzy, Chloe and Silfay (my outside bunny that I have been feeding since he was a baby). Mama loves you my precious snuggle bunnies!

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Me and My BA

I have an Arts BA. Yep, I sure do. Now don't go getting all impressed or anything. In reality, I'm not the college type. My Art BA stands for an "Art Blog Addiction." I'm totally addicted to artsy blogs. I can't get enough of the them. If you look to the left you will see "places we like to hop to." My oh my are there some fun places there. It's totally addicting. One takes you to the next and then to the next and then you've sat at the computer for two hours and had lots of coffee and are really super hyper and.. and... and... Now you see my problem. I really love to read about people and learn from people and share their experiences. For me, this is the most incredible way to learn something.

Of course, I know some of my teacher friends out there were momentarily impressed that I actually had a BA. Baaahhh Hum Bug. I really wanted to go and get some sort of degree, but I am a really bad test taker. I freeze up even when I know the material. I get so scared and I suck! I do have an associates degree in "office systems technology," (aka I'm a fabulous secretary), but it was an easy degree to get because it involved doing things. It's all the other crap you have to take to get a four year degree that I just couldn't handle. Trigonometry... still have not used it. History of the pigmee, aborigome, one legged, cross eyed pigeon tribe... still don't need it. I wanted to skip all the crap and take all the classes that would get me to where I wanted. They say you need to take those other crap classes to be rounded, believe me, I'm rounded. Most people only stay rounded until they get their first job and then they have a mortgage to pay, kids to raise and bills out the wazoo! Rounded... forget it! It's SHOW ME THE MONEY time.

My personal opinion is that everyone should take the Meyer's Briggs test when they are in 10th grade. It would save parent's a crap load of money and students at least 15 years of their lives trying to figure out what they want to be when they grow up. I hardly know anyone that is working in the field of their degree. Let's face it, we are who we are and that never changes. It's what makes the world so wonderful.

Hugs,
Shell

Sunday, August 17, 2008

The Voice Was So Chatty


With regards to last weeks post about the wandering mind, it was so cool to receive so much feedback from fellow artsy folk regarding "unstructured time." Ahh yes, alone I am not. It is good to have friends with similar unstructured, oh, I mean wandering minds. :)

Well the little voice in my head that was quiet for so long turned into Ms. Chatty. I finally decided I better get a pen and start taking notes before all the ideas got zapped back to planet dorkwad, home of the stressed and overwhelmed. It's funny how the voice would say something and as I would write it down, I would start laughing about what a cute idea that was. Then it would say another idea and I would laugh again. Thank goodness I was at home and the bunnies don't care if I talk to myself or laugh out for no apparent reason. Bunnies are the best coworkers! However they do spend a lot of time sleeping on the job.

Yes... to the picture of Razzy... he chewed the baseboard. Naughty bunny. So anyway, the little voice gave me lots of ideas some of which are shown above. These were just a few things that the voice said "FINISH!!!" So I did. They are available on my site, The Raspberry Rabbits if you're interested in purchasing them. Next week I'll have some more new things for you to see. Here's a hint... if the shoe fits.

Have a great week!
Hugs,
Shell

This week IGF the book club pool party and cartwheels (got ya guess'in on that one don't I?)

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Unstructured Time and the Wandering Mind




I Loooovvvve it. I truly do. It is the best gift I can ever get... Unstructured Time that is. I took this past Friday and tomorrow, Monday, off from my full time job to enjoy some things about my part time jobs. I still have a load of vacation hours from my full time job and the little voice in my head said, "hey stupid your worn out, tired, exhausted, cranky, and fed up. Take a day or two off." Sometimes I really like that little voice.
So with that said, I took some well deserved time off. I decided to vacation at my favorite place, home. I love my house and work very hard to pay for it. The sad part is that I never get to enjoy it much because I'm working so hard to pay for it. Kinda stupid when you think about it, but in theory, it will be paid for by the time I'm 48. Then I'm free!!!
I've spent the past few days doing things as I feel like doing them not because it was some structured time schedule I had to keep. I find that many "creative" people find it hard to be "creative" when they are on structured time. I mean you can't just sit there and go "ok, you just worked 10 hours at one job, went to another job, now sit here and be creative for one hour even though you can't hold your eyes open and you have a tone of chores to do." Most creative people have to be able to let their mind wander to look at possibilities in a piece of art, to look at different colors, fabrics, embellishments, etc. It just doesn't happen in a structured time frame. The mind needs to wander. At least for me it does. All I do is get overwhelmed, stressed and totally depressed. Then the little voice say's, "Snap out of it Dorkwad!"

So, since I have had a few days of Unstructured Time, the little voice that has been squashed out by way to many responsibilities has surfaced and shouted really loud, "Let them eat cake!" Thus, I have created several items with a cake theme. They are on my site The Raspberry Rabbits It was fun, the ideas flowed, and best of all it was Unstructured Time that my mind could wander."

Have a great week and here's to a happy wandering mind.
Hugs,
Shell
This week IGF, the little voice that knows me so well.

Friday, August 8, 2008

I've Been Tagged!



Oh my I've been tagged! My friend Janet from Janet's Creative Pillows
has tagged me to tell you 7 things about myself. Hmmm... well here goes.

1. When I laugh really hard I snort.. a lot
2. All my stress comes out in my sleep and I shout out really loud usually waking myself or David up. If I'm really really stressed, I'll cuss. Naughty, naughty.
3. At age 13 I stopped growing at 5' tall. At age 35 I grew an inch and my eyesight got better and I now only wear one contact. (freak of nature I am or could be the green tea)
4. I wish I could wear blue jeans and cowgirl boots every day of my life.
5. I'm an extreme neat freak. People don't think we live in our house. (no kids)
6. I don't like to eat out. I prefer meals made by friends and to cook for my friends.
7. My dream life would be to live in a little cottage with David and the bunnies, create textile art and be a bunny caretaker at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah. Oh and wear blue jeans and cowgirl boots every day. :)

Now I am going to tag these 7 friends. I can't wait to read about you. Hugs, Shell

Cathy at Cathy's Creations
Jennifer at Cottage Flair
Dianne at Mama's Pocketbook
Sharon at Cest Chouette
Brandy at Brandy Wine Boutique
Sylvia at Syliva Anderson
Diane at Duda Daze

Monday, August 4, 2008

Time for a Pet-i-Cure




First of the month and time for the dreaded Pet-i-Cure as we call it here in bunnyville. I'm not sure who hates it most, the bunnies or David. They all seem to give me ugly looks and complain. David's duty is to hold them with their feet sticking out so I can chop those nails and try not to make them bleed (only had it happen once, it was awful). We put a towel down on the chaise lounge and get to chopping. Razzy usually starts breathing really hard and making noises we call "chicken bunny" noises. He really is a fuzzy chicken. Chloe stomps her foot in pure disgust and David yell's "will you hurry it up already." Oh the pressure! While they are here and already in a bad mood, it's the perfect time to get the loose hair off Razzy. He's got such a fuzzy butt.
So they have been foofed, fluffed, and clipped and the ordeal is over for yet another month. The bunnies get a carrot and David get's the TV remote and there is peace and happiness again in bunnyville.
Have a great week.
Hugs,
Shell
This week IGF movie time with Lyd and my first pet sitting job.


Saturday, August 2, 2008

Make Mine Pink Retreat


Meet Me at the MMP Retreat!
Make Mine Pink presents the first annual Make Mine Pink "Getting Down to Business" retreat in historic Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia on September 19-20, 2008. Join the Women of MMP, who are always willing to welcome, mentor and help build a circle of friendship.
This is an energized opportunity to network, and gain or enhance business knowledge in a fun and inspiring way~ plus we will have lots of fun, great food, great friends, great information! Casual dress required… stuffiness and worries must be left at home! Make an investment in your business today.
I can’t wait ~ won’t you join me?
Colonial WilliamsburgWilliamsburg Lodge310 S. England StreetWilliamsburg, VA 231851-800-HISTORY (447-8679)
September 19-20, 2008

Lady Hannah Goldenhare - Nothing Gold Can Stay

Hello dear friends, It's been a minute hasn't it? My last post was over a year ago. I decided I wanted to stay in my bubble where it...