The Documented Life: Challenges 7 and 8

Back to share another two weeks of The Documented Life project.  The girls and I are keeping up with the art journaling challenges, but we are still trying to get the hang of the planning out our days part!  Challenge 7 was to repeat a pattern.

Week 7-Kelly

I chose repeating hearts (above).

Week 7-Olivia

Olivia chose repeating owls and dogs, her two favorite things (above).

Week 7-Sarah

Sarah used a cut off celery stalk as a stamp to make repeating flowers (above). She really did a great job with this!

Challenge 8 was to add a flap to your flap or tip in that was already there for that week.

Week 8-Kelly
Week 8-Kelly

I added in an "Index Card a Day" card I made last year. Finally coming in handy (above)!

Week 8-Olivia

Olivia snagged a tag I made last year to add to her flap (above).

Week 8-Sarah
Week 8-Sarah

Sarah added two flaps, highlighting her favorite snack (above).

Back with more soon! You can still join in on this free project here! Click here for our other 2014 Documented Life Project posts.

Best Shot Monday: What's So Special About Sassy?

Sassy_A817305

What's so special about Sassy, you ask? Sure, maybe she's not the most physically beautiful shelter dog I've ever photographed, but maybe that's the point. I wanted to share Sassy with you today as my Best Shot Monday because she's exactly the kind of dog that gets most overlooked in shelters all over the country: a black Pit mix.   Black dogs are often the first overlooked and wait the longest to get adopted in a shelter setting, particularly black Pits; it's called Black Dog Syndome. You can read a quick article about it here, or just Google Black Dog Syndrome and you'll get quite a few hits. 

But spend a few moments with a dog like Sassy, and you'll immediately want to bring her home.  When I walked into the first run of the shelter Sunday, Sassy was the first dog on the right and on my list to photograph.  There she sat, just patiently waiting, no crazy barking or jumping up and down in her kennel. I walked through all the adoption runs to see who I needed to photograph, and just for ease of ending up in the last run, started there, so I had photographed about eight dogs by the time I got back to Sassy.  Still she sat there patiently waiting.  She was a breeze to get out and on the leash and then walked on her leash like she had patiently done it every day of her life. 

Once we got outside, she nuzzled me for a bit wanting some hugs and kisses, and then she spotted my ball. She went to get it and actually brought it over to me to throw for her. Every time I threw it, she fetched and brought it back to me, gently letting me take it out of her mouth.  Patiently waiting.  She was a breeze to photograph, and I think this photo of her captures the soulfulness of her eyes and the sweetness of her spirit. So, this black dog, this black Pit mix, just so happens to be one of the sweetness, most loving and gentle dogs I've come across at the shelter, and if I didn't think my husband would divorce me if I brought home one more animal (given that we already have two dogs, two cats, and currently three foster kittens), she'd be lounging at my house right now.

So instead, she's waiting for you. Patiently waiting. She'll give you more love than you can possibly imagine. She'll share kisses and tennis balls and be your best friend.  She'll curl up next to your bed and be your loyal companion.  Ready to go get her?  Animal Care and Protective Services, 2020 Forest Street, Jacksonville.  They are open 10am-6pm, Tuesday-Saturday, and this Saturday during our First Saturday event, her adoption fee is just $25, spayed, microchipped, and up-to-date on vaccinations.  And best of all, when you go adopt her, she won't have to patiently wait anymore. That's what's so special about Sassy. 

The December Journal, 6-9

Can you tell I'm juggling 18 projects rights now?  :-)  Still working on finishing up and scanning all my December journal pages.  Hopefully by the end of March, I'll finish!

December Journal 6

Challenge 6 (above) was to use stencils. That was an easy one for me. I love stencils!

December Journal 7

Challenge 7 (above) was to create a variety of ornaments.

December Journal 8

Challenge 8 (above) was to use or draw what's in front of you. I grabbed the heart stencil and Aimee's doodle card about kindness.

December Journal 9

Challenge 9 (above) was to depict who you would be spending the holidays with, so I have letter ornaments for each of the humans and pets in our house.  More to come!  See more December Journal here.   

Best Shot Monday: Friends and Strangers Project, Benny

Benny

Those of you that know me well know that this not just a friend; this is my husband! When I started my Friends and Strangers project, the goal for the friends portion was primarily to get out of the office for lunch more and photograph my lunch dates. Well, guess who my Valentines Day lunch date was? The one and only Benjamin.

He cringed a bit when I brought out the camera as he truly hates to have his picture taken, but the redheads and I appreciate the opportunity to have a nice shot of him without him sticking his tongue out or making a silly face.  When I showed this picture to the girls, they both said, "Oh my goodness! He actually looked at the camera!"  Thank you, Benny, for a nice Valentines Day lunch and a frame-worthy photo.  You've been my Valentine for 22 years. Here's to at least 22 more.

Take a peek at more of my Friends and Stranger project here!  

The Documented Life: Challenges 5 and 6

Catching up on posting! The redheads and I are really enjoying this project. Here are Challenges 5 and 6.
Week 5-Kelly

Challenge 5 was to draw a doodle along one side. My doodle is along the left side, and then I added a little bling to it (above)!

Week 5-Olivia

Olivia doodled along both sides and drew a great palm tree (above).

Week 5-Sarah

Sarah already had this tagged tipped in for this week, so she just added her doodles and two of her favorite heart stamps.

Week 6-Kelly

Challenge 6 was to draw inspiration from one of your favorite Pinterest pins. I love Roben-Marie Smith's work (one of our hostesses for this project). I created this little collage on the back of one of Roben-Marie's postcards, which I had already tipped into this week's page. That was a little bit of serendipity (above)! 

Week 6-Olivia

Olivia found a great VW bus in her favorite color and drew it in her book. You can see her inspiration here (above).

Week 6-Sarah

Sarah also took her inspiration from a vintage auto (above). You can see her inspiration here.

You can still join in on this project here! See more Documented Life posts here.

Tuesday Treasury Shout Out: VintageChic Images

Tuesday Treasury 2-11-14 
It's been a long while since I've done a Tuesday Treasury Shout Out, so I thought this absolutely stunning treasury created by Sylvia Cook of VintageChic Images would be the perfect one to get me back in the groove. Isn't this gorgeous!? I'm so ready for the beach! Thank you Sylvia for including my Across the Pass photo, third row first spot. Click here to view this treasury on Etsy in all its clickable glory. Sylvia is also an amazing photographer! This is one of my favorites of hers below, found here.

Gorgeousness from Sylvia Cook

Best Shot Monday: Friends and Strangers Project, Lajana

Lajana 
Confession: I am an antique store junkie. Have I told you that? Growing up, I spent a good chunk of time with my Nana every summer. Every weekend, we'd spend all day Saturday going to the flea market just south of 103rd St. on Blanding Blvd. and then to Skaff's Produce and Antiques. The flea market is still there, though it's really full of junk now. It had much cooler stuff back then, or maybe it was just cooler to me because I was a kid. Skaff's is no longer there. It was a bit south of the flea market, just a bit north of I-295, on the left if you were heading north. There was a super tall sign with a cow on the top. The cow stayed long after Skaff's closed, but I think it's finally been torn down now. So my love for the hunt started early. My mother also loved poking around antique stores. I did that with her quite a bit, and I have quite a few of my mother's finds in my home today. And now, I'm indoctrinating my girls with the bug.  Olivia likes to hunt for small porcelain animals. Her biggest find was a collection of 11 tiny glass frogs for $8 at the Big Peach Antique Mall about an hour south of Atlanta. It was there that I also found our cow butter dish, aptly named Buttercup, and Sarah found a five-piece furniture set for her dolls, her favorite thing to search for.  

My love for these little shops led me last Friday to Park Street Antiques, just five minutes from work, and to the next entry in my Friends and Strangers project.  Meet Lajana, who just so happens to be the owner of Park Street Antiques. It was serendipity that I met Lajana because, though she owns the shop, she only works on Friday!  The rest of the week, she has other help minding the store.  She's been there for 13 years!  I have no idea how I managed to pass by this little gem for 13 years without stopping in.  I used to love to stop in to Bungalow Artworks, which I believe used to be right next door, so the love of all the art must have distracted me.

Lajana told me she has "a real job" as a property manager, managing 140 properties, and her antiques store is her "play job."  She's also built four houses and is looking forward to building her fifth, and last, on a lake down in Hawthorne, where she plans to retire. She's thinking about starting a blog to document building her last house. That would be great fun to follow.  I poked around Lajana's shop quite a while and fell in love with what is always my greatest weakness: dishes and glasses. Aren't these lovely (below)?  Luckily for my husband, I managed to pass them up and made it out the door with nothing more than some vintage valentines from the 50's.  Stop in to see Lajana at Park Street Antiques, 2766 Park St, Jacksonville.  Take a peek at more of my Friends and Stranger project here!
     
Lajana-glassware

Time for February Free Bling Friday!

February Bling 
Time for Free Bling Friday! December was a blur so I combined my December and January Free Blings. Random.org picked 30 for December/January, so congratulations to Jennie from Utah!

One of my favorite supply shops is going out of business, so I just did a large order from her and whipped up these little beauties from that order right out of the box. These are vintage lucite flowers, accented with Swarovski crystals and sterling silver. They hang about 1" on sterling French wires, and are perfect to welcome our coming Spring. To get your name in the hat, visit either of my Etsy shops (here for jewelry and here for photography) and leave a link to your favorite item in the comments along with your location and a way to reach you by midnight Thursday, March 6. Want more entries? Tweet, blog or Facebook this giveaway and leave another comment with the link. The next winner will be drawn via random.org Friday, March 7. 

Don't want to miss a single Free Bling Friday? Click here to sign up for free weekly email updates or subscribe in the reader of your choice over there in the right column. And be sure to like my Facebook page or sign up for my monthly newsletter on my website here for specials. Thanks for stopping in! Giveaway open to U.S. and Canadian entries only.

The Documented Life: Challenge 4

Challenge 4 for The Documented Life project called for including a quote and then covering up all but one word of it.
Week 4-Kelly

I wrote "finding beauty in the everyday" and kept and highlighted Beauty (above). I used some of my messy papers for the background. I love the juicy color from that paper.

Week 4-Olivia

Olivia chose to just focus on one word: special (above). That's my girl.

Week 4-Sarah

Sarah went a simpler route which I think fits her sentiment perfectly. She started with "you are extraordinary and awesome" and kept "extraordinary." Yep, that's my girl!  You can still join in on this project here! See more Documented Life posts here.

The Documented Life: Challenge 3

We've been keeping up pretty well with The Documented Life project. I've just been behind in photographing our pages! Because these journals are already so thick due to all the tips ins, they are difficult to scan! Below are our Challenge 3 entries.  Challenge 3 was to incorporate something from the mail into your page.

Week 3-Kelly

I added in a cut-in-half piece of a window envelope and then inserted a couple of the girls' pictures in the pocket (above).

Week 3-Sarah

Sarah did something similar, using the other half of my envelope and then adding in a vintage postcard (above).

Week 3-Olivia

Olivia also went the vintage postcard route, just using that as the "mail" she included (above). Speaking of vintage postcards, I think I've already mentioned here that I'm an addict. While the girls were looking through my postcards to pick one to add for this week's challenge, I got completely sidetracked by organizing all those postcards. Why I felt the need to do that at that moment, I have no clue, but now at least all my city postcards are organized.

I hope to post Challenge 4 tomorrow! You can still join in on this project here!  The weekly challenges and inspiration are free.  There is an optional class to learn to create all the tips in and paint you cover for $12.  Totally worth it!  See more Documented Life posts here.

Best Shot Monday: Meet Jewel

Jewel_A815824
Meet Jewel! Jewel is a super sweet girl who loves to play! And such a little lover she is. Her sweet disposition belies her history. Jewel was abandoned by her owner and came into the shelter very underweight. Can you imagine abandoning that sweet face? She was included in this cute little video created by shelter manager Nikki Harris. All the dogs featured here were photographed by me; the cats were photographed by our wonderful cat photographer Leah Alicia.

Jewel and I hope you have a great week!  Make it even better by making a visit to your local animal shelter!