2016 Documented Life Project: February

How about a little cool February journaling on this super hot July day!? Still chugging along with the 2016 Documented Life Project: the unPlanner. Catching up on sharing! Here's February! Continuing to use up scraps around my studio!

The first week's spread includes a pretty card I received from Kelli May Krenz and our List Ten, which was "things I never should have done." I don't really have that many regrets. I feel like everything we do, good or not so good, teaches a lesson and is part of who we become.

Week two was Chi Omega Creole week, my first assignment as a Chi O Chapter Advisor. I was so proud of my Creole chair and her team. They did an awesome job and raised just over $30,000 for Make a Wish! :-) This spread also includes some fun art from Gina Lee Kim. She sent me two of these, so I decided to include one here!

Close up of Gina's sweet little camper painting.

On the back side of Gina's painting, I included her little heart note that came with the package, which was written on some artwork by her son Stephen!

I kept the Valentine's week spread simple with "Be" cards from Brave Girls Club.

On the back of the "Be" cards, I cut up a journal page into pieces to fit the inserts. Again, using up scraps that are laying around my studio!

Week 3 was a tough week for me, so I thought this postcard I included on the left summed up the week. I journaled about my challenges for the week on the back of the postcard.

This sweet inserted little card was for the "think of summer" challenge for that week. That photo is of me and the redheads at St. George Island a few summers back. Love that picture.

And lastly, the last week of February was An Artful Journey, our last Journey, sadly! The collage on the left and below is from papers I gathered while in class. You can see what I created at An Artful Journey this year here.

Thanks for stopping in today! See more of my 2016 Documented Life Project here, see my 2015 DLP here, and 2014 here (my favorite!).

Best Shot Monday: Meet Sherlock!

I've shared before that some shelter dogs are easier to photograph than others (see this post for the anatomy of a shelter shoot). Well, Sherlock here, he was quite the challenge. Not because he was high energy ... not because he was easily distracted ... not even because he just didn't show any interest in me. Oh no, this boy ... this boy showed all the interest you'd ever want in a dog. He most certainly stole my heart. He's currently being treated for heart worms (thanks to the fine folks from Friends of Jacksonville Animals!) so I had to keep him on his leash for our time together.

We walked a bit before going into photo session mode, but even on our walk, he was glued to my legs, looking up at me like he was saying, "You're coming with me, right?" Some dogs exhibit that behavior due to fearfulness, but not this boy. It was all love. The photo above was pure luck. I was walking him, or he was walking me, and he decided he just wanted to stand between my legs and poke his head out the back. It took a bit of contortionist skills I didn't realize I had to get the shot, but I love it. Those are the back of my shorts you see on the far left.

We sat down for some lovin' and some cell phone selfies as well, all of which were hysterical. My arms just weren't quite long enough! Below is his "official" shot, though my favorite is still the one up top. He's listed as an Australian Cattle Dog, approximately two years old. His ID number is A1006150. He's got some scarring on his face and on his hind end, but I'm not sure what his history is; he came in as a stray on July 14. Whatever his history, it sure didn't adversely affect his personality. This boy is so incredibly sweet.  Be sure to go see him soon at Jacksonville's Animal Care and Protective Services, 2020 Forest Street, and adopt this special boy. I don't think he'll be there long!

A Sweet Little Tea Book

While we've been home in Jacksonville this summer, I've been working on my coptic stitch for bookbinding. I created this little nugget last night. It's just 2 1/4" square!

This is a four-needle stitch (or one needle for each sewing station, however many you choose!) that I learned from my sweet friend Lori Vliegen. There is definitely a learning curve on this one since you have four needles going at the same time, my biggest lesson being how to keep from getting blood on your book when you poke yourself with one of four needles (or two or three needles, but really, who's counting?)

One of my goals this year has been to use up stuff that I have around. I had some paper left over from a Mermaids and Mamas book project, which I used for the signatures for this book. While I was sitting at the kitchen table sewing it all up, Sarah came over and watched for a bit. She said, "Aw, that's so cute and small and .... WAIT A MINUTE! IS THAT A TEA BAG BOX!??!?!!" So yes, the covers are from a tea bag box, my favorite flavor actually.

I'm having fun making these little tinies...there will be more to come!  You can learn this stitch from Lori by taking her class here. I had the benefit of learning it in person since she's in the Jacksonville area!  Thanks again, Lori! 

Best Shot Monday: Meet Agatha!

This girl! I love her so! I trained a new photography volunteer at the shelter on Saturday, and Agatha here was one of the dogs we photographed. She was initially named Blue, but I was glad to learn that shelter staff decided that name didn't really suit her and changed it to Agatha. She's a one year old American Pit Bull Terrier. I don't know her full back story yet and she's not quite ready for adoption, but I hope to learn more about her soon. All I know right now is that she is 50 pounds of love! Loves to play and loved hanging out with me and Meredith. And what a great smile she has!

Jessica Brogan's Inspirational Card Swap

The girlies and I are participating in Jessica Brogan's Inspirational Card Swap again this year. We have so much fun with this. Our cards aren't anything extravagant, but it's fun sending little pieces of us out into the world and seeing what we get back in return. Olivia's cards are above. She got a little painterly this year! She used water and spray inks to completely cover large sheets of paper and then glued her playing cards to the back so the pretty inky side was on the front. Then she added this stamp she liked and some foil tape for a little sparkle.

Sarah, above, picked out a variety of her favorite scrapbook papers to use as her background. She then added the "Count the Happies" stamp. Don't you just love that?! And then some of her favorite flower stickers.

I knew I wanted to go back to using one of my photos this year, like I did in the first swap I participated in (see them here). I had the image in mind but was thinking of a different quote, a line from a Sugarland song, but the line was a bit long and I couldn't figure out how to make it fit. Then out of the blue, when we weren't even talking about our cards and she didn't even know what image I was thinking about using (those are her feet waiting to take off on the swings at Coney Island), Sarah said this line from Peter Pan, and I said, "That's it! That's perfect!" If you aren't familiar with it, those are the directions to Neverland. I added the quote to the image digitally, then sized down the images and printed them two up as 4 x 6 prints. I added the stars and rhinestones as a little bit of star shower and fairy dust. :-)

We're sending these off to Jessica today and looking forward to seeing what we get back in the mail.  Subscribe to Jessica's newsletter on her blog to learn about her next swap. They really are fun!  Here are the cards we did last fall. 

Best Shot Monday: We All Need a Little More Love and Laughter

If you've been following along here long enough, you've undoubtedly seen pictures of the shelter dogs I photograph for both Jacksonville's Animal Care and Protective Services and Tallahassee's Big Dog Rescue. This is my passion. And this is why. This photo shows what volunteering at an animal shelter can do for you. In these crazy and often sad times, we all need a little more love and laughter. Jazzy here is giving me lots of love, and that's certainly creating lots of laughter.  This shot was taken by fellow volunteer Cindi Van Vleck, who was helping me with photos on Saturday. Thanks for catching this special shot, Cindi! 

July Free Bling Friday!

Welcome to July Free Bling Friday! Congratulations to Marsha from Tallahassee for being the lucky winner of June's Free Bling! This month I'm sending these little beauties, part of my Pink Ladies series, out into the world. I created these with handmade artisan lampwork beads and clusters of faceted agate and Swarovski crystals, all wrapped up with sterling silver findings. They hang approximately 2" from top of French wire to bottom of focal bead.

To get your name in the hat, leave me your first name, city and state, and a way to contact you in comments below no later than midnight ET Thursday, July 28. Share this post on Facebook or Twitter and post the link to the share for two entries!  New to commenting on Blogger? At the very bottom of this post, under the "You Might Also Like" section, you'll see a post date (7/8/2016) and "comments" in hot pink. Click on the "comments" and a comment box will open. Open to U.S residents only. Please help me spread the word and share this post! Want a reminder of Free Bling Friday each month? Sign up for my monthly newsletter over there in the right column! Thanks for stopping in!

Best Shot Monday: Meet Moxxi!

Happy 4th to those of you in the States! This is typically a lazy day for us, maybe an early morning trip to the beach if the tide is right, but we normally try to avoid the crowds. After all, we've discovered that we have neighbors up and down the river shooting off fireworks, so why battle the traffic when you can get a good show right from your dock!?  So I spent the morning at the shelter. Though I had every intention of getting back in last month, the month and other obligations here in Jacksonville had other plans.

Finally, today I made it in and was quickly reminded what a workout and how many calories are burned during three or four hours of wrangling large, energetic dogs out of their kennels for a walk and a photo and then back in their kennels (especially in this heat...)!  That lack of shelter time over the past year is probably why I've gained 10 pounds over the past year!  Meet Moxxi! She is a super sweet four year old American Pit Bull Terrier. She was a treat to photograph. Can't you tell by this sweet face? She has great manners, knows sit, paw, down, and even plays fetch! Nice smile, too, don't you think? She's a long-timer at the shelter, having been there since March 1, way too long to be living in a shelter. She's waiting for you to adopt her! You can meet her at Animal Care and Protective Services, 2020 Forest Street in Jacksonville, Florida.