Best Shot Monday: Meet UTOPIA Grad Autumn

Autumn

Meet Autumn! She is a member of the most recent graduating class from the City of Tallahassee Animal Service Center's UTOPIA program! What's that, you ask?

The UTOPIA program is a partnership between Animal Services and the Taylor Correctional Institution (TCI) in Perry, Florida. This program began on June 4, 2007, and aims to increase the adoptability of the dogs in training.  The Animal Service Center dogs are housed at the TCI for eight weeks to receive socialization and basic obedience training. All dogs participating in the UTOPIA Program must complete their training before being adopted (minimum eight weeks). 

Programs like these benefit not only the dogs but also the inmates working with the dogs.  The dogs learn basic obedience training while the inmates learn to care for another while incarcerated, thereby giving more meaning to their time in the facility. It's really a fabulous program, and we have a similar one in Jacksonville called TAILS.  I remember an instance in Jacksonville in which, through the help of an anonymous donor, an inmate who helped train a TAILS dog was able to adopt the dog upon his release. It was such a beautiful story! 

So Autumn here has had her eight weeks of training and now walks beautifully on her leash, sits patiently for treats and takes them very sweetly. She is crate trained and ready to come home with you!  She is available for adoption now at the City of Tallahassee Animal Service Center!

Best Shot Monday: Meet Lupita

Lupita 1

Meet sweet Lupita. I so love this girl. She has a beautiful smile, doesn't she?  I first photographed her back in mid-January, and then she got caught up in a little scuffle during playgroup and ended up with stitches and several weeks recovering in the vet suite. Scuffle totally not her fault!  She's back in adoptions now, so I wanted to get some fresh pictures of here. Alix and I had her outside for a while, and she is truly such a sweet girl.

As I was wrapping things up Tuesday afternoon, I ended up helping a family look at some dogs. They had come in with a picture pulled up on their phone and said the photo brought them in.  It was my photo of Mr. Rodgers. They met Mr. Rodgers and then wanted to meet a few others they specifically picked out from the website, including Gwen and Indigo, and then I took the opportunity to introduce them to Lupita and Kahuna, both dogs who've been waiting quite some time for their forever family. They loved Lupita and Kahuna and then ultimately couldn't make up their minds! All the dogs I took out for them are still available on the website, so I'm hoping they at least came back and adopted a dog later in the week.

Lupita 2

Seriously!  Look at that sweet face up there! ^^^  When I was taking 'Pita back to her kennel after her meet and greet with this family, I promised I'd keep trying for her. She really is a love. Here's what the shelter says about her: "Lupita (also known as Pita) is a staff favorite here at the shelter. At 53 pounds she is all muscle, but she acts like she's all fluff. 'Pita knows how to sit and takes treats very gently. She can be protective of her people. Pretty Pita can sometimes be found in playgroups or even behind the front desk, where she shows off her good behavior to any customer who will pay her attention." She's available for adoptable at the City of Tallahassee Animal Service Center, 1125 Easterwood Drive, Tallahassee.

2017 Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap

Didgerdoo postcard for swap

I participated in Kat Sloma's Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap again this year. I love doing postcard swaps! It's always fun to get a fun little unexpected something in your mailbox instead of bills and junk mail! For my submissions, I created some postcards out of some of my shelter photos and added in quotes with them. Above is a dog from the Tallahassee shelter named Didgeradoo. He was such a cool dog!

Below are the other two I did, one a group shot from playgroup at the Jacksonville shelter and the other my all time favorite shelter dog love, Chuck. Chuck was the first shelter dog to completely steal my heart, and he's had it ever since. I think of him often!

Chuck for postcard for swap

Playgroup postcard for swap

Below is the first card I received in the mail. Kat spreads out the mailing do you don't get them all at the same time. More to look forward to! This card came from Deanie Houghtaling in Phoenix, Arizona. It is of a carousel horse in Jardin du Laxembourg in Paris! One day, I will travel to Paris.  One day...

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Next, I received this beautifully drawn zentangle card from Linda Yeatman in Reston, Virginia, below. I love the black and white contrast.

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Next came this beautiful photo from Chrisann Risser. Chrisann and I emailed back and forth a bit, and here's what she told me about her photo: "That photo was taken in December 2016 in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, where I was born and raised. I went home to visit my Dad. Lunenburg is a fishing village on the Atlantic and the colour of the buildings on the waterfront are red so that is what you are seeing in the background. And the photo is of wild rose buds." Beautiful!

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Next I received this beautiful page from an art journal from Lorraine Rush, below. She did not share on her postcard where she was from, but her art is beautiful!

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Then came this lovely little painting from Sheila Delgado from Prescott Valley, Arizona. I visited the little town of Prescott years ago when I went out that way for a friend's wedding. Very cute town! Thanks, Sheila!

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Last I received the card from Kat herself, our wonderful hostess in Portland, Oregon. I wasn't quite sure what the correct orientation was supposed to be, but I liked it best this way! I guess when I see Kat's reveal, I'll know if I was correct! Thanks to Kat for coordinating this swap every year. It's so much fun to send little pieces of your own art out into the world and receive such beautiful little things back.

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2016 Documented Life Project: October

October-1

Welcome to October for the 2016 Documented Life Project! The first week of October was certainly an interesting one for us as Hurricane Matthew hit north Florida and left us with a tree in our roof in our house in Jacksonville. Fun stuff, huh! It's all repaired now, but it was a long couple of months getting there.

October-2

The first week's challenge was to hide something, and I just happened to have another page from the things I created at Melody Ross's class at Serendipity that fit the bill perfectly!

October-3

I had to save this "Comedy Night" invitation on the right. My girls and their friend Kylie put on a little comedy show for us in the front yard, complete with one liners and funny flashlight work.

October-4

This next challenge was to "start with a doodle background." I used a scrap piece of deli paper that had lots of juicy leftover paint and doodles on it before I added a postcard from Lesley Riley and some apples cut from a magazine. The three components really have nothing to do with each other, but I loved the way they came together! The photo on the right is my girls with their volleyball team. This was their first year playing volleyball and they loved it. We lucked into an awesome coach. Makes all the difference!

October-5

This next challenge was to "divide your page in half." I added in a postcard from Rae Missigman and a little pendant the girls and I created way back in Mermaids and Mamas. We went to the FSU Flying High Circus that week for my husband's birthday. One of only two college circuses in the country, FSU's group is absolutely amazing!

October-6

The last challenge for the month was to "repeat a pattern." Those strips with the square holes in them are actually the sides of pages I pulled out of another journal. Always repurposing to get rid of all this stash. So, that's all for October! For more of my 2016 Documented Life Project spreads, click here. For 2015, click here, and for 2014, click here. Be sure to visit the Art to the 5th ladies to see what they have going on! They are the creators of this project!