Best Shot Monday: Meet Kori!

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Meet Kori!  This was actually the second time I photographed Kori.  The first time, Kori was entirely too terrified to even come out of his kennel, so I had to take his photo in his kennel.  I sat in his kennel with him for a while that day, and he was perfectly fine .... as long as he was in there.  But outside the kennel ... having to walk by all those other dogs in kennels? ... that was way too scary for him.

The daughter of a friend of mine has become a volunteer at the shelter to help me, and she's been a huge help!  So good to have a helper again!  So Courtney and I decided this past Wednesday was our day to coax Kori outside for a better picture. It took us about 20 minutes to gently, baby step him all the way out to the play yard, but once he got out there?  He discovered how wonderful OUTSIDE is!!!!  He was all over the place, running and hopping and having all sorts of fun. See that happy face?! We played outside for a while, but alas, then it was time to head back down the gauntlet to his kennel.  It took us another 20 minutes to help him get back there, Courtney on her knees in front of him scooting backwards and me on my knees at his side, between him and the kennels, scooting forward with him. Baby step by baby step we finally guided him back into the safety of his kennel.

So, as I've shared here before, don't judge a dog by his kennel presentation!  While some appear super crazy, Kori here just appears super scared, but there again, get him outside, and he's super awesome. As of today, Kori is still available for adoption at the City of Tallahassee Animal Service Center.  Adopt your new best friend at your local animal shelter!   

Best Shot Monday: Meet Gottfried!

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Meet Gottfried! This goofy boy with the goofy name was adopted from the City of Tallahassee Animal Service Center shortly after I shared his photo on Facebook. How can you resist a face like that!? Many people think municipal animal shelters only have pit mixes. Nope. They have a variety of dogs, like Gottfried here, a Treeing Walker Hound. I've even photographed several Labs that appeared to be pure bred in the past couple weeks. Dogs like that get adopted quickly, but they are there! Be sure to visit you local shelter next time you are considering adding a four legged friend to your family. Adopt, don't shop! (and for the record once again, pits and pit mixes can be awesome family pets, just like Gottfried here!) Go find your volunteer passion. I've found mine. :-)

2018 Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap!

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I participated in Kat Sloma's Liberate Your Art Postcard swap again this year. It's always fun to receive something other that bills and junk mail in your mailbox. Click over to Kat's blog post here to see a wrap of the swap including the number of participants and countries from which cards were swapped. As for me, I couldn't resist sharing sweet Denver, so above is the postcard I shared.

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The first card I received, above, is from Tammy in Georgia, a lovely landscape photo with one my favorite subjects: cows! We're doing a side swap as well so I'll share another one of her cards once I receive all my side swap cards!

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Next I received the card above from Lynne in North Carolina, a beautiful landscape painting!

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Next arrived this photo postcard above all the way from Louise in France. On the back of the card, she explained that these boats were meant to carry port wine along the Douro River in Portugal.

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This card of a pretty painted tray arrived next, above. The artist did not include her name or location, but she did share a great quote: "Accept what is, let go of what was, have faith in what will be..."

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This very fun mixed media postcard above arrived next, from Stephanie in Southwest Florida! I really love the vibrant colors in this one.

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And the last card to arrive was the card our host Kat created, above. The message on the back says, "Creativity takes courage" ~ Henri Matisse, with a note that we all proved ourselves courageous by participating! I always enjoy this swap, looking forward to what will show up in my mailbox! You can check out Kat's blog here.


April Free Bling Friday!

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Welcome to Free Bling Friday! Congratulations to Lee from Gainesville, Florida, the lucky recipient of March Free Bling.  I'm taking a chance with these this month. These little beauties speak Spring to me, but they are very difficult to photograph because the photo blows them up to many times their actual size. These are actually tiny 1/2" squares!  If you are viewing them on your phone, they'll look much closer to actual size, but if you are viewing them on your computer, the flower will look a little pixelated because it's so enlarged.  I've taken this photo of mine, sized it down to 1/2" and fused it to these little glass squares. The ear wires are sterling silver.

To get your name in the hat, leave me your first name, city and state, and a way to contact you in the comments below no later than midnight ET Thursday, April 19.  If we are connected on Facebook or Instagram, just let me know your name or handle there and we're good! Share this post on Facebook or Twitter and post a separate comment letting me know you did that for another entry. And if you haven't already subscribed to my monthly newsletter, click here to subscribe and you'll receive a reminder each month for Free Bling and one more entry.

New to commenting on Blogger? At the very bottom of this post, you'll see a date (4/6/2018) 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! Thanks for stopping in!

2017 Documented Life Project: November

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Back to the Documented Life Project today! Finally getting near the end of 2017! I'll admit I haven't done much art journaling the past couple months (been busy at the jewelry bench!) so it's nice to go back and reflect on these. The first week of November took me to our state Volleyball tournament. I fussy cut this big flower out of a Better Homes and Gardens magazine. I really love using magazine images as a focal, and sometimes even a full page from a magazine as the base of a journal page.

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Second week of November here. I loved the stars for Veterans' Day, and they started out just by me plopping a wet stencil (from a July page!) into my second journal. I pulled it out and added just a few touches to it and called it done. One little Easter egg here...there is one thing has has appeared on every one of my pages this year. Can you figure out what it is?

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Thanksgiving week brought us a nice week at home. The Sunday prior to Thanksgiving included our Chi Omega slating of new officers, and I received two sweet cards from my two direct advisees. I incorporated them into my book in this spread and the previous one. :-) Love those sweet young ladies.

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The poppies above close out the month. I cut them off the cover of a Garnet Hill catalog! So did you figure out the one element that appears on each page? Thanks for stopping in today. See more of my 2017 Documented Life Project here. See 2016 here; 2015 here; and 2014 here.

Best Shot Monday: Meet Lilly

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Meet Lilly! I actually photographed this girl last month while we were home on Spring Break in Jacksonville. Lilly is about four years old and came into the shelter as an owner surrender with her sister when their owner could no longer care of them due to home rental restrictions. Her sister was transferred to the Jacksonville Humane Society, and sweet Lilly is still waiting for her forever family at Jacksonville's Animal Care and Protective Services. Lilly truly is a very sweet dog. She is actually the more affectionate of the pair and seeks out human touch, loving and independent. She sits sweetly for treats, walks well on her leash and loves to play.

Thanks for stopping in today!