We passed our Obedience Test!! whoo hoo!

This is Tucker, our 4 year old maleThis is Sophie, our 1 1/2 year old female.

Hi there!  Just a quick hello to let you know I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth!! I've been busy spring cleaning and doing this and that, the days somehow seem to fly by. I had a workshop this past week with a couple of wonderful friends, I'll be sure to post the cards we did, they were fun and I think the ladies really liked them!!

Also, I wanted to mention that Sophie and I actually passed Obedience Class!!! Whoo Hoo for us!!!!! I really & truly didn't know if we were going to get that passing grade. The doggies have to do a one minute sit stay and a three minute down stay. There are 6 dogs, all lined up on the line, and they do this exercise together.  If one breaks and gets up, several other tend to follow. That's where I was so worried about Sophie because she's quite a skittery little gal and if someone makes a quick move, she's up and jumps before she knows it!! But she did both of the exercises perfectly, I was so impressed. We also did well on our other testing and get this ~ our mark was 198 out of 200!!~  I was pretty surprised!! We work hard at our training but she's hit and miss some days.  Or maybe I'm hit and miss some days!!  Its definitely a "sport" that both handler and dog need to participate fully in!!

Thankfully, I can now groom her!! As I mentioned, she's so skittery she hates to be groomed and will hide away an entire afternoon after grooming, like we've been mean or something. I mean, its just a shaver for goodness sake, and some scissoring around the eyes & beard, but she's so scared of it all. So, I didn't dare groom her for fear of her being a little goofy for our test!! Her and Tucker, our male dog, love to romp in the grass and its showing on their coats right now.  So, grooming is on the "to do list" for sure.

Our weather is finally cooperating and I dare think we may have spring!!  May long weekend doesn't look promising for warmer weather but as long as their no "S" word, I'm sure we'll all be happy. Especially the campers!!

Take care and I'll be posting those card pics soon. I have some flower pics taken but they are on DH's camera so I'll have to wait to retrieve them from there.

Have a great day and enjoy your afternoon!!

Deb

Help the People of Haiti

Good Afternoon! I don't have any stamping to share today but I do have a wonderful post to share from Stampin' Up!  I'm sure you are aware of the devastation that has hit Haiti this past week;  devastaion really is the only word to describe this tragedy.  One can hardly imagine the severe conditions they are experiencing & the fear they must be feeling; hope & prayer are much needed. 

Help make a difference in the lives of those who continue to suffer from the effects of the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12. From now until February 28, 2010, Stampin’ Up!® will set aside


$2 from the sale of every I {Heart} Hearts stamp set

and donate it to the American Red Cross’ Haiti Relief and Development Fund. The Red Cross is already well-

established in Haiti, and this money will be used

to provide immediate relief and long-term support through supplies, technical assistance and other support to help those in need.
Here is the link if you'd like to see the flyer close up:

Happy New Year!!

Hi there & Happy New Year!

I wanted to share some pictures my husband took at one of our local parks. Each year our small city does a wonderful job decorating this park with lights, lights & more lights!!!! We bought a new camera a few months ago, a shared gift for "our" birthday's. Its been a dream of mine to photograph this park at Christmas with more of a camera than our point & shoot and now we are able to! These lights are up from November til about February or March and I always marvel at their beauty when I drive by.

Encircling the park is a small ice surface where children can skate through the trees; at the edge of the park, there are firepits set up and you often see families roasting hotdogs and marshmallows, enjoying a mug of hot chocolate after their skate. Geeze, I wish I were a kid again...... :-)

This park is truly a Winter Wonderland, I sure hope you like the pictures!!

May you and your Family have a wonderful New Year!!

Deb

Clear Mount Stamps and a New Mini ~ Oh, and SAB!!!!

Good Morning Friends!!! Well, I can hardly believe its almost the close of yet another Year in our Lives!!!! Time sure seems to fly....and that has nothing to do with age, my friends, it has everything to do with being so BUSY!! I am very thankful to be busy!! :-)

To my customers, you should have received your SAB brochure along with a copy of the new Occasions Mini in your mail by now. If you haven't please contact me and I'll get one right out to you.

As you can see from the photo above, SU! is offering an alternative to their wooden block stamps now!! Our wonderful rubber etched stamps are now available in cling form ~ they come without a wood block and are encased in a slim, CD type case. To use them, you would peel the stamp of choice off of its acrylic storage sheet and place on a Clear Mount block. (see picture above) I'll have a set to show for my workshops during SAB, so no worries if you've never used a Clear Mount system before!! The Clear Mount stamps are also less expensive as they don't have the wood block included.

Well, that's all for now folks, I've been trying to fit in some stamping time the past few days and will have some thank you and birthday cards to share soon!!

Take care & Thanks for dropping by!

Debbie

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Wishing you and your family a Very Merry Christmas!!!

Enjoy the holiday season,
Debbie

Happy Winter Solstice!

Hi there! Today at 10:47pm Mountain Standard Time we celebrate Winter Solstice, which occurs when the Earth's axial tilt is farthest away from the sun. This day is also known as the shortest day of the year, which is awesome because that means that from today on, the days will be getting longer ~ even if its only seconds a day!! Hurray!!

Thanks for dropping by and I'll have some stamping related items to post soon. I'm going to try and make my Thank You cards this week along with some Birthday cards for my stash.

Have a Happy Winter Solstice Day :-)

Deb

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Hi there & Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian Friends! I've been out of the stamp studio this past week and am a little behind on my creations right now! Our weather calls for *snow* this week coming up (ugh!) so I guess that will be as good time as any to get back in there and start making the rest of my Christmas cards!! I have about 27 made now and need to take that number up to 40 so I had best get busy. I've also been doing a bit of quilting and hand stitching, I'll be sure to post on my other blog as well once I get those projects completed.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and again, Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian Friends, enjoy that pumpkin pie and turkey, ooooh and the best part, mashed potatoes and gravy...mmmm!! :-)

Thanks for dropping by,

Debbie

Good Morning! I just wanted to check in and say "hi" to my friends and readers (who are the same people of course!! ) Thought I'd post a picture of the Canada Geese who live in our "backyard". I originally mentioned the geese a few weeks back; there was one family of about 7 who lived here for most part of the summer, and then they were joined by another family of about 6 or so. And now as you can see with this picture, there must have been a family reunion or something, because absolutely everyone showed up!!! I enjoy watching them, although I'm sure the golf course could do without so many of them, quite a bit of clean up and such :-)

My Mother in Law has been visiting the past week; we've been busy sightseeing and shopping so my stamp studio is getting a little lonely I think! I'll be back by week's end with some posting, please be sure to check back then!

Thanks for stopping by,

Debbie

Here Kittie Kittie!

Hi there! I was checking out June's amazing blog and came across this posting here of her lovely Kitty Skeeziks! What a cutie her Senior Kitty is!! I told her I'd share a picture of our Senior Kitty, Miss Kellie Cat. She's about 17 years old now, if not a little older. She's such a pretty little thing, very tiny at about 7 pounds and will come when you call her, just like a dog! She sleeps with me under the covers when its cold and loves fresh cream every morning. Our two larger doggies actually do respect her and don't make her life miserable, although she does enjoy making them chase her down the hallway here and there. They never really catch her, although if they get close they are careful. I do think these animals know to respect each other and they know she's an old granny! She had 11 kittens when she was 6 months old, and at about a year had a broken leg that had to be pinned both on the inside & out (that's when she became an inside cat only!)

She's been my DD's companion since she was a baby; Kellie would always lay near her, keeping a watchful eye on her like Nana in Peter Pan. :-)
Thanks for taking time to drop by!
Debbie

All The Geese In a Row!

Hi there! Today I hope to get into the stamp studio and make a card with the latest MoJo Challenge! But for now I wanted to share this cute picture with you! This is our "backyard". We overlook a beautiful golf course and are regularly treated to watching a family of Canada Geese. Here I was able to capture 6 of the Geese strolling across the fairway towards the lake. I loved how they were spaced apart, perhaps Mama or Papa in the lead? The Geese have grown tremedously since Spring and its getting harder and harder to tell the adults from the babies now.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day. I hope you are able to find some stamping time in there! I know I hope to! :-)

Debbie

Blog Award!

Hi there!! I've been away for a few days, with no computer access!! *GASP!* I went through Blogger withdrawl, not being able to check everyone's blogs and comment on their amazing creations!

June Houck was sweet enough to pass on a Blog award to me, how lovely was that??? You will have to check out June's blog, she is amazingly creative!! Thanks June :-) Please check out my sidebar link to June's Simply Elegant Blog and click on Follow, you will be happy you did! :-)

As she had mentioned, the best part of receiving a Blog Award is passing it on!! I'd like to send this award on to the following blogs ~ Debbie, Coastal Creations ~ Joanne, Sleepy In Seattle ~ Dawn, TreasureOilerDesignz ~ Beth, BigSkyPaperandDesign ~ Cindy Haffner, CindyHaffner's Corner ~ Vicki, Its A Stamp Thing

Be sure to check out these ladies' blogs, they are absolutely wonderful. You will have to get their link from my side bar, as I don't seem to be able to link within a post any longer, I'm not sure why. If I was more computer literate, well, I'd probably figure it out!!! And if you know, or can help me, oh Please!!! leave me a note!!

Enjoy your blogging, you will be most inspired!! :-)

I'll be back soon with some new creations. I did a bit of watercolouring while away and have some cards to still put together, I hope to post soon!!
Debbie

Happy Canada Day Everyone!

Hi there! Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Canada Day! Enjoy those bar-b-ques and outdoor parades!! We actually have great weather so I'm going to spend the majority of the day outdoors and enjoy!! :-)

Happy Mother's Day!!

Good Morning Blogger Friends! Happy Mother's Day to each of you! I hope your day is filled with happiness & sunshine and you are able to spend some time with family today. Its supposed to be wonderful weather for us here today so I'm hoping to get a walk with the doggies in somewhere. And, a little birdie told me that there's a Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cake in the freezer, just waiting for after dinner!! mmmmm, now that's going to be wonderful!! Enjoy your day ladies and I'll be back with a few posts this week coming up. :-)

Debbie

An Award!!

Whoo hoo, I received this award today from Debbie at Coastal Creations!! How very sweet, thanks for thinking of me, Debbie!! :-) Here is a link to her Blog, Coastal Creations. It is such a great blog, you won't be disappointed so be sure to click on and have a look at her fabulous creations!

Link: http://coastalcreations.blogspot.com

The rules of this award are as follows:

The receipient may put the logo onto their blog. Put a link to the person who sent you the award. Nominate 10 blogs. Put links to their blogs. Leave a message for the nominees. The people I've linked are most inspirational to me, and I want to let them know they make me smile with their beautiful daily creations!

Now, to list the ten blogs I would like to nominate!! (oops, I nominated 11! I most definitely could list more, but here are an awesome 11, in no particular order!! Thanks for the inspriation, ladies!)

Beth, http://bigskypaperanddesign.blogspot.com/

Mary, http://www.stampinpretty.com/

Jodi, , http://stampingalatte.blogspot.com

Kelly, http://flutterbyatomicbutterfly.blogspot.com/

Vicki, http://itsastampthing-vicki.blogspot.com/

Tina, http://mytherapymycreations.blogspot.com/

Kittie, http://kittiekraft.typepad.com/kittiekraft/ (I could only hope to watercolour like this lady!!)

Dawn, http://treasureoilerdesignz.blogspot.com/

Dottie K, http://paperdotcreations.blogspot.com/

LeeAnn, http://flowerbug.typepad.com/my_weblog/

Jan, http://stampspaperscissors.typepad.com/stamps_paper_scissors/ (not only an awesome stamper but the funniest lady evah!!)

Hi Blogger Friends!!! We are back from our trip to Prince Edward Island!! What a fantastic time we had, touring, dining, and watching a whole week of Nationals Ringette!! Our team battled hard the entire week and came out as Silver Medallists!! I know the girls would have rather had gold, but it was a great week and a great final game. The Ontario team we played was awesome and we just didn't get the breaks. All in all, it was wonderfully successful and a trip to remember, both on and off the ice! :-) Congratulations Team Alberta, well done!!

We hit the beach at Cavendish, which is what I've posted here. Although its not spring in PEI we had a fabulous day when we toured up to Anne of Green Gables and Cavendish. The beach was amazing, as was the colour of the dunes, the water and the sky. It was warm, +15 degrees celcius. Apparently that's very unusual this time of year, so we felt very fortunate to enjoy their Province amidst the sun and warm balmy weather (for the day, anyways!)

I'm unpacking today and doing laundry & general housekeeping. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have something to post. Until then, stay warm and keep out of the flurries & rain that seem to have beseiged us here in Alberta. Oh Spring, Oh Spring, where are you???????? :-)

Thanks for stopping by,

Debbie

Hi Blogger Friends!

Hi there Everyone! Just wanted to let you know that I'll be away from the computer over the next few days but will be back to regular posting very soon. Hope all is well with you and you're getting some stamping time in!! :-)

I'm going to try and post some pictures of our getaway, but will have to see just how available the computers are.

Take care,
Debbie

Hi Blogger Friends! A couple of friends have asked me how Sophie, our new Pup is doing. She recently went in to be spayed and is still wearing her cone!! Yup, stitches may come out next Monday, but until then she's still our little "conehead"! :-) You can see she is in dire need of grooming, but the bubbly bath will have to wait until the stitches are out!!

Have a Great Day and thanks for stopping by!

Debbie

Email Trouble!

Hi Blogger Friends!
Just a quick note today to let you know I'm having trouble with my email. I am receiving some emails but for some reason I can't seem to send any out. I know a few of you are awaiting SU! information from me, so please bear with me. I'm sure the issue will be fixed very soon.

I'll be back with a post and a picture most likely later today.
Have a great day!
Debbie

I'm Back, but not well. :-(

Hi again Blogger Friends;
I just wanted to let you know that I'm still battling this awful cold. Its not getting any better at all. Boohoo for me. :-( I have no voice, and am stuffed up with the most awful 90 year old woman cough. Worst of all I have absolutely no energy whatsoever.

Now I'm not writing this for a pity party - I just wanted you to know why there's been so little activity on my blog! Once I'm feeling better I'll be back to posting my creations. So thanks for understanding!
Debbie

Good Morning Moon!

Hi there Blogger Friends! Did any of you see the "moonset" this morning? It was just amazing. Its not very often that we see the moon out the northwest window, setting into the horizon, but every so often...I couldn't get over its beauty and colour. Truly amazing. Now my camera is certainly not a professional camera, so I was actually impressed that it picked up the moon as it did!

Thanks for stopping by and I promise, I'll have some more stamping stuff to post soon!!

Debbie