MEET XO!

My heart was broken. My house was quiet and lonely. I needed something ...and that something was hugs and kisses from a sweet little Shih tzu/chihuahua/dachsund/Jack Russell rescue pup. 

I prepped the kitchen once again to house my incoming fur baby. I was so excited I hardly slept the night before. 

Then it was a trip to South Carolina to begin the journey with XO. (Pronounced "zoh"). I knew that name was IT once he started hugging on me and kissing my cheek. 

And after the paperwork was signed, home we headed making a few stops. 

The pop-up carrier I got at Kmart worked fabulous.  And for $15. I can't complain. XO slept most of the time. No barking and loving the occasional rubs. 

At PetSmart, XO successfully made a potty break.  Yay...I thought this was going to be an easy training especially since he did it again at home. Yet we did have one accident. I'm using the indoor grass mat so hoping it will be a success. 

Everyone at the store loved him. And actually wondered how I got a lil pup when most in the store were older. 

Food and treats were welcomed and he definitely knows where to go now for food. I think he is an eater. Doesn't fall far from the tree :). However one difference from Barkley, so far, is he doesn't bark when I eat or at all when out of the gate. 

The neighborhood girls were so excited they made a special poster saying "Welcom to your forever home XO" with a lil kiss printed on it. They sure loved Barkley too and were happy to see me get another cutie patootie. 

So far Day 1 was a success, XO seems very comfortable and relaxed. However I think he has some separation anxiety. He barked the entire time I was trying to nap so once I went downstairs, he fell asleep in my arms in like 2 seconds. Slowly but surely. 

aKa: Winter 2014/2015

PROJECT LIFE: January 2015 + Title Page

HELLO 2015!

The cover of my album includes a newspaper clipping that is adhered to the front.

And so I began using lots of sparkle and shine.  I love how this turned out and want to continue to create more simple pages like this.

Week 1 took up a 2-page spread and my intent is to keep each week on one page.

I incorporated a lot of vellum cards and pages which was a different fun for the week.

 The week of Jan 5th was my hardest week...and saddest of the year so far.
After 7 years, I had to make the choice to put my lil guy Barkley to sleep.  He had a sack of fluid around his heart and no operation was feasible for him.

 So I grieved by dedicating several pages to him including the last photos I took with him.

TEARS!! but so many good memories of Barkley.

While cleaning up the house, I decided to cut up his favorite toys & clothes and put them into a panaromic spread.  He was such a jumpy fellow, I love the photo of just his feet in the air. Some items included a little circle cutout with notes about that toy.

And then more photos of the past I had with him with stickers and embellishments.

Man I miss that guy!!!

LIFE BOOK 2015: January

I splurged and signed up for an art class Life Book 2015. 

 I was so excited to jump in that I printed off the PDF and failed to watched the video.  Hence why the face is a lil darker than my complexion :). I was using acrylic paint bs watercolor crayons.  Needless to say I had some work to do. 

Hence the transformation went from one extreme to another. And finally ended by using Kate Thompson's stencils, Take 10 January Kit stamps, and alcohol inks. 

Oh yeah...And some gold glitter nail polish :)

My Beacon of Light...I love it!!

The next bonus video was a tag so I created this sewn one with an old film slide, Ashley G stamps, and word stickers.  

The Wordsmith class was next up and this was my result. 

Then came the Girl On the High Wire. 

"Life is a balance of holding on and letting go."

And the final week contained two classes: dream catcher and affirmation feather.