Dog Days of Summer

 Good dogs are with us for a little while to teach us how to love

like it's our job,

because it is!

Lessons in loving from our most constant friends.

6 Ways to view Gus

Wow, I LEARNED a lot of new things this week.  Scroll down my blog and you can see 6 different fun creative greetings of Gus the Beagle / Basset hound.

Things I re-learned?  I have lots of paper and doo-dads I really can use it in so many ways. The layouts that I found through web searches are awesome inspiration to make every single card I create, unique to itself! 

You have to look close but I stitched all around the chevron paper.  Added a cute Tim Holtz paper clip with matching ribbon knotted to show off some flare! Look for

the not so hidden ♥

And I worked on Photoshop, a lot!  Probably can't tell that much of a difference on my pics.... but I'm working on better lighting and layout of the card when I take the actual picture.  I'm learning how to enhance the light on the photo in the Photo shop program, add a frame around the picture to give it a soft glow and add a signature watermark. 

At times I should take a picture of my work area... I have a Photo Shop for Dummies yellow and black book open on my desk amongst my pens and pencils, my laptop is wide open learning from wonderful on-line classes on the web and of course...I'm being over stimulated by all the colors and shapes in my creative studio.  I'm on a learning high!

Thanks for stopping by, scroll down and view all 6 cards in the Gus series.  He's a cute hound to doodle.  FuN MaiL is going right in someone's mail box.

Go ahead,

☼ Brighten Someone's Day!!!!!

My greeting cards are always for sale.... much better than Hallmark, trust me!!!

Party with Gus

Gus is getting the party hopping through this hot hot week at the end of July 2012.  Two more cards in the series of 6 note cards going off to a friend who is giving them as part of a birthday gift.

All of these cards are simple and fun doodles of Gus the Beagle/Basset hound. Today he is party bound with a present surrounded by popping stars and a cool party hat with a fluffy thing -a- ma- jig at the top!  These cards can be given for any type of celebration or acknowledgement.

A little bitter sweet... took Sissy to get her picture taken for the high school yearbook today, her Senior Picture.  My baby is going to be a senior, and now I need to grow up.  We took some fun pictures at the pond next door too.  I'll crop them and show some soon!

Hidden Hearts

Two more cards of Gus the Beagle/Basset hound.  Is he the mischievous sort?  Or does he get caught in  the wrong place and the wrong time.... those big black eyes seem like trouble to me! 

My challenge in creating these cards is to use all materials on hand.  I have a lot of wonderful supplies (mostly  patterned paper)  that are just stuffed in drawers and folders and they NEED to be used.

Added small punched flowers to the mailbox above.  Used a balled stylist to give the flowers some shape.  Then added sparkly stickles to the centers. Tied the knot on the bow really tight, in creating flat cards that are easy to send as FuN MaiL....

Decided to fussy  cut ( target and cut a specific motif that's printed on paper, rather than randomly cutting the image as we normally do. ) Gus and the mug. 

Makes his image pop out on the card.  One theme throughout is to add a ♥ to the card images that I doodle. Easy to spot in the bottom card, where is it in the top card???  That also gives me another challenge to remember to find a way to add that special touch!

It's supposed to be another real hot, hot day here in the suburbs.  Heat index above 100 degrees.  This will sure be a summer to remember, for a lot of reasons!!!

Remember not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck ~ Dalai Lama

and finally, also from Pinterest....

If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you!

Now go.... brighten someone's day!

Gus is Back

I'm so excited to share a few cards this week that include my favorite beagle basset Gus! 

I made up 6 different *original doodle dog poses for note card fronts and then searched out ways I could use my scraps to make fun and whimsical Gus cards.  Here, he is enjoying a little bit of nature sitting in the grass with the flowers and a lady bug friend!

Here's the Mojo Monday sketch I followed when creating the card.  I love how the little banners peak out the bottom and give a rugged/jagged edge!

As you know, I struggle as an artist and a blogger with this, and have recently seen some others address this to their blogs...

* Doodle - original doodle would be something I created and drew by hand. 

However, a disclaimer... I don't know if any art is original, we all get inspiration somewhere, from a photo in a book, pictures on the internet, nature and actual people, places and things. PRDesigns defines some doodles as CASe-ing a STAMPED image where I hand draw and color (not tracing or scanning the image) and give credit to the best of my ability, due to the original artist or company.

We've had rain!  It's the thing where water comes down from the sky...you almost want to go outside and stand in it and soak it all in.  It's wonderful!  This summer 2012, as any summer or season... has sure been different!

Hey, stay tuned and see some more Gus cards being posted soon!!!

Brighten Someone's Day!

Gus, the new dog in town

Charlie's mom has a sister, who recently adopted a 4 legged beagle dachshund mix named Gus. So, we wanted to create a new doggie card. I'm still working out the kinks, he isn't as cute as I hoped, so maybe next time, he'll be new and improved!