Black & White Sunday: Stormy day

Yesterday was a very stormy looking day.

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I was hoping we were in for more snow.

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But nothing ever came from those dark, gloomy looking skies. Nothing but freezing cold air.

Today we are joining the Black & Sunday blog hop hosted by lovelies Dachshund Nola and Sugar.

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This ‘N That Thursday: Petal’s Christmas gifts.

Today we are joining the This ‘N That Thursday blog hop, hosted by 2 Brown Dawgs & Ruckus the Eskie, while we share what Petal got for Christmas!

Petal was a very good Collie this year. Which means she received a ton of gifts. It had nothing to do with the fact that she’s spoiled. 😉

Mom, no one wants to see Rudolph. They want to see ME!

Mom, no one wants to see Rudolph. They want to see ME!

Poor Rudolph. Petal shoved him out of the photo. She waited until the day after Christmas before being naughty.

A closer look at all her toys. The blue KONG Squeezz stick & the Wet Nose cookies are from our friends, Carly & Sailor. Thank you!

A closer look at all her toys. The blue KONG Squeezz stick & the Wet Noses cookies are from our friends, Carly & Sailor. Thank you both so much! She loves them both, but especially the cookies. 😉 The rest are from me. I mean, Santa.

I got her a little stuffing-free squirrel/skunk/something animal (it has a few squeakers and some crinkle paper, Petal’s favorite), a stuffing-free crinkly Santa, a dinosaur stuffie, a Christmas owl water bottle cover, a stuffed Rudolph and a new bed cover that I made myself.

Reversible bed cover ade by yours truly.

Reversible bed cover made by yours truly.

See? She wasn’t spoiled at all. 😉

By the way, those Wet Noses cookies are a huge hit. I’m also a little proud to say that I knew exactly what toy you and Sailor had give her, Carly. I knew just by touching it. That is how often I go to pet stores and play with the dog toys. I recognize a KONG Squeezz stick without seeing it. If that doesn’t say crazy dog lady, I don’t know what does.

I got some really wonderful gifts too, but this one is the one that touched me the most.

Thank you Mom & Dad. <3

Thank you Mom & Dad. <3

A ring with Lassie’s name on it. A ring that will never leave my finger.

I hope you guys had a Merry Christmas and Petal wants to know, what did you pups get for Christmas? Were you naughty or nice?

P.S. For those who may be curious, the ring is from Silver Promo.

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Paw Print Ornament

In an effort to keep my mind busier lately, I’ve been crafting. All dog related things so far, of course.
Earlier this month I made a Christmas ornament with Petal’s paw print. Something I had always meant to do with Lassie and Ella’s paw prints, but never did. But we won’t talk about how much that upsets me, especially after finding that it was a really simple and extremely cheap project.

Instead we’ll just be happy that I did this with Petal and admire how it turned out.

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I followed the simple tutorial from Sew DoggyStyle. I think the hardest part was balling up and then rolling the Sculpey clay out. That stuff was SOLID. I ended up using a rolling pin and temporarily staining it red. Then trying to shape it into a nice circle? That took some time.

The easiest part was actually getting Petal’s paw print, thanks to my Mom feeding her treat after treat while I squished her paw into the clay. To avoid having my handprint squished into the other side and messing up the circle I spent so much time on, I laid the clay on a clean, glass, cutting board and laid the cutting board on the floor before pressing Petal’s paw into it.

I ended up having to take that rolling pin to the first paw print and gently roll it out because it was hardly noticeable. I pressed too gently, afraid she’d fight me on it or worse, that I’d hurt her. After my Mom reassured me that Petal didn’t even flinch or care about anything but the treats she was being fed (it was chicken, by the way, the good stuff!), I did a better job the second time and luckily didn’t have to do it a third time. I pressed on each individual toe and even wiggled them just slightly.

After that was done, I made a little hole to string some ribbon through later and I carved the year on one side and her name on the other.

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Then I popped it into the oven and baked it for an amount of time that I wish I had written down! Oops. I do know that it wasn’t very long.

After it was done baking and cooling off, we sprayed it with varnish (Varathane Polyurethane in a clear gloss). This part took the most time. We sprayed the front and then left it to dry for 24 hours before spraying the back and allowing it to dry for 24 hours. Then just for good measure, we sprayed the front again and then the back again, waiting 24 hours in between.
I didn’t use the Sculpey glaze stuff that was used in the tutorial simply because I already had a can of varnish on hand.
I didn’t have to buy any ribbon either, so this priceless ornament only cost me $2 and some change.

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Not only does it look great on our Christmas tree, but it also looked pretty good when I hung it on Petal’s collar. 😉

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My gorgeous girl.
I love those taller-than-the-mountains bunny ears!

Merry Christmas Eve everyone!

Tearin’ Up the Snow

Petal and her cousin, Penny, have been having fun tearing up the snow this winter.
While I have fun photographing it.

Or, at least, I have fun trying to capture their craziness.
I’m not always fast enough.

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snowfunWM5Running from the Penny Beast while also bracing herself just incase she doesn’t make it out in time.

snowfunWM2The Penny Beast glides upon the snow. You better run faster than fast, Petal!

snowfunWM6Have you ever tried to tango in the snow?

snowfunWM3A couple of goofs.

snowfunWM4One happy dog.
This dog is addicted to snow. She would play out in the snow 257 times a day if it were up to her.

Who else has snow? Does your dog (or cat, perhaps) love it or hate it?
For those of you who don’t have snow currently/don’t get snow, has your dog ever seen snow? How did they react?

Jingle Bells

A few weeks ago, after we received a generous amount of snow, I took Petal outside to take Christmas pictures with my wire of brightly and festively colored jingle bells hung around her neck like a garland.

Needless to say, she looked darling.

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells

Jingle all the way,

Jingle all the way,

Oh! what fun it is to ride,

Oh! what fun it is to ride,

In a one-horse open sleigh.

In a one-horse open sleigh.

Jingle bells, jingle bells,

Jingle bells, jingle bells,

Jingle all the way;

Jingle all the way;

Oh! what fun it is to ride

Oh! what fun it is to ride

In a one-horse open sleigh!

In a one-horse open sleigh!

Hey wait a second... I don't see no one-horse open sleighs! I hope you don't expect me to pull any sleighs!

Hey, wait a second… I don’t see no one-horse open sleighs! I hope you don’t expect ME to pull any sleighs! You’re going to have to raise my pay, woman!

She charges more and more for her cuteness every year. The going rate for a cute Petal dog is 3 liver treats, 5 if you want her to wear something silly.
Don’t tell her, but I’ve been slicing her liver treats into smaller pieces just so I can afford her modeling services!

😉

12 days until Christmas everyone!

I don’t know about you, but I still have some shopping to do!