Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Goodbye to Holly

My darling daughter is sad today. Many years ago she took in this sweet goofy dog named Holly.  She was suppose to be Brandon's dog... Brandon is Heather's son.. but you know how that goes, right from the start she was really Heather's dog... well until Roger came along.... both Heather and Holly took to a liking to Roger ....so they took him into the family and she then became Heather's and Roger's dog.

 Holly was a friendly dog, she greeted everyone with a happy grin and a tail wagging like you wouldn't believe.  I was sure that tail was going to break every knickknack I had in my house, never broke a single one but I tell ya I held my breath when she came wiggling and wagging into the room.

She loved to go for walks and she loved to chase rabbits but she was afraid of cats..... except for the ones she lived with, those she tolerated and back in healthier days she got even with their harassing  by eating all the cat food.  She ate my cats food too, they did not like that and were always glad when she went home.

Holly has been ill for quite some time,  but the last few weeks her liver began to fail, then the last few days she could no longer walk so yesterday she made her final trip to the vet and was put to sleep.  Heather really loved that dog, I know this because when she could no longer tolerated dog food Heather  cooked meals for her and Heather does not like to cook.   Heather made her scrambled eggs or hamburger and rice..... for awhile she cooked her poached chicken breasts.  We'd go shopping, I'd be buying pork chop and round steak for my hubby, she'd be buying chicken breasts for her dog. Heather doesn't eat meat.... occasionally a little chicken salad ( only because I made  a really good chicken salad with mustard and dill pickles...  let me know if you want the recipe... I'm not kidding it really is good.)

So we have to say good bye to sweet Holly.... I am sure she is running free in doggy heaven.... and we will see her again one day.  

Here is Holly surrounded by the "boys"



I'm going on a mini vacation..... see you all next week.

Thanks for stopping by.

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Pardo Art Clay Canes & a Journal Cover

This is the time of year that I order Kato clay from Munro Crafts.  I was pleasantly surprise to see they are now carrying Pardo Art Clay.  Munro Crafts gives a fantastic discount on large orders... 50% off on orders over $200....  The main reason I quit using Pardo was the price, now with the discount I can use it to my hearts content.  I had forgotten how easy it is to condition and how wonderful it is for canning.
Net on my wish list is metallic and pearls in the Art Clay....

I recently learned a few tricks about caning from my friend Jackie..... I included a trick or two of my own.... here are the results.

Click on the photos for a closer look.

The first photo shows the canes as well as a couple beads and mirror image tiles that I made with the end scraps.


Closer look at the 3 canes. Pardo is ideal for caning.  Much less distortion during the reduction process.


I used some of the scraps and left over Skinner blend canes to make this one.


I am very pleased with this one.



This one is pretty too.


 I also made another Journal Cover.  I used a couple of my bug critters and highlighted with PearlEx powders.


That's it for now..... I am off to condition more Pardo so I can make more canes.

Thanks for stopping by.