For once I'm glad summer is ending...

This hasn't been the greatest summer on record.

• My grandmother passed away.
• Daphne had emergency surgery for bloat.
• Daisy had surgery on her knee.
• Daphne had another surgery to remove cysts from her back.
• I had inflammation in my eye that has lasted most of the summer.
• Last weekend my basement filled with water.
• I tried to cut off the pad of my thumb while I was cutting up the basement carpet to throw it out.

I'm glad summer is almost over because I feel like I'm headed for a new start.

There have been some great positives this summer.

• I've stuck to my diet and done really well.
• I have more energy and feel better than I have in a long time.
• I've joined a health club and have been working out.
• I took a great workshop from Traci Bautista at Valley Ridge Art Studio.
• I'm taking another class at Valley Ridge next week from Robin Atkins called Acrylic Painting~Deluxe Decorative Papers.
• I'm going to Art and Soul in Portland (it counts even though it is in October because I've been looking forward to it all summer!). I'm taking classes from Misty Mawn, Claudine Hellmuth, Ann Baldwin and Leslie Rylie.
• Things at work are looking up.
• I'm back volunteering at the animal shelter after a few months haitus.
• Because of the flood in the basement I get to totally reorganize my "studio" and make it the way I want it.
• Because of the problem with my eye I finally got new glasses so I can actually see when I wear them.
• Because I've lost so much weight I get to buy a new wardrobe.

Isn't it great that the positives outnumber the negatives!

The Big 4-0

Pounds that is! At my weigh-in this week I hit 40 pounds lost (40.2 to be exact). It's going really well and I've gone down several sizes and none of my old clothes fit any more. I've given most of them away and sent some to the local consignment shop. I have some new clothes for now. I'll continue to need smaller clothes so I don't want to buy a lot until I get to my goal. People are going to have to get used to seeing me in the same outfits for a while.

A little "BIG DOG" fix

I was looking through some older pictures of the dogs and thought I'd post a few.

Daisy showing off her incision.

This is from her TPLO surgery in June 07.

A little togetherness at nap time.

This is an oldie but typical of Daisy always wanting to touch Daphne.

Daphne and her St. Paddy's Day Bandana

(I know it's the wrong time of year, I just like this picture. It was taken before her muzzle started getting grey.)

Tip-ins

I signed up for some swaps that are for tip-ins. I sent out the first ones which were for the theme Disjointed Figures (take pieces of figures and combine them together). Here are the pages I made.

Front side page 1

Back side page 1

Front side page 2

Back side page 2

Front side page 3

Back side page 3

Valley Ridge Art Studio ROCKS!!!

I took a workshop from Traci Bautista this past weekend at the Valley Ridge Art Studio in Wisconsin. It was my first time there and I will definitely be going back (in fact I've already signed up for another workshop). The setting is beautiful and peaceful. Kathy and Bill Malkasian are such gracious hosts and have created a wonderful environment for learning and making art. I highly recommend Valley Ridge to everyone.

Traci was everything I thought she'd be. She is super talented and very inspriational. The class was great and I learned so much. I'll never look at paper towels the same way again! The only regret I have is that the class wasn't longer. There was so much to learn and time went by so fast. I'm definitely going to take another workshop from her.

This is my journal.

Class photo

Traci, her dog Freedom & me

Inchies on ATCs

This were done for a swap in the ArtTechniquesATC group.