Sadie's First Page

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Sadie is our daughter's dog. A Shepherd-Huskie Mix, she weighs in at about 85 pounds and gets around well for a 14-year-old dog. According to the UC Davis Book of Dogs, small-breed dogs (such as small terriers) then become geriatric at about 11 years; medium-breed dogs (such as larger spaniels) at 10 years; large-breed dogs (such as German Shepherd Dogs) at 8 years; and giant-breed dogs (such as Great Danes) at 7 years. (Wikepedia). According to this, Sadie has almost doubled her geriatric years. We thought we were losing her last month, but she rebounded and will be spending the day with me since my daughter is Air Guarding at the drop zone this afternoon.

On Monday night I started playing with a "Pet Pages" project and random stamped background papers and designs. I used a Jeanette R. Lynton's Reflections Scrapbook Program design layout (page 19) as a blueprint and handstamped my designs on Close To My Heart's Colonial White cardstock. Using Close to My Heart's Brown Bag cardstock as a background, I used three Exclusive Inks colors (Blush, Brown Bag and Sweet Leaf) to stamped my background papers. My puppy paws came from CTMH's Welcome Baby set (B1325). The doggie bones came from CTMH's Dog's Life set (C1316). The heart was from CTMH's Love Language (D1343)

Getting Started

Yesterday afternoon my daughter-in-law, Maddy, came by and we scrapped together for about two hours. She's helping me develop a Pet Pages workshop using Close To My Heart products. (I would love to see you visit my website at http://www.dianecook.myctmh.com/)

Maddy and I share many of the same interests, so it's quite convenient that she and my son moved next door. Since Maddy is relatively new to scrapbooking, our first big decision was big or little? Maddy found the 12"x12" scrapbooking page rather intimidating, fearful that she couldn't fill it up. I understood since I felt the same way when I stepped back into the genre several years ago. But we opted for the larger size to accommodate our design and technique.

Though I had hoped to finish the two-page spread before the evening was out, I discovered that I was sorely lacking a photo of my pets together. So, I grabbed my digital camera and stepped over the dogs who immediately jumped up, obviously hoping that we were going downstairs to get them treats, which they view as my sole purpose in life.

We went into the hallway where they started milling and waiting, waiting and milling, but they wouldn't remain in close enough proximity to get a good shot.

Finally, I issued the command . . . "sit!"

They looked up at my as if they were thinking, "What, are you crazy?"

"Sit!" I commanded once again. Tally was the first to sit; Bo reluctantly complied.

I positioned my camera and took the shot, but its slight delay caught Bo looking away. He was obviously tired of this nonsense, so he stood and walked into my husband's office.

Since Bo-dog was walking, Tally figured she was released as well. But I wasn't looking for a picture of their tales, so I once again commanded, "Sit!"

They turned and looked at me like I was an idiot. Their expressions revealed their transparent thoughts: "What are you saying? I don't see any treat in your hand!"

"Sit!" I commanded, one more time. Surprised, they turned around and sat in unison. This time my camera cooperated. I got a picture of the best buds together, looking at me as sweetly as I could hope. . . well, maybe Bo-Bo (the black and white dog in the front) wasn't quite as happy as Talley, but he complied.

"Do you want a treat?"

Their ears popped up, then they rushed past me to scrabble down the stairs while I remained in the hallway most certainly left behind.

I'll be posting their completed pages sometime this evening. Have a blessed day.

Diane Cook

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened."

~ Anatole F