Good Monday…oops Tuesday morning to you! I hope that everyone had a fabulous Holiday Weekend and if you are like me….when a Holiday falls on a Monday and John is off from work, I am confused as to what day it is all week long! One thing that will WHIP MY MEMORY to be on track is….this Friday is NEW CATALOG DAY – yippee skippee!

Hang tight with me today as there actually IS a bit about stampin’ (and I know that it will make you smile) and also a video for you that is super short but one that you need to watch as it is just FABULOUS in teaching a super fun technique…..so grab a cup of “whatever” and take all of this fun in!

Whew, we had a bunch going on and you know me, I love to share with you all of the crazy things that happen as I just love life! I had great intentions to do certain things (I love to work from a list) and then LIFE happened and took me to other paths but it all worked out! It ended up to be a super productive weekend but I need to be honest with you…

My wonderful, sweet and kind husband had his tail between his legs when I came home and left him in charge of 6 dogs….yep, this is where the stories begin! First…I need to back up as I did not share this with you before but now it has happened TWICE and as the saying goes… you just can’t make this stuff up!

I love to cook and one thing that makes me super happy to to continue to learn about cooking and techniques so here is a little tidbit you might not know about me but….I volunteer as needed at this amazing Kitchen Studio where they teach all different cooking classes. It is a win-win for me as I adore to learn and explore with food and I adore to be around “foodies” as just like stamping – it is great to be with peolple that share the same passion as you do!

Well…on Friday, May 18th I went to the cooking school and left John at home with 6 dogs (we were babysitting James & Ashleigh’s 3 dogs for the weekend) and John was looking forward to a “guy night” and being able to eat things that I am not a fan of….and watch a “guy movie” which again, I am not a fan of…

I did my thing and it was a FANTASTIC menu and on my way home John called me which I thought was a bit unusual as he knows how long it takes etc….he said – just checking in to see how your evening was and I bet you are on the way home (it is about a 40 minute drive) and I said yep – it was great…how’s everything at the house?

I came in the door…the kitchen was spotless (which is normal for him as he is the best) and then the TV was turned to Shark Tank (a show that I ADORE)… I knew something was up….WHY???? I know him well enough as when he has the opportunity to watch a good guy movie without any comments from the “peanut gallery – that would be ME“  he usually will say hi – glad your home and never look up to see if it was actually me that walked in the door!

He went through all of the guilty things one could say….like – tell me about the menu…..how many people were there……what did you learn…..and then I did the count….1 -2- 3- 4 -5 …..and said – WHERE’S MILO? He said – he went back to bed but I need to tell you something. Naturally my heart sank!

This is his story…..While I was cooking…I had the tv turned up….. and all 6 of the dogs were playing with toys in the family room….(we have this huge crock in the corner of our family room that has all sorts of dog toys from animals that are missing arms….to the classic rubber chicken to the “wrecking ball” – we named it that as it is a HUGE BALL with a rope attached to it that they love to play and tug on and when one lets go..the wrecking ball goes flying across the room!)

He continued saying that the dogs were all playing like normal and they must have gotten carried away…..and then he said – Milo had a little mishap! Again, my heart sank and I went back towards our room and he said – NO WAIT….he is ok – let me finish. I did and he continued in saying that he fixed dinner (and it was great) and then he sat down to relax….. Milo was sitting with him in his chair watching “the guys movie” and all of the others were there as well…..

To fill you in….MILO is a PERFECT dog that we rescued and a dog that you would say “fills my heart” after loosing my dear Eddie 2 years ago….and just as most dachshunds do…they love to be patted and when you stop, they nudge you with their nose. In hindsight I can see this whole thing as when John gets engrossed with a movie…the volume on the TV goes UP and it is like a bomb could go off and he wouldn’t notice…

Well, he noticed! The bottom part of Milos ear was dangling…

I actually would have loved to have been a fly on the wall to see his face and truthfully hear what he said to the other dogs…..I am sure it was something like this…..OH MY GOSH….Milo – what happened….then it was probably something like….ok guys (to the other dogs) when did this happen…..LIKE SOMEONE IS REALLY GOING TO CONFESS….to thinking OMG….this isn’t going to go well with Susan!

He said – there was no blood  and I have no idea when it happened but he seems fine….and tomorrow we will take him to the vets…..then this was THE BEST COMMENT…… – I think we should put Neosporin on it and wrap it up to help it grow back!

I agree…Milo seemed fine, there was a wee bit of blood but nothing that I would have noticed if I was home but one thing I would have noticed was that my sweet MILO’S ear was dangling! Milo slept well that night, poor John did not. The next morning we went to the Vets (John as like Cinderella as he was just waiting for the clock to hit the magic time…. 7 a.m.) TOGETHER we went as you bet I wanted to know the scoop!

Milo stayed for the day and they sedated him…..ending up getting 9 stitches and came home with the “CONE OF SHAME” on his sweet head. We all know how we feel sorry for a dogs when that have to wear those silly cones!

Dr. Hurry’s instructions were….keep the cone on Milo for a week and then when he comes back we can see if it is going to “take” His concern was that the area of the tear there was not a bunch of blood vessels and he didn’t know if it would heal.

I was a bit miffed and said – ok….what happens if it doesn’t take? His response was – we will just have to remove that section of his ear and Milo will be just fine. My Vet is a HUGE man….about as tall as John (6’5″) but much larger and he is from Scotland so he has this amazing British accent…..again, my heart sank and he said in the sweetest way – it will be ok…I know…you love your dogs but he will be just fine!

Off we went and John was so helpful with me the remainder of the weekend…(hmmmmmm, interesting how husbands can touch your heart strings!!!) but honestly, he felt bad….really bad. Milo was happy and honestly he was fine except with that darn cone. Dogs have a great way of becoming adjusted with wearing the cone and whenever we were with Milo, we would take it off as he was really great about not trying to scratch his ear!

Well….it continues….5 days later I popped off to Yoga and John was mowing. Our dogs LOVE to be outside while he mows and it is super funny to see how they follow him – (Jack always loves to sit on the mower) and then John said, I felt bad for Milo with his cone on so I took it off as I thought that I would be right there to see him…yada – yada-yada….and then it happened! Milo darted off to go after a squirrel and he ripped his stitches……

I get home and sweet John has EGG ALL OVER HIS FACE. 

Back to the vet we go and Dr. Hurry said, “I’m glad I don’t live at your house!!!” John face was priceless and the vet said, bring him back tomorrow and we will go ahead and clean his teeth and I will remove that section…

Then he continued to say…if it makes you feel any better, it didn’t look like it was taking hold. I’m sure that was music to John’s ears!

NOW THIS IS WHERE THE CARD COME IN….

I made this card and had it on John’s side of the bed….just a little note from Milo still saying….it’s ok Dad – I still love you! I just adore this technique and when I saw this video a while back – I instantly knew that I was going to make it as what a PERFECT layout! Please, please take the time to watch this video as it is really great. This was part of a Stamparatus Blog Hop that was fantastic to see how so many talented stampers helped to demonstrate different techniques!

It was a cinch to do and this was a one take card! The directions that Allison shared were SPOT ON and it was super easy! I am just BANANAS over the new ink pads….I only have a couple of them (until Friday) but they stamp like butter! The coverage is just stellar. This is the new In Color, Blueberry Bushel and I thought that it would be great to just use one color and I was thrilled with the end result!

You know that I adore square cards (this is a 4 1/4″ square) and then using a great DSP(the tutti fruitti DSP stack) as the focal backdrop make it come together like “peanut butter and jelly”. The sentiment came from a My Favorite Things Stamp, Four-Legged Friends…a stamp that I reach for often with my endless love for dogs!

It thought that it was just PERFECT for this “situation”……it is so simple yet so effective. I invite you to look at your stamps and look for small images that you could stamp over and over to create a perfect circle! It could be a heart like this from the retiring Heart Happiness Stamp Set or a flower, a star…endless possibilities!

Also…look at sentiments and let them pop off of a card! I just adore the look of white heat embossing when it is stamped on a dark piece of card stock – to me, it really makes a POP STATEMENT!

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The moral of this long story is… life is great on Randall Lane….Milo is great….John is great and he promised me that he will NOT TAKE OFF THE CONE…even IF Milo flashes those pathetic eyes at him. When I went back in to get him on Friday Dr. Hurry came out and said to me…

Here is the story…“Milo went with you to the beach and while he was watching you in the water he saw a shark coming right towards you…..he LEAPED INTO the ocean and wrestled with a shark to save you….and he has the scare to prove it!”…we both laughed and then he said….”You all do love your animals and if I was an animal, I would want to live on Randall Lane!”

Life is great, my heart is happy and now…..I need to get to the computer and get things done! Here is to a great week ahead! Remember – there are only 4 days left to snatch up retiring goodies and also remember….there are some great things in the new Stampin’ Up! Sea that will be here on Friday! 🙂