Sick and Tired...of being sick and tired.

Well the Oklahoma heat just got me this summer.  We had over 50 days of 100+ temperatures.  Because of health problems, I can't venture out of the cool house for more than getting in the car to go to another cool place. It's really put a damper on my usual "Out and About" photography. Everything in Oklahoma looks dead like in the middle of winter. To top it off, I messed up my shoulder several months ago and it has not healed at all, add my normal migraines and you get the picture. Being self employed has it's advantages, don't get me wrong, but with the prices of health insurance and high deductibles, (not to mention a few other snags in the road) I haven't been to the doctor. Hopefully September is the month for me!

This did open up a new venture for me with the greeting cards avenue. I have been using my creative juices in photoshop using my existing photography and art. I just purchased a new bundle of Kim Klassen textures. I'm very excited to see what I can do with all these wonder overlays! I'm looking forward to autumn like no other year. I have a few senior sessions to do and am planning on taking advantage of the brisk air.

Well, I'll stop my belly-aching for now and leave you with my newest piece of art. Hope you enjoy!

Greetings!

I was so excited to wake up this morning to find one of my greeting cards featured on the home page of Greeting Card Universe as "Design of the Day".  They have hundreds of thousands of cards on the site to chose from. It gives me a huge boost to keep up all the work I've been putting in!  Here is the card:

Can't wait for the heat to die down so I can take some more photos!

Hurricane Howie

I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of the family...Hurricane Howie!

As some of you may know, I lost my buddy Scooter to diabetes on June 21st.  Scooter was such a staple in my daily life, my whole world was turned upside down.  We still have our other two rug ruts, Cheeko and Peanut, but I guess we are just a three dog family!  I spent weeks looking for a dog that could fit in and be the new addition to our pack. All of mine and John's dogs have been adopted and we didn't want to change this.  One night I stumbled onto a site and found this adorable guy, but kept looking because we originally wanted a female...but something kept bringing me back. He was the last of his litter from a breeder and no one picked him. Time went by and before the breeder knew it, he was almost six months old and she listed him on the adoption list.  John and I decided he was the one. We drove to Antlers, Oklahoma Friday night when John got home from work. The three hours it took to get there were so exciting, I thought I was going to bust! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Once I saw him I knew we had made the right choice!

It is uncanny how much he reminds me of Scooter. He is very shy and took to me very quickly. We are in the process of trying to socialize him. He seems to be afraid of men, including John.  In the last 3 weeks since we picked him up, his social skills have improved a lot.  He makes me smile every day with his playful antics and loves to be hugged and actually hugs back. Nothing could ever replace my Scooer-boo, but Howie is making it much easier to remember all the fun times I had with him.

R.I.P Scooter 1998-2011

P.S.
Yes!!! Howie is named after the original "Hurricane Howie" from Big Brother Season 6! I know he will bring me as many laughs as the original did!!!