The Twins Have the Blues


It’s Sunday evening, and two very tired Twins are recuperating from their first AKC dog show in Des Moines, Iowa. Because they wanted to tell you all about it themselves, I gave in and said they could say a few words about their first Dog Show Adventure. If you know anything about Boxers, you know that they can be very persuasive until they get their own way. Against my better judgement…here are The Twins.

Muffy: I am going to go first and tell you all about my very first dog show, because I am the girl and I am smarter.

Brody: But I’m bigger, and I went into the ring first, so I want to talk first. MOM….Muffy is being mean to me again, just like she was to all of the other boy Boxers in the motel room!!!

Me: Muffy, be a big girl, and let Brody be the alpha dog today!

Brody: Thanks, Mom! I got to go into the ring first on both Saturday and Sunday. Mom…why do they call it Saturday when Michelle the Handler wouldn’t let me sit in the ring? And why was it called Sunday when it rained all day? Anyway, I got to go into this big circle called a ring. There were other little boy puppies there. I wanted to play with them, but Michelle wouldn’t let me. On “You-Can’t-Sit-Day”, there was a man in the ring. I think he’s called a “Judd”.

Muffy: No he’s not, Brody. You don’t know anything. A “Judd” is a woman who sings country music. There are two of them. Mom and I watched them on Oprah when I was helping her distress cards.

Brody: MOM!!! Muffy said I don’t know anything. Those people in the ring with us, they are too called Judds, aren’t they Mom!

Me: Well, Brody-boy, you are very close, sweetie! They are called “judges”. You had two judges. A man on “You-can’t-sit day” and a woman on “Rainday”.

Brody: Oh, no! I remember learning about “Stranger Danger” and “Good Touch-Bad Touch”! But he touched me all over, and then he had the nerve to look in my mouth! And Michelle let him do it. I stood really still though, because Michelle was feeding me stuff my Mom doesn’t let me have, like Ham and Liver and Hot Dogs. Oh, no…MOM…was I eating other dogs???

Me: No, Brody. Hot dogs are made from…well…uh…something with hooves. But, Brody, they are not made from “dogs”. You weren’t being a cannibal.

Brody: Whew…I didn’t want to be a can of bull! Anyway, after the strange man touched me, I had to “gait”, which meant that I couldn’t just walk, but I couldn’t run either. It was kind of fun. People clapped, and so I did this little prance. And then they clapped more, because I was cute…

Muffy: No you weren’t! You’re not cute! You’re ugly. I heard Mom say so. She said you just look like some big brown ugly thing with a gorgeous head…

Brody: MOM!!!! Muffy is saying I’m not cute and that you said I was ugly!

Me: Oh, sweetie! Mommy did say your head was gorgeous, and you know that Michelle said that we needed to work on building up your muscles. Muffy Lin…quit saying hurtful things to your brother!

Muffy: Oh, just let me talk, Brody. You are taking way too long to tell the story. OK…So Brody won his class on Saturday and he won his class on Sunday, and he beat some other boy dogs. Big whoop! They were boy dogs…and everybody knows that boy dogs are stinky and have fleas. People want to hear about me…I am the perfect, pretty puppy with the awesome Boxer booty! I am the J-Lo of Dogdom! No…with my Boxer bottom, I am the Kim Kardashian of Kanines! I am beautiful! Everyone loves to look at meeeee!

Brody: MOM…Muffy’s doing it again! Make her stop!

Me: Twins! That’s enough! Go take a nap like good dogs!


Well, to make a long story short, both of the Twins won their classes both days. Brody did have other little boy puppies in the ring with him. Muffy was the only one in her class. If Muffy were telling the story, she would tell you that all the rest of the little girls were scared off by her beautiful looks! But that’s Muffy for you! Until next time…


Nature Walk in Blue for The Paper Players

It’s Sunday, and time to play with The Paper Players! It’s a sketch challenge this week, designed by the talented Nance Leedy, and what a wonderful sketch it is! Don’t you just love it? I decided to pull out one of my favorite Occasions Mini sets, Nature Walk, and whip up this fun and feminine card. Enjoy a Nature Walk in Blue!

The Stampin’ Schach Design Tips:

  • Texture! Don’t be afraid to run Designer Series Paper through the Big Shot. A pattern from the Botanical Gazette collection was embossed with the Finial Press Textured Impressions Embossing Folder for a look which is both feminine and vintage. And notice the beautiful blue Tulips border? It was part of the paper’s design!

  • Dye it…Try it! The Rosettes were dyed quickly and easily! I placed rubbing alcohol into a spritzer bottle and added several drops of Marina Mist Ink Refill and Frost White Shimmer Paint. I sprayed the medium-sized Rosette first, added more re-inker, and then sprayed the smaller Rosette. Finally, I added even more re-inker, and misted the darker, large Rosette.

  • Bling the bird! Dazzling Diamonds add sparkle and shine to make this bird divine! With Tombow Multipurpose Liquid Glue, it’s so easy! I just “painted” selected areas with Tombow, sprinkled on the Dazzling Diamonds, and shook off the excess!

  • Pearls! The “string” of Basic Pearls are perfect for outlining ovals and circles, providing a finishing touch to the raw edge of the paper. The result is delightfully feminine and romantic!
I hope you enjoyed today’s The Paper Players’ inspiration card, and I hope that you will join us in this week’s challenge. If you wish to create a standard sized card with this sketch, that is perfectly fine with us. What is important is that you have fun! Until next time…
Stamp Sets: Nature Walk (W 121925, C 121997), You’re a Gem (W 122268, C 122270); Inks: Crumb Cake (121030), Soft Suede (115657), Early Espresso (119670), Marina Mist Ink Refill (119787); Stampin’ Write Marker: Soft Suede (120973); Designer Series Paper: Botanical Gazette (121783—Occasions Mini); Card Stock: Marina Mist (119682), Early Espresso (119686), Very Vanilla (101650); Tools: Big Shot (113439), Finial Press Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (115963), Ovals Original Die (114525), 1-3/8″ x 5/8″ Oval Punch (119863), 3/4″‘ x 15/16″ Oval Punch (120908), Brayer (102395), Sponge Daubers (102892), Color Spritzer Tool (107066), Tombow Multipurpose Liquid Glue (110755); Glitz and Glam: Rosettes (118774), Basic Pearls (119247), Victoria Crochet Trim (118481), Marina Mist 3/8″ Taffeta Ribbon (119257), Pear Pizzazz Seam Binding (122330), Frost White Shimmer Paint (116854), Dazzling Diamonds (102023)

The Paper Players Peek


It’s Saturday, which means it is time for The Paper Players Peek! As you can see, my Paper Players card for Sunday is blue! With Dazzling Diamonds and Pearls, it is fun and feminine! I hope you will join me tomorrow for the reveal.

The Twins Big Adventure

It has been lonely the past two nights. The Twins are with Michelle the Handler in Des Moines preparing for their first show. They were thrilled and happy to see Michelle again. Michelle makes their training fun with treats and toys. Thursday they participated in a “practice” show with a pretend judge. Of course, I thought they looked adorable! Brody was the first to “show”. He did a fabulous job “stacking”, which is when they are posed. He stood like a statue when the judge checked him all over, with one exception. He did not want a stranger looking in his mouth. Now his Dad and I have practiced this with him since he was a tiny baby…so who knows what his problem was! Kids! Brody is not physically mature, but he is being shown to gain ring experience. Here is a picture of Brody just chillin’ Thursday before his trip to Michelle’s:

To give you a perspective as to what he is doing, he is sleeping. His favorite spot is a big, leather ottoman, which I keep covered so he doesn’t scratch it. He always hangs his head over the edge, except now he is getting so big that his head nearly touches the floor. At six months, he is weighing in at 51.4 pounds!

Little Miss Muffy, on the other hand, stacked beautifully, gaited perfectly, and charmed the “judge”. Her only problem was that when it was time for the hands-on physical examination, she sat down…three times! However, by the fourth time she understood the importance of standing. And talk about a diva…Heaven help Michelle! Here is the diva getting her “beauty sleep”:
Michelle told us not to expect them to win right away, since they will need to gain experience. Brody will need to do incline work to build up his muscles, which means that we either need to find some hills to climb, or he needs to learn how to use Mom’s treadmill. Muffy, on the other hand, is looking awesome…she just needs to learn some show manners.

What is so important is that both of my babies absolutely LOVED what they were doing. You could tell that they enjoyed being in the ring, strutting their stuff. It is the start of a new adventure for them and for me. And regardless of what happens in their futures, they will be champions in our household. A year ago this month, my heart was breaking at the loss of my best friend, Missy the Boxer. And although the Twins will never replace her, they are forging their own place in my heart. We are sharing new stories, making new memories, and embarking on new adventures every day! Tomorrow: The Paper Players. Until next time…