Just A Few Other Photos

Kevin and his cousin, Jason, are quite the pair when they are together. From the time they were little, Kevin would do the silly stuff and Jason would just laugh his butt off. Now that they are 18 and 20 years old, nothing much has changed.


Cool Kevin and Jason


"Wot, are you talkin' to me?"



The sticker says "Try me - I'm retractable". Don't ask me what that means.


Kevin is posing for truth, justice and the American way.

I Found My Way Out!

Many of you took it quite seriously that I might never find my way out of my sewing room again HAHAHA (but would that be so bad?). Thanks for the offers to send the rescue teams after me! I left a trail of bread crumbs so that I wouldn't get lost. Unfortunately, today is Monday, so it's back to work!

I played around with a few things, but most of what I did was make more of those little dolls :) Most of them are waiting to go to their new homes for swaps.







I'm still playing around with the felting thingy. That is just way too cool!! I'm seriously addicted.

Happy Friday!!!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I intend to (figuratively) get lost in my sewing room. However, it's such a mess, I could literally get lost in there! If you guys don't hear from me by early next week, please send a rescue team LOL :)

Pugsley wanted to wish everyone a great weekend, as well :)

I really love my lamb stuffie, Mom.

Pics From The Furry Kids

Brewski is one cool little hamster. He has such a sassy attitude. It's no wonder he has so many friends. One of his buddies emailed him a picture of him working out. Brewski was not impressed. He told me he could take that guy any day. Whatever, Brewski!



Pugsley, on the other hand, is mainly concerned with food. He really likes ribs and he wants to know when he can put his order in for more.



Sometimes I think these furry kids have more of a life than I do...

Some Excitement We Saw

Driving home yesterday, Kevin and I saw this huge fire by the side of the road. The fire dept had not even arrived yet. Kevin called 911 but they already knew about it. They told us it was a motorhome. I have no idea how it started, but it looked kinda cool.

A Couple Of Super Cool Links

Since I'm pretty new to the ATC thing, I've been looking for examples of what other people have done for some inspiration. I came across these 2 awesome sites that I just had to share:

This site has a free program you can download to print templates for tags and ATCs. You just tell it what size and shape.

Trish Bee has some great tutorials on different techniques. I think it would take weeks to get through all the stuff she has posted here. Very cool!!

Felting Is Fun!!!

Just yesterday, I brushed the dust off of the felting attachment I purchased for my quilting machine (ahem) a freakin' year and a half ago and took it out of its brand new box... that is so sad, isn't it? Man, I'm telling you, this thing is FUN!!! It joins fabric and fibers, wool roving, yarn, ribbon - just about anything by punching it with needles (no thread is used). It's so easy to do and there really is no way to mess up! Well, if you get your fingers caught under that bunch of needles (I think mine has 5) then I would say you messed up.

What can you do with this thing? Well, you can make scenic designs or just design a random thing and then use those pieces to make cool handbags or scarfs or whatever. You can also take the felted piece and use it for an applique.

I was playing around with some wool blend felt and different yarns that I had, ribbons and thread scraps and ended up making some ATCs (artist trading cards). These are actually the first ATCs I've ever made. I hope my swap partners like them :)

There is a bunch more info on ATCs here. Here's a snippet from that site:

As their name indicates, ATC are collectables, a brilliant idea born of the older sports-themed trading cards. The one rule that makes an ATC derives from their origins: the dimensions of the ATC must be 2.5"x3.5", or 64x89mm.

To this rule are appended a couple of conventions. First, an ATC mustn't be sold, only exchanged, as the whole essence of these tiny works of art is about artists meeting (by correspondence or online if need be) and exchanging their works, thus meeting many artists and getting exposed to many personal styles. Second, on the back of each ATC the artist writes part or all of the following information: name, contact information, title of the ATC and number (1/8, 2/8...) if it's part of an edition.

I need to make some paper ATCs next. I joined a swap for ATCs based on the movie The Dark Knight. Yummy :)

YAY For Kevin!!!!!

Kevin just found out today that he passed his CNA test!!!! He is now a Certified Nursing Assistant!! He plans to continue going to school so that he can be a Registered Nurse, but at least now he can work at a hospital (where they will pay for his tuition!) YAY!!!!

I know - I ramble like a proud mama hen :)

Kevin at the prom-


Kevin bein' cooool-

Pugs With Celebrity Parents

As a pug owner, I sometimes run across people that just "don't get it". It's a pug thing! Pugs make such great pets because they have so much personality packed into their chunky little bodies... and don't get me started on the people who say they are "ugly" - yeah, you, Eric :)

I came across some photos of celebrities that are owned by pugs. Please let me know if you know of any more out there. I think it's very interesting... a person's pet says alot about them - whether it's a pug or a turtle or whatever :)

I'm just kidding, Eric :)

Billy Joel-


Jessica Alba-


Eva Longoria-


Kelly Osborne-


George Clooney-


Tori Spelling-


Jenna Elfman-


Queen Victoria-


Lena Horne-



These people know that there is no other happiness like being owned by a pug :)

New Dotees

Just some pics of Dotee dolls I made this weekend. Dot made the original Dotee dolls - check out her tutorial here. I like to make mine with some hair, though :) There are so many Dotee doll swaps on Swap Bot, and I've joined most of them LOL. I can't wait to see what I get back!



This one went to live with my sister -


This one is for a swap. She will be off to her new home today.


This little girl is going to her new home today. I made her for a "celestial" dotee swap :)

Equal Time For Pugsley

Pugsley wanted to know why Chester got his own post this week and he did not... so here are some photos of Pugsley, who is still the most pampered pet in the house :) We wouldn't want Pugsley to develop a complex or whatever lol.

"If you're nice to me, I might let you sit on my sofa."


"Hey Mom, I can touch my nose with my tongue. Can you do that?"


"HAHA Chester - I got more pictures than you. Here's a big raspberry for ya!"

The Dark Knight

My wonderful BF and I went to see The Dark Knight on Saturday. The movie didn't start until after 11pm and the film is 2 1/2 hours long LOL! That is way too late for old fogies like us... well, I'm an old fogie anyway... I managed to stay awake through the whole thing. It was GREAT. Heath Ledger played the part of the Joker just perfectly. He was scary, funny at times, and very insightful for a psychopath IMHO. Of course, Christian Bale is always nice to look at, too... of course, my Mark is still more handsome :)

Great flick... it was one of the few movies out that is actually worth the astronomical price of a movie ticket :)

Stealth Kitty

My son's cat, Chester, is quite a character. He's been in our family for over 13 years now. He likes to hide, well at least he tries LOL. I think he's the mellowist (is that a word?) cat I've ever met. Kevin picks him up, turns him upside down and lays him down on the floor sideways and Chester purrs the whole time. Kevin informed me that you know when Chester is really purring because he starts blowing bubbles out of his nose... thanks Kev... TMI man.

Someone asked me if Chester was named after a questionable character in Playboy Magazine. For the record, he is named after Chester Cheetah, the Cheetos cat. (It ain't easy bein' cheesy.) :) :)

The original Chester Cheetah-



Where's the kitty?


Chester pondering the meaning of life... or more like "when is this chick going to stop taking pictures of me?!"

Rubber Duckie, You're The One...

One of the swaps I'm in requires that we take a picture of our rubber duckie doing something unusual or incredible. Kevin has all the rubber ducks in his bathroom to fit in with his "motif", so I snagged this little guy who seemed very happy to model for me. Actually, this was Kevin's first rubber duckie from when he was a baby. (Insert an "AWWWWWW" here.)

Cats And The People Who Hate Them

My son has a cat. We got Chester 13 years ago because Kevin wanted a cat so badly. I admit, cats are not my favorite animal, but Chester has become part of our family.

There is always a fight of some sort between people that love birds and people that love cats, as cats will usually kill any bird that they can catch. Here in Arizona, it's warm year-round, so cats continuously breed, which has led to the problem of many feral cats. I've seen different groups of people do a "catch and release" with the cats, and get them neutered/spayed so that they can live out their lives without making more feral cats. Still others leave cat food out for them. I've never been one of these people, but it seems kind on their part.

I'm kind of shocked at an article that appeared on the Arizona Republic's website this morning-

Owners of outdoor cats are not cat lovers
9 commentsby Jim Burns - Jul. 18, 2008 12:00 AM
Special for The Republic

...(snip)
The city of Gilbert has attempted, without much success, several solutions to the feral-cat problem at GRA. Birding friends have advised me against a column such as this unless I have a solution. I have one. One that is elegant in its natural simplicity. Introduce a pair of coyotes into the GRA microhabitat.

Before all the cat lovers out there inundate me with e-mail pointing out that this column contradicts my recent one about accepting and embracing the realities of nature, let me make two points. The first is that feral cats are not in any way part of nature.

My dictionary defines "feral" as "animals having become wild from a state of domestication." When cats we have domesticated are left to run loose outdoors in a manicured urban environment they are, by default, atop the food chain and will kill all the species below them.

Second, anyone who truly loves a cat will not allow it to roam freely outdoors. The risks to outdoor cats include cars, attacks by naturally wild animals, poisons, diseases and abuse by humans.

Read the article here.

I think that turning coyotes loose on these cats is a really stupid idea. What do we do with the coyotes once their food source is gone? He claims that feral cats are not part of nature, well, neither is bringing in coyotes from their natural habitat to do a dirty job and then let them starve (or start going after other prey, whatever that may be). Who gets to play God and decide which animals deserve to live and which ones should die?!

Call me an idealist, but people should take responsibilty for their animals and spay/neuter them. There are WAY too many dogs and cats in shelters and so many never find good homes and end up euthanized. It's just so sad.

Please, everyone, spay/neuter your pets and adopt from a shelter. All of my pugs and even Chester, our cat, came from shelters. They deserve a second chance at life.

La Bella Luna

The moon was so full and pretty that I had to stop by the side of the road and take a few photos. They say that when the moon is closer to the horizon, it will appear to be bigger because it is closer to the mountains or trees or whatever, and it's easier to relate to how big it is. But, supposedly it is not any bigger than when it's overhead in the sky. Eh, whatever... it still looked pretty cool :)




Here are a couple of shots I got of the sunset-

Organic Dog Food

People tell me that I over-spoil Pugsley - a bed and water dishes for him in every room, new toys all the time, his own personal heater for winter nights... well since I've been trying to buy only organic food at the grocery store, I switched Pugsley to organic dog food. My wonderful BF laughed his ass off when I told him. But, you know, it has made a big difference for Pugsley. He has the biggest eyeballs I've ever seen on a pug, so he can't close his eyes all the way when he sleeps. He developed "dry eye" and I had to put drops in his eyes all the time. Now that he's been on the organic food for a while, his eyes are fine and he doesn't need drops anymore. Plus, his coat is much more shiny and he does not poop as much (cuz he doesn't have to eat as much of it).

Did you know that cheap dog food has animal "by-products" in it? Stuff like chicken beaks, feet and stuff that has no nutritional value, and parts that can come from diseased animals. Rendering plants take in rancid restaurant grease, diseased, disabled, dead and dying animals, as well as EUTHANIZED DOGS AND CATS. If you don't believe me, Google it. Then there is all the food coloring, preservatives and fillers they put in it. Yuck. No wonder more and more dogs are getting cancer and other diseases. Before the organic food, I fed Pugsley Bil-Jac, which is pretty good - at least they cook all the meat used in the food and it has no by products.

Along with his organic food, Pugsley gets carrots and bits of apples for treats, which he loves.

This is the dog food I buy:



You can get more info on it HERE.

It's Pugsley approved! :)

Thoughts About The Future... And Responsibility

Last year, I decided to make an honest effort to contribute to the future of our planet and our government. A lot of people have their own opinions about global warming and the causes, but after seeing Al Gore's video "An Inconvenient Truth", I traded my Ford Escape for a Toyota Prius. I've been recycling more and avoiding plastic bags as much as possible. I also registered to vote for the first time ever. (I was raised in a religion that did not allow voting.)

Some people who know me have gotten outright agitaged (LOL!) at how much I talk about the government and how we are losing our rights everyday and no one seems to care. Most people don't even seem to make an effort to question what the government does anymore. However, that is our **responsibility** as Americans. Our first allegiance should be to our *country* and not to our government. I feel sometimes like screaming, "If you're not angry, then you're not paying attention!!!"

One of the blogs I love to read is called the Crunchy Chicken. I admire the lady who writes it. She is very enlightened, grows her own food and speaks up about important issues. She wrote a very inteligent post for July 4th, which you can read here. This is a snippet from her post:

When you think back to the blood, sweat and death that generations before us have endured to create a sovereign nation based on equality, freedom from religious persecution, and the right to achieve what is within our own abilities, it is a shame that our generation sits on our hands and, honestly, doesn't give a crap anymore as to whether or not these foundations are preserved.

Check out her blog at Crunchy Chicken if you can.

stepping off my soapbox now :)

Kevin Playing Guitar :)

Kevin plays guitar all the time. I mean, he can just sit there and play the most wonderful stuff for hours and hours. That's perfectly fine with me... the only time I mind it is when he blasts his full stack (21 jigowatts or whatever it is) when I'm down with a migraine lol. Did you ever see that scene in Back to the Future where Marty strums the guitar and the speaker blows him back about 100 feet?! That's my Kevin.

Of course, I'm the proud mom who always asks to get video of him lol... which is why he has that "ok Mom" look on his face :) I put it on youtube.com to make my life easier, just click on the window below to see it.

Lace Bookmark For Swap

Swap-bot has gotten me totally addicted to swapping stuff. It is such a neat website where people set up various swaps, some US only, some international, for all kinds of things... paper crafts, fabric, altered items, photography, dog treats - you name it. It's a great place to meet new friends, too.

Here's the link to swap-bot.

Here is a bookmark I made for one of my swaps. It was done on my embroidery machine. You can't see it too well in the photo, but it has gold thread for a bit of bling :)

Cool Sky Pic

My son, Kevin, and I went shopping the other day and the sky looked so cool! Bummer that we were in a parking lot and got the light posts in the pic, but oh well.

Ever Have Days Like This?

Alone time is something I cherish. I really do. I'm no psychologist, but I think this is going a big far in the quest for solitude. Not to mention, how much anti-perspirant would one have to have on to wear this thing without being one huge BO stuffy?! Not in Arizona, anyways!

Did someone say "You killed Kenny! You bastard!" hehehehe

Pugsley on a Stuffy

Over the weekend, I played around with different ideas that I had. I found some printable fabric in my huge mess of a room sewing studio... A while back, I had used some to make a Jimmy Smits pillow for my sister who LOVES him (don't even think about touching it until you wash your hands lol). Anyways, I printed a few photos of Pugsley and made a stuffy - HA.



I think this would be a cute idea for Christmas tree ornaments - you could put kids' faces on them and the year, make them red/green, etc and maybe hang a bell from the bottom. What do you guys think?

Dotee dolls!

These little dolls are popping up everywhere lately, it seems. The dolls are called "Dotee Dolls", named after the lady who first created them. Her blog and the tutorial are here.

I had never tried to sew beads before, but I kinda just winged it and came up with these little girls. My son said they look like shrunken heads. I told him that he'd better watch his mouth or the next one would look just like HIM. HA!


My very first one.






These are so addicting! Now I have an excuse to go back to Michael's - I need more beads! I don't really need an excuse, I'm there all the time anyways LOL.

Cute Pug Dolls from Pugnotes!

It's so neat that you meet so many super cool people through blogging. One person that I have met is Melissa from Pugnotes. She makes lots of artsy pug stuff (and stuff with other breeds) and sells them. Read her blog here and make sure you check out her Etsy store here!

When I saw these cute pug dolls, I just had to buy them!!! They are hanging on my fridge so that I can see them all the time... wait... does that mean I'm always EATING?? Hmmm... maybe I'm part Pug, too. That's not so bad I guess LOL.



This is her adorable pug, Emmitt-


Thanks again, Melissa! You and Emmitt ROCK!!!!

Thrift Store Finds

The Goodwill stores have a 50% off sale every other Saturday. It's so much fun to go and look around. I found some really cute crafty stuff for uber cheap!



I got the big bag of round wood "heads" and all those Christmas ornaments and little hats for $3. Woohoo!


Bunch of letter beads for a buck.


Cute wooden cart for $2.


Cute dominoes for a buck... will look good with alcohol inks.


Some really soft sweaters that I'm going to make into stuffies. I think they were a buck each.

It's still really really hot here, so the yard sales aren't as plentiful right now. I'll save the yard sailing for winter :)

Some Fabrics I'm Selling

My sewing room is about to explode - it's time to find a new home for some of my stash. I have several fabrics on complete bolts - ahem, no, I am not insane... just a fabric ho addict. I need some kind of 12-step program or something. Email me at terris20022003 at yahoo dot com if you're interested in any of these. (No one smokes in my home and the pets are not allowed on the fabric.) All are $3 per yard except for the farm flannel, which is $3.50 per yard.












Have a great day!

Hey - Let's Buy 2!

There is no doubt that my Pugsley is spoiled has me well-trained, but wow - this is one expensive pug crib for $10,000!!! Maybe someday when I win the Powerball...



You can order it here - Muttropolitan Opera Dog House

Muttropolitan Opera Dog House is 31 1/2 inches tall and 36 inches deep. The façade measures 32 inches. It was designed by Douglas Schmidt who designed 'Il Trittico' for the Metropolitan 2003-2004 season and 'Samson and Delilah' for the opening of the San Francisco Opera this year. The San Francisco Opera Shop fabricated the piece for an auction for PAWS (an AIDS charity) in San Francisco. The piece was inspired by Fergie Swig, pet of San Francisco Socialite Charlotte Millard Swig Schultz. The Muttropolitan is featured in the Fred Albert book Barkitecture and was on view from 2002 –2003 in the show “Quelle Vie De Chien!” at the Musee de la Civilization in Quebec...

Pugsley Photo of the Day

Mom, is it lunchtime yet?

Happy Independence Day!

You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics, where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad is iffy, and flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism. ~Erma Bombeck

Photo from The Life and Times of Libby the Pug


Have a safe holiday!

How To Make A Sock Monster

Socks around my house have been being confiscated lately to make sock monsters. I wrote about some I made here. They are really fun and easy to make. Over at Monster Munch they have quite a few of these cute little guys, as well as a how-to on how to make them.


Once you make a couple of them, you'll be hooked and whoever lives with you had better hide their socks!

Happy Fourth of July!

This week has been just nuts! My son is preparing for his final week of CNA classes, so I had to drive him around to get his fingerprints done and his shots up to date. The week flew by and it seems like I have accomplished nada. I look forward to having a relaxing weekend with my wonderful BF, though!

Here is a comic I thought was pretty funny-

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

I forgot which comedian it was, but he said that glitter is like the herpes of the craft world. Once you have it in your house, it never goes away... just when you think it's gone - it reappears again!!! **edited - it was Dimitri Martin who said that** I really try to avoid bringing anything with glitter into my house unless it's Stickles. Here are a couple of cards I made with stickles - my stickles cards

Melissa over at Pugnotes has the most wonderful pug stuff! Her little Emmitt is a cutie, too. Check her out if you can.


One more thought for today as I sit here at work-



Have a safe and happy weekend!