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Tuesday, June 10, 2014

For a GREAT Dad!

In July of 2002, I saw a puppy in the pet store window. You think I'm kidding...this is exactly how it happened! My daughter and I went into a mall and were looking in the pet store window while we waited for Victoria's Secret store to open. I saw a cute little 7 week old beagle in a glass cage who was shivering. I asked the clerk about him shivering and she said that he had just arrived and had his first bath and it was a little traumatic. I offered to hold him. Can you guess what happened next? I named him Bailey before I even held him (MISTAKE MISTAKE MISTAKE--ONCE YOU NAME THEM THEY ARE YOURS) and...well, I didn't make it to Victoria's Secret cause I ran out of money at the pet store. Sigh...and it was the best $1,100 I ever spent in my life.

I met Tim on September 25, 2005 after talking to him on-line for weeks.  The true test of our relationship, however, was the meeting of Tim and Bailey. Bailey loved Tim instantly the day they met. That little traitor...after 4 years of MY tolerance of this dog's behavior: cracking my CD cases he broke chewing on them, the family rocking chair leg he left his teeth marks on, the carpet he treated like a potty (and practically wore out being cleaned daily), the rack of barbecued ribs he stole off the kitchen table, the food he stole off the kitchen counters, the leftovers he managed to get out of the refrigerator and then even opened the Tupperware bowls...and he loved Tim instantly and I was no longer his BESTEST friend?!  And I have to admit, I was slightly relieved that Tim and Bailey hit it off as best friends since I would have had to interview more men to be Bailey's Dad and I found out there were a lot of frogs out there. In 2006 I married Tim with Bailey's approval.

In September of 2009 Bailey hurt his hip/leg. He needed to be kept under house arrest and no going on walks or running around the house and yard. We had to keep him quiet so he'd rest his tendons and muscles. We carried him upstairs at night to sleep with us, and carried him downstairs in the morning. If we went upstairs for some reason, he'd stay at the bottom of the stairs and give a little beagle aarrrooohhh to tell us: hey, come and get me. That continued for about 8 weeks. His leg got better but Bailey liked Mom and Dad carrying him up and down the stairs. He also got used to lying around the house watching tv and eating bonbons. The vet told me: he needs some inspiration to get moving again..another dog would help. In November of 2009, I found a beagle puppy through the Phoenix newspaper. Off we went that night to check her out...hahahhaa...did we really think we wouldn't bring home a 4 lb baby beagle girl? Who were we kidding?! Tim named her Lucy (because she fell asleep in his arms and collapsed and her little body was limp and loose) on our way to PetsMart to get our new little girl a collar, a bowl, puppy food and baby doggie toys. We could afford those things since she was a whole lot less expensive than Bailey, and as a matter of fact, Lucy was discounted being the last puppy of the litter to be sold. I call her my "blue light" special. Hahaha!

Today Tim and I are Mom and Dad to two beagles, Bailey and Lucy. Bailey and Lucy give their Dad a card each Father's Day. Why? Because they love him and he has opposable thumbs. These two beautiful beagles are not spoiled, they are pampered. It's hot here in Arizona and when the ground is too hot to go for a walk, Mom and Dad take them for a ride around the neighborhood in 'idle' so they can still see everyone, including their friends Sassy the orange kitty, Feather the Australian Shepherd, the 2 boxers that aren't trained to walk on a leash very well (and Bailey and Lucy love to stick their tongues out at them when the boxers are straining at their leashes and the beagles are in the car with their heads out the windows), and even the human neighbors wave to the prince and princess in the car.

Is the suspense of this year's Father's Day card getting to you yet?  Well, here's the card and the image I used this year is from Tiddly Inks. The size of this card is 5.5" x 7.5".


I used Copics to color my truck, a La-La-Land banner die (using my Cuttlebug machine), a bone stamp that I stamped and cut out a bunch of bones, and I even used rub-on letters made by Sizzix for my DAD on the banner and then used my glue pen and put some Cool Glitter Ritz on the white letters (and the heart) so they'd have a little shine. I used a Marvy corner punch that put nicks in the paper and then wrapped my blue embroidery floss around the entire image. The sentiment is an old one that I got at a convention at least 5 years ago and the 3 pretty blue jewels are from JoAnn's. My paper, I am sad to say, is one of the first pieces of paper I got at one of the local craft stores and it's lightweight scrapbook paper. It's older than as long as I've been married (almost 8 years now) and it has even faded a bit, but was perfect for this card. I have no clue who made the paper since it has absolutely no tag or markings on it.


You probably guessed...this is Tim driving the truck, Bailey sitting next to Tim and Lucy is looking out the side window. And yes, these really are their photos. The challenge making this card was getting photos down to 3/8" or about 8mm. I cut out the 'paper' windows and put in clear plastic as the windows. I then fussy cut the photos and put them in the windows and then took a piece of white paper and my lightest blue Copic pen and colored the white paper and used that as the background for their heads.


Well, that's my story about this card and for some reason I couldn't get my watermark program to work but I'm not worried about someone taking this card and claiming it as their own. If they try to do that, I'm shipping Tim, Bailey and Lucy to them...you steal the card and you get the driver and passengers along with it.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a fabulous day!

                                                                                   Hugs,
                                                                                   Gail

I'm entering this card in the following challenges thinking that even if it doesn't win, it will bring a smile to anyone who looks at this card and reads this post.

Reasonable Ribbon, Scrapping 4 Fun, Crafts 4 Eternity, Treasured Times, QKR Stampede, Sister Act, The Stamping Boutique, CCC Digi Creations, Catch the Bug, 613 Avenue Create, One Stitch at a Time, Glitter n Sparkle, Hobby Cutz, Fairies Challenges, Make My Monday, Artistic Inspirations, Paper Makeup Stamps, The Pink Elephant, Craft Your Passion, Crafting from the Heart, The Paper Girls, Love to Scrap, Pile It On, Polkadoodle, CMC Copic Challenge, Catered Crop, Ditzie Digi Designs, Cutie Pie, Ooh La La Creations, Doodle Pantry, Emerald Faeries, That Craft Place, Bearly Mine, Cards Galore, Memas CraftsNatalie and Amy's, The Sister of Craft, Dies R Us, Crazy 4 Challenges, Crafty Bloggers Network (Tic-Tac-Toe: Row A is diecut, image, patterned paper), Country View, Ladybug Crafts, Bunny Zoe's Crafts, Sparkle n Sprinkle, C.R.A.F.T., Crafters CafĂ©, Crafty Sentiments, Sweet Stamps, Cuttlebug Mania, Ladybug Crafts Ink TLT, Oldie But a Goodie, Papertake Weekly, Tuesday Throwdown

Bailey and Lucy enjoying the warm sunshine..I think they need their sunglasses.  Hahahha!

61 comments:

  1. Your card is adorable Gail, I love all the special touches like the added photos just so pretty. Beautiful paper. Anet x

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  2. Fabulous card Gail. So much love has gone into your wonderful design and I really enjoyed reading about Tim, Bailey and Lucy. Thanks for the smiles. hugs, Pat K xx

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  3. Talk about a totally personalized card . . . and this is IT . . . Tim should be SO pleased to be spotlighted on his card with his "walking" companions !! I love the blue shading on this truck - your coloring is awesome! You have just the right amount of embellishments for a masculine card -- added touches, without being too fussy. And, I love the whole saga of how your family came to be . . . smiles all the way around! Hugs to each and every one of you, so that includes Bailey and Lucy, too !! And a most Happy Father's day to Tim, also - just tell him to leave the dog biscuits to Bailey and Lucy . . . LOL.

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  4. Oh my goodness!!!! This is adorable. What a clever idea. Thanks so much for entering this special card in the Doodle Pantry Challenge.

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  5. Wonderful masculine card, love the photo in the truck. Thanks for sharing it with us over at CCC Digi Creations.

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  6. aaawww Gail your dogs are adorable, what a great card, such a fun idea......I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog post too.......as a fellow "dog mum" too, I know exactly where you're coming from (I have a West Highland Terrier and a Jack Russell X Shih Tzu)

    thank you for joining in with the cutie pies xx

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  7. Oh my gosh, Gail! I love the card and I love the story even more. My husband has two fur babies of the feline kind now that our kids are grown.. They absolutely adore him. I almost forgot! Thanks for joining us at QKR.

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  8. I am IN LOVE with this idea!!! HOW fun! Pinning this for later! Thanks for joining us at Doodle Pantry! :) HUGS and enjoy the rest of your week! Mynn xx

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  9. Hi hun and such a great card - thanks so much for linking up at mema's Crafts and very good luck Judith DT x

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  10. Here I am again to look at this gorgeous card! I left a comment last night but Blogger was acting up so I decided to come back to check to see if my comment got saved - no such luck! Well - I love everything about this card and I know hubby will love it too! The cute little photos of Tim and the fur-babies are such a personal touch, and I think the load of bones on the back of the truck is perfect! I enjoyed reading about how you met Tim and adopted Bailey and Lucy and I think it's wonderful that they are pampered pooches - they deserve it! I love animals so much - they bring such joy, don't they! This is such an awesome card! Well done, Gail! Wishing you a wonderful day!

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  11. Your card is sooooooo creative! Love the pictures in the truck, and LOVE the story of Bailey and Lucy! A previous tenant of mine had a Beagle named Bailey who we all loved too... He has since gone to Doggie heaven, but he was probably the first Beagle I ever really knew. And he was so good! :) Thanks for playing along with us at Craft Your Passion, and thanks for sharing your story!!

    Hugs, Adina

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  12. OMG this is so FABULOUS!!! LOVE how you added the photos in the truck ... PERFECT! What a great idea! What a fabulous creation! Thanks so much for playing in our ‘ONE FOR THE BOYS/FATHER’S DAY’ challenge at Dies R Us! Please come back again soon!

    Darlene (DRU Team Leader)
    DIES R US CHALLENGE BLOG
    DAR’S CRAFTY CREATIONS

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  13. What a cute card Gail, love the dogs and their people Dad added this way and the bones, that should keep them happy for a while.

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  14. This is a beautiful card, I just love the story behind everything. Show us a picture of Bailey and Lucy please!
    Thank you for your lovely entry at Scrapping4funChallenges.
    Rachelle DT
    http://scrapping4funchallenges.blogspot.com

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  15. Fabulous card hun thanks for joining us at Ditzie Digi Design this week. Shell xx

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  16. Fabulous - love how you've personalised this!

    Thanks for joining us at One Stitch at a Time this week, and good luck!

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  17. fab card with the beagles in!! I used to have a beagle and know where you're coming from ref the chewing etc!! little terrors but adorable they are! x

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  18. Great card, love the story. Thanks so much for joining us over at Emerald Faeries Challenge Blog, good luck and hope to see you again.
    ~ Denise DT ~
    Emerald Faeries Challenge Blog
    {Denise's Patch of Creativity}

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  19. Gail, I loved your post and I am sure Lucy and Bailey are just adorable. Your card fits perfectly with the story and you did a wonderful job with the coloring and design. Love how you added the beagles. Just too cool. Thanks for playing along with us at Mema's Crafts.

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  20. Lovely card with beautifully colored image. Thank you for joining us this month at Bearly-Mine Designs "One For The Boys" challenge and good luck in the draw. Hope we see you again!
    Hugs,
    Simona (DT)

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  21. Thank you for joining us at MMM with this fabulous, personalised card.
    Suzi B :-)

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  22. Fabulous card & story! Thanks for joining us at Crafts 4 Eternity this week hugs x

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  23. What a great card! Genius with the incorporated photos! What a story too. Thanks for sharing with us over at the Creative Challenge of Sparkle N Sprinkle.

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  24. a very nice card for dad.

    thank you for sharing with the stamping boutique and good luck.

    gr. neggi

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  25. great card, love how you have personalized it, thank you for joining us at CFTH, good luck
    caroline dt

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  26. Gail, your post is absolutely wonderful!!! I loved reading all about Bailey and Lucy - and yes, Tim too!!!! What precious little dogs you have - and pretty too. I'm also glad that our little doxie isn't the only one that gives "dad" a fathers day card! LOL!
    Love the card and such a cute idea to place all their photos in the pickup. Cute banner and of course those bones are adorable! FANTASTIC card!!!
    Thanks so much for joining us at Tuesday Throwndown too!
    Lynn

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  27. Such a great card. Love the design but specially the way you have added your family into the car. Thank you for sharing with us at That Craft Place this time. Hope to see you back soon.
    Cheers,
    Aurora

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  28. Very nice card, love all the extra touches by adding the dogs and your dad on the card. He will love this! Thanks for sharing with Mema's Crafts.

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  29. Beautiful coloring and I love the photos inside the truck. Thanks for joining us this week for "Father's Day." Good Luck, and come back to join us again.

    Karal DT for QKR Stampede
    My Blog: Karals Creative Corner

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  30. What a sweet, great story! Bailey and Lucy are SO lucky to have great parents. :) And your card is just super adorable!!! Using their pictures is a darling touch. Thanks for joining us at Scrapping 4 Fun Challenges. :D

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  31. What a great project, very cute!! Thanks so much for joining us for our June Anything goes Challenge at Catch the Bug, Don’t forget to check out The Bug Blog for our new Challenge that starts Saturday!

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  32. Brilliant project, love it! Thanks so much for adding it to our challenge at Countryview Crafts!

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  33. This is so fantastic. I love how you have added the little photos to the image - it looks amazing and made me smile too - thank you and thanks for joining us this week at Love to Scrap - Michelle x

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  34. Your card is fabulous! Love how you put their actual photos in the truck and loved reading the behind-the-scenes story too. So sweet. So glad you shared your project with us for the Sparkle N Sprinkle Creative Challenge this month.

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  35. Wow you did an amazing job fussy cutting the photos! LOVE your story and card. Thanks for joining us for DPDC#47 hope to see you again!

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  36. Oh My!!! You don't know how much I just LOVE this card. And, my best friend's dogs are "Bailey and Lucy" -- how ironic is that. Love the background information-thanks for sharing. And, yes, our little "fur-baby" gives Daddy a card for Father's Day also; and she goes for rides in the golf cart because, like you, living in FL, the pavement is too hot to walk on. No...they're not spoiled at all, right? Thank you for sharing with us this month at Doodle Pantry and I'm glad I stopped by to read the story behind the card.

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  37. This is awesome, thanks for playing along with us this week at Catch the Bug.

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  38. Awwww your dogs are so gorgeous...just don't tell my jack russell I was looking at pics of other dogs lol.. Loving your creation and thank you for entering it into the sisters of craft challenge and good luck. Tina DT x

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  39. I love the personal touches on this lovely card! Thank you for joining us at the Cards Galore Encore Anything Goes

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  40. Very cute idea. I am sure it will be a hit. Thanks for sharing over at 613 Avenue Create. Monica, DT

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  41. OMG Gail what a wonderful story, two fabulous dogs, one very special guy and a super duper card sweetie !! I'm soooo glad you could join us at Crafty Sentiments Designs and a great pleasure for me to visit you sweetie !!

    hugs Diane xx

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  42. O M G!! How wonderful. I love, love, love your story about Baily and Lucy, but also your dear Tim. Love your cute card and how you personalized it for Tim. Thanks for joining us at One Stitch at a Time. Good luck. Maggie - DT

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  43. Fab hearing about your life if Tim and Bailey, love the pics too.
    Gorgeous card, great for our challenge at Ladybug Crafts. xxxx

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  44. Great personalised card. Thank you for joining us at Make My Monday. Marina DT

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  45. Gail I loved reading your story about Lucy and Bailey - awwwww! Fabulous card with the personalised details I bet it was loved! Thank you for joining us at Crafty Sentiments for our Father's Day/Masculine Challenge - good luck and hope to see you again next week! Susan x

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  46. what a wonderful story and fab card too i LOVE it ,thanks for joining us at That Craft Place challenge x

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  47. love how you got your dog and people into the car and what was digitally done with the banner too, thanks for sharing over on artistic inspirations x

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    1. I didn't digitally do anything with the banner. The banner with the heart cut-outs is by La-La-Land and all I did was put rub-on letters on top of the banner and hearts and then use a glue pen and then glitter the rub-on letters. :) I'm not that good on a computer to digitally do anything except size digi images.

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  48. I couldn't pass this card up and not comment....love it!! The pics just add that personal touch that is fabulous!!! Love the story that went with it. We went to rescue 1 dog from the shelter and ended up with 2. Thanks for joining us at Love to Scrap! Challenge Blog
    Tina dt

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  49. What a handsome project, Gail. And your story about Bailey and Lucy...oh so precious! How can I not follow you after that?! :-) Thanks for joining Polka Doodle’s Men On Our Mind challenge.
    xxx Asha

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  50. What a great card for a male member & the colour comb

    Thanks for joining us at tuesday throwdown
    Tracey dt

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  51. Love the card Gail ...but what a fabulous story about how your family came together, wonderful!

    Anne x

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  52. Stunning card and brilliant idea, great colouring.
    Thanks for sharing in the LCI Fathers Day challenge.

    Kath

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  53. Gail this is adorable. Your colouring is perfect and the dogs delightful! Thanks for playing at OLL, Jx

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  54. Such a fun card!
    Thanks for joining us at The Emerald Faeries this month and hope to see you again soon!
    Hugs, Sande xx

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  55. Lol! I love your card, the photos make it so special!
    Thanks for playing along in the Father's Day/Male challenge at OOCCB!
    Good Luck
    Hugs
    Dawn xx

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  56. What a great personalised card - the blue is so striking

    Thanks for playing along at Cuttlebug Mania this time x

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  57. Congrats on your win, so well deserving. Don't miss the deadline!

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  58. Love it and what a fab idea to put the photo in too.

    Thanks for joining us at the Cutie Pie Challenge.

    Helen x

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  59. I adore this card of yours. It's such a lovely looking creation and it should be put in your scrapbook album. The image is wonderful without your little family and brilliant with them. It's just wonderful and it's great that you manage to use up some old stuff and get it to look this wonderful. You so rock!
    Lots of love
    Marie, who really should try visit you more often. ;)

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