Sassy & Sweet Notes

A New Little One... Moooo!

Yesterday, Alan went to the livestock auction to see what kind of critters were passing through. There were lots of mid-summer calves, lots of bred cows, and some HUGE bulls. There were also three or four very young calves there with their mothers. Sometimes, a mother and calf are sold as a pair, but not always.

When this little one came into the arena with her mother, people started bidding. The mother was taken out of the arena SOLD, but the little calf was left in the arena to be sold separately. The auctioneer started the bidding, but no one bid. The price was lowered again and again, and still no bidders. So, Alan put up a bid. And, what do you know, no one bid against him. Soooo, we brought the little bugger home!

We are not sure of her breed, and we're OK with that. She's blonde and white, and has a very calm personality. She's very young .... maybe a week old, so she will need to be bottle fed for a while until she starts eating solid foods. She wasn't interested in the bottle at ALL last night, so we let her be. In the morning I tried the bottle again, and after about 10-15 minutes of encouraging her to eat, she finally decided that it was pretty ok and she drank her entire breakfast! And at lunch time, she had more. It is quite funny to bottle feed such a big animal. Once she gets started, she's quite enthusiastic about the process!

Here she is enjoying some fanny rubs from Alan. Oooooh ya, a little to the right!

Compared to our little Dexter babies, she's giant. And all knees and elbows. Should be fun to watch her grow up next to the other calves we have on the farm right now! At least she'll have friends!

She calmly lays in the hay, and doesn't show any fear of us. Curiosity, if anything.

She enjoys having her jaw rubbed...

... tremendously!

And even puckered up for a kiss for you! *grin*

I'm thinking about naming her Sweet Potato.

Tags!

Tags are so fun to make! I made these cuties using images from Inky Antics.

The images were all stamped and colored, with glitter added to some areas for extra sparkle and shine.

These tags were featured on the Inky Antics blog in October, during my guest designer series. I think they're pretty darned cute, if I do say so myself!!

I get requests from readers who want to purchase paper projects I've made. Because I try to do what I can for you, I will be posting some of my paper projects in my Etsy shop. I can't always sell my projects for various reasons, but I will do my best to keep the shop updated w/ things I can sell!

Hope you find something you love and want to have for your very own. I think these tags would be a great gift for a teacher. Wrapped in a cello bag, what a fun little gift!

Supplies
Stamps: Inky Antics
Paper: Neenah, October Afternoon, Paper Accents
ShinHan Touch Twin Markers
Ink: Memento Black
Other: Spellbinders and PTI dies, Rayon Seam Binding, Bakers Twine, antique mother of pearl buttons, Shabby White Jingle Bells, Ultra Fine Glitter, Tracing Wheel

High Hopes Challenge: Gift Card Holder

The current High Hopes challenge topic is to make a gift card holder or small gift box/bag. I chose to make a gift card holder, as I actually have a gift card on hand! I used the Small Stackable Santa image on the medalion, and tied the holder together with bakers twine.

To create the holder, I cut a piece of cardstock 3" wide x 10.75" long. Make score lines at the 1", 5", 6", 7" marks. Fold the sheet so you create a 1" flap, and a 1" mountain fold in the center of the holder. Adhere the short center piece together, leaving enough space without adhesive so you can insert the gift card slightly. Using a punch or cutting blade, remove a portion of the center fold so the gift card can slide into place.

I hope you'll join us for this week's challenge! It's not a bad time to get started (if you haven't already) on your holiday projects!

Find all the details on the High Hopes blog.

 

Supplies
Stamp: High Hopes Rubber Stamps
Ink: Memento Black, Antique Linen Distress Ink
Paper: Neenah, The Paper Loft, Paper Accents
Other: ShinHan Touch Twin markers, Bakers Twine, PTI layering circle dies, Stampin' Up! Word Windo Punch, Tracing Wheel

Wildlife! Texas White-tail Buck

It's not very often that we see large animal wildlife around here long enough to even bother to stop and take photos. They're usually too far away, or moving waaaay to quickly ... or both. So today when I saw this buck in the pasture, I was quite pleased that he stuck around long enough for photos. He was aware of me, but didn't seem all that concerned that I was there.

His left eye looked a bit swollen and scarred, and his horns weren't very spectacular. I could see where they had started to fork, but clearly they weren't very long and they weren't symmetrical, that's for sure.

I was surprised that he decided to lay down on the far side of the cactus from me. He continued to lay there clearly not finding me much of a threat.

At one point, he got up, trotted about 30 feet and turned to look at me. Not once did he raise his tail and display is white hiney. And apparently when he saw I wasn't going to leave, or chase after him, he returned to lay by the cactus.

And that was when my eye caught a flicker of something else just beyond the cactus. It was the ears of another deer ... a LADY deer! No wonder he was so interested in the cactus, and soooo NOT interested in me!

Ah, yes .... he's in LOVE!

I stayed to watch them for a good long while. This was as exciting as it got... a mid-day nap in the sunshine. Well, at least one of them was thinking about napping... *grin*

PS: I made these photos slightly larger than my usual photos, so when you click on them you can get a larger view. Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Alan and I want to wish each of you, and your families, a very happy Thanksgiving! We hope you are able to spend time with family, and fully enjoy the day.

Gobble till ya wobble!

Country Candy Cane Ornaments

This holiday elf has been busy, busy, busy! I've posted a few new primitive candy cane ornaments in my Etsy shop!

Get um' while I've got um'!

Meow!

Meet Brutus! He has a sister named Beatrice, but she's camera shy...  Seems we have a couple new additions to the farm.

Foxy Winter Cheer

Happy Saturday!! I have a sweet little wintery card to share with you today. This adorable fox and cheery sentiment are from the clear Inky Antics set called Snowy's Woodland Pals. This is a small card, only 4x4, perfect for sending along some winter cheer.

Coloring this card was quick and easy. Three marker colors and a bit of glitter. Easy enough!

This weekend, I'm going to be making lists. Grocery shopping lists for Thanksgiving, along with holiday gift lists. I might even get out to the grocery store today, in hopes of beating the Turkey Day rush. I'm hoping there are some delicious yams at the store ... yams are on the menu for Thursday!

Wishing you a wonderful day!!

 

Supplies
Stamps: Inky Antics Snowy's Woodland Pals (11137MC) 
Paper: Neenah, The Paper Loft, Paper Accents
ShinHan Touch Twin Marker Colors: CG.5, BR93, BR95
Ink: Memento Black, Antique Linen Distress Ink
Other: Spellbinders dies, String, antique mother of pearl buttons, Tracing Wheel

Chicken Sitter

Daycare is "cheep" here on the farm!

*grin*

High Hopes Challenge: Non-Traditional Christmas Colors

The current High Hopes challenge topic is to make a Christmas card using non-traditional Christmas colors (no predominant red/green in your project). This was fairly easy for me, as I use a lot of blues on my holiday cards. I used the Just Chillin' image from the recent penguin friends release. Love this little guy!

I hope you'll join us for this week's challenge! It's not a bad time to get started (if you haven't already) on your holiday cards!

Find all the details on the High Hopes blog.

 

Supplies
Stamp: High Hopes Rubber Stamps
Ink: Memento Black, Antique Linen Distress Ink
Paper: Neenah, The Paper Loft, Paper Accents
Other: ShinHan Touch Twin markers, String, Dress it Up snowflake charm, Tracing Wheel

A Winter Sweater for Twiggy

Twiggy loves wearing her little sweaters, especially in the morning when the temperature outside is a bit chillier than she would like.

This winter, when she's not wearing her pink cable knit sweater, she'll be wearing this festive green number.

Complete with a rolled down collar, this sweater promises extra warmth this winter.

We've noticed that the older Twiggy gets (she's almost 2) the crazier her wire hair gets. She's looking particularly goofy today!

Taking time to watch the goats is enjoyable when you're wearing a sweater!

And it's easy to enjoy the cool breeze when you're wearing a sweater!

Happy Monday!!

Give This Photo a Caption

Critter Shaped Card Challenge

The ever-so-fabulous Diane Zechman and Jeanne Shreiff and I decided to have a friendly little challenge.... a critter shaped card challenge! I was VERY tempted to make another country chick card, but thought I would branch out a little and try a new animal shape.

How about a sheep! I inked the edges lightly with Antique Linen Distress Ink, and added some wooly circles with a pal cream colored marker. Googlie eyes seemed like the perfect addition to it's face.

Hop on over to Diane and Jeanne's blogs and see their wonderful challenge cards!

 

Dies Used:
Spellbinders Large Scalloped Circle for the body
Spellbinders Large Circle (for the inside layer where the note will go)
One of the PTI label dies (not sure what it's called) for the legs
PTI Apple for the face
Spellbinders Small Scalloped Oval for the wool on it's head
Spellbinders Small Oval for the ears (trimmed slightly)
PTI small heart (from the center of another die) for the nose

Our Latest House Chicken

It is not an uncommon occurrence for us to have a temporary house chicken. Thankfully they're small and don't take up much room. They are cheerful and most grateful for the attention. Most of them get to rejoin the flock after a day or two of housebound TLC.

But this little gal might need a bit more care. She doesn't get around too well on her own in big places. She gets the shakes and has a tendency to get herself in places she can't easily get out of.

She was having a real hard time of it while I was in Oregon so Alan moved her into a small pet carrier and set her up in my office with a safe place to rest. She enjoyed warmth from a lamp and safety in her smaller "home".

She enjoys being held, is curious about things on my desk, and seems quite content in her new environment. Since she doesn't have to go far for food, water, and safety, she is doing much better about keeping calm and relaxed.

I think she is pretty cute.... and best of all, she is actually the baby of the late Tiny Tim and Cricket, who was a long time house chick until she was big enough to join her flock outside.

Now we probably need to settle on a name...

Holiday Deer "Poop" Jar

What's a holiday without a little poop humor between friends!?

I filled this empty spice jar with brown Jelly Bellies, and decorated the jar with a strip of designer paper. The image (by Inky Antics) was colored quickly with Touch Twin markers, and the tag was created using Spellbinders dies. The sentiment banner is just a narrow strip of paper with the ends snipped. Easy peasy!

Oh how I love subtle holiday poop humor...  *grin*

 

Supplies
Stamp: Inky Antics (deer), A Muse (sentiment)
Ink: Memento Black, Ranger Antique Linen
Paper: Neenah, The Paper Loft, Stampin' Up!
Other: ShinHan Touch Twin markers, repurposed spice jar, twine, vintage mother of pearl button, Spellbinders dies, Tracing Wheel

High Hopes Challenge: Snowflakes & Buttons

The current High Hopes challenge topic is Snowflakes and Buttons.

I used one of the newly released High Hopes images and a sentiment from the same release. The sentiment "Think Snow" is stamped very lightly in the background behind the penguin. As I get ready for the 2012 Christmas holiday, yup, I'm thinkin' about snow!

Find all the details on the High Hopes blog.