Giupetto / Gianna Tails

Annie Fabric - Project 1 and 2

2012-02-19T15:28:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago Annie from the Petsjubilee team I am on, had some extra fabrics, and asked her team members if anyone wanted any. Here is the fabric.

I didn't see dog clothes with this, but I did almost immediately come up with an idea for this beautiful fabric. I told my friend Alice about my idea and she sent me a pattern for it. Although I ended up not using the pattern, choosing to make my own, the pattern showed the use of 2 fabrics and I immediatley thought of this great black corduroy with cherries fabric.

Based on the pictures below, I asked my other team members to guess what I was making.

Some went with dog clothes, some said totes and bags, even shoe bags and drapes.

The closest was Sue Ann who thought it was a cover for something. She guessed suit bag for a closet, couch or cushion covers...

I also had enough fabric for a 2nd project. That project also included 2 of these cards that I purchased from fellow team mate Eva. I knew when I purchased these cards that I wanted to use some of them for this purpose.

So...what did I make with Annie's fabric and Eva's cards? The answers lie here.
If the screen is cut off, click on it to make it full screen.

SUPER BOWL 2012 - Giupetto and Gianna enjoyed the game

2012-02-06T09:08:00.001-08:00

Did your pet watch the super bowl game?
Well, my two did.
Here's a very short video. Hope you enjoy.

(Note the captions at the top of some of the photos)

And the Giants win!!! Yay!!!

SNOW IN PA - JAN 21,2012

2012-01-22T07:21:00.001-08:00

SO PRETTY - I Just love a new snow.

Hope you enjoy the slide show and movie.

Good bye Peep, and meet Carmello

2012-01-07T12:48:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I came home and found that my little society finch, Peep, had died.
There was really no warning except a few weeks ago his breathing looked a little labored, and he looked a little ruffled. But this past week or so he looked fine.

Here is my last picture of him. Peep is on the left in the dark brown and white, and his buddy Poncho is on the right.

We will miss little Peep, and hope he loves his new place at Rainbow bridge where he can fly free.

I was a bit depressed over his passing. Partly because I wasn't sure if I had done something wrong. This was the 3rd buddy that I got for Poncho. The other 2 were females and I thought it might have been egg binding, but Peep was a male, and they got along really great.

I woke up even more depressed and went to the store to get Poncho a buddy, and help me to feel better.

They had a good looking selection of Society finches. The one I choose is the color of Carmel candy, mixed with white. I do not know if he is male or female, but for right now let's say he is a male. I have named him Carmello.

Here are some more pics (double click for full screeen):

Thanks for watching.

Christmas 2011 videos

2011-12-31T12:01:00.000-08:00

One movie - collection of the videos taken during the Christmas vacation - 2011

Christmas 2011

2011-12-29T10:03:00.000-08:00

The following videos are viewed best if you view in full screen - click on bottom right corner, and hit escape to come back here.

First a short collection of pictures taken from Giupetto and Gianna's 2011 photo shoot - trying to get the best 2011 Christmas photo:

I think we finaly choose this one:

Next 2 family slide shows -

Christmas in Long Beach -

A few days later in PA

Thanks for watching.

Have a great holiday season and all the best for a wonderful New Year.

Gianna's 7th birthday - Dec 16, 2011

2011-12-18T06:39:00.000-08:00

My birthday was Dec 16th. I am now 7 years old.

Here is what I did on my birthday:

I did lots of napping - which is my 2nd favorite thing to do. (Treats are my 1st favorite)
First I napped on my birthday blankie from my Aunt Alice.

Today I got to be queen of the big pillow:

more napping...

And more napping....

I have fallen, and I can't get up:

This is my brother DaVinci and I love watching him:

We wore silly hats:

Mommy and I played fetch for a long time:

We went for a ride to the post office:

We were pooped out again after arts and crafts time:

We played HIde and Seek

My Daddy built this shelf

And that was part 1 of my birthday.

Happy Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-27T11:58:00.000-08:00

Enjoy the slide show:

Rock Hall's Annual Autumn Festival - Oct 2011

2011-11-03T21:03:00.000-07:00

Here's our booth. Behind the booth is John and son-in-law Greg
Below you can see the cork board for the hats and capes. I have a look book on the table, which people like to look through. This time I laid the cat toys out on a platter and it worked great. I sold several. And I have a few dressed inflatable dogs hanging around.

Below is a closeup of the hats board day 1:

Next is a close up of the same board Day 2.

The Hubby's area. He made and hung these poles.

He displayed some on a cut tree trunk:

But what brought the most attention were the dolls he secured to a display tray - Iron Man, Phoenix and Wolverine. And the kids all ran over, esp recognizing iron man.

There's the hubby:

We've got a customer. Tucker is Baaad to the Bone.

Donna and Georgi came to visit:
Below is a new hat I made while sitting there at the fair:
End of day 2 - it was a very successful and fun weekend. There is my oldest grandson Thomas. They all helped pack us back up.

FROM EGGS... TO BABIES

2011-08-21T05:53:00.000-07:00

I'm a little late in posting this, but this starts about 3 weeks ago...

We got to PA late Thursday night. On Friday morning my husband goes all around watering the potted plants we have on the deck.

He goes upstairs where we have a small deck with a shadow box...

and I hear "There are birds hanging out up here"... Then I hear, "We have eggs!"

Inside the shadow box, is a nest with 4 spotted eggs.

I did see both Mom and Dad, but could not get a picture of them. They are Northern Junkos also known as Dark Slated Junko.

2 weeks later, we went back to PA and.....

there were babies in the nest!

Where you see the yellow lines - that is the outline of thier beaks. If you look close you can see 4 separate yellow outlines. One is beneath the leaf on the left. There ae 4 babies!

And here's Momma. So very hard to see her standing right in the middle over the nest.

((While I was at work, my husband likes to change my screen saver on me, and I came home to this picture. These are not my babies, but I love the similarity, and I just love this picture.))

On Sunday, we packed up to head home. Gianna must think we are going to forget her, because she always climbs on top of the packages. If you take one, she'll just climb up on the next one.

See you later...

JENYA2 - CHECK OUT THIS GREAT SHOP ON ETSY

2011-07-20T04:35:00.001-07:00

I'd like to tell you about this wonderful person I met on etsy.... Her name is Jenya.

Jenya has many talents, including designing enamel jewelry and acrylic painting, and loves to use her creativity in color and design. Jenya has a love for animals, and also a great talent for knitting. She has combined all of these loves and talents by creating these wonderful knitted dog sweaters and vests.

Jenya opened up her shop http://www.jenya2.etsy.com/ on etsy in November 2010, and soon after joined the PetsJubilee team, which is where I met her and have since found out what a wonderful, warm, fun and very generous person she is. She has even had numerous giveaways, giving out multiple sweaters at a time, and shares her blog for others to post on.

Her dog sweaters are just beautiful. The one above being one of my personal, all time favorites.

The colors, the patterns in the design, the stitches she uses, really show in her work, and stand out from the rest. She even added these little pockets on the back for treats.

I can speak from experience as I own 3 of her sweaters so far, and will be back for more. Not only do I love the colors and the design, but they are made very well, with quality yarn, and they are so soft, with a comfortable fit for my dogs. Here are some pics of my 2, Giupetto and Gianna wearing them.

The 2nd picture is of a shorter sweater vest, that is another great idea of Jenyas. I now need one of those for my girl.

Jenya also makes these beautiful shrugs for us humans, and uses her same talent and eye for color and detail in these wonderful shrugs.

AND... she has now added these beautiful and unique knitted necklaces to her line.

Won't you stop by her shop and show her some love?

Fathers Day and Pool Party - June 19, 2011

2011-06-20T06:18:00.000-07:00

We went to John's daughter Jennifer's. In attendance were Jennifer and hubby Greg and our grandsons - Thomas, Stephen and Nicholas, and their dog Lexie.
Also there were John's son John, his wife Joy, our granddaughter Gianna, and grandsons Lucas and Marcus, and of course myself and Grandpa John.

For those of you watching this, in the heat, hope these pool pictures help cool you off.

First is a slide show of our day:

The following are some videos:

Last is the big splash contest:

Giupetto's 7th Birthday - June 2, 2011

2011-06-19T15:32:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIUPETTO !!!

Giupetto gets birthday prezzies in the mail from Shari, and we have a little birthday party.

Everyone loves the cake and treats, including DaVinci. Giupetto says even the birthday card Shari sent him tastes good.

Thank you so much Shari for making Giupetto's birthday so special!

And Giupetto gets to wear a silly birthday hat in the video too.

Art in The Plaza May 22, 2011

2011-05-22T15:30:00.000-07:00

Well, it was sooooooo cold, only 50 degrees - all day, and very windy, even some cold drizzle in the morning, cloudy - the sun never even peeked out. But there we were about a dozen or so crazy people, out in the cold trying to sell thier art.

There were not that many people walking through, but truly, considering the cold, I was surprised we had as many as we did.

I saw at least 6 dogs, a Briard Marely, that I fell in love with. He did some tricks for me, such a super sweet dog. He hung out with us for most of the day. There was a cute tiny yorkie, an apricot poodle, a Cavalier, a white poodle, and a mini schnauzer.

I enjoyed talking with everyone as usual, and everyone enjoyed my customer pics. I took some pics and some videos.

The purse with the lavender flowers and butterfly sold. That was my favorite. Those embroidered scenes are so fun to do. You design it yourself, choose your silk flower and the machine stitches a design over the inside of the flower. I don't make these anymore. Just do not have the time.

I am so tired now. My feet hurt, and my shins hurt, and my cheeks hurt - I think I have wind burn.

Happy 1st Birthday DaVinci

2011-05-14T12:17:00.001-07:00

DaVinci turned 1 year old on May 5, 2011.

We went to Pennsylvania for the weekend, arrived at night. DaVinci loves his travel cage so much he stayed in there the whole night and didn't come out till the following morning.

These are the videos taken that morning.

Caution - I am trying to teach DaVinci how to sing Happy Birthday, so one of the videos you will here one of the 100 times I sing the song to him. I want you to sing along - you know, in honor of his birthday.

Even though I have sang this some so many times, so far all he can say is "How does a cat go? Meow" and "Woof-Woof".

Hope you like his birthday videos:

Weddings are in the air...

2011-05-01T09:06:00.000-07:00

The royal wedding was not the only wedding in my mind this weekend, although I think it may have been my inspiration.

Following is the makings of my latest wedding dress.

This one is for a Cockapoo named Hannah.

I'm ready to make the first cut of this beaautiful lace fabric.

It has an irredescent thread running through it as well, which is hard to show in the pictures.

Looks like I will have just enough.

( The shamrock table cloth is put down to protect the table while I am cutting.)

Sewing begins. The lace fabric gets a double lining so the seams do not show.

The peanut gallery (thank God for lint rollers):

Playing around with some designs for the bodice.

I decided to use an organza ruffle that has sequint flowers in the center. I used this along the neck edge and I made a curved design with it on the bodice.

I also used some organza flowers which have beaded centers.

Work starts on the train - no lining on the train so the lace will really stand out.

Finished dress with train. The train is removable, so Hannah can dance at the reception.

I also bordered the bottom of the train with the organza ruffle.

Here's the dress without the train.

Close up of the bodice.

That bottom flowerette gets removed and that is where the train gets attached:

And here is a picture taken outside with the veil on:

The head piece also has some of the sequint organza ruffle along the front:

Of course, she must cover her face while walking towards the altar - so the veil can be worn over the face:

I wonder if this will be a June wedding. :-)

EASTER EGG HUNT

2011-04-24T08:21:00.001-07:00

We had our won, very first, Easter Egg hunt this morning.

First, I must apologize for the length. It is almost 5 minutes long.

I really tried to edit it down.

Second, I apologize for the very high voice.

I got very excited during our Easter egg hunt.

Hope you have a great Easter.

WORKING ON OUR DECK

2011-04-10T11:14:00.000-07:00

It's time to do a refurbish of our deck.

Our potted trees have died over time. Our patio table broke 2 winters ago, along with the umbrella. Our outdoor fountain stopped working......

John decided instead of buying new patio furniture we would keep what we have and he would make a new table out of wood. It's been a really long time since I've seen him work with wood. This should be interesting.

So he prodeeded to make the table...We choose a nice emerald green:

...and he surprised me with some benches to go around the A/C unit that sits outside.

John bought a cute flag

Now this is how to relax:

Table is finished and we bought a beige umbrella that has solar lights inside.

There was a huge sale on trees

We start some of the planting. John asked if he could do some of the flowers, and even though I love planting, I let him do 2 pots. He asked me what colors I wanted to do this year and I said purples and yellow.

A little while later I asked where he was going and he said "The flowers are ready". ??

He had the garden guy pot the flowers for him. LOL

Here is what "they" came up with - a whole bunch of the same flower - the flower has both yellow and purple. LOL They are really pretty pansies though, and I do love the colors.

OK, now it is my turn...

How's that?

John wanted the big tree that he bought (for a whopping $24) to go smack in the middle of the deck.

Here is the fountain we bought, discontinued, last one, and on sale.

John will buid a wooden box for under it to raise it up.

I get to paint it to make it look like grey stone.

Well, this is one of the reasons I love it here.

And a short movie...

I GOT A PREZZIE IN THE MAIL

2011-04-04T16:13:00.000-07:00

I am so excited!

I got a card from Athena and Sasha, and then I saw that it was much more than a card. It was an ACEO from Athena.

An ACEO stands for Art, Cards, Editions and Originals. They are 3 1/2" by 2 1/2" art in miniature. Athena has started making these recently and sells them in her shop - SassySashaDoxie.etsy.com.

But back to my prezzie - It is not just an ACEO made by her, but it is of my 2 precious doggies - Giupetto and Gianna.

They just look adorable. Look at the detail in the fur. Even my husband was very impressed, and he is very hard to impress, and I actually saw a smile - Hey Mikey, he likes it!

Then I had to laugh because not only do the dogs look great,

but Athena is known for her detail.

She has them sitting on my red couch (where I take so many of my pictures of them) and she even included the pillows that I have on my couch and the little designs in the pillows are there. I don't know how she knows this, but she even got the gold color in the back of the pillow.

I already started framing it, and stopped to take some pictures. I think the pink matt with the orange and white striped border looks great.

And here it is already on the wall in sewing room.

Thank you so much Athena and Sasha.

We love it.

DaVinci says his first words

2011-03-28T01:29:00.001-07:00

I've been trying to teach my bird DaVinci to talk. I kept repeating a few phrases to him, but one of then seems to have caught his fancy.

Here he is saying "How does a cat go? Meow" over and over again.

John is now trying to confuse him by telling him a cat goes Woof Woof, and I am also trying to go on to teach him that a bird goes Chirp Chirp.

If you notice right around the time 3:59 in the following video he does say something other than meow. Is it Woof Woof or Chirp Chirp?

The video is a little less than 5 minutes. He does seem to get a little clearer by the end of the video.
I am, by the way, in the room at the back of the video sewing. You can here the click click of my sewing machine.
I set the tripod up to get this.

Gianna and DaVinci sitting in a tree...

2011-03-12T06:00:00.001-08:00

... you know the rest. :-)

Gianna has been obsessed with DaVinci, my moustache parrot, since I got him in August.
I have watched them interact with much trepidation, but I do think they are working it out, and actually really like each other.

In the morning, I open DaVinci's cage and let him come out on his own. Gianna sits right there and waits for him to come out.

I usually know when he is out sitting on the top of his cage door because she barks to tell me.

Sometimes DaVinci goes down to the bottom of the door and they greet each other.

Here they are saying good morning to each other.

DaVinci loves their toy basket, but Gianna is not so sure about sharing her toys. She gets a little excited when he does this, she paws him, and goes to bite his tail, or his head. I tell her to try to relax, and watch like a hawk.

OK, where'd he go?

Gianna has becone a great baby sitter for DaVinci.

IT SNOWED AGAIN!!

2011-02-27T13:27:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, on Feb 20th, we got another 8" of snow in PA.
Just before we left to head home the following morning, we wanted to have a little fun in the snow, well at least Gianna did.
Giupetto's hat had fallen in front of his eyes which is why he was having some problems in the beginning of this video, but once I took his hat off he was better.
Still not loving it as much as Gianna though.
Her hat had fallen under her chin and she was dragging it in the snow. LOL

We then dried off and finished packing up to leave. Little did I know that while I was packing things up inside, John had let them play in the snow again, so they again got all wet. We stopped at the first gas station and while we were gassing up the car, I dried them off and changed their coats.

Making of a St Paddy's day dog vest

2011-02-22T15:28:00.000-08:00

Due to popular demand, of one person, here are some pics for the making of a dog vest.

Materials needed - tape measure, thread, bobbin, pattern pieces - most made of paper towels, D-Ring, white buttons, shamrock buttons, scissors, pen, customer info sheet, pins, dress makers label, vest fabric, white shirt fabric.

I covered the dining table with a flannel back table cloth to protect the table.

Cut out all the pieces:

Here are all the pieces cut out and ironed, and fabric label has been stitched into the back of the shirt:

Sew the vest pieces first:

Pin the center piece and the vest pieces to the shirt front and stitch in place:

Check on doggies:

Pin shirt front to shirt back:

And stitch together:

Turn right side out:

Add shamrock buttons and white buttons:

Check on doggies:

Add bow tie and velcro.

Finished vest!!

Hope you enjoyed this little tutorial - on the making of a DianaDesigns vest.

I HAVE A SEWING ROOM!!

2011-02-21T16:14:00.001-08:00

Well, here are the pictures all together of the making of "Diana's Sewing Room" Pretty much all done now, except I still have to get the bicylce picture matted and framed and put up.

Picture 1 - He just took out the washer/dryer, and placecd the sewing table in there to check the fit:

Picture 2 - Painted the room Angel Yellow:

Picture 3 - and he fixed the hole in the wall where the dryer hose was and cleaned up the bibs:

Picture 4 - happy hubby has a talk with Gianna to get her comments on the new room:

Picture 5 - started adding some white wood shelves, and placed the sewing machine on the table:

Final picture - he bought me a red chair. I love the red, so I bought a red canvas bin for my velcr0, and added a few other red accents, and began organizing my shelves - I get the bottom shelf on both walls. The rest will be for needed supplies and storage.

I thought I would do a video tour of the room. I hate talking on these things as my voice gets lower and I sound like a robot. LOL That is until Gianna comes into the room and I become me again. :-) So just pretend a robot has done the voice over.

Must go now. Time to do some sewing:

GIANNA LOVES THE SNOW

2011-01-15T06:39:00.000-08:00

Gianna just loves the snow. She wishes she had a playmate.
She has a wonderful deck to play on, nice and big for an apartment, we just love it.

Gianna says - I'll just have to play outside by myself. Maybe rolling in the snow might be fun...

...and some more rolling, so I am nice and wet when I go inside. This is fun!!

And this is what Giupetto prefers...

Below is a collection of pictures of my 2 pups in the snow - Enjoy.
(The picture right after the one with Giupetto pulling Gianna by the coat, he is pulling her back to the house by the drawstring on her hood. LOL)

SOMETIMES WE LOVE TO PLAY

2011-01-08T17:06:00.000-08:00

Mom & Dad got a new rug today, and we just love it. We were both so excited we just started to play and wrestle.

... and we just kept playing...

... and we played some more...

Thanks for getting us this new comfy rug.

We give it four paws up.

Giupetto and Gianna

Christmas 2010

2010-12-26T08:14:00.000-08:00

I got a new video camera for Christmas, so of course today, Dec 26th, I am making videos and slide shows.
Hope you like.

Giupetto loves to steal my slippers

Reindeer in Training - now they only listen to Santa Clause

We want the Reindeer cookies NOW!

Hubby plays with his new flying saucer.

DaVinci gets a new toy for Christmas

2010-12-25T09:58:00.000-08:00

...and Mommy gets a new video camera. Uh-oh.

Does he hate or love the toy?:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIANNA

2010-12-18T12:09:00.000-08:00

Hi, My name is Gianna, and it is my birthday!!!

I am 6 years old.

Mommy bought me a yummy cake.

She said a really nice lady made the cake.

Her name is Shari, and she sells these cakes on her website http://www.ciaohound.etsy.com/ .

She is also Mommy's friend, and the team leader of a team my Mommy is on. She loves that team.

Shari also has a girl dog named Velvet, but lets get back to MY birthday!

Yep, it's my birthday, and I was so excited because package came in the mail today - for me!

And it had a birthday cake in there. Yay!!!

It smelled so yummy, but we had to wait for Mommy to put these silly ties on us.

Then she had to put a hat on my head.

I tried to be a good girl and pose for the camera,

but I really just wanted that cake.

Giupetto was a good brother and let me have all the attention, and the first shot at the cake.

He had some later, and even he loved the cake. (Giupetto doesn't usually like anything.)

NEW WEB CAM

2010-12-18T08:58:00.000-08:00

We just got a new computer and it has a web cam! Yay!

We are having fun playinng with our new computer.

Here is the first picture taken with the web cam.

I just love this picture.

HUBBY & GIUPETTO

(What a couple - showing off for the camera)

We got treats and a toy in the mail...

2010-11-11T09:30:00.000-08:00

Hi,
Giupetto here. Mommy is letting me blog today.
It has been a long time. How is everyone?

We received a package in the mail yesterday. Gianna and I knew it was something for us.
Mom was all excited about the surprise inside.
It came in a box with grass in it. And on the grass was a bag of Doody treats, from http://www.doodypops.etsy.com/. I recognized these treats right away as we have had them before and we love them. (Especially Gianna as she is a treat hound!)

Then Mom said, "Giupetto look, there is a brown ghost toy"
And I said "Mom, that is a Pile of Doody toy"
"Yes", Mom said, "It is a Steaming Pile of Doody toy".
But she still didn't give it to me. She had to take a picture first.

Finally, she let me have it. Then she took a video.

Do you think I like my new toy?

At the end I put my chin on the toy. That means it is safe, and no one can steal it.

Here I am in the morning. (I have not even combed my hair yet.) Mommy was so happy that I took my Steaming Pile of Doody toy to bed with me last night. (Of course I did get up and get my white ghost toy and bring that to bed too. Otherwise someone might steal it during the night.)

Oh wait. Was that a noise. Is someone trying to steal my Steaming Pile of Doody toy?

Oh, they are trying to sneak up on the other side now.

OK, it is safe.

Till next time. See ya.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN 2010

2010-11-11T04:46:00.000-08:00

We just have to show you our Halloween pictures this year.

We are Bonnie and Clyde:

HOWL-O-WEEEEEEN

2010-10-29T12:47:00.001-07:00

Not for the faint of heart.....

The price for a miracle

2010-10-07T13:05:00.000-07:00

A
little girl went
to her bedroom and
pulled a glass jelly jar from its hiding place
in the closet.

She poured the
change out on the floor and counted it
carefully. Three
times, even.. The
total had to be exactly perfect.. No chance here
for mistakes.

Carefully placing
the coins back in the jar and twisting on the
cap, she
slipped out the back door and
made her way 6 blocks to Rexall's Drug Store
with
the big red Indian Chief sign
above the door.

She waited
patiently for
the pharmacist to give
her some attention, but he was too busy at this
moment.
Tess twisted her feet to make a
scuffing noise. Nothing. She cleared her
throat
with the most disgusting sound
she could muster. No good. Finally she took
a
quarter from her jar and banged it on
the glass counter. That did
it!

'And what do you want?' the
pharmacist asked in an annoyed tone
of
voice.. I'm talking to my brother
from Chicago whom I haven't seen in ages,'
he
said without waiting for a reply to
his question.

'Well, I want to
talk
to you about my brother,' Tess
answered back in the same annoyed tone.
'He's
really, really sick....and I want
to buy a miracle.'

'I beg your
pardon?'
said the
pharmacist.

'His name is Andrew and
he has something bad
growing inside his
head and my Daddy says only a miracle can save
him now. So how
much does a miracle
cost?'

'We don't sell miracles
here, little girl.
I'm sorry but I
can't help you,' the pharmacist said, softening
a little.

'Listen, I have the
money to pay for it. If it isn't enough, I will
get
the rest. Just tell me how much it
costs.'

The pharmacist's brother
was
a well dressed man. He stooped down
and asked the little girl, 'What kind of
a
miracle does your brother
need?'

' I don't know,' Tess
replied with her
eyes welling up. I
just know he's really sick and Mommy says he
needs an
operation. But my Daddy can't
pay for it, so I want to use my
money..'

'How much do you
have?' asked the man from Chicago
.

'One dollar
and
eleven cents,' Tess answered barely
audible.

'And it's all the
money
I have, but I can get some more
if I need to.'

'Well, what
a
coincidence,' smiled the man. 'A
dollar and eleven cents---the exact price of
a
miracle for little
brothers.'

He took her money in one
hand and with
the other hand he grasped
her mitten and said 'Take me to where you live.
I want
to see your brother and meet
your parents. Let's see if I have the miracle
you need.'

That well-dressed man
was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, a
surgeon,
specializing in neuro-surgery.
The operation was completed free of charge and
it
wasn't long until Andrew was home
again and doing well.

Mom and Dad
were
happily talking about the chain of
events that had led them to this
place.

'That surgery,' her Mom
whispered. 'was a real miracle. I wonder
how
much it would have
cost?'

Tess smiled. She knew
exactly how much a
miracle cost....one
dollar and eleven cents...plus the faith of a
little child.

In our lives, we
never know how many miracles we will
need.

A
miracle is not the
suspension of natural law, but the operation of
a higher law.
I know you'll keep the
ball moving!

Here it goes. Throw it
back to
someone who means something to
you!

A ball is a circle, no
beginning, no
end. It keeps us together
like our Circle of Friends. But the treasure
inside
for you to see is the treasure
of friendship you've granted to
me.

Today
I pass the
friendship ball to you.

Pass it on
to someone who is a friend
to
you.

MY OATH TO
YOU...

When you are sad.....I will
dry your
tears.

When you
are scared.....I will comfort your
fears.

When
you are
worried......I will give you
hope.

When you are
confused.....I
will help you
cope.

And when you are lost...and
can't see the light, I
shall be your
beacon...shining ever so
bright.

This is my
oath.....I
pledge till the
end.

Why you may ask?....Because
you're my friend.

Signed:
GOD

DaVinci and our trip to the Pinocchio house

2010-09-21T09:59:00.001-07:00

Hi, DaVinci here.

We have a house in the Pocono mountains of Pennsylvania

which my Mom and Dad, and sister and brother

(which you will meet below)

refer to as The Pinocchio house.
.

We went there last weekend.

I love it there,

and here are some of the reasons why.
.

First - This is my travel home. It's pretty cool in here.

Mom says it is a kitty kennel,

but she turned it into a really cool trailer home for me.
.

She put a perch in it,

and a toy which I love tearing apart during the ride.
.

There is my food and water in the back. - See?

OK, I'm ready now. We're off to PA.

This is my cage in PA.

I have lots of toys in there,

and even a pink chain that I like to play on.

Oh, they shut the door on me now.

Wow, this is a rare treat.

You want one?

This is my play gym for here.

It's a little small, but I really like it.

It has a cool ladder and even a bell.

And I get to sit right in the middle of the living room.

That's my sister Gianna.

She just stares and stares at me all the time.

I think she needs a drink, but she will not leave my side to get it.

She thinks I need a babysitter I guess.

Mommy is very busy right now.

Look at all of her crafty stuff .

That's my brother Giupetto, over there on the right.

I like him.

He's cool and he doesn't try to attack me.

I hope you enjoyed my little vacation pictures.

--- Bye ---

PONCHO AND LEFTY

2010-09-11T03:22:00.000-07:00

I am sorry to say that Leftina has gone to Rainbow Bridge,

where she will fly around free to her hearts content.

But poor Poncho was sad, all alone in his cage.

So meet his buddy Lefty.

Lefty is the one that is mostly white with tan markings.

Quite different I thought.

I do not know if you can see it, but Lefty has a sort of punk rock hair-do on top of his head that I just love. Lefty is a Society finch.

Poncho is a Gouldian finch. He is the one with all the bright colors.

I am pretty sure Lefty is a boy, by the way they hang out together.

They do seem like good buddies.

I have 2 videos, I just wish I also had sound,

as the little sounds and chirps they make constantly is just so nice to listen to.

The long white dish you see in the middle, on the floor, is a dish I found that is just perfect as a bath, and everytime I put their bath out, they get very active.

It is fun to watch.

I still have not been able to catch them bathing.

The second video they have calmed down some.

DaVinci Gets a Play Gym

2010-08-21T08:54:00.000-07:00

DaVinci thinks this play gym was for him to enjoy,

but it is really so I can have a break while he is out of his cage,

and it is working out pretty well so far.

Here he is exploring his play gym:Hmmmm.... These look like steps.

How am I doing?

It has a toy too?

He really likes it best right up on top, especially when Mommy hand feeds him treats like this dried banana. Already a spoiled boy.

DaVinci also LOVES his fruit. He gets fruit every morning.

Here is a short video of him eatting the fruit before I even finish filling the dish.

He loves watermellon.

You can see his eyes flashing as he eats the watermellon.

Alice explained that they do this when they are excited.

On the weekends I make DaVinci some warm breakfast.

This is an organic couscous with mango, carrots, coconut and other things.

You can see his eyes really flashing when he finds the raison.

I call it flashing when the pupils in their eyes go from big to tiny and big again.

Take a look when he finds that raison. Oh my! Hee hee.

IS IT A DINOSAUR OR A BIRD?...

2010-08-03T09:32:00.000-07:00

My husband and I have been looking for a Moustache Parrot ever since we saw one on last month's PetJubilee photo contest. A breeder seems to be hard to find, but last night on a whim I called the store I had bought Sinbad, and they had one 12 week old baby, and now he is mine.

He doesn't have all his coloring yet, nor all of his feathers. He is bigger than I thought.

But the funniest thing is his blue feet. It is hard to see that he has blue feet, but they are a powder blue.

We don't know if he is a boy or a girl yet, but the store owner says that because she does see the beak getting lighter, she thinks he is a boy. Her girls have a black beak, and the boys have a bright red beak.

He was scared in the store and kept biting. I tried to calm him by whispering his name - Lorenzo - bite, Santino - bite, Leonardo - bite, Santana - bite, Gaetano - bite.

All of a sudden another name came into my head - DaVinci - and he stopped biting and looked up. LOL So he is called DaVinci. Maybe some day he will even tell me, as they can learn to talk.

He is a big boy - bigger than I expected. He reminds me of those baby Teradactyls, the dinoaurs that look like birds.

He has never been in a cage before - so this was new, and he caught on pretty quickly. And he already has lots of toys.

Here is his first morning out with mommy.

Here is his first computer lesson.

Maybe he can take care of all of that paperwork.

I'm sure there will be many more pictures to come.

Poncho and Leftina - silent movie

2010-07-31T08:04:00.000-07:00

Silent movie of my 2 finches - Poncho and Leftina.

This is just a test to see how the movie feature downloads - hopefully soon I get them bathing, or catch Poncho in his mating dance.

They did take a bath again this morning, but again I missed it.

4th of July Weekend

2010-07-05T17:25:00.000-07:00

HANGING OUT IN THE FRONT:

Let's go for a walk:

Ready for a car ride:

At the Park:

Sinbad 7/4/91 - 6/27/10

2010-06-28T15:44:00.000-07:00

Sinbad, a Sun Conure parrot, was born in July 1991. A few months later, in October, my birthday gift from my husband would be a bird, our first pet together. We lived in a rented condo apartment and they did not allow any other animals, only birds.
So we went to “For Birds Only”, and they had individual large pens with all of these different baby birds running around inside the pen.

I was initially there for a Cockatiel.
When I put my hand in the Cockatiel pen they were very skittish and flitted away, which is understandable. In the very next pen were these baby parrots. When I put my hand in, they were not as skittish, but moved to the corner. All except for one. He remained on his little perch, and when I put my finger out he stepped onto my finger. I know we say that sometimes the animals pick you, and I believe that is exactly what he did.

He was a funny looking guy all speckled green, yellow and orange, but they had 2 breeding adults there, and I saw what a beauty he would become, and he did. Most of the green was placed with bright orange and yellow.

They neglected to tell me that Sun Conures like to scream, and scream he did. We almost got evicted from our apartment. But we then bought our own condo, and a nice big cage for him, and the screaming decreased a bit.

He hated men, esp. my husband. He also thought I was his woman, so my husband was not allowed near me when he was out.

He loved to take a shower by hanging upside down under the faucet, and almost every morning he would come in the bathroom with me while I showered, and we would dance to the music. He loved Salsa and Latin beats especially, and he loved to dance. He was actually quite a good dancer, much better than me.

Well he would have been 19 in just a week’s time, and I guess you would say he lived a healthy, happy and long life, but I guess his time had come. He was never sick a day in his life, but just suddenly got ill. I rushed him to the emergency but after 2 days, he got worse. I have never had to make a decision of putting a pet to sleep before, and it was tough, but I know it was the right thing.

He was my baby as well as my friend, and I will miss him.

God put him on this earth, and I do believe He has a place for him now, where he is flying freely.

Rest in peace Sinbad. You will be in my heart forever.

Poncho and Leftina - share a nest

2010-06-18T16:51:00.000-07:00

What a pretty bird Poncho is. But where is Leftina?

Here I am.

Nitey-nite little ones.

Gianna falls asleep on the job...

2010-06-12T17:02:00.000-07:00

We have a new pet photo contest going on:

BRING YOUR FURBABY TO WORK

Sponsored by the Pets Jubilee Team. This month's theme was inspired by Velvet, the adorable beable, just trying to get past that darn computer, to get to her mom. Check her out on the blog below, and see the contestants entered so far:

Here's the blog: http://www.petsjubileebox.blogspot.com/; click on the Furbabies link at the top to go to the contest.

Send in your photo, slide show, or video of your pet, in a work environment. Add some words to be posted with their pic to go along with the theme.
We welcome all pets: dogs, cats, birds, gerbils, hamsters, geckos, chickens, frogs, turtles, snakes, pigs, horses, just to name a few.

We'll be hanging out in the following forum from June 2nd through the 14th introducing the new entries until voting begins on the 15th. Come chat with us:
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6536960&page=1

I cannot enter this month - but here is a shot of Gianna who has fallen asleep at the job of helping Mommy sew.

She always has to be on the table when I am sewing. But she knows she is only allowed up there if she lays down. She apparantly has no problem with that.

Also shown in the picture is my brand new sewing maching, on which I am making the very first outfit, a Skulls and Roses harness vest for a friend's adorable puppy Moxie.

We have new bird buddies....

2010-06-06T10:48:00.000-07:00

Gianna here. Mom and Dad just came back with a gift for me - more bird friends.

Mom assured me they weren't statues, even though it has been over an hour and they have not moved.

Here are some pictures.

My Dad named them Poncho and Lefty.

That's Poncho on the right. He's a male Gouldian finch.

This is Lefty, a society finch. Mom's not sure if he is a boy or a girl yet. They told her at the store, if it sings it is a boy.

Mom makes a wedding dress...

2010-06-06T04:13:00.000-07:00

... for ANOTHER DOG!!

She had Cleara model it - - -

Close up with train:

Train detaches:

She still has to make the veil - Oh brother!!

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY...

2010-05-31T04:20:00.000-07:00

Just Discovered - New Artist

2010-05-09T09:07:00.000-07:00

I just love to see talent in people, especially new talent.

Take a look at these pictures. The young artists name is Sophia.

First is a finished picture she did of her dog Kiah:

These were first drawn with a plain pencil and then colored in on the computer.

Here is a picture of her dog Sidney. This is the pencil drawing:

And here is the completed picture:

And here are some more:

And... she just finished this one. Recognize these cuties?

There is one other thing - she is 15 yrs old.

I would love to know what you think?

MOTHER-DAUGHTER JEWELRY SET GIVEAWAY

2010-04-29T03:30:00.000-07:00

CHECK THIS OUT - Lewis Crazy House is having a give away. Enter and you could win a necklace and earrings set for both you and that special little girl in your life - go here to enter and to see the beautiful set you would win:

http://lewiscrazyhouse.blogspot.com/2010/04/beautiful-motherdaughter-jewelry-set.html

MEGA GIVEAWAY - 44 GREAT PRIZES

2010-04-11T03:31:00.000-07:00

You've got to CHECK THIS OUT - MEGA GIVEAWAY - EXCELLENT chance to win - 44 prizes are being given out:

http://jewelrybysolange.blogspot.com/2010/04/april-showers-bring-may-flowers.html

You can also follow her on twitter:

http://twitter.com/JewelsbySolange

Giupetto and Gianna climb a Snow Mountain

2010-03-05T19:18:00.000-08:00

Fun Photo Game - TAG You're it...

2010-03-05T05:21:00.000-08:00

Shari at http://ciao-hound.blogspot.com/ just tagged me in this fun photo game...

The rules of this tag are:

1. open your first photo folder

2. scroll to the tenth photo

3. post the photo and the story behind it

4. tag five or more people

This is my picture:

This photo was taken May 2005. Gianna was only 5 months old here. She is wearing a onesie that I bought at the dollar store - that says "I am the Little Sister".

Here is the pattern to my earliest clothing designs:

1-Go to dollar store and buy infant clothing

2-This was a onesie, so I cut off the bottom and hemmed it.

3-Take a nice deep seam down the front, as the dogs chest is much smaller than their back, and this brings the sleeves forward.

And there you have it. I have made them team sports teas, sweatshirts and baby dresses (where I have used the headband that came with the dress, as a belt to keep the dress tucked in underneath).

I'm tagging:

http://birdtoystore.blogspot.com/

http://polycritters.blogspot.com/

http://checkersthepeekapoo.blogspot.com/

http://youniquelychic.blogspot.com/
DoodyPops

mischyfpaws

CHRISTMAS IS LOVE - 2009

2009-12-25T08:44:00.000-08:00

Wishing you and yours a wonderful Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year.

Pictures speak louder than words so here goes:

Here is Giupetto's personality showing out in this picture. How could you not love him:

Here's my pretty girl Gianna:

Daddy got a new scarf, Giupetto.

And I got a new Hallmark ornament - Santa's Workshop

Hope your Christmas was wonderful!!

Trick or Treat - We Love Howl-O-Ween

2009-10-15T05:12:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time.... I was a little boy. My name is Giupetto. I was born in Wisconsin, and have a brother named Gizmo. My breeder's name is Judy. She used to call me her Little Devil.
Now my brother lives in Florida, and I live in New York with my Mom and Dad (and now my sister Gianna, but we'll get to that).

Here I am at only 4 months old, and Mommy said she just had to make me a devils costume because now I was HER little devil.

THIS WAS HOWL-O-WEEN - 2005

6 months later Mom and Dad decided to get me a little sister. Her name is Gianna. She was born in Idaho, where they have lots of potatoes. Mommy says that is why her feet smell like potatoes.

Here we are pretending to be Bride and Groom for HOWL-O-WEEN 2006. Mommy entered us in a photo contest that Petco was having. We didn't win, but Mommy says that is because we didn't know as many people as some of the other pets. I'm not sure what that has to do with being the cutest and not winning.

HOWL-O-WEEN 2007 - Mommy wanted to give us costumes that fit our personality. She said I am a sneak thief so I would be a convict.

She said Gianna is such a happy girl, always frolicing around, that she would make her a clown and call it "Frolic the Clown". (But Gianna would not leave her hat on when we went to Petco that year for halloween.)

This is my favorite toy - we call it Ghosty.

Time for HOWL-O-WEEN 2008.

I was a bumble bee and Gianna was a ladybug. I have to admit we both looked cute. We walked in the little kids parade that year in our town. We were the only doggies, but they gave us each a number to pin on so we could get judged like the rest of the kids.

It was fun and we were so tired when we went home.

HOWL-O-WEEN 2009

Hi, this is Gianna. Giupetto wanted to be spiders this year, but I like my ladybug better.

Mommy let me dress like a ladybug for the fair this year, which was Oct 10th, but we have to dress like spiders on Halloween.

These are our traveling sweaters:

HAVE A SPOOK-

TACULAR

HOWL-O-WEEN THIS YEAR

I won a PetsJubilee box of prezzies!!

2009-10-10T09:20:00.000-07:00

I am a petsJubilee team member, and I was a winner in a challenge this month!!

Our box of goodies just arrived in the mail.

We just came back from a Halloween fair in our town,

and now it is time to see what is in the box.

Wow, lots of cute items... love the cards, origami, treats... what a cute little barrette.

Here we have some peanut butter cookies. Mmmmm...

Here we are at the fair:

Here we are after the fair:

Proud member of PetsJubilee Team

2009-09-01T12:35:00.000-07:00

I am a proud member of the PetsJubilee team on etsy.
PetsJubilee.etsy.com sells sampler boxes filled with items from team members, who are all artisans with etsy shops. The sampler boxes include wonderful items for your pets, including toys and treats, and other pet related items, as well as lots of coupons for their various shops.

Here's a picture of my 2 waiting for me to open up their sampler box that just arrived.

And here's a picture of the Sep boxes.

Every month they have contests and games, such as pet photo and video contests, scavenger hunts, live chats.
PetsJubilee is now involved in a number of charity events as well.
Please visit their blog at: http://www.petsjubileebox.blogspot.com/

VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE PET IN THE SEPTEMBER PET PHOTO CONTEST.
Voting starts September 21st!! Visit the petsjubilee blog above and click on the furbabies link.

I have 2 shops: DianaDesignsNY.etsy.com and StylinDogsBoutique.etsy.com
where I sell a unique line of doggie fashion, such as sweaters, costumes, skirt-ters, dresses, harness vests and have just added Dog Toys AND Cat Toys.

Here are a list of the many other shops that are all a part of the PetsJubilee team:
3Pooches
BeautifulBeasts
Blennox
CiaoHound
CocoaCreamCrochet
ColoradoCatnipToys
CraftsOfDistinction
Craftwin123
DesignsByOne
DianaDesignsNY
DivineCanine
DoggieStylin
DogsRule
DoodyPops
ForeverFoxed
FunnyErnie
FuzzekinsPhoto
FuzzyMug
GeorgiesMom
HaberHeartwork
HaleysHandmades
HappyHound
LollyWear
LuckyDogTreatCompany
MiasMunchies
PatsDesign
PawshCompanions
Petables
Pigtopia
PupCouture
RachelsPETdesigns
SassySashaDoxie
TheCaliforniaChi

Sinbad Beats the Heat his way...

2009-07-26T12:42:00.000-07:00

Sinbad is a Sun Conure parrot. This is the way he likes to "beat the heat".

He was trying so hard to figure out how to hang upside down for his bath. He even used the little soap dispenser nozzle to hold on to. After these pictures were taken I put a bandaid on the faucet to help him to hold on.

WE ~TWIRL~ FOR CAKE

2009-07-11T11:33:00.000-07:00

This video was entered in the PetsJubilee talent contest in July, and we won!!

Thank you to everyone who voted for us. Licks and Wags, Giupetto and Gianna

Meet Gianna

2009-07-08T09:18:00.000-07:00

This is my favorite sweater. Mommy made it. Time for the Halloween parade. Ooooh scary!Aren't I pretty. Is this too frilly for me? This is more my style. Give me a denim skirt anyday. I love birds so Mommy made me this Tweety bird outfit. This is my new 4th of July dress.

Meet Giupetto

2009-07-08T04:30:00.000-07:00

<
My first sweater made by Mommy.

My best scary face - Have a Spooktacular halloween.

<< Are we going to the races now?

Mommy dressed me like a girl!

That's more like it.

I'll do anything for Mommy. :-)