Puppy Love ATC

Some sweetness from Michele Storms! Lunagirl images for the 'handwriting' background and main photo image... beautifully combined to create her ATC. Getting ready for Valentines next month <3 p="">

Animals Challenge: Last Week, Remember to Enter!

This lovely kitty cat card by Vicki Romaine is here to remind you that there is one more week in my Animals challenge. This month-long challenge ends on August 31, so you have plenty of time to link up your entry! Don't forget you can enter three times, and if you use a Lunagirl image it doubles your chances in the drawing. It's a random drawing, and you could win $15 credit to spend at Lunagirl.com!

Visit here to see the challenge guidelines and plenty of inspiration from my DT and all the creative folks who have entered so far. It's quite a beautiful collections of animals of all kinds. Can't wait to see yours added to the menagerie!

A is for Animals... Join my August challenge!

My ANIMALS challenge continues! So far I'm really liking the change to month-long challenges, because there is more time for more people to enter.

The entries so far are looking great! Remember the everyone can enter up to three times, and remember that you have until August 31 to link up your creations.

Here is a sweet "T is for Turtle" ATC by Michele Storms of my Design Team. When you go to the challenge post, be sure to see her other alphabet animal ATCs, B is for Beaver and C is for Cat!

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! and Elephants and Chickens and Kitties and Puppies...

Here's a new collage sheet announcement just in time for Vintage Menagerie challenge! Six new digital sheets featuring animals, which helped to inspire this challenge theme. Plus at the end a few more animal-themed sheets that have been available for awhile... This doesn't include all the birds!  I hope you'll come play in the challenge, which continues until May 4.  :-)

Blog Challenge: VINTAGE MENAGERIE

It's time for a new Lunagirl Moonbeams blog challenge, and since I've just created a fresh batch of digital collage sheets featuring all kinds of animals, I've chosen the theme Vintage Menagerie.

A "menagerie" originally referred to a collection of "exotic" animals collected by European kings and queens.  "Exotic" could include new world animals such as porcupines and opossums!  Later, travelling commercial menageries displayed all kinds of animals to a curious public -- from lions and tigers and elephants to fancy types of cats and dogs and birds.  Eventually the antique menageries evolved into modern zoos.

So... feature your favorite pet or your favorite animal!  Are you a cat person or a dog person?  Or maybe you prefer turtles and fish, or exotic birds!  My favorite animals are cats and foxes.  What do you visit first at the zoo?  I have always liked the elephants and giraffes... but who can resist the lions and tigers and bears (oh my!)  Not to mention gorillas, and sea lions, and those beautiful gazelles... You get the idea... anything goes, just so you feature one or more animal.  Wild animals or woodland creatures or friendly pets, all are welcome!  Find vintage animals to inspire you at Lunagirl.com.

Here are the guidelines for this challenge:

• This challenge (#26) will end at Noon (Central Time) on May 4. 
• Any craft or medium is OK,
• No more than 3 entries from one person in each challenge, 
• Vintage style is encouraged, and 
• Please link to this blog and Lunagirl.com on your site if you have one.
• Prize:  The winner will be selected randomly to win a $10 coupon for Lunagirl.com! 

• Of course I love if you use at least one Lunagirl.com product, and I hope you'll go take a look at my collection... but that's not a requirement!  
• However, if you use a Lunagirl image, you will be entered TWICE in the drawing! I want to welcome everyone and every style but also give a little something extra to my wonderful customers!

LINK UP YOUR ENTRIES BELOW TO PLAY (and SCROLL DOWN TO SEE THE DT CREATIONS)

An InLinkz Link-up

LUNAGIRL MOONBEAMS DESIGN TEAM
The ever-fabulous Lunagirl Moonbeams DT have created some great entries to start collecting our Vintage Menagerie.  I hope you will join in!

PETRA BERENDSEN:
"It was fun to choose from the animal images. I went for one I always loved and adored and it was always the first one I visited when going to the zoo, the giraffe. They look to elegant and stylish. It is one ofthe images on your: Animals at the Zoo collage sheet. I combined it with some patterned paper, twine, button and a little printed word."

MICHELE STORMS:
Stop and Smell the Flowers 

MANDY CHILVERS:
Mon Ami (My Friend)

VICKI ROMAINE:
"I have been playing a lot with my Gelli plate lately and thought I would try a canvass.  This is a canvass board with acrylics as the background.  I used 4 stencils to make  the background.   The Lunagirl image of the giraffe blends well with the background.  The little yellow gives the feeling of daybreak;"

The Dog Days of Summer

Why do people call the hottest days of the year the "Dog Days" of Summer? It makes me think of an old hound dog lying on the porch because it's too hot to move ~ but that's not it!  The ancient Egyptians and Romans noticed that during July and August, the "Dog Star" Sirius rose and set with the Sun. They believed that Sirius was adding its heat to that of the Sun, making the Earth hotter and drier than usual.

In the Northern Hemisphere our "dog days" are from about the second week of July to the third week in August. For centuries these could be difficult times, when the heat was stifling and insect and diseases would flourish in the heat. People who could afford it would vacate the cities and go "take the sea air."  Nowadays, this time of year just makes us feel lazy and runs up our air conditioning bills.

I have a large selection of dog images on my Vintage Animals CD. There are cute Victorian dog pictures as well as beautiful antique prints of many dog breeds.  In our our Cafepress shop many of them are available on t-shirts and gifts. Find your favorite ~ or email me to make a request! Of course we also have plenty of kitties for the cat lovers like me.