Farewell Poe Meow

On April 24th, 2008 at 3:35 AM, we said goodbye to our dear sweet Poe Meow. He was not feeling well for about a week. At 16 years old, he was still very active. His last day, he seemed very weak. I sensed that it was time, so I held him and made him as comfortable as possible. He took his last breath in my arms. It seemed only right, as mine was the first face he ever saw, and so it should be the last. He wasn't just a pet, he was family, and as such we feel an enormous sense of loss in our home. He has been at my side for almost half my life. I can't even remember not having him in my life. Those who knew him were truly blessed because he was just full of love, willing to give it to everyone. He always wanted to be near us, or cuddle with us. Always within eyesight. He wasn't shy, or skittish, or nervous. And he wasn't scared of anything either, even big ol' dogs. He touched our hearts and made everyone smile. He was The Best Cat In The World, truly! Ben and Poe would actually carry on conversations. He was very special and will be greatly missed, and forever loved. Even though he had a long full life, no matter how long he was with us would never be long enough....16 years, 20 years, 40 years.....it would never be enough time to spend with such a wonderful companion.

We Are Moving To FLORIDA!!!!!

Yes, it's true. My hub and I have decided to move to Florida. We did a lot of soul searching over the past few months. It wasn't an easy decision to make since we would be moving far away from both of our families. But most everyone has been very supportive of it. We are already expecting many house guests, and we haven't even got there yet! It will be a little crazy, and probably a lot stressful to get things packed up, sell our house here in MD and find a house that we like in Florida. But we think it will all be worth it in the end. We are very excited about it, and we can't wait to get there! We can use all the good wishes and prayers that we can get! We already appreciate the wonderful support we have received. As we look at it, it is just another adventure for us! A whole new chapter of our lives. Look out Florida, here we come!!!

Miles of Smiles,
Melissa

Recycle For Camping

Here is the latest project for Bitten By The Bug. I created this entirely from scraps of paper! Go Green, right? As a paper crafter I always have a stash of scraps, which usually end up in the trash anyway. With this project I was able to use some of that stash to make a handy fire starter for when we go camping. I embossed the box with swirls and added a raffia handle. The camping images are cut out and colored with small stamps and inks. Inside is a used dryer sheet with bits of dryer lint and paper scraps twisted to make a "pack". The whole thing gets used to start a camp fire. I've used the dryer sheet concoction before, but this is much prettier, more fun, and a great way to keep the dryer sheets and lint out of the landfills, while keeping my scraps from getting trashed too!

Miles of Smiles,
Melissa

Another Design

For this BBTB design, we were to use one of the signs from the George cartridge. I chose the sign with the flower cut out. I cut it out on white shrink plastic and bent the lower part of the sign back while it was still hot to form a loop. Before shrinking, I stamped flowers on it in black ink and lightly colored them with pencils. After it was cool, I placed a beaded paper behind the cut out flower, and added Diamond Stickles to the whole "charm". On green silk cord I strung a silver eyelet (didn't have a lot of beads to use!), a flower bead, eyelet, "flower charm", eyelet, another flower bead and one last eyelet. I then knotted each end to hold it all in place.

Miles of Smiles,
Melissa

BBTB Designs

This is from last weeks Bitten By The Bug design challenge. We were to use the party hat, so I made a shaped birthday card. I inked it, stamped it, added buttons and stickles and fibers to the chipboard. Colorful and cheerful!

Miles of Smiles,
Melissa