This makes me so sad

I'm talking about the on-going 'dangerous' dog debate.  I have listened to many arguments about this and had many discussions with my own friends.  Here in the UK we have a dangerous dogs register.  Banned dogs that we aren't allowed to keep because they are potential killers.
I fully understand that some dogs are strong, powerful, some are trained to kill by their owners, all dogs are at the core wolves and all have the potential to attack (It's likely I know more humans with that potential though)

It seems to me, we go through phases of the latest 'in the news' dangerous dog.  There have been: German Shepherds, Dobermans, more recently Rottweilers and Pitbulls to name a few. 

It seems to be one of those debates that people have strong views about one way or the other.

Here is Amos:

Here also is Emily.
Amos used to be my dog.  He is not a Pitbull, he is an American Bulldog (no, they are NOT the same thing!)  I loved Amos, he was one of the best dogs I have ever lived with (not counting his puppy chewing habits when he got bored)  I also love Emily.  This is how 'dangerous' Amos was/is.
I re-homed him.  Not because he was dangerous, or I thought he might 'turn', or because I couldn't trust him (except the chewing thing) he wasn't schizophrenic or dominant.  I re-homed him because my husband has arthritis in his elbows and couldn't walk him without pain.  I also have a Yorkshire Terrier, Amos was bullied daily by him! I really miss living with Amos.

The truth is 'dangerous dogs' are trained by their owners to be that way.  At the moment I have a potentially dangerous Chihuahua! (really! I'm working on it)  Admittedly a Chihuahua is never going to kill anybody and a Pitbull could, I get it.  But it is STILL the owner NOT the dog.  Let's crack down on dangerous owners keeping dogs that are strong enough to kill people.  Ban THEM.  Licence dogs again if we have to, responsible owners are willing to do this.  Register them, tattoo them, do what we must, but PLEASE don't try to kill out the breeds, please don't ban the dogs, and PLEASE don't put down healthy, friendly dogs because they are on a dangerous list somewhere.  It makes me SAD.

January Art Journaling

Although this post probably says 4th January as it technically is, it is actually still 'my' 3rd January - 2.30am but I still haven't gone to bed yet, which means whatever the time it's not yet my 'tomorrow' (did you follow? lol)
Today has been a fairly busy day for me with family and life and I have only just finished my art journaling for the day!  I'm a proper night owl, this is actually quite 'normal' for me.

My art journal prompting today was to carve my own stamp to use.  This is something I haven't actually done before, so I don't have any carving tools.  I tried carving a potato, which I vaguely remember my Mum doing for me when I was a child but I failed miserably.  Eventually I cut out recycled cardboard shapes and glued them onto a cardboard base.  This of course wasn't really 'carving' but I did still make a workable stamp, which made me think I could probably make one of a kind craft stamps out of other things, which of course would make my art more unique and save tons of money as well (and of course recycle, which fits in nicely with my projects for this year)

All in all then, quiet a productive day I think!

Here are some photographs of the creative process in ... process :)

Let me know what you think.

This is my recycled pizza box.  I cut two equal sized squares and cut shapes out of one and glued to the other to make my stamp.

I used a recycled newspaper (black page) ripped in random shapes and glued to my journal page. Added white acrylic paint to my handmade stamp to cover my newspaper background.

And this is my finished journal page with a white scrap paper journal box for me to write in later.  Here are the close up elements of the page:

Play January Art Journal at milliande.com

"Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right." - Oprah Winfrey

What a wonderful quote!

I don't appear to have been too successful with my blog last year.  The whole blog scene is really new to me, I'm really not too sure I 'get it'?  And I clearly haven't shown enough commitment to it.  For the people that were kind enough to follow me, I'm truly sorry.

I plan to focus much more on my art projects this year, journaling, saving money and the environment by refashioning my wardrobe, living more simply and making 'Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without' my motto for the year.

I would like to learn to make PDFs (I really don't have a clue) Pay more attention to my blog and hopefully start some kind of social website.

What will be will be and again I step out into "another new year and another chance for (me) to get it right"

Blessings to us all as we continue on our journeys

This is my new art journal page to start the new year.  I have joined Milliande's Art Journaling January 2011 group.  Pop over there and have a look, it looks like lots of fun!

Art Journaling January 2011 at Milliande's