Sleepy

Pepper fell asleep on my arm tonight while snuggling on the couch. So naturally my daughter thought we should put her sleep mask on her. Cracked me up.

June 2013 Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

Papertrey Ink does a Blog Hop to get everyone inspired over a certain theme. This month it is anything to do with GOLD.

the challenge can be found here. I love accents in gold, anything shiny and glittery is so fun to add to cards for an additional pop..
I used gold embossing powder to really make my flowers stand out in this set and stamped and embossed the image on vellum paper that had flecks of gold in it.
I wanted the flowers to be the central image, so I used watermark ink to stamp the leaves, so they would be more like a background image.

MIM #122 Polka Dot Texture with Copic Markers

This is my submission for this week's Make it Monday challenge which can be found here.

I love polka dots so this looked like a lot of fun.

I used the Copic markers in various colors of brown to make dotted shading to mimic the natural dotting on a deer's hide. I love this deer image in this set.

MIM Colored Vellum Flowers

If you know me, you know I love to make cards. I have been so busy lately that I have been away from it for about a year. I am slowly getting back into it. Boy, do you lose creative mojo when not practicing. Well, one of my favorite blogs to go to for inspirations is Nichole Heady's blog.
Nichole is so talented and really gets me inspired. She has a fabulous stamp/ink/paper/goodies line that I adore called Papertrey ink.
So every Monday on her blog she does a Make it Monday tutorial and we can link our cards to win some fun things. It also allows all of us that follow her blog to see what each other make and get even more inspiration. Last MIM challenge was colored vellum flowers. This is what I came up with.

I used the large flower from Friends 'Til the End stamp set. I stamped the image using versamark ink on vellum paper. I did not have plain vellum, so mine actually has some gold flecks in it that also show through the coloring. I then heat set the image in gold embossing powder. I then carefully cut out the image and colored on the vellum using these colored inks from the Papertrey ink line using a q-tip. I used a bright orange from Stampin Up as well to fill in the center of the flower.
   

I used Papertrey Ink's select white cardstock and cut a piece of Pure Poppy cardstock to fit and layer at the bottom. Before attaching the Pure Poppy cardstock I made vertical lines in it to add some texture.
Stamped the sentiment image in True Black ink and tied with a black satin ribbon from my stash.

Pepper Fashion

Pig's get cold too! During the winter they need warmth if out and about or else they get quite cold. If it is really cold they can even get frost bite on their ears. To help Pepper feel more comfortable while nibbling on our grass in the front yard I bought her some Pepper fashion. Didn't she look so cute in her hot pink jacket? So cute.

I am sure this winter she will not fit , so I will be on the hunt for new fashion. Maybe we could do fashion Fridays on the blog? ha ha

Getting socialized

Little piglets are concerned of two things, food and staying alive. Everything bigger than them is considered a threat to life. Since she was such a little thing we had to gradually get her used to being picked up. I fought tooth and nail with my husband to be able to get Pepper initially and wouldn't you know it, James was the first one that could lift her completely off the ground and in his arms.

When piglets are scared their response to scare away the threat is the highest pitched squeal you can imagine. It is like having a fire alarm go off inside your head. We had a few lessons of how loud her squeal could be while we were getting her used to us. 

She currently loves sitting on the couch with us, cuddling under a blanket. She definitely lets you know when she wants up on the couch. Grunt Grunt 

Pepper's New home

Looking back at these pictures I still can not believe how small she was. These are pictures of her first week home, checking out her new pen and getting used to the set up. At this time she was already litter box trained. She was trained before we got her home, which was great. Pigs love blankets and stuffed animals to cuddle with. I love the pictures of her all cuddled up in the blankets.

The Beginning !

Pepper was born in October 2012 by a wonderful breeder (azmicrominipigs.com)
She was so tiny, here is a picture of her a few days old. She has the cutest markings on her face , which is called a mask, and a saddle marking on her back. So adorable. The breeder was so great about giving us updated pictures once they were born. She was in constant communication with us.

Stay tuned for more. I am playing catch up with the posts.

Suggestion and attempt! Please be kind.

First and foremost I am NOT, I repeat NOT a writer! I love to read so I have inspiration from all those wonderful bloggers out in the cyber world.
It was suggested to me that I write a blog about the adventures of my new family pet,  a micro-mini pig named Pepper. She is pretty awesome, and I already had a blog that I never used. So a little revamp and a lot of trust that my friends might actually read it and wha-la! The Pepper Mill is here. I hope you enjoy the stories of Pepper the pig.