Thinking of Emmitt

"Emmitt"

I wanted to write a tribute today to Emmitt, a most precious pug who passed over to the Rainbow Bridge last weekend. His people, Melissa and Fred were the most wonderful pug parents and I know they are missing him terribly.

I had the pleasure of knowing Emmitt and of being the recipient of many of his puggie kisses, hugs and howls of happiness when I visited. He was pure joy wrapped in a little pug package. We all will miss him dearly.

Thank you, Emmitt...for bringing so much sweetness to the world. We love you, little man!

"When a dog first arrives in Heaven
he just runs.

Dog Heaven has clear, wide lakes
filled with geese who honk and flap
and tease. The dogs love this.

They run beside the water and bark
and bark and God watches them
from behind a tree and smiles."

~ Cynthia Rylant

New Christmas Card!

You can purchase these cards here.

Here's a new Abby Creek Christmas card...for all you Puggie lovers out there! You can purchase these in my Etsy Dog Shop...with free shipping until November 15th.

Hey...have you seen this great new book, "To the Rescue"? Check out some of the photos here. I think this would make a wonderful gift for someone this holiday season.

It's a beautiful, soggy Fall day here in Colorado. Winter is coming early this year though because the leaves are dropping fast. :(
Why can't it be Fall all year long?!

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower."
~ Albert Camus

New Calendar!

Abby Creek 2009 Desk Calendar

Available now in my Etsy shop here

The second annual "Dogs of 2009" Calendar is finally finished and listed in my Etsy Shop. In my opinion ;) it would be THE perfect gift or stocking stuffer for any dog lover!

Now as for gifts...I treated myself to one last week. I bought my second Michele Maule original, the beautiful painting you see below. I absolutely love Michele's work...you should check out her latest paintings and prints for sale in her Etsy Shop. Besides the fact that she's an amazing Artist...she's also the proud mama of one of the cutest Boston Terriers ever! You can find lots of other adorable pictures of Chloe on Michele's blog. Thanks again Michele...I love it!

"Sit Tight"

painting by Michele Maule

Have a great weekend! xox

A Canine Christmas!

Puchase these cards in my Etsy Shop here

A very happy Thursday to ya! So how can you not love a "Puggie" Christmas card I ask? I just created this one today and am actually going to be releasing a few other new Doggie Christmas Cards during the next several days. They come ten cards per package with envelopes...and you can purchase them here.

Now...on to the little Halloween vixen below. That's my friend Shennon's daughter, Jenna (for those of you who follow my blog...that would be Ruby's little sister). Other than Ruby (and Maisie of course)...she's just about the cutest thing I've ever laid eyes on. I'm thinking this would be a great costume for Maisie too...if only I could push her big ears up inside that hat. Maybe NOT?!

Miss Jenna, the candy corn girl

Be Mine?

"Jazz"

This little girl was a neighbor of mine a few years ago. I took this picture of her when she was a puppy... **no pugs were harmed with rose thorns during the making of this photo! Yes, the rose was actually a digital addition...even though I could see Jazz doing this. She was such a little ham!

Anyway...this is my Valentine of love and thanks to all of you out there. Hope you have a great day surrounded by those you cherish.

Thanks also for your very sweet and compassionate comments about Steve and Kathleen. They were appreciated more than you know. Steve comes home from the hospital today and is doing much better. What a great Valentine gift for Kathleen and the rest of us!

New Pug Painting

"Emmitt"
11" x 12" acrylic on canvas

Here is another painting I finished during the holidays of Emmitt the Pug. This little man belongs to Melissa Langer...a wonderful Artist I had the pleasure of meeting last year. The best part is that Melissa lives only ten mintues from me...so we have become fast friends. Melissa and Emmitt have brightened my life in so many ways...so I wanted to thank them with a painting of "Mr. Handsome" himself. Who could not paint this face anyway??

On another subject...many of you have heard about Bernie Berlin over at "A Place to Bark"...and her efforts right now to raise enough money by January 31st to get a matching $50,000 donation for her animal rescue organization. You can find out more about it on her blog here. Just click on the badge on the right sidebar of her blog to donate or click on the one below.
Bernie does so much to help animals in need...so let's help her!

Merry Christmas!

"Two Pugs" 2003
digital card from one of my original paintings

Merry Christmas!
Hope you have a magical holiday filled with all good and tasty things!

~Love from Linda, James and Maisie Rose

Pugs and Things

Melissa, Me, Emmitt

Saturday, I had the great pleasure of attending my friend, Melissa Langer's book signing in Boulder. That's her Pug, Emmitt in the photo (you've seen his face grace my blog before!). Emmitt was there meeting and greeting and generally supervising the event. I think he even signed some books himself! Here's more about the event on Melissa's blog.

The book I'm talking about is called "Emmitt & Olive"...a very inspiring and sweet story of the friendship of two Pugs. It is written by Melissa and features 25 of her beautiful Pug drawings and paintings. Now I'm not just saying this because I like Melissa and Emmitt so much...but people...this book would be a GREAT gift for anyone this holiday season. Kids go crazy over them. Melissa has several other books available on her website as well so check them out. I am personally buying several for my niece and nephew AND myself!

And by the way...have you seen this video? Tyson, the Bulldog was on Oprah last week and I think he was probably the best guest Oprah has ever had!

Hey and thanks for all your great trip suggestions!

Emmitt the Pug

Mr. Emmitt

I had the good fortune to have a visit from Emmitt the Pug and his wonderful mom, Melissa this week. Yes, that's his mug above. What a personality this little man has! He talks up a storm and is chock full of tricks. And now he knows where I keep the dog cookies so I'm in trouble! He is quite the cutie so I can see why he was Melissa's inspiration for PugNotes.com

Speaking of inspiration...do any of you remember Laurel Burch, an Artist from Northern California? She created beautiful, colorful paintings of cats, birds and other creatures and was very successful. She was especially popular in the 70's. She died last week at the young age of 61 from Osteopetrosis, a rare bone disease. I always had greatest respect and admiration for Laurel...she was one of the first people who really inspired me to become an Artist. Thank you, Laurel...for your incredible work, your dedication and for paving the way for other Women Artists. An recent article on her life is here. You can also view her website and amazing work here.

Laurel Burch in her studio

"Live from the voice in your heart and each day will blossom". ~Laurel Burch

Art Girl says TGIF!

"Internal Combustion Girl"
5" x 6" acrylic and collage on canvas
it's available for sale ~ email me

This is "Internal Combustion Girl"...a small painting I did last year. This girl is always on fire and thinking about art. Don't really know why I wanted to post her today other than I like her and it's been a good art day!

I was also fortunate enough to meet a new artist friend today that you should know about. Her name is Melissa Langer and she is a fellow dog artist who does some wonderful work. Melissa and I recently discovered that we lived only ten minutes from each other...so we met for coffee this morning and had a great time. Especially for all of you Pug lovers out there...you should visit her site PugNotes.com. She has some fantastic Pug art and Pug products...very original and whimsical...inspired by her cute as a button Pug, Emmitt. I get to meet him next time. Yay!

Hope you all had a good art day too! Have a fun, relaxing weekend. xo