Red, White and Beautiful -- a Tribute to Molly

I'm hopping today with 3 Girl JAM. You should have arrived from Kendra's blog. We're celebrating a special birthday of Julie, the owner's, sister.  And, we're celebrating some fantastic new red, white, and blue ribbon. For me, though, this post is going to deviate from the birthday theme.  It is my chance to share my news and celebrate a special life well lived.

Those of you who follow my blog regularly and who hop with me each week with Friends With Flair may remember my post from last week.  I was heading across the state with my 3 dogs to stay with my BFF.  Well, we made the trip, but the day we got there, my 12 1/2 year old Golden Retriever, Molly, got ill.  She got sicker and sicker as the day and night went on.  By the next morning, I cut our visit short and returned home, knowing her end was near.  I wanted my husband to have his opportunity to say good by to our Golden girl.  She died last Thursday, being held and told by both of us that we loved her very much.  I hope when my time comes, I am as lucky to die in the arms of a loved one, with a loving voice in my ear.

In honor of her, I got out one of my favorite Unity/Phyllis Harris stamps, and started the therapeutic process of creating something in her memory.  Here is my "Molly Art". 

Molly was a very dark colored Golden.  She was sometimes mistaken for an Irish Setter by people who didn't know their breeds real well.  I worked hard on this to get her color just right. She had just a touch of gray around her eyes and under her chin so I tried to get that in, too. And she was my special friend, so that's the sentiment I used.  The girl is no one in particular.  Molly loved people.  It wouldn't have mattered to her who this girl was -- Molly would have loved her.  Molly wagged her tail at everyone -- even cars driving by.  She absolutely loved people and attention.  One of the things my husband is missing the most is Molly's kisses.  She gave the gentlest kisses in the world. That's the reason I chose this particular image to stamp.  Molly and her gentle kisses.  Yeah.  We both miss them.

I used October Afternoon papers on this (Hometown and Fly a Kite) and made it 5x7 so I could frame it.  The stamp is Unity/Phyllis Harris "First Love".  The ribbon is, of course 3 Girl JAM, and it's the newest, prettiest, gotta have ribbon -- the Red, White, and Blue bundle.  Here's a close up of the ribbon flower I made. There is a sale going on to launch this new ribbon bundle, so make sure you check out the store this weekend!

Isn't that ribbon beautiful? I love the streaking in the white.  So fun!  The chipboard star is from UmWow Studios.  My friend, DeeDee has many innovative products you need to check out at her store. I used a Spellbinder label die and the heart bling is from my stash. I used a We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, too.

I rarely remember to list the Copic markers I used on this, but this time I did. Here they are:  The dog was colored with: E99, E39, E18, and YR23.  The bib overalls:  B93, B95.  Shirt -- R24, R27.  Shoes -- R27, R29, C1.  Skin -- E11, E00, E000, R20.  Hair -- C3, C5, C9.

I have some pictures and a few memories of Molly to share, but I realize that not all of you may want to hang with me for that long, so I'm going to give you the hop order here, and send you on your way if you want to hop along.  If you want to stick with me and see my pics, I'd love to share a few memories with you.

Here's the hop order:
Julie- http://3girljam.blogspot.com/
Jessica B - http://jessicascraftshaque.blogspot.com
Kendra - http://luv2scrapnmakecards.blogspot.com/
Julie O - http://muddypawsinkyfingers.blogspot.com -- you're here
Rebecca- http://bloomingpink.blogspot.com/ -- go here next!
Nicole~ http://teachdanz.blogspot.com
Mackenzie~ http://kraftingwithkenzie.blogspot.com/
Carri~ http://www.doubleclickconnections.blogspot.com/
Scrappin Madge~ http://www.thescrappinlounge.com/
Cheri- http://djssundries.blogspot.com/
Elizabeth- http://www.217creations.com/
Abby- http://scrappin-abby.blogspot.com/
Jessica~ http://chick-n-scrap.blogspot.com
3GJ Challenge- http://3girljamchallenge.blogspot.com/

Molly loved to play ball.  She was obsessed with it.  The last day that we were at Sheri's, she wasn't feeling well, wanted to play ball, but was having difficulty.  She collected everyone's tennis balls and laid on them.  If she couldn't play catch, she didn't want anyone else to, either.  Here's a couple pictures taken of her that afternoon.

Molly's vet said her kidneys shut down on her.  We had that happen to the first Golden we had - years ago - too.  It is hard to have her gone, but she lived an incredible life.  She was healthy, happy, an athlete.  She was full of love, full of energy, never lacking for attention.  She  was slightly quirky, somewhat timid, always, always loving.  I miss her everyday.

I will leave you with a couple of my favorite pictures of my silly Molly. Here she is, resting on her pillow.  She could be a real lounge lizard, especially in her later years.

And, finally, a picture of the whole family, taken last Fall, shortly after Sophie came to live with us.  Sammy is on the left, Sophie in the middle, and Molly St. Valentine is on the right.  That's Shaun with all 3 of them.  He loved walking them together.

Thank you  for allowing the chance to share a few precious memories and to let my blogging friends know of my loss.  A big thank you to Julie K for her understanding, allowing me to deviate from the birthday theme today to pay my tribute to Molly.

I'm hosting a challenge this week at Crop Chocolate contest blog, Cocoa Creations.  The theme, in honor of Flag Day, is Red, White, and Blue.  Make a project of any sort using at least 2 of the 3 colors and link up with us.  You can win a bag of scrappy goodness (USA) or a gift certificate to an online retailer of your choice (Canada) for your creation. I will be submitting this project in the challenge.

Now, hop on off to Rebecca's blog and see what artistic goodness she has to inspire you with today.

I'm entering this in the following challenges:

Oozak's Challenge Blog -- Blues, Stars, and Stripes
Sister Act Card Challenge blog -- anything goes
D. L. Art Thankful Thursday Linky Party -- anything goes
Marker Pop -- Challenge #24, Loving You
CMC Copic Challenge Group -- Brunettes (Molly was a gorgeous brunette)
AUD Sentiments Challenge Blog -- Anything Goes