Here’s where the good news comes in. I got up and finished Doggie Heaven at long last. I’d been chipping away at it for many weeks, an hour here or there at night. Some (okay, many) nights, not at all. I really felt that I’d bitten off way more than I could chew when I signed up for the Art League School workshop, thinking I would have a piece done over the two days. Hah! That was in March.

But something kept me chugging along. Guilt? The thought that I didn’t want the cost of the workshop and supplies to go to waste? The desire to see a fun concept come to completion? No doubt, a combination of all three.

What would a dog’s version of heaven be? Well, for one thing, biscuits would rain down from the skies. Fire hydrants would be plentiful for those calls of nature. And of course, there would always be a hand to rub the tummy.

These are a few pics of the work in progress. The head and tail were made from Sculpey. The fabrics have been hanging out in my closet for years after I picked up a pack of remnants at an outlet store.

I had made some thick paper, embedded with stray fibers and such, many moons ago at Penland. And when I’d first read Hoff’s book, I went out and collected and dried lots of leaves. Now, thanks to a Penland workshop on embroidered maps I took from Melinda Barta, I had some embroidery skills, too. Voilá, my own paper quilts!

I used embroidery floss, usually with only 3 of the six strands, and an awl to pre-punch the holes for sewing. Then I just let myself play with integrating stitches, color, and the leaves, along with some buttons also stashed away in my crafts drawers.

You can see a set of close-ups at my flickr photostream.

Thankfully, I only send out a few cards these days. Each one is unique. Half use those neat Italian paper clips as “ornaments.” Some include “snow.”

Ho, ho, ho!