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Masculine Card As you’ve seen in other posts, this is my art side coming out. Veterinary Dentistry is the arts and crafts of veterinary medicine.

This post is part of a series started many months ago in regards to card creations we are using in the office (and showcasing my creative outlet).

The 7th class was posted much earlier this year – Let it Shine, one of my favorite cards I’ve created. The eighth class, For The Guys, shows masculine cards using geometrics, masculine cards, gaming, pop art and interactive/motion cards.

Geometrics, pop art, and masculine colors were used to make this quick card. Half tone circles stamp set and a post it note mask. The edges of the panel were distressed to add interest.

If you are the recipient this card from my office, I hope it brightens your day!

Dr. Jen

As you’ve seen in other posts, this is my art side coming out. Veterinary Dentistry is the arts and crafts of veterinary medicine.

This post is part of a series started many months ago in regards to card creations we are using in the office (and showcasing my creative outlet).

The sixth class, Season Scene Building, shows
• Masking for scenes
• Copic coloring
• No line watercoloring
• Creating oversized scenes (designs coming off the edge)
• Creating a background and layer with die cut borders
• Frame a scene
• Window a scene (decorations in and out of the window)
• Create a shaker card

My scene was made with the cottage stamp and colored with alcohol markers and embossing paste for the snow. The acetate was stamped with staz on ink and beads were added to create the shaker card.

If you are the recipient this card from my office, I hope it brightens your day!

Dr. Jen

As you’ve seen in other posts, this is my art side coming out. Veterinary Dentistry is the arts and crafts of veterinary medicine.

This post is part of a series started many months ago in regards to card creations we are using in the office (and showcasing my creative outlet).

The fifth class, Easy Ink Blending Techniques, shows blending distress or dye ink. One can do in an ombre effect, and consider adding a bokeh design. Possibly consider emboss resist as a background, then blend the inks over it. Faux watercolor a background was also shown.

My background was blended over an entire 8.5×11 page with distress oxide inks to layer color drying between ‘smooshing’ layers. To seal and brighten the inks, microglaze was applied to the entire sheet. The sheet was cut into pieces to create 8 cards from one sheet.

Embossing and mirror card stock was added. Staz On ink is needed over the microglaze due to the added gloss when stamping.

Here are my 8 cards with blended backgrounds.

If you are the recipient of one of these cards from my office, I hope it brightens your day!

Dr. Jen

Every week we send out many cards to clients. Some are welcoming them to the office. Others are congratulations. We always send sympathy cards for the loss of a pet. Most of these cards are hand stamped.

Clients have likely seen information on our dental referral service. I am in a residency program in veterinary dentistry. Why do I like it so much? Dentistry is the best way to improve the lives of pets. It is also the arts and crafts of veterinary medicine. I need to use my art side as well as my science side.

There are times I am overwhelmed with work/family/life. My stress relief/outlet is a half hour of paper crafting – I feel renewed and love that I can admire in a short time something gorgeous I’ve accomplished. Then I am able to get back to the long marathon tasks instead of the almost instant gratification of many paper crafts.

While I am an experienced paper crafter, it’s always fun to learn new techniques. I signed up with Altenew’s classes to view other ideas. These classes are easy for me to view on my phone when I have a few minutes between meetings.

This post is part of a series started many months ago in regards to card creations we are using in the office (and showcasing my creative outlet).

The fourth class, Clean and Simple Boutique Cards, shows many techniques:
one layer care with fancy paper; add a score line for interest on one layer cards
stamped monochromatic backgrounds with a touch of color
foiling to add a touch of shine
homemade letterpress: using 5 layers and vellum back, spray adhesived together (can store and use over and over)
mirror card and other luxury paper use
packaging/gifting – don’t forget to embellish all of your crafting

The 3D florals die set was used to create this card with simplistic lines. The hinged die cutting technique was used (as seen in the dynamic die cutting class with hinged letters).

The word welcome was in my old stash of dies.

A scoring board was used to add lines from the hinged flower down to the word welcome and the die cut leaves (white on white) had a veining effect added.

If you are the recipient of this card from my office, I hope it brightens your day!

Dr. Jen

Every week we send out many cards to clients. Some are welcoming them to the
office. Others are congratulations. We always send sympathy cards for the loss of a
pet. Most of these cards are hand stamped.

Clients have likely seen information on our dental referral service. I am in a
residency program in veterinary dentistry. Why do I like it so much? Dentistry is the
best way to improve the lives of pets. It is also the arts and crafts of veterinary
medicine. I need to use my art side as well as my science side.

There are times I am overwhelmed with work/family/life. My stress relief/outlet is
a half hour of paper crafting – I feel renewed and love that I can admire in a short
time something gorgeous I’ve accomplished. Then I am able to get back to the long
marathon tasks instead of the almost instant gratification of many paper crafts.

While I am an experienced paper crafter, it’s always fun to learn new techniques. I
signed up with Altenew’s classes to view other ideas. These classes are easy for me
to view on my phone when I have a few minutes between meetings.

This post is part of a series started many months ago in regards to card creations we
are using in the office (and showcasing my creative outlet).

The third class, Easy Die Cutting Techniques, shows ways to use thinlits metal dies.
The main way dies are used are to use matching dies with stamps. This can be used
on many paper and media types but vellum is quite elegant. Ways to color vellum
was also shown. Dies can make stencils. Both the positive and negative die cut
results can be used for card designs. One can dry emboss with a die instead of
cutting. Multiple layers of positive die cuts can be put together and used as a custom
dry embossing plate. Die cuts can be inlaid with many beautiful results.

The stand alone die, Leafy Garland was used to create this thank you card:

The words Thank You come from the Build a Flower: Hibiscus set.

Two leafy garlands are cut from tan and dark brown paper. Partial die cutting was
used to cut the margins of the garland resecting the arch of the card front.

The flower from Beautiful Day was stamped with rich cocoa ink.

Double sided foam adhesive was used to add dimension to the die cut layers and
assemble the card before the ribbon was added.

The dimension and layers with the ribbon texture complete this card.

If you are the recipient of this card from my office, I hope it brightens your day!

Dr. Jen

“Summer may seem like a carefree time of year, but it’s also when our offices see the biggest spike in cases of Lyme disease in dogs.”

Summer may seem like a carefree time of year, but it’s also when our offices see the biggest spike in cases of Lyme disease in dogs. More time spent outdoors enjoying the warm weather means a greater likelihood that your pet could be exposed to ticks and therefore a greater risk of acquiring Lyme disease. Being proactive when it comes to protecting your pet’s health is the most effective way to keep your furry friend safe.

Lyme Disease is caused by an organism transmitted by a tick. Ticks look for a host they can feed on, and are often found in tall grass or heavily wooded areas. Ticks come into your environment through a host such as a mouse, bird, or deer. Parasitologists say when you see a single deer in a field – that’s a half a million ticks a year! Ticks attach to birds and can also detach falling off entering a new environment. Sadly ticks are here to stay. When the tick comes incontact with the pet, the disease can be transmitted in as little as a few hours.

Iowa is now a Lyme endemic state. The cases of human Lyme disease reports increase every year. Our dogs are just as likely or even more likely to be exposed. Annual testing (usually with a heartworm test) not only lets us know our choices for treatment or prevention but also serves as a sentinel to potential human exposure. Preventative care for your dog is also good health awareness for your family.

Infection may present itself in different ways in dogs. Many dogs that are exposed to the organism may never show symptoms. However when symptoms do appear, they may not occur until many weeks or months after the initial infection. Symptomatic dogs may have joint pain and fever resulting in lameness issues and lethargy. Long-term infection can lead to significant kidney damage. It is known in humans, that the disease can rarely be fully cleared from the body. All symptomatic dogs need to be tested and every dog should be tested for Lyme disease annually to check for asymptomatic cases.

In the past several months, our team has seen eight positive cases of Lyme disease in the Norwalk area alone. None of the positive dogs had received the appropriate preventative care. The old adage “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is very true in the case of Lyme disease. The steps that need to be taken to keep your pet safe include checking your pets frequently for ticks after spending time outdoors, using a very effective tick preventative (oral Simparica or Bravecto) and vaccinating yearly. Ticks that are found on your dog should be removed as soon as possible. Tick medications for the treatment and prevention of tick infestation are vital to kill ticks prior to them transmitting the organism into the blood stream. Vaccinations may also prevent illness not only for those without the Lyme disease but also for those previously exposed.

At Family Pet Veterinary Center we strive to provide the best preventative care for our patients. We offer all of our patients the newest generation of oral flea and tick medication that is considered more effective than some of the more raditional topical applications. In addition we use latest and most effective Lyme vaccine that can even help minimize issues in pets that have been previously exposed to Lyme disease. Interestingly, this new vaccine is so different that hey are investigating using its technology for human Lyme disease prevention.

Don’t wait to keep your pet safe! Ask about preventative options and routine testing the next time you visit.

Every week we send out many cards to clients. Some are welcoming them to the office. Others are congratulations. We always send sympathy cards for the loss of a pet. Most of these cards are hand stamped.

Clients have likely seen information on our dental referral service. I am in a residency program in veterinary dentistry. Why do I like it so much? Dentistry is the best way to improve the lives of pets. It is also the arts and crafts of veterinary medicine. I need to use my art side as well as my science side.

There are times I am overwhelmed with work/family/life. My stress relief/outlet is a half hour of paper crafting – I feel renewed and love that I can admire in a short time something gorgeous I’ve accomplished. Then I am able to get back to the long marathon tasks instead of the almost instant gratification of many paper crafts.

While I am an experienced paper crafter, it’s always fun to learn new techniques. I signed up with Altenew’s classes to view other ideas. These classes are easy for me to view on my phone when I have a few minutes between meetings.

This post is part of a series started many months ago in regards to card creations we are using in the office (and showcasing my creative outlet).

The second class, All About Layering 2, layered stamps and color. One way utilized the Majestic Bloom stamp and something similar to what I know as the rock and roll technique with a spritz of water to add layers of color. The no line coloring technique was also shown in the class. My favorite card was the Hibiscus Love set – a great mix of colors and a bit of shine added with gold embossing. Don’t forget to add dimension to your card with foam.

The class’s Garden Treasure card is my inspiration for my card using layering.

The stamp set selected was designed by Altenew for Simon Says Stamps. It layers the poppy flower to give dimension. The coordinating dies were used to cut the two flower designs repeatedly stamped onto cardstock. A silver mirror cardstock rectangle lies behind the flowers and then is topped with a mirrored hello die cut.
The center of the frame was cut to make a window to the inside of the card. The inside elements were layered as well and three flowers were combined to make a large red poppy on the inside of the card.

This card uses layered flowers, layered paper, layered die cuts on many levels of the card (front, behind the front, and inside of the card).

If you are the recipient of this card from my office, I hope it brightens your day!

Dr. Jen