ooh! I knew he was gonna turn out handsom!

Leanne, that is wonderful, you have truely captured Salvi. Thank you so very much

OH, I didn’t know you had Salvadore done already! Beautiful! :thumbsup:

I haven’t entered because I already won something from you… :love:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sleepingmommy/317179139/sizes/o/

Willie holds a special place in my heart. He’s my “first born” and my “first love”. He was such an amazing cat.

I rescued him when he was around six weeks old. He was starving and I stole him out of my step-brother’s yard. My brother and his family were neglecting him. He was thrown outdoors to fend for himself because he had been chewing up the baby’s bottle nipples.

When I got him to the vet, the doc said it was a good thing I took him when I did, he was starving, less than a pound, close to six weeks (which meant he had been taken from his mama and litter mates at less than a month old) and would have starved within a few more days.

He grew though. And his hair grew. And his tail! it was so long and bushy that my uncle mistook him for a raccoon.

I used to walk him on a leash to take him to my grandparents for Sunday dinner. My grandfather loved that cat and often tried to talk me out of him. Others did too.

He was laid back. Cool. And big! All fifteen pounds of him under that long hair. He wasn’t pedigreed but he was clearly a Maine Coon from all the descriptions I read.

He began turning white in 2006. A few hairs here and there. I didn’t think anything of it. Then one day I picked him up and discovered he’d lost weight. A lot of it. He felt like half the cat he used to be. I took him to the emergency vet clinic and learned he had FIV and Felv. It would take thousands of dollars just to treat him to give him a little more time with us. He had stopped eating and was severely dehydrated. We didn’t have thousands of dollars and I made one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever had to. And I couldn’t even stay while they did it. I couldn’t handle it. I was weak and I will always regret that.

Willie was cremated and he sits in a box on my bedside table. I know–it seems a morbid. Maybe even sick.

Oh how I loved that cat. Still do.

gorgeous boy! He looks amazing.

So, do you do a random drawing at the end of each week, or go by the most striking photo you’re given?

Hi Bob,

I talked about my selection process here:
http://intricateart.com/portrait-giveaway-winner-week-2/

🙂

Another gem :thumbsup:

Every winter we let our little Mia in the house. We brought her home just a year after our beloved TC passed on. My hubby was bound and determined not to like Mia. He still missed our TC something awful. We all do. But Mia is such a sweetie. He saved her from having her ears cropped by just hours. She is the sweetest dog and as you can see, my hubby adores her as much as she does him.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sbringolf/3229188069/

http://www.WhereIsBlue.com

I am going to resubmit for a portrait of Blue, the missing Siberian Husky. My intent is to give this portrait as a gift to Blue’s owner Sharon who misses him so much.

Sharon’s own words are probably more powerful than mine:

Blue” has been missing since May 8, 2007. A year has now passed and although there have been a lot of sightings I think only a few of them have been Blue..

His last sighting was in March 2008 around the 8th.

It is with an incredible amount of sadness that I feel he will never return home.

I want to thank the hundreds of people that have helped to look for him or sent me words of encouragement. To list all of you would be impossible.

I am eternally grateful for the prayers and hours I know have been spent. The tears I have shed could fill an ocean.

In my heart there will always be a glimmer of hope.

No farewell words were spoken
No time to say Goodbye
You were gone before we knew
Only God knows why

I love the way you cropped the photo to capture only his face. You did his eyes so beautiful and I keep wondering how in the world you recreate the fur so perfectly. It’s really so amazing to me..each time you do a portrait. Another great one!

Although it is so simple in it’s nature, this photo means so much to me on so many different levels. To me, this photo really is worth a thousand words.

On a general level, when I look at this photo I think of the miracle of life; I think of peace and purity; I think of new beginnings and hope for a bright future; I think of the wonder of discovering things for the first time; I think of endless opportunities and dreams to come true.

On a personal level, this photo makes me think of so much more. Of the thousands of photos (literally!) I have of our son this one is my favorite. It is my favorite, not because it’s the cutest photo, or most impressive photo, but because of the meaning behind it. This photo was taken on the day our son was placed with us (for adoption), just minutes after I held him in my arms for the very first time. To me this photo means an answer to our prayers, a dream come true, a lifetime of commitment and the end of a very long journey that brought us to this tiny, precious, little being. It means great responsibility and lots of fun times ahead. It means tons of hugs and kisses, and a lifetime of unconditional love. It is the moment our lives changed forever, and the most amazing experience of my adult life. It is the moment that our family grew beyond husband and wife and we became parents.

Amid all the happiness and joy that this photo means to us, it also has one more meaning. It has a meaning of complete and total thoughtfulness and consideration on behalf of our son’s birth family. It stands for one family’s unselfish act to give this child the best life possible. It means grieving for a child they love and care enough about set him on the path he was meant to follow.

Thank you, Leanne for hosting a weekly giveaway of your awesome creations!

****Photo e-mailed to gallery@intricateart.com****

Beautiful job as usual!

Although ordinary to some, to me, my story is extraordinary to me. I would love to win a portrait of my baby girl to give to my husband for father’s day, and here is why.

My husband is a teacher in the Prince George’s County Public School System in Maryland, and works extra jobs whenever he finds them in order to provide a way for me to stay home and raise our daughter. He may be just one father of many who are involved and passionate about his family, but to me, he is extraordinary in the face of the many children he works with each and every day whose fathers are not in the picture.

He is always ready to come home and get a hug from his little girl, and help out around the house. He never complains about the lack of sleep, extra work, or even a dirty diaper. Each evening he entices our daughter to chase him around the house, playing hide-and-seek and peek-a-boo. His face lights up every time he gets a squeal of laughter from our little girl. She learned to say daddy around 7 months old, and eagerly makes her way to the front door when she hears daddy’s car at the end of the day.

When she learned to walk at 8 months old, her daddy was so proud and would eagerly entice her to show off her new talent to anyone who was willing to watch. He often acts unsure about his parenting abilities, and yet to me, he is the best father our little girl could ever have.

**photo emailed**

From a friend:
Salvadore had the patience of a saint when it came to pugs. I do believe he has been surrounded by 9 sometimes more and never once did he utter a disagreeable word. He put up with their mischief like an old grandfather looking on at his squabling grandchildren. You will be missed at our next get together Salvadore.

Salvador’s portrait is wonderful!

My entry for this week is….my husband Dan. Good looking, charming, fun, hard working..but oh so much more! Dan always makes me laugh. Laughing is good. When we got together oh, so many years ago, we did not have any 4 legged kids. Each time a new stray would show up, Dan always understood. Our home was theirs. He even gave up his bathroom when we needed an ‘infirmary’ for isolated sick kitties. He doesn’t mind sharing his bed with numerous cats and a dog. On any occasion that you would give a card, Dan always gives me one from from the kitties and one from the dog. All the names of all the kitties are on it. He makes sure the kitties in heaven all get hand drawn angel wings around their name. Every Sunday as he reads the paper, he pulls out the ads that he thinks will interest me..such as a sale on purses or silver jewelry (my favorite stuff). Before he heads home every single day from work, he calls me to see if I need anything. He never misses a day to call and ask..no matter now late, no matter the weather. When we go out to lunch, I can always eat off his plate..he is always willing to share. I can control the tv remote..even when football is on. I am one very lucky lady. The photo of Dan is one that was taken at work-with his hard hat on. He’s a very dedicated employee, hard worker, amazingly unselfish, good natured and funny. Life with him is good!

This is my favorite photo of my girl on the one and only vacation we have taken as a family in her short life. It’s just a good photo with a happy memory attached and that’s the story!

Becky

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=23802&id=1426307131

My entry is in honor of my neice Sarah & Greg:

Sarah’s Christmas Morning Surprise from Greg

He told her he had a present in the backyard for her, so we all headed out there to see what it was. Here’s the big moment in her own words: “I saw the big box and thought maybe it was a surf board or something he might have built for me! (sidebar, we live in So Cal) So I open it and its a full-length mirror… ok… it had a small poem and pictures taped on it that immediately caught my eye. As I’m looking in the mirror at the items, I see his reflection behind me go down on one knee. I turn around and he has a ring! AHHH!! I screamed and then we were engaged!”

Their beaming smiles say it all – two young people blessed in love & happiness – a true inspiration and one of our most memorable Christmas mornings ever!

~Dee

****Photo e-mailed to gallery@intricateart.com****

I didn’t win last week or the week before, so I decided to give it one more try… Yep! It’s me again! Here is the link to the photo…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nishona/3198963489/

This is Ratchet, he is a 3 year old Parsons jack Russel Terrier and Hank my 8 year old Beagle… I didn’t go into detail about how I got both of them last week so I figure I should so so here… The story behind us getting Ratchet is very bitter sweet. 4 years ago I had a jack Russel named Snoopy, Snoopy was only 10 months old when he bolted past my son through my front door and he ran out in the street and was hit by a car, a few hours later her died. We were completely devastated! About a week later a friend told us about a local breeder who had some puppies for sale, he was having a hard time selling them and was considering taking the remaining two puppies to a local shelter because he was getting ready to move and couldn’t keep them. We were hesitant, did we really want a new dog when our little baby had just recently died??? We decided to go and see the puppies. When we arrived at the breeders house there were 2 puppies, a male and a female.. there were people there purchasing the female and they were pretty much walking out the door with her when we arrived.. the male (ratchet) saw me and started jumping up on the side of the small pen he was in… it was all over at that point! We took him home and I have to say he was my salvation! I must admit I felt some guilt about getting a new puppy so soon after my other dog had passed away, it almost felt like I was trying to replace him, I soon got over that feeling for having Ratchet helped me to get over the devastating loss of snoopy… every time I felt sad over Snoopy I would pick Ratchet up and snuggle with him and it would help me to feel better. I know that a loved pup can never be replaced but even though he did move on to the rainbow bridge to wait for me life has to go on and there are so many dogs out there who are alive and need our love.

The story of how we got Hank is interesting as well… We were living on a military base about 6 years ago… we had some neighbors behind us who had a beagle (hank). hank used to be tied up in their back yard in 105 degree heat with no shade or water… I had pretty much made up my mind if I saw him tied up in their backyard like that again i was going to confront them, then one day my son came into my room and looked out my window and he asked me “Who’s dog is that?” I had no clue what he was talking about so I looked out the sliding door and there was a VERY muddy beagle looking back at me.. it seems he had dug a hole under our fence and he seemed to be saying “Hi, I am bored and hot and thirsty at my house, do your dogs want to play?” Well one thing led to another and I gently suggested to hank’s owners that we would LOVE to watch him while they were at work every day, this way he would 1. get to play all day and 2. he would have ample water and food and be able to stay cool inside my house… they agreed. The wife loved Hank but the husband didn’t think he was a “Macho” enough dog for him… it got to where hank spent more and more time over at our house, his owners finally realized how happy he was with us so they gave him to us for Christmas! It was a great day!

I would love to have you do this picture, it represents a rare moment of calm between Ratchet and Hank, Ratchet pretty much torments Hank day in and day out, poor hank will not fight back, not much you can do in those situations though. Ok if I don’t win this is the last time I’ll enter this picture :o)

Thanks!

Thanks for your entries this week! I’ll post the winner tomorrow (Saturday)!

[…] of week #5 of my Custom Portrait Giveaway is Deb Hallman with her photo of her adopted son, Dylan. Although […]