Comments on: Custom Portrait Giveaway : Week #8

By: Engagement Portrait : Sarah & Greg - Custom People Portraits - Leanne Wildermuth : Artist by Nature

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:05:53 +0000

[…] Read Dee’s story here. Next Project » […]

By: Custom Portrait Giveaway : Week #9 - Graphite Portrait Giveaway - Leanne Wildermuth : Artist by Nature

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:05:49 +0000

[…] Last week’s winner was Dee with a story of a Christmas Morning Surprise given to her niece, Sarah. Greg’s creative wedding proposal made me sniffle in true girly-girl form, and the photo she submitted really conveys the happiness and promise of a young couple in love. I wish Sarah & Greg all the best!! […]

By: Leanne

Leanne — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 23:22:43 +0000

Thanks for your entries this week!! I’ll post the winner this weekend!

By: Angie Carpenter

Angie Carpenter — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 14:14:06 +0000

My two children a 2 peas in a pod when it comes to their looks. As babies, they looked almost exactly the same. They have the most beautiful brown eyes and the same features.

When it comes to personalities, they are day and night. My son, Austin is the calm, caring, and patient one. My daughter, Emma is the animated drama “girl” who challenges our patience everyday. The one thing that never changes is their love for each other. They are equally protective of each other and hug and kiss each other good night and throughout the day.

In this picture, the outlines of their heads (my son likes to be close to her in photos) are in the shape of a heart. I had a hard time picking a photo for this week, but I always come back to this one. It is one of my favorites because they both have a natural smile showing, their eyes are sparkling, and it shows their closeness!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30197802&l=a9383&id=1196950165

By: Megan

Megan — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:12:17 +0000

Wow, what wonderful talent. This would be great for our engagement photo for our upcoming wedding!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/maggs813/3055584553/

By: Dee

Dee — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 08:57:09 +0000

Hi Leanne!

Since it can be a 2 subject portrait this week, I’m happily re-submitting my entry for my niece Sarah… :love:

Sarah’s Christmas Morning Surprise from Greg

He told her he had a present in the backyard for her, so everyone headed out there to see what it was. Here’s the BIG moment in her own words on their wedding blog: “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 :yahoo: and then we were engaged!”

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

They just announced their Wedding Date will be on June 5, 2010 and will be having an Engagement/Graduation Party this May when Sarah graduates from Point Loma University. I would love to present them with your beautiful drawing as a memory of the day they agreed to join their lives as one so that they may look at it through the years and always remember how happy they were that special Christmas morning…

Thanks very much for the opportunity to once again inspire everyone! ~Dee

** Emailed photo to the Gallery **

By: Karen

Karen — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 01:20:15 +0000

During the past 18 years, God sent me numerous cats and one dog. He sent them to me because ‘they’ needed ‘me’. They needed a lifetime home, someone to love and take care of them. Today I share my home with 11 cats and one dog – most who are quite elderly and sick. My days are filled giving special care, special food, medication, insulin and fluids, cleaning litter boxes, wiping up throw up, washing a zillion cat beds, brushing fur and clipping claws. It’s crazy busy, not to mention working full time, taking care of a house and a husband. So………when I another stray showed up outside a few months ago, I wondered what I would do. I had room in my heart but not in my day or budget. But after seeing this skinny, dirty, sick cat in need-I had to at least put food out. I was secretly hoping one of the neighbors would step. Day after day, this cat came back. His personality grew on me. I realized he was a very sick cat and decided I could not turn my back on him. So off to the vet we went. Lola now lives with us and he is the light of my life. He has gained weight and even though he has Aids, kidney disease, heart disease and anemia, he is thriving. He only wants to be loved. He will sit in your lap until you ‘remove’ him. He is like “velcro’. And then I realized…God sent me my other cats because they needed me. But God sent Lola to me because ‘I’ needed ‘him’. Lola calms me. He relaxes me. He fills my heart with joy. God knew the cats he peviously sent me would live long and my life would get crazy. So he sent me Lola as a ‘thank you’. I love all my cats and they all have a very special place in my heart. But there is something very unique and very special about Lola. He is my rock. He melts my heart. And I am so thankful that God would not take no for an answer. Here is my Lola -again. (I thought he was a she, hence the name).

By: Omnibus Driver

Omnibus Driver — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 23:19:28 +0000

My best buddy of almost 18 years crossed the Rainbow Bridge just about a year ago. I miss her terribly:

http://getonthe.blogspot.com/2008/03/grand-champion-galidorns-marilyn-monrex.html

She was a girlie girl, that’s for sure.

By: Tara Wood

Tara Wood — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 17:16:42 +0000

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… 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, soon after I made this decision 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.

Thanks!