Four Legged Friends Blog Hop

*I am in FOUR blog hops today!  Be sure to check them all out!*

For the Based on a Book Blog Hop click HERE.

For the Valentine Cards for Kids w/Cancer Blog Hop click HERE.
For the Valentine's Day Blog Hop click HERE.

Hi Everyone!  Thanks so much for joining us today for the Four-Legged Friends Blog Hop hosted by boy-wonder, Tanner of Mr. Cricut Crazy.  If you don't know who he is, you're gonna be amazed!  He is a talented young man with an awesome line of stamps that you can't find anywhere else!  Lots of his stamps are created for people who love pets, dogs especially, which is why this is a perfect hop for animal lovers of all sorts (like me)!  If you arrived here by chance, please start back at the beginning with Tanner's blog (link above).  If you arrived here from Tammy of The Purple Muse, then you are in the right spot!  I will be giving blog candy to one lucky person who leaves a comment becomes or is a follower.  Please comment on the other hops I'm in today for extra chances to win!  I will be giving away a goody bag of scrapping candy. :)

For today's project I have created a card special ordered by a friend of mine for her mother's b-day.  Her mom has a ShihTzu and I thought this would be perfect for her! I got the SVG file free online and I can't remember where from. :(  If the designer happens upon my site, please leave your info here in a comment so I can give proper credit.  It's just adorable!

I had fun making this one.  I used my Cricut Expression to cut all the layers on cardstock from my stash.  The card itself is from Recollections cardstock.  I added detail with my Zig pens and a white gelly roller, along with Colorbox ink.  The inside is stamped on the left with a $1 stamp from Michael's and a "Happy Birthday" stamp from Stampin' Up.  I added twine from My Craft Spot.  The "Mom" stickers are from my stash as well.  I outlined them to make them pop a bit and then faux stitched the edges of the card after rounding them with a corner rounder.  I used my ATG, and pop dots, along with Tombow clear adhesive for this project.

I am your last stop today.  Thanks so much for joining us in this hop today!  Hope you had as much fun as I did! :)  Don't forget to become a follower and leave a comment to enter for blog candy!

XO ~ Amy Jo

Heartbroken and Lost

Please scroll down for Gill's B-day Hop

Please scroll down for Young Craters Unite Hop

Okay, so here's the news for those of you who are wondering what has been going on with me lately.

The past few weeks my dogs (pit bulls) have been getting in fights with each other (almost killed each other, the boy had to be taken to the vet and was badly bleeding and beaten) and now they got a hold of my potbellied pig, ganged up on him and almost killed him. Up until this point, they have gotten along really well and they have been the sweetest dogs ever.  I love them with all my heart.  These two events have been some of the most horrible things I've ever witnessed.  I was unable to stop them when they attacked the pig, it was by sheer luck he was able to get back in his pen and I was able to keep them from getting back inside with him. They are so much stronger than me and it was horrendous. I used every ounce of energy I had for 10 straight minutes trying to pull my big dogs off of my poor pig.  I'm small and have fibromyalgia so this kind of thing took a horrible toll on my body.  I'm in so much pain today it's not even funny.  It's messed with my mind so badly that I totally forgot to do my Thursday's Tutorial post on FCCB and didn't have time to get anything new together for Gill's B-day. :0(

I had to take major anti-anxiety meds today and slept all day at a friend's house.  In fact I slept all the way until 8:00 PM and I realized, OMG, I have two hops I'm in that I need to post!  Got them done, as you'll see below, but wow, it was not easy to focus so I hope everything is done correctly.  If you notice any errors, please let me know.

On top of all that, I have to get rid of my piggy so he is safe because the dogs keep trying to find a way in to his pen (he's an indoor pig), and I'm also contemplating getting rid of both of my dogs because of this aggression towards each other and other animals.   I am scared to leave them alone together.  I am scared they might jump the fence into one of my neighbors yards, all of which have pets.  My neighbor has a beautiful little min-pin she wants to give to me because my hubby and I have fallen in love with the dog and she can no longer keep her and work as much as she needs to, but my dogs have already shown signs that if they got to her, they would kill her.  They try to bust out of the room and both doggy gates that I have put up and I can barely hold them back!  I would feel horrible if something happened to another creature because if they got something that small, it would be dead within minutes.

I am heartbroken and I don't know what on earth to do.  Several people say I just have to get rid of the dogs to avoid any future lawsuits or them turning on me, etc., Yet we contacted a rescue and they were so incredibly insensitive and mean.  (They'll be getting a real piece of my mind soon.)  Basically they said we are bad owners and we shouldn't even consider getting rid of our dogs if we were any kind of good people.

I have had these dogs for a while and have loved them more than anything.  They have been babied, but disciplined, have had plenty of freedom and exercise and more love than most dogs get.  They even sleep in the bed with us!  I am so pissed that anyone would blame this on me or on ignorance.  I always study breeds and dogs and have raised and had dogs my ENTIRE life and have NEVER seen them act this way towards each other or another creature.  It made me sick.  They were trying to rip out his eyes and his ears and his throat and OMG, I couldn't stop it.  I was screaming at the top of my lungs for help and none of my neighbors heard me.  I even ran outside and was screaming and no one came.  :(  Finally was able to call my neighbor and she came and then my husband showed up at the same time.  By that time I was a nervous wreck and I was inconsolable.  Nervous breakdown to a T.  So that is what has been going on over here and I am such a wreck that I can't even handle the situation.  I have no idea what to do and the thought of getting rid of my dogs just sends me into a frenzy.  Please, does anyone have any non-critical, constructive advice other than saying I'm a bad owner (because I'm not)?  I have read that once a pitbull turns like that, you can't turn them back.  I am scared that no amount of training will make me feel safe enough to keep my dogs and not worry about them killing each other or jumping the fence and killing a neighbor's pet.  My girl is not spayed and I know that will help, but will it be enough?  Please help.

fibro and am home-bound 97% of the time.

XO ~ Amy Jo