oops! should have said HAVE not WANTED. re-posted correctly.

A Big Hello! I was an old timer..Back in 99. I love crafting, I've been crafting since I was a little girl.(many yrs ago..LOL) I have been a primitive crafter for about 8 yrs. I make the prim dolls and other things.

Ooh, my favourite and most used tool -- the Fiskars trimmer! Great buy, Debbie. This hobby can get quite expensive real fast so I would recommend doing some free or inexpensive research first. When I started out, I looked at tons of examples posted on websites, boards and in magazines. Pam provided a great list in the previous post. I found it to be very inspiring and very educational! I swear I would've just pasted my photos into any old album with some Elmer's school glue if I didn't read about terms like "acid-free" and "archival quality" first! :o\ See what techniques and styles appeal to you most and use them to guide you through a layout. But definitely keep it *you* -- people will want to see and appreciate your personal touch on your albums for years to come! You can find inspiration everywhere. A funny saying on a bumper sticker could be the title to your next page. A clever graphic you see on the side of building could be your next embellishment. And don't forget to *really* look at your photos -- i.e. what colours are prominent? What is the theme? What images might you extend from the photos onto your page? What amusing or amazing thing was going on at the time that you could journal about? Hope this helps! Let the games begin! :o) Leah

From what I've read the strain of influenza that is affecting most dogs is different from the one in the vaccinations. That leads me to believe the boarding place is probably acting out of fear rather than their educated knowledge. However, as frustrating as that is, I can totally understand it. My dog has been going to the same day care two-three times a week for 4 years now. I know the owners and talk to them often about the business so I can understand the dynamic from both sides. So as upset as you are, if you didn't have that shot requirement and your dog were to get the flu while under their care, would you be upset? And if you also found out there was a flu shot available but dogs weren't required to be vaccinated, what would your response be then? I know what my response would be. That they dropped the ball and didn't act responsibly to protect my pet. From that perspective, I think it is good that they are doing what they feel is needed to protect themselves as well as all the dogs in their care. I know that doesn't help you with the added costs, but have you considered hiring a pet sitter to care for your dogs instead? We had cats and birds as well as our dog to board and it was WAY too expensive. Instead we turned to a pet sitting site where we were able to interviewed several people and find a wonderful woman to care for our pets. We boarded the dog, but she fed our cats and birds twice a day at a fraction of the cost. The arrangement was perfect because we didn't have to up root our pets and they still had human contact while we were gone. She did a wonderful job and we actually became friends. The site we used was www.care.com Good Luck!