Trimming & framing

Before I embark on today's post, first let me apologise to those kind folks who left such encouraging comments & also asked questions, which have until now gone unanswered.
There are 3 more cows to go before the cushion front is finished, though I am still deciding which ones I should add to complete it.

I have just finished framing a couple of pictures that I have recently made in my framing class. Both use the same techniques, I simply did 2 because I rather liked the idea. As I am sure you can see, the coffe pot one has coffee beans in the middle and the tea pot has green tea inside.

I rather enjoyed doing these & if I can come up with some other similar ideas, I will definitely do another.

Also something new on these two, is that I also made the frames. They are made entirely out of cardboard (the thick kind) and then painted & decorated. Unfortunately it does not show up on the photo, but the coffee pot framed has "crackled" purple paint with gold coloured dust in the cracks.

I gave one of my dogs a trim today, it came very close to being a short back & sides. No, I am not at all an expert in this field, this is the first time in my life that I have ever attempted to trim a dog. Unfortunately, his undercoat had become rather matted, and no amount of brushing, combing or teasing could get these out, and as I was concerned that his skin would suffer if there was no air circulation (particularly in all this heat) I went for the drastic solution.

So out came the scissors and away I went. He was such a patient thing, just quietly lying on his back while I chopped out the mats and trimmed it all down. His legs and tummy are really short, but I left a fair amount still on his back to protect him from sunburn. He then got a bath, and then another thorough brushing.

He does look decidedly odd, I am considering only taking him out when it is dark, poor thing. Anyway, he now has a really super soft coat, with not a single mat or knot in it.