The Back Stories With Darnell and Cornelia

The Back Stories With Darnell and Cornelia - #13 Chester

CHESTER

Arlene looked out her office window just in time to see young Chester lift his leg and whiz on the asphalt.

This was Arlene's 35th year at the Sacred Heart Animal Obedience School. She didn't even want to think how many classes she had taught and she was excited that today was her last day.

At the beginning of each class Arlene thought she'd luck out and not have a "Chester" in her class. But.every.single.time.there.was.one. The other animals were eager to learn and willing to follow the rules. They were predictable and easy.

As Arlene continued to watch out the window, she noticed something she'd never noticed before. In fact, she felt a bit light-headed and silly that she hadn't seen it before. Then again, with a "Chester" in every class, naturally her attention was focused on him or her and the rest of the group became a bit of a blur.

This time Arlene stopped watching the little hooligan and focused her attention on the faces of the other animals. She was surprised to notice that they weren't shocked or disgusted in the least. Rather, they were looking at Chester with admiration and a bit of awe. Arlene knew from experience that even the donkey with his wonky-donkey eyes was feeling the same way. She leaned back against her desk and crossed her arms over her ample chest. She reflected on what her career would have been like if she hadn't had a "Chester" in every class. It didn't take her long to realize the answer: boring!

In truth, Arlene thought, the world needs Chesters. She remembered her father always quoting Henry Thoreau. She reached for her phone and looked it up.

"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away."

Arlene smiled, realizing that the same was true of the animal kingdom. She grabbed her purse and walked out of her classroom. On the way to her car, she stopped in the playground and stood in front of Chester. “Goodbye, Chester,” she said. Taking off her training apron, she patted him on the head, and then she emptied the entire pocket of treats on the ground in front of him. Throwing back her head and laughing out loud, she turned and walked away.

Darnell Knauss, Author

Cornelia Wenokor, Illustrator

stamps: Cats onAppletrees

Easter Egg and Bunny

Hi Everyone, I made a bunch of Easter cards, after all its little more than one month and I need to send them out in time... You see, they are all similar - using both the die cut and the negative, that I cut from a die cut egg. The cute bunnies got their yearly appearance - they are from Impression Obsession. the egg is by Lifestyle Crafts. The sentiment is by Papertrey. And here are bigger photos from this set: Linking up with Creative with Stamps - Easter The Paper Players - die cutting Die Cut Divas - animals Happy Little Stampers - anything goes with dies

Dynamic Duos combined with CAS Colours and Sketches

I am getting the hang of combining challenges....not sure if that's good or bad... In the past I would just put all my "creative energy" into one challenge and then just link up with others, if the card just happened to fit...but now I do that on purpose. Well, I'll see how it goes.... Anyhow here is the card that came out of this: I did not want to add a sentiment - I 'll add it later, when I know who will get it. And here is a close -up: Challenges: Dynamic Duos CAS Colours and Sketches Addicted to Stamps and More Amusing Challenges Materials: Papertrey Background Basics: Super Stripes, Memory Box Chloe Stem die. --X-- Card for Maddy: You may know already about Maddy , who was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia and went through chemotherapy treatment followed by a stem cell transplant from her (then) fifteen year old sister Melanie. She now has a relapse and this car

Mirror Image Stamping with So Suzy and the MISTI

Hi Everyone, I am so happy to be part of this wonderful event - the collaboration between So Suzy and the MISTI from My Sweet Petunia doing mirror image stamping. This event is going on for the ENTIRE MONTH! We are demonstrating the Mirror Image Stamp which coordinates with the Misti Stamping Tool! All month long, different bloggers will post a card using the Mirror Image Stamp . In my tutorial today, I will show you how use the Mirror Image Stamp on your cards. You can basically double your stamp supplies that way! The mirror image stamp is a 4.25" x 5.5" piece of red rubber with no foam backing. So much larger than the other mirror image stamps out there and therefore much more useful! Mirror Image stamp , Two Cats in a Tree If you want a video tutorial on how to do this I can highly recommend you watch THIS VIDEO on youtube. Explains it all in very little time! Or you can see the same thing on my photo tutorial. With mirror

Stempel Spass

Search This Blog