The Franklin Art Scene

Good Monday to you dear readers! I hope that all of you had a good weekend! Ours was busy as always. I most often find myself wishing that I had a weekend from my weekend. But I suppose being busy is better than being bored!

Today I wanted to share with you something that is very dear to me, The Franklin Art Scene (or First Friday Art Crawl) is a street fair that is held the first friday of every month in Franklin Tn. The next one is coming up on December 7th (mark your calendars!!)

This monthly event features all sorts of local artisans around the Nashville and Franklin area. From painters to potters, sculptors and welders, jewelry designers and collage artists. This street fair has something for everyone. I love being a part of this community and seeing all of the new creations by all of my lovely artists friends.  

I have been attending this event since it started back in 2011. Its a wonderful night where local artists open up their homes, galleries, and shops to the public. There is always wine, hors d'oeuvres, live music, and plenty of local arts and crafts up for sale. Several of my very close friends also attend and participate in this event every month. Its a wonderful opportunity for everyone to come out and support local artists and even find treasures to bring home with them. (I always end up buying 2 or 3 pieces of small artwork or jewelry).

The Franklin Art Scene starts around 6pm on the first friday of every month and runs until 9pm (some places will be open a little later depending on if there are still people wandering about). There are dozens of shops and galleries that open their doors to the public around the Franklin square. And some of the antique stores even stay open so patrons can come in and shop. 

One of my very favorite galleries to visit on this special night is run by several of my very good friends. This gallery is not actually a gallery but a house! That magically turns into a gallery on the night of the Franklin Art Scene (thanks to a lot of hard work from the artists).

Located at 225 2nd Avenue South in Historic Downtown Franklin, this gallery houses local artists such as Kristin Clemens, Paul Crommelin, Jerry Quinlisk, Michael Coleman, Katie Connolly Wolf, Katie Wilson and Sam of Luchair Pottery. I have known Kristin Clemens, Katie Wilson, and Paul Crommelin for many years and I love coming to see them and all of their amazing work every month.

If you have not attended the Franklin Art Scene I highly recommend stopping by. There are so many wonderful artists to meet and every one of them has something different to offer.

Are their any local artists or art/craft fairs in your area? Share them in the comments below! I love to discover new local artists and events!!

Saturday shenanigans!

Happy Saturday dear readers! We started our Saturday with a quick 9 am trip to the vet. Clover has had a little ear infection for a few weeks, so we had to go in to see if the ear flush solution the vet gave us was working. Unfortunately, her ear infection has gotten a little worse... so Clover was prescribed some antibiotics and we are supposed to use the ear flush every day instead of every three days. Hopefully the antibiotics will help. She'll have to go back in about a week to see if its getting any better. As you can see Axle was not very amused with being there.

 

After the vet we headed over to the Centennial Dog Park  near West End in Nashville. This is our usual Saturday morning hang out. We have been going to this park for a few months and both the dogs love it!

 

This park is always so busy! There are many regulars that we see here every weekend. And there are also always new people and dogs. This park is also HUGE! Much bigger than any other parks that we have been too. There is a much closer Dog Park in Brentwood. But its about 1/3 the size, and its very hit or miss for anyone else to be there. So we make the 30 minute drive to Nashville every Saturday so that Axle and Clover are able to run and play with all their friends. 

 

Rudy the Collie loves to jump up on the picnic tables at the park so he can get a better view of his surroundings. 

 This is a our good buddy T! He is a sweet and friendly bulldog that we see at the park from time to time. he is such a happy boy, and full of personality!

 

The dog park is a great place to catch up with your friends.

 

Everyone is always full of smiles!!

 

This guy may have bitten off a little more than he can chew. But don't tell him that!

 

This husky was being a little bashful ;)

 

Clover tried to make friends with a King Charles Spaniel. But he wasn't very impressed with her shenanigans.

 

This daring little brown and white girl named Abby figured out that she could jump the 4 1/2 foot fence at the park, and took off on a little adventure. Luckily someone saw her escape and ran after her. Another lady and I were able to find her owner and let her know her dog had gotten out, so she took off to look for her too. Abby's mom was very grateful that the other woman that had gone after her mischievous doggie. Abby was found and few blocks away safe and sound. Her mom decided that she needed to stay on leash for the rest of their stay at the park. Everyone was very happy that Abby was safe.

 

We met a very friendly Boxer today that was all full of smiles!

 

This little guy decided that is was time for his close up!

 

This black a white spotted Great Dane called Nino is a regular at the park, he is SO TALL! And such a sweet boy.

 

Today we also met a couple of Corgis! They were really adorable, and very friendly!

 

Axle made friends with this little girl right away. He was very gentle with her, but she was still very overwhelmed by her first time at the park.  

 

Super cute baby Corgi action!!!!!!!

 

This little 4 month old was very shy at first, but had a bunch of fun running around with all the other dogs. Its always fun too see all of the young puppies at he park!!

 

No one tells you to get off the furniture at the dog park!!

 

This poodle's fro was very fashionable.

 

Here is out Great Dane friend again, HE IS HUGE!!! 

 

This sweet Boxer came to the park too! Sometimes its good to get out and visit with friends, even if you aren't feeling that well.

We had such a good time at the park today, and can't wait for our next visit. I hope that all of you have a good weekend! If you have any of your own dog park pictures or stories please share them in the comments below!!!

Axle's Story

Axle came from a very wonderful shelter in Lawrenceburg Tn called the Tennessee Animal Rescue & Shelter Inc. I had just moved into my new house and knew that I wanted to get a dog. (Paul and I don’t live together, but the dogs are communal). Axle was actually found by chance. I was trying to get more information about another dog, but found out he had already been adopted.

And that’s when I found Tennessee Animal Rescue & Shelter Inc.’s Facebook page. I had never heard of this shelter before, but I thought it was worth a look. After reading about the shelter and finding out that it was just two hours from my house I decided to investigate the adoptable dogs page. They had about 60 adorable dogs up for adoption at the time. They were all so cute, and no two the same. There were puppies, juveniles, adults, and even senior dogs up for adoption. There were so many sweet furry faces. But there was one in particular that stood out to me.

Picture from Tennessee Animal Rescue Shelter Inc.

This was my first glimpse of Axle. He was a handsome looking 2-year-old Akita/Heeler mix. He had such a quizzical look on his face; it was so charming. Almost as if he were saying, “and why aren’t you petting me and giving me treats now?” I fell in love with just his picture alone. But I knew that I needed to get a little more information about him before I committed to an adoption.

After a few weeks of back and forth communication with the shelter we decided that Axle (named at the shelter) would be a perfect addition to our patchwork family. The next weekend Paul and I packed up the car with Clover in tow (She was the final say in her new brother).

Two hours later we pulled up at the shelter. It had been a long drive and the three of us were more that excited to see a potential new member of our family. We piled out of the car and walked into the office. After some excited introductions we were led outside so we could meet Axle.

He was even more handsome in person. And so tall! I was not expecting him to be as tall as he was, but it added to his intrigue. We were all instantly smitten, including Clover. After a few forms of paperwork we were the proud new parents of a 60lb 2-year-old boy! We were not able to take Axle home with us that day; he needed to stay for a few more days so his vetting could be completed. But what seemed like an eternity later (actually only 2 days) we were making the two-hour journey back to Lawrenceburg to pick up our new boy.

Axle was still a little drowsy from his surgery (neutering) so he slept most of the way home. It took him a few days to get settled in, but now he is a happy, healthy, loving boy. And we are so happy to have him as part of our family. Axle is a wonderful dog, and we couldn’t be more grateful to the Tennessee Animal Rescue & Shelter Inc. for letting us adopt him!

Web Junk Wednesday

Welcome to Web Junk Wednesday! A collection of cute, funny, crazy, weird, and interesting junk I've found while exploring the web. Do you have anything interesting to share? Leave a comment below!

 Top 20 Nosevember Schnozzles: Cute Overload has an adorable collection of schnozzles!

 

The perfect place to sit! 

Try it!!

 

Grumpy Cat Tartar Sauce is So grumpy...!

 

Paul got me with this one the other day, haha!

 A Blue Dragon Mollusk! I want one!!

Jackson gets ready to play Frisbee! Lets play!

 

Clover's Story

I decided to start with Clover’s story first, because even though Axle is older than her, she actually became part of our family first. Paul (my boyfriend) decided that he wanted a puppy. And he wanted a very specific kind of puppy. His list of specifications were...

• Female
• A husky or a golden retriever (or mix)
•  FLUFFY (this was VERY important)
•  Blue eyes (preferred)
•  White or cream colored fur

So began my task of finding him the perfect dog. After looking online for shelters in our area for several weeks, our search seemed to come to a stand still. We had inquired about several dogs we saw online, but it seemed that they had already been adopted, not exactly what we were looking for, or were a scam… Our hopes were almost completely dashed at this point. We didn’t think that we were ever going to find THE perfect pup for Paul.

But one late night on a whim, I decided to look on Craigslist. After pouring through several pages of adds I came across one for a female Siberian Husky/Golden Retriever mix puppy (They refereed to her as a "Goberian" I had never head of this before, but I thought it was adorable!). There was very little information about this pup, and no picture either. (It seemed completely too good to be true!) After getting a little more information, we decided to make the 2 hour drive to go and meet Clover. We were so excited to potentially be coming home with a new puppy.

When Paul and I finally met Clover she was about 20lbs of pure fluff! She was so cute and precious. We knew right then and there that we had just been bought hook, line, and sinker! There was no way we were leaving without this dog.

That night we came home with Clover. She was so small and squirmy, and she still had puppy breath! (Any ‘dog people’ will know what I’m talking about!) We could not have been happier, our search was over and we had a new member of our little family. We are so grateful for being able to adopt Clover! We love her so much!

Howdy!

Welcome! Please allow me to introduce myself! My name is Madison; I’m a 24-year-old graphic designer living in Nashville, Tennessee. I work for a record label in Brentwood (Tennessee) and I have been there for almost two years.

Just a little background information about me… I graduated from O’more College of Design (Franklin Tn) in 2010. I have a bachelors’ degree in Fine Arts and Visual Communications (aka Graphic Design).

My boyfriend (Paul) and I have two wonderful rescue dogs. And I often refer to myself as a ‘crazy dog lady.’  Axle is my sweet, gentle boy. He is a stoic two-year-old Akita/Red Heeler mix. (Or at least that’s what I think/was told. I’m not 100% sure of his true breeds, but that’s not really that important to me ;) ). 

Clover is my peaches and cream princess. She is an 11-month-old (She’ll be one year old on December 18th!!) Siberian Husky/Golden Retriever mix. She is full of love, and might actually run on sunshine and marshmallows. I have never seen a dog so happy to just exist. If I am ever feeling a little down, I know that this little (55lb!!) ball of fluff will always be able to make me smile.

They inspired this blog, and will have a big part in many of the entries here. I have learned so much from them already, and I am so happy to have the chance to share them with others.

I have never written a blog before, so this will be a learning experience for me. But I hope that you, dear readers, will enjoy it, and with any luck want to take part in this little expedition of mine. So please, if you happen to be reading this, introduce yourself! I would love to meet you!

<3Madison