Scallop Circle Punch Cloud Background Card & Video!!!!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  To appreciate it, all we have to do is notice it. - Henry Shukman

I wonder sometimes how much beauty I actually miss in this world when I walk around with anger or stress or worry or hurry.  In order to appreciate what is around me, all I have to do is to notice it.  It seems much easier said than done.  How can I keep myself in a space where I am alert to noticing what is around me?  I seem to keep coming back to the same lesson - one that I might spend the rest of my life trying to learn.  The answer seems to be that in order to be able to notice and to appreciate the beauty around us we need to be able to stay in the present moment.  To be fully present - without distraction.  I sat in the park the other day with Buddy and let my mind clear.  I sat there and listened to my breath - sitting there in the park - tuning out what was around me.  I guess it was my own form of meditation and it seemed to keep me in the here and now.  Sometimes when I walk with Buddy I'll actually close my eyes with his leash in my hand and see how long I can let Buddy lead me without opening my eyes.  I usually don't make it far - maybe 12 steps - before I begin to worry that I might walk into a wall or a rock.  However, for those 12 steps, I am very present and very in the exact moment.  How do you practice staying in the present?  Any and all advice is welcome :)
Today's card is for a woman I have actually never met.  I learned through my friend Lorraine that Lauri recently lost her fur-friend Chansey.  There is something so special about the love of a dog - it is something that I feel blessed to experience with Buddy.  Chansey was a Westie, so the Friends Fur-ever stamp set was perfect.  I decided to create a card to send to Lauri with Chansey with his angel's wings and a sentiment that expresses how the love we feel with our animals is a love that lasts forever & always.  I hope it brings her a moment of comfort as she experiences her loss.  I felt that a cloud background would be perfect for the card, so I set out to create one using the scallop circle punch.  Here is a video to show you how I created the background: