Battling Nature - part 1

Welcome to the battle between nature and the Close family. We've been waging a battle with raccoons who have decided that our deck is their own personal toilet. Every morning a new deposit. Apparently they pick a place and that's where everyone goes. Yuch. So, I had an idea yesterday, I sprinkled the latest 'gifts' with cayenne pepper. I figured if they couldn't smell it, maybe they wouldn't do it. But, unbeknownst to me, raccoons have a direct line to a higher power and last night it rained and thundered and stormed and washed all my cayenne pepper away and there was a new gift. Raccoons 1, Closes 0. Stay tuned for the battle of the Asian Beetles.

I love this new set of Cindy Echtinaw's Spellbinder compatible stamps, they stamp beautifully and coordinate with so many of the Spellbinder sets - the Lacy Squares stamp set will go with any square Spellbinder set - the scallops, the classic squares, the lacey squares; they are a great value. Paper: Bazzill; Stamps: Penny Black "Micey Day" and Cindy Echtinaw "How ya Bean?" and Cindy Echtinaw "Lacey Squares"; Koh-I-Nor Pencils; N1, N2 for shadow; E41, E30, E31 for teabag; Waterfall Stickles; Spellbinder Classic Squares; Spica Baby Blue and Pitch Black