Just reporting in...

No messes since the last report.  Both cats are using the covered boxes more than the uncovered ones.  Not sure what's up with that.  Sadie decided all of a sudden that she liked being brushed (on her terms).  I've taken a brush to our bedroom along with an empty tissue box (we save cat hair for the titmice nests in the spring, we put the hair in a suet feeder) and I've brushed her every day for four days, I get lots of hair in the brush.  She's kind of gotten into a routine with me.  Carl usually gets up first, feeds the cats, makes coffee and brings in the paper.  Sadie wakes me up after the coffee is done and leads me to the bathroom.  Sometimes she lets me pick her up and she purrs; when we leave the bathroom she heads either back into our bedroom to her perch or downstairs to finish her breakfast.   She's still bi-polar, purring one second and growling the next.  Sometimes she's very sweet with Carl and sometimes she hisses.  It's been fourteen months since we got her and Sassy and Sadie are no closer to being actual friends than when we got Sadie.  We haven't had any fights in a long time, they just walk wide around each other.  Sadie is clearly unhappy about the windows being closed due to the heat and humidity here.  Days in the 90s are not my cup of tea, we keep the house cooler and just venture out for yard work in the early morning and late afternoon.  Sadie runs from window to window and after making the rounds a couple of times, settles down to nap.  Next week we may be able to open them for a while, fingers crossed.

Thinking of you....

Supplies:

Peachy Keen:  April 2013, PK 480 Christmas Character Face Assortment

Pebbles Inc. Chalk

Faber-Castell Polychromos

Spellbinder Card Creator, Labels & Tags

PTI Orange Zest C.S.; Debbie Mumm Baby Girl

Hero Arts CL140

Star Dust Stickles

Distress Ink: Black Soot

Thinking of you...

Supplies:

Peachy Keen:  April 2013, PK 480 Christmas Character Face Assortment

Pebbles Inc. Chalk

Faber-Castell Polychromos

Spellbinder Card Creator, Labels & Tags

PTI Orange Zest C.S.; Debbie Mumm Baby Girl

Hero Arts CL140

Star Dust Stickles

Distress Ink: Black Soot

Everybody Loves a Circus

I was thrilled to get permission from Mo Manning to combine Kat at the Carnival with Make It Crafty's Circus Tent. I love these images together. I used my Grand Calibur and my Grand Oval dies to make a shaped card. Then I cut another single oval out and adhered it to the top covering up the flat hinge area. I used a slightly smaller oval to cut out the image I created in CorelDraw. The background was airbrushed with my Copic Airbrush. A second printed image was used to cut out the Big Top sign which was popped up. I find I am using my CorelDraw and Photoshop Elements more often these days. It's a slow creep from rubber to digital although I will never abandon completely my rubber stamps.

Paper: DCWV Dots Stripes & Plaids; Stamps: Make It Crafty Circuit Tent, Mo Manning Kat at the Carnival, PaperTrey Just the Ticket; Spellbinder Grand Ovals; Copics: [Tent YR18, YR24, BG49, E55, E57, Y02, YG17, C3, C1, Spica: Turquoise, Orange][Skin E000, E11, R20][Bag N4, Y08, C1, Spica Red][Hair Y38, Y13,Y19][Clothes R81, R85, R83][Sky B91][Ground G24][Clouds B000]

Everybody loves a circus...

I was thrilled to get permission from Mo Manning to combine Kat at the Carnival with Make It Crafty's Circus Tent. I love these images together. I used my Grand Calibur and my Grand Oval dies to make a shaped card. Then I cut another single oval out and adhered it to the top covering up the flat hinge area. I used a slightly smaller oval to cut out the image I created in CorelDraw. The background was airbrushed with my Copic Airbrush. A second printed image was used to cut out the Big Top sign which was popped up. I find I am using my CorelDraw and Photoshop Elements more often these days. It's a slow creep from rubber to digital although I will never abandon completely my rubber stamps.

Paper: DCWV Dots Stripes & Plaids;
Stamps: Make It Crafty Circus Tent,
Mo Manning Kat at the Carnival,
PaperTrey Just the Ticket;
Spellbinder Grand Ovals;
Copics: [Tent YR18, YR24, BG49, E55, E57, Y02, YG17, C3, C1, Spica: Turquoise, Orange][Skin E000, E11, R20][Bag N4, Y08, C1, Spica Red][Hair Y38, Y13,Y19][Clothes R81, R85, R83][Sky B91][Ground G24][Clouds B000]

Things I learned from reality TV...

1.  From My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding I learned if you make your wedding dress so 'fluffy' that it covers the limo driver's eyes, it can be disasterous.
2.  From Say Yes to the Dress I learned to not take an entourage to buy a wedding dress, you can't please all the people all the time.
3.  From Swamp People I learned that when you have a very angry 10 foot alligator on a thin line, it pays to have loaded the gun AND have someone with you who can hit the broad side of a barn.
4.  From all the contests I learned that if you've watched a show that heaps abuse on the contestants and then get on the show, man up - you knew going in what was going to happen.
5.  From Cake Boss I learned if you have a blond sister, keep her out of your work area.
6.  From Swamp Brothers (not to be confused with Swamp People) I learned, if you're out to catch poisonous snakes, leave your weinie, screams like a girl, brother at home, he's distracting.
7.  From Say Yes to the Dress Bridesmaids Edition I learned to NEVER NEVER EVER EVER ask the local drama queen to be your maid of honor.

Back to square one....

Carl and I went out to dinner with friends on Thursday and Friday morning had a mess.  We went to Rockford on Saturday and Sunday morning we had a mess.  I'd love to say there's a beginning pattern, but this has been ongoing so long that I figure it's just a coincidence.  From where we started, two messes in two months (so far) is better than where we came from, but disheartening. 

Life can be a circus...

Supplies:

SVGCutting Files: Scalloped Flaps Box Card

Basic Red Cardstock

Silhouette Cameo

DCWV The Rustic Stack

Peachy Keen June 2014 

Peachy Keen PK-1398 Circus Treats

Peachy Keen PK 1397 - It's Showtime

Ranger Glossy Accents

Life can be a circus...

Supplies:

SVGCutting Files: Scalloped Flaps Box Card

Basic Red Cardstock

Silhouette Cameo

DCWV The Rustic Stack

Peachy Keen June 2014 

Peachy Keen PK-1398 Circus Treats

Peachy Keen PK 1397 - It's Showtime

Ranger Glossy Accents

uni-ball Signo white pen

Stickles Stardust

A baby is a blessing...

Supplies:

Flourishes Hello Baby

PTI Confetti Garland, Lavender Moon Ink & Cardstock

My Mind's Eye Blush

Die-Namics Blueprints 10

Cuttlebug Baby Clothes Embossing Folder

A baby is a blessing...

Supplies:

Flourishes Hello Baby

PTI Confetti Garland, Lavender Moon Ink & Cardstock

My Mind's Eye Blush

Die-Namics Blueprints 10

Cuttlebug Baby Clothes Embossing Folder

Thoughts on birdhouses....

In our travels we often find cute things for the garden.  I don't remember where we bought this rustic birdhouse but it was painted like a U.S. Post Office and we've had it a few years.  My husband installed a new post next to this wiegela and nailed the box to it.  There is no way to open the box to clean it out and it hasn't been used to my knowledge.  Until this year.  Chickadees took up residence in the early spring.  I watched the nest making process and just recently the babies hatched.  You could tell they were feeding from the increased activity at the birdhouse.

A few days after this picture was taken, I was watering in some newly transplanted flowers in the raised bed and something just looked 'off' to me.  While I was trying to figure out what it was, I noticed the bare post.  During my investigation I found the remains of the birdhouse in the catmint bed, the interior was scattered all over the lawn, the house was in pieces and the babies were gone.  We never saw the parents again.

We have been lax landlords.  We delight in the entertainment the birds bring to our yard.  We watch with interest their courting, territorial battles, nest building, baby feeding and we delight in seeing a fledgling or two once in a while.  And for all that, all they ask is a secure place to raise their next generation.  This box was old, nailed to the post with a single nail and no baffle provided.  A baffle keeps predators from climbing the pole and getting into the box.

This is the replacement box.  It it capable of being opened through the roof and on the side.  The baffle is called a 'stove pipe baffle' and just sits on top of the post held in place by the pipe between the house and the post.  Any predator like a snake or raccoon, or even a squirrel, can climb the post but always ends up under the baffle which is too big around and too slick to climb.  The wiegela is too weak to be climbed by raccoons or snakes, the branches are fragile and would just bend, perhaps break.  This box was purchased at Wild Birds Unlimited but I suspect if my husband had time, he could build an equally sturdy one.  Our new rule is no 'cute' boxes unless they are very sturdy, can be opened and cleaned and are baffled.  It was heartbreaking to lose the chickadee babies; next to bluebirds they are my favorite.  They always seem to be in a good mood and can brighten my day.  The nest box was destroyed several days ago and I haven't even seen any chickadees in the bird feeders.  I wonder if they will forgive us?