I Have Wildlife (and I don't mean my husband)!

I know this sounds disgusting, but there's humor in it, so bear with me. Since May, we've had "droppings" in our back yard planter. They are always there in the morning and always in the same spot. DH and I were clueless. Our yard is fenced with wrought iron fences, and the droppings were too large for a cat. A cat could fit through the spars, but not a dog. We were just very mystified. We continued our routine each day, since it started in May. Well, late one evening, we heard a commotion on our back patio. DH went to look and there were two raccoons playing with each other on our patio! They were just rolling, chasing, and having the best time! Our mystery was solved! We quickly figured out that the little culprits were very happy using our planters as a restroom! There are nice high, full bushes for them to crawl through.

Of course the first thing I wanted to do was leave food out for them. Of course, I KNEW THAT THAT WOULD BE A HUGE MISTAKE! They are the kind of animal that needs to be discouraged - really discouraged. We had them on the roof of our beach house until we trimmed the trees. It was very disconcerting to hear these sounds at 4:30 AM and not knowing what the thumping was. Finally, we figured out that they would climb the trees, drop onto the roof and have a grand old time racing back and forth the length and width of the roof! It sounded like wild horses were running across our yard! When we finally figured it was raccoon recess, we had the tree trimmer out STAT! We learned that raccoons won't drop greater than 5 feet. So, with that in mind, the trees were kept at least five feet above the roof! End of raccoon recess! They are so cute, though.

I have some layouts to share. Hopefully, you will like them! These are for sale. Let me know what you think!

The first one, to me, is just precious for a single 5 x 7 photo or two smaller ones. The paper is embossed and glossy. It is really pretty. The alphas are all black, so pardon the flash reflection. There is machine stitching around the perimeter and some gems in the corners. The buttons have been painted with acrylic paint. The brads on the stitched mat are sparkly as well. I made a little skunk to go with the theme. He turned out so cute! I also painted the chipboard flower grouping on the lower left of the photo mat.


TOO STINKIN' CUTE Price: $7.00 SOLD




The next layout is a cute one for Halloween. Again, the photo mat is 5 x 7. There is lots of layering. I punched the corners of the background paper with a punch that looks like a bat's head and ears. The yellow strip is all fringed to add texture. There are three chipboard buttons that have been painted to match and then covered with epoxy. The embellishment cluster just to the right of the buttons is three dimensional. The cauldron and ghosts are all at different elevations. The word, "Boo," is made from foam. I've added some plastic embellishment (bats & ghost) as well as a black glittered witch's hat. The pumpkin brads are gold toned.


Eek! PRICE $6.50 SOLD



Mailing Info

The total postage for mailing within the US is $6.50 whether you purchase one or more than one. That is what it will cost me to mail each one - nothing more. I've learned that if I'm mailing more than one, the price didn't change. They are mailed priority mail w/ a delivery confirmation. Mailing fee would be higher if mailed out of the USA. I'd have to find out the cost and then let you know after you've committed to purchase. Payment is made through Paypal. It's just easier that way. We are both protected!

I promise you won't be disappointed! TFL!

XO,

Chris

It's Finally Fall!

Well, Fall is here! Thank goodness! I am so ready for the next two seasons! It was time for Summer to be tucked away for a few months! The trees at the higher elevations just a little northeast of us are already changing! Autumn is already showing her colors!

I've been scrapping a bit and have some layouts to share. Hopefully, one will be a source of inspiration to you! Oh, before I forget, I'll be posting a couple of layouts this week that could be yours! I'm keeping the pricing low. I apologize for the postage fee, but that is what the post office charges, nothing more. I realized when I sent the last two that it was a bit more than I had thought. So, the postage will be $6.00.

The first LO is one I did for a friend. This was her daughter's first day of school. I wanted to keep a school theme, but keep it very primary looking. I kept the stitching on the stick figures very rustic looking rather than refined and adultlike. I also wanted to incorporate the colors found in the photo. Some of the alphas are black glittery and the others are black and white polka dot puffy alphas. The embellies are metal. The Scottie is elevated on pop dots to give some dimension. Is this little missy adorable or what? Look at that face! I hope her mama doesn't mind the messy stitching on the back or front! LOL I just fell in love with this photo. Oh, how I wish we had had more children (or at least a girl, too)!


Star Student

Oh, how I love the next LO. It's of my DH's mom when she was a baby. Look at that wicker buggy! I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to have had that! I wanted to make the LO feminine and vintage looking. I chose pink as I never get to use that color very much in our family LOs. I love the paper roses at the bottom and think the BG was a perfect line to use with this photo.


Before You Were My Mom

My Darling Son, if you are reading this, the layout below is for you. The layout is simple, but the sentiment is perfect for you and your loving father. I don't know who the author is, but I am grateful that whomever penned it, knew just what to say for me! Your dad and I miss you so much. Scrapping photos of you brings you closer. I can touch your face! I wanted to keep the LO simple and masculine looking. I hoped that the gray fabric flower would be fine, and I think it it. The LO looks manly, right?



A Father Is...

I LOVE our DIL! There are so many reasons! I am proud of the woman she has become. I am proud of her for reaching her goals and not letting anything stop her. I am proud of the wife she is to our son. I love to scrap photos of the two of them. They are just too cute together! She has so many different looks. I love the ones in which she is candid and unposed, like this one. Look at that smile! It's spontaneous!


Young Love

Thank you for stopping by! Please do come back again! I'll have a couple of layouts available for sale toward the end of this week. Maybe you will like them and want them to be yours!

Have a good one,

XO
Chris

A Smokey Start to September

Happy September 1 everyone! Oh, Fall is right around the corner and these 100+ temperatures will be history! It can't happen too soon!

We have very smokey skies lately. There is a very large fire not too far from us that has blown smoke into our valley. Then, there are the California fires that are also sending smoke eastward. DH and I are staying inside where the air is cleaner. The sky is so white, it looks cloudy outside. Ick!

Today's post will be a brief one. I've got three layouts to share. One is for our album and the other two could be in YOUR album! That's right, I have two for sale, if you are interested! I think this is a bit exciting. If it doesn't work, no problem. If it does work, then it's a win/win, right? You get a LO and I make a bit of money to buy more scrappy supplies! LOL I used to sell on ebay. I sold every layout I ever made except for one. No one wanted a LO on Dia de los Muertos. LOL It was a bad idea on my part! LOL

The first LO is of DS. We were at Zion National Park. Behind him is a huge waterfall cascading and spraying. The photo looks a bit grainy. I'm not sure if it is due to the water spray or my increasing the size of the shot. DS just loved that hat! He wore it all the time and even to bed! It made me think of Lawrence of Arabia! DS was just the cutest little one!


It's All About the Shades

Now, here is your version of the same layout. For this LO, I modified the title. I left the 5 x 7 mat empty so that you could use one large photo or several small photos. I'll include two yellow photo corners as well. The shipping and handling would be around $5.00. I will ship internationally, but shipping would be more. The Prima flowers are red, blue, and yellow. The yellow is a true yellow but looks orange in the photo. There are small rhinestones on the smallest circles and flowers. The larger buttons have been stitched on. Your photo would also fit behind the red flower in the lower left. Each of the circles has been cut using my Nestabilities dies thus making the cuts accurate and even. Each circle has been layered and is not printed that way. TFL!


You Color My World SOLD

The next layout is for those of you who had backyard campouts or actually got away to do some summertime camping. For this LO, I hand cut the leaves and pine cones in the upper left. They are also elevated using dimensionals. I love giving elevation to my layouts. A cloud at the upper center is also elevated above the base cloud to also give dimension. I created the trees and inked the edges to keep with that woodsy feel. There is machine stitching around the perimeter of the mat as well as on the background CS. Lastly, there are brads on the journaling tag and the title. TFL!


Happy Campers SOLD






If you are interested in either or both of these layouts, please e-mail me. You can be an enabler! I just love scrapping, and if I can save you some time and effort, why not? Right?

Thanks so much for stopping by. I'm so glad that you did!

XO,

Chris