Gerbils!

A friend of mine Bonnie text me one day and wanted to know if we'd like Gerbils. Well of COURSE!  I never had gerbils but I had cared for them during my years at the pet store. The kids were so excited! This first photo is Cameron's gerbil Buddy. (I voted to name it Skippy but I got out voted.)

 And next is Cheyenne's gerbil Shadow.

 And below is the tunnel/box system we set up for them when we take them out of their cage to get some exercise.

Fire Belly Toads and Green Tree Frogs

This is a picture of one of our Fire bell toads. "She" had some dirt on her nose. This is either Ruby or Scarlet. They have a beautiful orange-red belly.

 And if you look on the back of the wall you'll see one of the Green Tree frogs. I believe that one is Maxx. I don't think my frog "Sticky" was in the cage when this photo was taken.

These little guys (or girls) have given us hours of delight! It is fun to just sit and watch them! And feeding time is always a little exciting!

Our Anoles

This first picture is of Rocco, Cheyenne's Brown Anole. Both brown and green anoles can change colors from green to dark brown. He shed the first night we brough him home.

 And this is what he looked like the next morning! Notice the ridge along his back? And he had spots on his sides and his tail curled too! I think he had an idenity crisis and thought he was a chameleon!

 And this little guy is Cameron's. He named him Zack "the Hulk" Thornton.  :-) Zack is a Green Anole.

A New Vivarium

It's no big secret that I LOVE animals! Over the years we've had many pets, cats, a dog, hamsters, bunnies, hermit crabs, lots of fish and a tadpole or two here and there. Right now we have 2 bunnies, and a cat and we recently added two gerbils. We also decided that we have grown kind of tired of fish. We will still have the goldfish in the pond, but we don't have the best of luck with fish in our house. When I was a kid I worked many years in a pet store, and I always thought the Anoles were really cool. Well a few months ago I decided to get a few new pets. First we got 2 anoles, and then we went back and got 2 firebelly toads, and a green tree frog. A few days later, while at the store to get crickets, I decided to buy the last tree frog the store had. (He looked lonely) Originally we started out with a 10 gallon tank, and now they are all happily living in a 29 gallon tank complete with a water side and filter and the land side has real plants and soil and a few worms in the soil for aeration. Above are pictures of the vivarium. Although I since removed the spaghum moss and replaced it with coco fiber. And I added some Pothos to hopefully add some vines in the background. In the bottom picture you can see one of the firebelly toads on top of the filter, and some rosey red minnows in the water.  Pictures to follow of some of the other animals in the tank.

>>>Now before someone says that these species SHOULD not be mixed, please note that I have done extensive research on all three species and if there is care taken they CAN be housed together. Thank you for your concerns.

Crafting time

It's that time of year again! I am busy creating for my next 3 craft shows which are coming up! I have shows the first 3 weekends in November. I will have some new items this year and some oldies but goodies in more styles and colors.  Some of the items I have been working on are:

 Post it note keychains featuring some retired Stampin' Up Designer Series Papers.

Key Fob wristletss which seem to be all the craze!

 and mini clipboards made from coasters!

I have so much more already created, but for the sake of being able to get around my craft room, I packed them up so they are ready to go.  I had my first show in September, but with a bunch of activities going on in town, including a Fireman's Parade, and hospital patients being transported from a local hospital that is closed now, to the new hospital they just built, the traffic was horrible!!! So there really weren't a lot of shoppers.

Well back to crafting! Hope to have more to show you soon!

Another Friendship card

Okay here is one more of the cards I got from the card club. I liked this one, but it is a little...flat. Here's their version: And here is one of my versions. I added a dark brown mat behind the flowered paper. And I added some distressing to the tag with my Early Espresso Classic Ink pad:

And my second version. This time I embossed the flowered paper with the Square Lattice embossing folder then I distressed the edges with my Early Espresso Classic Ink pad and a sponge. I also swiped the sponge across the front of the paper. Then I added a dotted circle to the tag, and distressed it all with my Early Espresso Classic in:

Friendship Swap -

Here is another one of the card sets that I got from the club I used to belong to. Here's their version: And here's one of my versions. Here I just added some rhinestones at the end of the flourish:

And another version. Here I distressed the print piece. I added a bunch of smaller rhinestones all along the flourish.

These cards were not my style, so I found it a little harder to "get into" altering them.