This is the final layout I made during Bash Bowl 2023. That's the last photo I took of Trouble. I don't know if this will be the last layout I make about him (probably not) but it will be last chronologically in the album. We miss Trouble so much.
As you can see, I used two items from the Bash Bowl playbook - circles and stitching. I played around with the other requirements (ribbon, chipboard, glitter, and mixed media) but it felt forced and I ultimately decided to keep this page as clean and simple as possible.
This layout earned only 2 points for Twisted Scissors, but the extra 5 points I would have gotten for the touchdown wouldn't have made a difference. The Scrappin' Banshees beat us by 301 points (2885 to 2584) this week. The 248 participants on the two teams combined made over 3,300 layouts, which is awesome. Good job, everyone! I'm already looking forward to Bash Bowl 2024.
The way Trouble was sitting with his back legs in his igloo made him look like the longest rabbit of all time. I immediately thought of the classic Rodents Of Unusual Size. I made a minor tweak and the title of this layout became Rabbit Of Unusual Size.
The rabbit die-cut in the title was from one of my friend Jennifer's dies. Not only did I use it here, but I added them to two other pages I've recently made about rabbits. Did you notice them? I colored them each a little differently. There are more, so they'll definitely make an appearance on future rabbit-themed pages.
I've gotten into a routine of doing my daily Duolingo practice on the couch near Trouble's area. (He struggles with mobility now and stays exclusively on the carpeted area, so we're all coming to him rather than him coming to us.) When I first started doing Duolingo there, Trouble's ears would perk up with the various chimes and voices, but he got used to it pretty quickly. In this photo, he is completely zonked. It's not surprising; I'm there around 4:00 pm (just after school pick-up) and that is prime naptime for a crepuscular critter.
I think this is the first time I've ever used any Spanish on a layout. The title has the word 'con' (with), while the journaling has an entire sentence of Spanish: 'El conejo está muy cansado en la tarde' (The rabbit is very tired in the afternoon). It's a fun first for me.
If anyone is interested in giving Duolingo a try, definitely do so! It's free and it's fun and it's effective. You're welcome to use my link to join or, if you're already a member, feel free to friend me.
As a prey animal, Trouble feels safest when he is under cover with plenty of escape routes. When he was younger, he liked to sit on the dining room chairs that were pushed under the table. He also liked to lounge under the piano bench. Now he prefers to nap in boxes. All provide lots of opportunities for exiting quickly if danger approaches from the side, and prevent him from being seen from overhead predators.
Trouble worries a lot less about overhead predators than when he was young. He might have finally figured out that, as a house rabbit, there are ceilings keeping the overhead predators from seeing him. He's not nearly as careful as he once was to remain hidden from sight. Frankly, it's adorable seeing part of him sticking out. It reminds me of playing hide-and-seek with toddler Trevor who thought that if he couldn't see me, then I couldn't see him.
There are two things I love about this layout besides the darling pictures of feet and cottontails. "Trouble Hiding" has a double meaning: 1) Trouble is hiding; and 2); he is having trouble hiding effectively. And then there's that fantastic rabbit patterned paper. It's from an A5 pad and I've been struggling with how to use it on a layout. I had to piece it together to fit all the way across the page and am really happy with how it turned out.
Trouble is just three weeks shy of his 12th birthday, which is very elderly for a rabbit. He gave us a scare a few days ago, but is perfectly fine now. I know that our remaining time together will not be long, and I cherish each day.
The second challenge I completed on National Scrapbook Day was Sticker Sneeze at Bash Your Scrapbook Stash. The requirement was to create a shape at least 4" x 8" and cover it with stickers. This was the perfect chance to put all of the rabbit stickers I could find onto a heart and pair it with a photo of Trouble napping. I chose the warm grey cardstock because it's such a good match to Trouble's fur.
This was a really fun page to make. Although it was challenging, I loved arranging the stickers. I didn't have extras, so I had to make sure I got the arrangement correct as I worked. I filled the awkward gaps with heart stickers after all the rabbit stickers were down.
I'm definitely going to try a page like this again, with a theme other than rabbits. I have approximately 8 bajillion stickers, so I can definitely find something that works.
Rabbits are opinionated. They expect things to be the way they want them and are not shy about telling you when you haven't done something to their liking. Try as we might, our interior designing skills are just not up to Trouble's high standards. When we finish cleaning his cage, he runs in to make sure everything is just so. It usually isn't, despite our best attempts to put things exactly where they belong.
That is not to say that Trouble always likes things to stay the same. When he gets in the mood to redecorate, he'll spend an hour pushing, pulling, nudging, and/or throwing things into just the right position. It's fascinating to watch.
"Trouble at 11" sounds like something a newscaster would say. In this case, it's a layout about the world's best bunny celebrating his 11th birthday. At 11, Trouble is quite elderly, so it's more important than ever to appreciate the time we have with him.
I love how this layout turned out. The warm greys go so well with Trouble's coat. This page earned 5 points for Twisted Scissors: two for black and white with one other color (grey), one for the glitter trim, one for the word stickers, and one for completing a layout.
Here is the before picture:
I'm really happy with everything I made during Week 2. Unfortunately, the Banshees beat us this week.
Fingers crossed for a Twisted Scissors win next week! I'm having such a fun time with this competition and definitely plan to make it an annual event.
During the month of February, I'm participating in a fun scrapbook competition/event called Bash Bowl. It's hosted by Bash Your Scrapbook Stash, with the goal to use up supplies and make pages. We were randomly divided into two teams (just like the Super Bowl) and the game has a football theme. I'm a proud member of Twisted Scissors.
Each Wednesday night, we attend a Facebook Live session where they spin a wheel to determine the week's elements (aka, the playbook). Then we have until Sunday to make as many layouts as we want following the playbook. Each layout is worth up to six points (a touchdown), with one point for completing a layout then more points depending on which elements we use. The process repeats for a total of four weeks.
The wheel was not kind to me during Game 1. As a simple scrapper who loathes lumpy elements in albums, I knew going in that some things just wouldn't work for me. And that's ok.
I don't use a lot of red, but I don't mind it. They clarified that purchased die-cuts count as ephemera, so thank goodness for that. Buttons? They said no paper buttons, so that's a hard pass for me. I prefer not to use interactive elements on my pages since they're in page protectors, so I figured any layouts I made would probably earn just three points for Twisted Scissors.
There was one more challenging component to the game, which is that you must post a before photo of your supplies in order for the points to count. I pick out materials as I go (see: aphantasia), so to figure them out ahead of time was difficult. Fortunately, nothing says you have to use everything in your before pic, so I put way more items than I ended up using in the pile.
Tomorrow I'll show you the second of two layouts I made for Game 1, along with the final point totals.
Saturday was National Scrapbooking Day. As usual, I got up before dawn and scrapped well into the night, chatting with friends via Zoom as I worked. It was a lot of fun. And now I have a bunch of layouts I'll be sharing with you over the next few weeks, interspersed with other projects (including a review of a painting kit and some edible art, to name a few).
The first layout I made on National Scrapbook Day is this:
A few days ago, I received a box of fabulous goodies from Scrapbook Customs and I couldn't wait to jump in and play. Everything on this layout except for the white cardstock is from Scrapbook Customs. Aren't those patterns fabulous?! Click the affiliate link above for specifics about the products.
As you can see, I stayed pretty true to the sketch. I swapped the two photos for one, flipped the flags so they are off the photos, moved the journaling under the title, and changed the stars to hearts. I'm really happy with how it turned out.
Our dear Trouble is now 10.5 years old and slowing down, but still as packed with personality as ever. I really love that bun and am glad to have another page about him in the album.
The last time I shared A Day in the Life of Trouble deRosier, I mentioned Trouble's habit of accepting a Healthy Snacker from Steve, then running off to prevent Steve from taking it back. I couldn't resist using the photos to add the story to the scrapbook.
Life with a house rabbit is the best. I will forever be grateful to 4-year old Trevor, who wisely knew (and insistently told us) that our family had just enough room in our hearts and our home to invite a bunny to share our lives.
The last time I documented a day in the life of Trouble deRosier was way back in 2014 when he was a much younger bunny. Quite a few things have changed since then, so I wanted to do an update.
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Trouble's morning begins around 5:45 am, when I open the door to his cage. He hops out onto the carpet (we've added carpet to cover much of the hardwood floor as he's aged) and puts his chin down near my hand, asking to be petted. When I've groomed him sufficiently, he'll return the favor by licking my hand. He hops back into his cage and looks up expectantly, waiting for me to hand-feed him some pellets. I add a few more pellets (less than 1/4 c. total) to his dish and give him fresh water.
I head upstairs to my computer to start work. Sometimes Trouble follows me, sometimes he doesn't. On this particular morning (Monday 3/31), he didn't. Instead, he relaxed in his cage and played with his toys.
Trouble has trained Steve to give him a piece of Shredded Wheat each morning. When Trevor or I go in the kitchen and get out cereal, nothing happens. When Steve gets out cereal, Trouble is there like a shot.
With a full tummy, Trouble headed to his farm box for a quick snooze.
About 30 minutes later, he was back in his cage eating breakfast.
He came out of his cage and put his chin down for grooming. I took his picture instead (fully intending to groom him after snapping a quick photo)....
... but I wasn't quick enough. Trouble was offended by the fact that I ignore his request (demand) and hopped two feet away, then slowly and deliberately turned his back to me, watching me the whole time to make sure I knew how offensive I'd been.
Of course, I apologized right away (after snapping that photo) and petted him until he forgave me. Steve walked by on his way to the kitchen, passing by the piano. That's where we keep the Healthy Snacker sampler set (affiliate link) that Steve bought Trouble for Christmas. Trouble darted away from me and started circling around Steve, begging for a snacker.
Despite living with us for 9 years (during which time we have NEVER taken a treat away from him after giving it to him), Trouble still darts away with his Snacker.
I headed back upstairs. Trouble moved to the rug at the foot of the stairs, watched Steve go back to his office, and then looked over at Trevor doing schoolwork in the family room. He played in his Cottontail Cottage for awhile, then made a stop at the Hay Buffet, and visited the litterbox.
Around 9:30, Trouble joined me upstairs.
He spent some time playing in the master bedroom (allowed) and then snuck into the craft room (not allowed) before settling down beneath my office chair. Most mornings he does Predator Evasion Practice around this time, repeatedly zooming back and forth from under our bed, down the hall, then under Trevor's bed. As a prey animal, it's important to keep your escape skills sharp.
When Trouble is under my chair and wants my attention, he'll nose-bonk against my leg. I give him a scritch and that's usually good. But if I haven't gotten the correct message, or did an insufficient job petting him, he'll give a sharp tug on my pant leg. It's hard to ignore.
By the time I was ready for lunch, Trouble had moved under the folding chair which is now permanently next to my desk. The first time I put it there so Trevor and I could work together on something on my computer, Trouble made it clear that this was his new favorite nap location. And so it stays.
When I checked on him after lunch and PE (the three of us do a daily walk together after lunch now as part of Trevor's distance learning), Trouble was completely zonked.
As I went about my afternoon in and out of the craft room, up and down the stairs doing laundry, and in and out the back door to do some gardening, Trouble stayed upstairs under my desk dozing.
I picked greens (carrot tops, dandelion leaves and flowers, beet greens, and mint) and scattered them throughout Trouble's cage. I used to put his greens in his food dish, but a few years ago I learned it is best to let rabbits use their foraging skills. So now I tuck greens in and around his toys so that he can discover them.
By 7:45 pm, Trouble was ready for playtime. Here, he's trying to get me to play catch with him with his beloved Spool. It is one of his very favorite toys. (And yes, I did put down the camera and play with him.)
Trouble stayed upstairs until around 8:00 pm. There he is on the landing.
Hi, Trouble!
Around 8:30, I cleaned his litterbox, refreshed his water, and gave him his nightly banana ration (one very thin slice), which is one of his favorite treats. He hopped into his cage and immediately started foraging for his greens. Dandelions are his favorites, followed by carrot tops. He always eats those first. I locked Trouble in his cage and wished good night to the best bunny ever.
Cats are famous for their love of boxes. If they can possibly squeeze themselves into a box, they will. Rabbits are the same. Leave out a box, particularly one with a 'roof' on it, and there will be a bunny in that box in no time.
When we're not sure where Trouble is, the first thing we do is check all the boxes. If he's not out and about getting into things or hanging out with the family, that's usually where he is. Rabbits are awesome.
The inspiration for today's Bunny Week project came from this Bucilla Easter Egg Felt Applique Wreath Kit (affiliate link here and below). It came in the BORC I received in February. Felt applique is new to me and I've really enjoyed it. I hope this easy stuffed bunny project inspires you to give felt applique a try!
Cut two identical egg-shaped pieces of felt for the rabbit's body. Set one piece aside. Using a single strand of embroidery floss, sew two black sequins and one pink sequin to the pointy end to make a face. Sew the pom pom to the rounded end. Add white whiskers to the face by tying a knot at the end of the floss, sewing up through the cheek area, then cutting the floss. Repeat the process to make three whiskers on each side. They aren't secure now and can be pulled out from the bottom, but they will be trapped in place once you stuff and sew the bunny.
Cut two matching ears from the felt scraps. Use pink embroidery floss to stitch the inner ears. This is what the backsides of all the stitched pieces will look like:
Applique the ears to the body.
This is the completed front:
Sew the back piece to the front, leaving a gap for stuffing. Leave the needle and thread attached. Add Poly-fil, then finish sewing the two layers together.
Here's the finished bunny.
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This body position is known as a meatloaf and is a favorite of happy, relaxed buns. They tuck all four feet beneath, relax their ears, and snuggle down, often for a brief snooze. Here's Trouble, demonstrating the meatloaf position. Mostly. That ear is listening to me.
It's very difficult to photograph a bunny in a proper meatloaf, because as soon as you get close enough to take a picture, an ear starts following you. Or, both ears. If you persist, an eye will crack open to glare at you. Sorry, Trouble.
I know, I know... those darn diurnal family members won't let you get a decent day's sleep.
In nature, wild rabbits are foragers. They spend up to 75% of their waking hours searching for their next tasty bite. They eat all sorts of leaves and flowers and bark and stems and grasses. House rabbits have the same foraging instinct and need a variety of foods to stay healthy. But the bulk of their diet should be hay.
Rabbits should have access to unlimited hay. When we adopted Trouble, we learned that timothy hay is the best for rabbits, so that is what we bought for him. Now we know that is a simplification. The best hay for pet rabbits is any hay that is high in fiber (which keeps the digestive tract moving) and low in protein (which in excess is fattening) and calcium (which in excess can cause bladder problems). Just like humans, rabbits like having choices when it comes to eating, so we bought a few bags of different types of hay and set them out for Trouble. He LOVED being able to pick just the right piece of hay from the bags.
Now we buy the Sampler Box (affiliate link) from Small Pet Select. It has four types of hay and is delivered super fresh. It smells wonderful.
As you can see from the photos in the layout, the box is large and sturdy enough for Trouble to hop inside to graze. We call it the Hay Buffet. What's interesting is about the Hay Buffet is that Trouble never just rests or hangs out in there. He'll stop by for a few pieces of hay, then move along to another place to relax.
Bunny Week is an annual tradition here at My Creative Life where we celebrate All Things Rabbit. I'm starting off Bunny Week with an easy paper craft I'm calling Peekaboo Bunnies. One person can make all the bunnies, or a group of kids can each make a bunny. You can make small bunnies on backgrounds the size of playing cards, or large bunnies with a full sheet of construction paper as the background. Affiliate links below.
Determine what size you want your finished background to be, then cut down pastel construction paper as needed. Use a circle punch or scissors on grey construction paper to cut a partial circle that will be the bunny's head. It should fill about 1/3 of the background paper and have one or two flat edges.
Cut two ears from grey construction paper. Cut two inner ears and a nose from pink cardstock.
Ink around the edges of each cut piece. This will help the bunny stand out against the background and add some dimension. Fingertip daubers give great control.
Glue everything to the background paper. Use the pen to add eyes and whiskers. Back each bunny with black paper, then arrange them to make a grid.
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Wondering about the inspiration for my Peekaboo Bunnies? Rabbits are incredibly curious. Hold up a camera and you're likely to get a bunny photobomb as the rabbit looks closely to figure out what is going on. It's adorable.
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