Not for the Faint of Heart!

Life is funny sometimes. Here I just post a few days ago about bugs and slugs and icky things and how we make them cute on our cards, and yesterday life bit me in the bug butt!!

As many of you know, we had a tornado come through our town at the end of May, and we had a terrible ice storm Winter 2006. So, our big 50 foot tree that shades our whole yard and house has taken a beating. We finally got someone out to trim it and take out the dead stuff. I thought all was good.

But when he came knocking on my door and said "We have major issues...." I wasn't a happy camper. I did get to ride up in the cool cherry picker, though!! Almost to the top! What they showed me, in a nutshell, was a tree that will die in a few years (we hope it lasts that long) due to infestation of carpenter ants (they are HUGE!) and these ugly monsters:

I said, "So how many of these things are there? A couple hundred?" And he said "No, more like a couple million." I thought he was kidding, but he wasn't!! They are soooooooooo disgusting!!

Because there are so many, and the ants have taken over as well, we will eventually lose the tree. So this weekend, we are going to plant an ash and hopefully our big tree (I don't even know what kind it is!) will last long enough to get the new one going.

Like, I said a couple of days ago, you gotta make these little creatures cute! So today I made a snail card (don't have any grubs around -- WHERE ARE PUUMBA AND TIMON WHEN YOU NEED THEM????)
and this is what I came up with for today's SCS Ways to Use It Challenge (Rick Rack):

I used my Doodlebug ric rac (who knows how that is really spelled?) for my ground for my little snail to scoot along. The snail was watercolored using pads and an aqua brush and has lots of Crystal Effects on him to make him look slimy, but of course the photo doesn't capture that! (rolling my eyes here!) My clouds are made with a handcut stencil. Unfrogettable is one of my favorite SU! sets and I will probably never get rid of it, even though it is retiring!

This card is going to a SCS friend who needs some "happy" in her days ahead!

Thanks for coming to look!!

Stamps: Unfrogettable, Daisy Field Wheel, A Happy Hi (all retired Stampin' Up!)
Paper: Bashful Blue, Naturals White, HL DP
Ink: Brocade Blue, Bashful Blue, Green Galore, Palette Noir Black
Accessories: Primas, large brads, Crystal Effects, ric rac (Doodlebug), corner rounder, handcut cloud stencil, aqua brush, sponge dauber
Techniques: sponging, watercolor