Introducing Tulip!

There is someone new in the deRosier household! Meet Tulip. 

  

Tulip was very young and pregnant when she was rescued by East Bay Rabbit Rescue. She gave birth to six healthy babies in July and was an outstanding mother. All six babies have now been neutered and adopted, so it's her turn to have a forever home. 

When we adopted Brayden on April 30, we planned to find a companion for him in August after we returned from our Europe trip. Little did we know that I'd be diagnosed with cancer three weeks after adopting Brayden and that August would be about radiation, not bunny adoption. While I'm not "done" with cancer, I'm doing so much better and am able to handle the responsibilities of a second bun. 

We didn't go actively looking for potential bunny friends, but when Tulip's profile showed up in my Facebook feed in mid-October, I felt instantly that she was The One. I showed Steve and he agreed. We both felt Tulip belonged in our home. Of course, Brayden's opinion matters more than ours, so on Saturday we brought him to meet her. 

Brayden has met a fair number of other rabbits and he's largely indifferent to them. That was pretty much the case with Tulip. They ignored each other at first. They each ate a little bit (a very good sign) and each groomed themselves in front of the other (another very good sign) and then Tulip groomed Brayden (the ultimate sign!). They stayed together for 30+ minutes with no issues, so we signed the paperwork and brought her home. And then the real work began. 

Rabbits are territorial, so you can't just add a new rabbit to an existing one's territory without going through a bonding process. To prepare for Tulip, we moved our dining room table and put a fence up to separate it from Brayden's territory. He still has access to the living room, entry way, and stairs (with supervised playtime upstairs). Tulip has a separate enclosure, which is about 8" from the fence. That allows them to get near each other if they want, but not near enough to fight if there's a problem. That's Brayden's existing space on the left and Tulip's on the right. 

Tulip settled into her new space right away, investigating every corner. She used the litterbox immediately (hurray!), sampled the water (she's a loud drinker, just like Trouble was), zipped into the igloo, and poked at each toy. 

  

Brayden watched with interest. 

Throughout the afternoon (when rabbits are usually asleep), they were pretty active. Each took a short nap, but were otherwise up and about. 

Occasionally, they mirrored each other (another good sign). As soon as Brayden heard Tulip munching on her apple leaves, Brayden ran over to his to eat. I loved the chorus of crunching!

During the bonding process, we bring the bunnies together to a neutral location (the family room, where Brayden has never been) to get to know each other. Here, Tulip is asking Brayden to groom her. He is ignoring her request. Whether that's intentional or if he's just oblivious, who knows. (We strongly suspect he was taken from his mother WAY too young and didn't learn basic rabbit behaviors and communication skills from her.)

While it would have been wonderful if Brayden had immediately groomed Tulip, love at first sight is very, very rare. Brayden did lunge at her once during the 15 minute session, but otherwise they seemed perfectly comfortable together. 

In fact, just a few hours after that first bonding session, they were lounging side by side, as close as they could get with the fence in the way. Another good sign. 

  

Unfortunately, the evening bonding session did not go well. Brayden lunged at Tulip again. She lunged back at him and nipped. They avoided each other for a bit, then lunged again. I'm bummed. 

It could take weeks (or longer) to properly bond Brayden and Tulip, but we are hopeful. We're eager to give this sweet girl the home she deserves. Welcome, Tulip!

10 Fun Facts about Brayden

This is the fourth project I made for Game 1 of the 2024 BYSS World Series. I scored a triple for my team, the Scrappin' Banshees: 1 point each for using stickers (on the title), chipboard (the branch), and a journaling card. 

 

10 Fun Facts about Brayden (affiliate link)

I'm really happy with this page, with one exception: I wish the green margins were even. I cut the yellow paper down too soon, planning to go in a different direction. Originally, I was going to use the yellow as the background and piece scraps on top. Once I decided that the green would be the background, I cut down the yellow. I shouldn't have cut so much. I thought about piecing things back together and hiding the seam, but ultimately just accepted the uneven margins. Like I said, I like everything else about the page. 

I'm happy to report that the 15 points I earned for the Banshees helped contribute to our victory in Game 1 over Twisted Scissors. Two more games to go!

Brave Boy Brayden

Brayden has been a member of our household since September 30, 2023 and a member of our family since April 30, 2024. He's a delightful bun and I'm so glad he's ours. For this layout, I used photos from his 6th day with us, when he bravely ventured onto the (very scary) hardwood floor. He was clearly afraid at first and was slipping all over the place with each attempt. (Rabbits don't have paw pads - just thick fur on the bottom of their feet.) Brayden tried over and over to master it, until finally he was confident. 

 

Brave Boy Brayden (affiliate link)

I made this layout for Game 1 of the 2024 Bash Your Scrapbook Stash World Series. Once again, I'm playing for the Scrappin' Banshees. Goooo, Banshees!

For Game 1, you earn a home run (4 points) for your team by using: three stickers; a chipboard element; six enamel dots, sequins, or bling; and a Project Life, cut-apart, or journaling card. You can earn a grand slam (2 extra points, for a total of 6) by using a stencil, embossing technique, or die cut masking. 

I didn't go for the grand slam, but this layout did earn four points for the Banshees. I'm particularly pleased with the use of the journaling card. You probably can't tell from the scan, but it's travel-themed and printed with words like roam, explore, and voyage... perfect for a bunny who is bravely venturing beyond his cage in an unfamiliar place. Good job, Brayden! Such a brave boy. 

Brayden's New (Hair/Hare) 'Do

When we first met Brayden, he was a 10-month old with a short mohawk. It was adorable and completely natural. Within a few months, his mane came in. The sides stopped growing, but the bangs kept going. He would toss them out of his eyes like he was in a shampoo commercial. They were obviously bothering him, so Steve put him on a chair and I did a quick trim. Very quick: after the first snip, Brayden wouldn't let me go back and even things out. Fortunately, it was enough to get the hair out of his eyes. That's the after photo on the left and some before pictures on the right. 

 

New 'Do (affiliate link)

It was very tempting to go with the obvious hare-cut / hare-do pun on this layout, but I resisted. I tend to be very literal when scrapbooking, and Brayden is not a hare. He's a rabbit. You can blame Bugs Bunny if you thought they were the same thing. Rabbits and hares are related, both members of the lagomorph order (along with pikas), which is what separates them from rodents. Rabbits and hares make up the leporidae family, but they are distinct. In general, hares are larger than rabbits, with much longer ears and back legs. Hares live above ground solo or in pairs, while rabbits live in underground tunnels in large groups.  Rabbits are born blind, without fur, and helpless, while hares are born with fur and open eyes. Hares have not been domesticated and, unlike rabbits, do not make good pets. The names of certain species don't help the confusion: jackrabbits are not, in fact, rabbits. They are hares. 

In summary: Brayden, a rabbit, has a new 'do, not a hare-cut. 

Scrapping Brayden's Adoption Announcement

I had so much fun scrapping Brayden's adoption announcement. I'm so excited that he's officially a deRosier now. This page was inspired by the National Scrapbook Day Shape Layout Challenge. 

Brayden's Adoption (affiliate link)

For this challenge, we had to pick a number (1, 2, or 3) and a letter (A, B, or C). After making a choice (mine was 2C), we found out what those meant. Anyone who picked the number one would be making a layout with hexagons. Number 2 was hearts and number 3 was triangles. I thought that was that, but no! The letter determined which of three layouts for each shape you needed to scraplift. That's different! I scrolled down and discovered that my inspiration needed to come from this gorgeous page (unfortunately, I don't know who made it): 

My page is quite a bit different than this one, but I'm hoping you can see the inspiration. I have a single photo on a large heart. The heart is cut apart (mine is cut in half instead of in strips) and sprinkled with hearts (instead of flowers and butterflies). I took inspiration from the scallop-edge trim to the right of the photo and moved it to the left on my page. That layout has a 'love' script die-cut in grey; mine has a  'family' script die-cut in grey. I used vellum for all the hearts and put vellum flowers on the ends of the script; this was inspired by the overall vibe of the layout.

This was such a fun challenge to do. It really made me think. I'm pleased with how I adapted a romantic, pastel wedding layout to an orange rabbit adoption layout. (Orange layout, not orange rabbit. Should I hyphenate rabbit-adoption to make it more clear? English is weird.)

Welcome to the family, Brayden! We love you and are so glad to be your forever family. 

#Thwarted (A Story of Bunnyproofing)

This layout about bunnyproofing is a great example of something I never would have made without the challenge prompt. The Blowing Bubbles Challenge required us to make a layout with only round elements. I don't use circles often in scrapbooking, and I'm certain that I've never made a page with nothing but circles. This was such a fun challenge and really pushed me to make something different. 

 

#Thwarted (affiliate link)

We've had a baby gate at the top of our stairs since just after Trevor was born almost 18 years ago. We kept the gate closed briefly when he was crawling and then toddling, but he was such a cautious, rule-following child that we didn't need to close it for long. When Trevor was five, we adopted Trouble and the baby gate went into use full-time. Eventually, Trouble earned upstairs privileges. The gate remained open except when we traveled and reduced Trouble's territory to make it easier on the bunnysitter. 

When we welcomed Brayden into our home, he didn't even know how to use stairs. He was much, much more cautious than Trouble (who had immediately claimed the entire house as his own) and barely left a small area of the living room. So the gate stayed open. 

But Brayden was a quick learner, mastered the stairs, and became extremely interested in exploring the upstairs, which is entirely carpeted. Brayden doesn't like the slippery hardwood we have downstairs, so he's particularly fond of playing upstairs. Unfortunately, he is also fond of chewing the door frames upstairs when he's unsupervised, so the gate had to stay closed. 

But rabbits are nothing if not determined. Brayden, a 3-pound rabbit, figured out that he could just barely squeeze through the 2-inch gaps in the baby gate that kept 6-pound Trouble out. So Steve used a piece of plexiglass to cover the gaps. And with that, Brayden was thwarted. 

For now, anyway. 

Perfectly Imperfect Lionhead

My favorite day of the year, National Scrapbook Day, was on Saturday. As always, I spent the whole day scrapbooking, completing challenges, playing games, and chatting with friends. It was so much fun!

I'd heard that A Cherry on Top puts on a great NSD crop, so that's what I did this year. Oh my gosh, it was incredible! There were so many different and creative challenges and games. If I counted correctly, they had SIXTY challenges. And dozens of games. It was almost overwhelming how much was going on. But what a fantastic problem to have! The challenges were the perfect difficulty level for me and I love what I created. And the prizes! ACOT will be awarding 100 prizes once the challenges close. (Most of them are open until May 19 if you want to join in.)

I'll be sharing the projects I made over the next few weeks. Today's is about Brayden and I made it for the Cinco de Mayo Pick Five Challenge. We had to pick five items from a list of 12 to include on our page. I chose: only one picture; white title; punch (the heart); decorative edge scissors (on the right); and grid design paper.

Perfectly Imperfect Lionhead (affiliate link)

Brayden is a lionhead rabbit, meaning he has a mane like a lion. When we first started fostering him, he was 10.5 months old and just had the mohawk (and whispy "skirt" fluffs on each flank). Right around his first birthday, the rest of Brayden's mane came in. It's super cute, especially when he tosses it like a woman in a shampoo commercial. 

This picture doesn't show the sides of his mane all that well, but it does show that Brayden is brachycephalic. Dog breeds like pugs or French bulldogs are prone to health issues because of the shortened skull; similarly, brachycephalic rabbits can face health issues, usually respiratory or dental. So far, thankfully, Brayden has been perfectly healthy. 

I am strongly opposed to selective breeding to create designer animals with these health risks. Worse, breeders' attempts to meet a breed standard means that any imperfect specimens are rejected. That can mean different things, ranging from bad (selling them as pets when there are already countless domestic rabbits without loving homes) to much, much worse. I don't know the circumstances behind Brayden's birth, but it's possible he's one of the thousands and thousands of lionheads who are intentionally bred and then rejected based on a single physical flaw. It's very upsetting. 

I titled this layout Perfectly Imperfect Lionhead. Brayden is perfectly imperfect. And we love him just the way he is. 

Rabbit Speed Dating (and Big News!)

We had been fostering Brayden for just under 7 months when we got a request to bring him to the next rabbit speed dating event with Contra Costa Rabbit Rescue. Hana, a 2-year old female rabbit, was looking for a companion. Maybe she and Brayden would hit it off and could be bonded. 

On April 27, I loaded Brayden into his carrier and took him to Pet Food Express in Walnut Creek. 

To be perfectly honest, I didn't want to bring him. Steve, Trevor, and I have grown very attached to Brayden and had talked a lot about adopting him ourselves. But we felt like we owed Brayden the chance to find a loving rabbit companion. By the time we got to Walnut Creek, I decided that this was it. If Brayden was meant to go to another home, so be it. But if he didn't hit it off with the bachelorette, we would adopt him. 

After securing Brayden in his enclosure, I met Hana and her family. I felt comfortable with them right away. It was clear they were loving bunny parents who could provide an excellent home for whatever bunny Hana selected. And Hana was just darling. 

Hana was a little nervous in this strange place and took about an hour to relax. In the meantime, Brayden had a pedicure and a photoshoot. 

I spent some time getting to know some of the other adoptable rabbits. This is Clover. He's really friendly and had been binkying all over the place just before he flopped and I took this photo. 

This picture shows most of the Butterscotch Teens. The last time Brayden went to an adoption event, they were babies and there just for socialization. Now they're grown up, neutered, and ready to find their forever homes. 

We call this "bunstruction." Rabbits love destroying cardboard boxes - even the ones they rest in. 

These are the Butter Babies. They are the slightly younger siblings of the Butterscotch Teens. 

Their pregnant mother was rescued from a bad situation, then soon gave birth to the litter now known as the Butterscotch Teens. A month later, she had another litter, the Butter Babies. It's unknown if they're full- or half-siblings, but we do know that Mom was pregnant with both sets when she was rescued. Rabbits have a double uterus and are induced ovulators. Combined, those characteristics lead to a lot of baby rabbits. In this case, a single rescued rabbit ended up requiring vaccinations, neuter surgeries, and attempts to find homes for 16 rabbits instead of just the one. And this is not an unusual situation. Thank goodness for rabbit rescues who care for all these rabbits and do their best to find them good homes. 

Peach is a really sweet bun. His foster mom thought he was a girl, but when she took him for a spay, the vet got a surprise. Peach is intersex, with internal anatomy that is (well, was) 80% male. So Peach uses he/him pronouns. 

Scarlet and Violet are a bonded pair. Bonded rabbits cannot be adopted separately. If someone is looking to bond a single rabbit with an existing pair, the pair is treated as one entity. With luck, they become a bonded trio. There are special ways to bond two pairs into a quad. 

After plenty of time to get comfortable, Hana was relaxed and ready to start dating. Julie (Bunny Bonder Extraordinaire) is in the cage with the buns while Hana's parents look on. So far, so good!

One by one, Hana met potential friends. Most of the dates went fine, with the rabbits coexisting comfortably in the same space. 

Brayden was the seventh rabbit that Hana met. At first, Brayden was interacting with Julie and seemingly oblivious to Hana. 

He wanted to sniff every inch of the cage. 

Finally, some interaction! 

And then Brayden went back to sniffing the cage. Sigh. 

He wasn't the only one who mostly ignored his date. 

Hana and Samuel seemed to hit it off. 

When an initial date goes well, there is usually a second date, and then the real work begins. Good luck, Hana!

When the event ended, I brought Brayden home. When Steve and Trevor got home from their Scout trip, we discussed it and decided to make it official. Introducing Brayden deRosier!

Brayden will continue to be an only bun for awhile, but we hope to start taking him on speed dates of his own in the fall. I'm excited for the possibility of helping to rescue another deserving rabbit. 

Brayden in the Laundry

Apparently, laundry is very interesting to rabbits. 

Brayden in the Laundry (affiliate link)

Trouble used to play in the laundry, but mostly he just liked gooing on certain fabrics. He never used teeth; he just enjoyed having fabric in his mouth. Brayden is just as interested in the laundry, but unfortunately, he does use his teeth to chew on the fabric. So this layout documents the first (and last) time I allowed him to play in the laundry. 

While there are plenty of similarities between Trouble and Brayden, they are more differences. Trouble was more brave and felt strongly that the entire house was his. Brayden still hasn't even entered multiple rooms that are accessible to him. Trouble was more comfortable on the hardwood floor than Brayden. In his youth, Trouble regularly jumped up onto the couch, chairs, and even the dining room table. Brayden doesn't. He's more likely to climb onto a box, but that's as high as he goes. Brayden is much more of a chewer. He doesn't play catch with us, nor does he throw his toys around. He doesn't enjoy being petted as much as Trouble did and he acts like we're murdering him if we even think about trimming his nails. Brayden sleeps or relaxes out in the open; Trouble was much more concerned about predators, especially from above, and always made sure he was under something before he relaxed. Brayden isn't a begger like Trouble was; a crinkle in the kitchen surely meant that he deserved a treat. I could go on and on. Brayden is more independent, while Trouble usually wanted to be in the action, involved in whatever we were doing. One of these days, I'll make a layout comparing and contrasting them. 

CreativeLive: iPhone Photography and Mobile Photography

One of my creative resolutions for 2024 is to take two creative classes. I intentionally left that goal broad (as opposed to specifying something like painting or cake decorating) so that I could take advantage of opportunities as they arose. I'm glad I did. Otherwise, I wouldn't necessarily have stumbled on this outstanding iPhone Photography and Mobile Photography class by Philip Ebiner for CreativeLive (affiliate link here and below). 

After a lifetime of using a proper camera, I've only starting using my phone for photography fairly recently. I know the basics, but definitely needed this class to help me realize the full potential of my iPhone. After a great introduction to the benefits of mobile photography, this class started with technical basics (exposure, focal length, lighting) before moving on to the more creative basics (composition and story). The instructor did an amazing job of presenting a topic, then walking you through it with many examples. I loved all of the real-world practice sessions. The class covered panoramic, portrait, selfie, and timelapse modes, editing options, and different ways of sharing photos. 

This class was exactly what I needed to feel more confident taking photos with my iPhone. I've been practicing a lot and I can definitely see improvements after taking the class. There's one area I'm still struggling with, however, and that is photographing an uncooperative subject. Occasionally I luck out and get acceptable pictures straight out of the camera....

  

... but most of the time I my subject comes racing at me and nose-bonks the camera before I get a shot. These are the best of the many, many nose-bonk shots I've taken. 

  

CreativeLive does offer pet photography classes, but none appears to address the unique challenges of photographing rabbits!

Welcome, Brayden!

For four and a half months, we've been sharing our house with a delightful foster rabbit named Brayden. He is absolutely adorable and I've taken a ton of pictures of him. I have a lot of ideas for layouts I want to make about Brayden. I started with a page featuring the photos from his first days here. 

 

Welcome, Brayden (affiliate link)

I like the page, but actually wish I had written less. No, that's not quite true. I wish I had written smaller. I'm happy with the story I told and wouldn't want to eliminate any of the details, but if I'd written smaller, there would be more white space at the bottom to balance things out. It's a minor thing, and the risk I take by leaving my journaling until the end and not pre-planning it in any way.