I love your card! What a cute idea. I've been planning to make some cards with raised designs. I'm not sure what they are called, but the end result is a 3D scene. I think I'll try the movable parts cards too. Do you have any other ideas? I've been wanting to make the puppets from photos. I'll try to find the website with instructions and post a link. they are so cute!

An update, for all, but especially Linda, The blooms hadn't started opening up under the magnifying glass thingy after a week. So I'm thinking wrong color or weak light. So..... I bought one of those el cheapo stainless fixtures (with a clip) yesterday, per Linda's suggestion. I attached it to the magnifying glass thingy for an easy fix. I put a 1100 lumen CFL bulb in it. I walked by 2 hours later and the blooms had opened all of the way up! I flicked them with my finger and I could see the pollen dust flying! I might have little toms when I get home today! LOL

I have grown Red Robin and found it was a good producer of edible tomatoes. This was during the winter, when conditions aren't optimum for great taste. I grew Tiny Tim once, but thought it was rather acidic. Linda

I am happy to address some of your issues but the Container Gardening forum is not likely to get you much additional input. What is going on with your shrubs has nothing to do with any issues pertaining to container gardening or using or replacing with container soil mixes. If you find my comments not fully helpful, I'd strongly suggest you repost this in the Shrubs or even the Soils and Compost forum. Redtip photinias, Photinia x fraseri, is known to be tolerant of clay soils - in fact it is included on lists of plants recommended for clay. So I doubt the issues with your plants are confined to their being planted in clay. Unless the clay does not drain adequately. And as you indicate the hedge is established for privacy, I am assuming they have been in place for some time so you would have noticed drainage problems - like puddling or standing water for periods of time - before now. It is seldom practical or cost effective to remove and replace soil. And typically unnecessary as well. One amends the soil, adding to existing soil whatever amendments/soil additives may be necessary to affect improvement. With clay, that usually means adding the generous quantities of organic matter I mentioned in my previous post, to both lighten or loosen the soil and improve drainage. Using these products as a topdressing can help but it is not as efficient a method or as fast as incorporating the OM into the existing soil. Unfortunately, that means you need to remove the current hedge to do so. As an aside, if you were to replace the soil, you would need to do the same thing, so I am assuming you are not adverse to that. FWIW, if that's the plan, I'd consider some alternatives to the redtips, perhaps even one of the California native plants commonly used for hedging, as they tend to be well-adapted to both your climate (and drought) and native soil conditions, including pH.. And will generally have less issues than the redtips, which are plagued by some serious disease issues that are significantly reducing their suitability for landscape plantings in much of the US. Your plants are definitely stressed - the mites and the chlorosis are clear indications. The clay may or may not have much of a bearing on this - it's almost impossible to say for certain without seeing the plants and the site in person. It could just as well be that these particular shrubs are just not well suited to your situation. One thing I would suggest is to bring in a horticulturist for an onsite consultation - your extension service or better garden center should be able to give you some referrals. These folks are experienced and skilled in evaluating plants for both siting and cultural issues as well as diagnosing insects, diseases and nutrient problems. I know these sorts of folks exist as this is a significant part of what I do for a living :-) If you do care to repost on another, more relevant forum, please include photos of the entire hedge and at least one plant in its entirety, as well as any detail photos. The more we know about the situation, as limited as that might be just via photos, the better the advice you will receive. And include exactly where you are located and how these plants are watered and the frequency.