for the birds

... as  lover's of nature we struggle with the dilemma  should we help mother nature when she is in trouble?
      
... or do we let her be ...  sometimes it can be very cruel

    last week we came to this cross road ...  swallows came back for the third year in a row, and set

    up roost above the horse's stall

    things were moving along as usual ... one particular day  we happen to come in ...

   one of the babies trying his wings had landed right between both horses feet.

   panicking dear hubby grabbing some gloves scooped him gently up and placed him on the other side  stall

  on a large sized toolbox on top of one of  the horse blankets

   ... poor lil fellow, I don't think he was quite ready to fly out into the world yet...

     the next day we checked in on him, and all was well, .......until..........
  
     I came back to find three others had followed suit, sadly we could only save one

     gently placed her beside the other, the last one being a little stronger

  ... every day we slid open the door trying to coax them out into the world...
 
     on the third day hubby and I wondered when these lil guys were going to venture out on their own

...  with a little nudging we finally coxed the stronger one to try her wings ...

                                                      SUCCESS

   ...  I guess the other lil fellow  just needed a bit more substance ...

 

... finally with wobbly legs he flew to the ground and stayed around for a bit ...

... gently coaxing him to the side of the pen, with mom and dad watching closely ....

   we watched for a bit while mom and dad took turns feeding him  

   the next day their was no sign of them ...  except the parents swooping down in the grass on the other side

...of the pen near a pond

... is it right to help mother nature when she is in trouble?          I'm not sure, but it sure feels

                                                              GOOD

new banners

...... new lovely customer, if you get a minute check her etsy shop of vintage flair for jewelry at www.figjnn.etsy.com

..... a newer friend met through a forum we all frequent is this wonderful seller.  She is very talented and offers recycled, reconstructed jewelry and beautiful clothing, a must for your favorite list www.bonnieharris.etsy.com

 ...... another great customer fairly new to etsy check out some unique hand made jewelry at www.thejewelrynook.etsy.com

tattered and torn salvaged antique lace jewelry

                                             ... with the warmer weather upon us ...

... playing  with  salvaged antique lace and vintage buttons I have collected, along with hand sewing  lace wrist cuffs

                    ... lead to an idea to design a necklace ... recalling a time of detail and decadence ...

                             ... lace is reclaimed and reused ... to become cherished again ...

Hidden in the garden.........

.............been away from blogging....... don't you find it's hard to fit it all in!
         
First love.......painting...................something new for spring................ a new down loadable painting pattern

pack. inspired by some flower near the front door      website
         
    ......... I love spring when all the birds and bees are buzzing about .......  soon new babies in  nests.............

 ......I used this wonderful vintage bird eggs background paper......... for you to use for your own creations ...

click on the image, right click and save as.......... remember to see where you saved it on your computer so you can find it.          
                                                                
                                                                     Happy creating!

Spring

absolutely most favorite time of year....................

............it's like color has been sleeping and it is suddenly awakened by the light........

                       I love trees lining a driveway.  We planted these 4 years ago and
                              they are just beginning to pop with color in this pic

    
                                   ..........close up flowers in box welcoming visitors for spring..........

                                                                                                            
                               


. ....on Sunday I had to snap this one, with spring blossoms and a dusting of snow on the mountain top, such a contradiction to each other.....

  ...and last an old photo for your use, marked copyright 1942 in Can. and the Philippines  use at your discretion......

Bugs,Birds and Feathers

I finally received a neat old book I ordered on nature.  It dates 1930.  It has lots of black and whites.  Thought you may like to use a couple of pictures from it, that I thought these were especially nice.

They print off quite clear, and I adjusted the sharpness a touch. Click on each picture, right click and save to your computer!  Enjoy.

       

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Peacock  theme.  The card was a fun one, can't beat nature's colors!

         
                                                      

Last of Winter

............last winter project for me.......  On the altered collage etsy  forum a few decided,  to help spur everyone on, to have a monthly challenge. I guess it's to help, you know get those  creative juices flowing, the ones you have to  dig way down deep for.
                                     ...........the theme ...........SNOW

So here is my little project adding to the pile, although I haven't seen any buddy else's as of yet. hmmm

A first for me........... a altered collaged journal .  I must admit it was a fun project, with a little help from my friend.
I admire all those who sell their cherished pieces, a lot of time goes into all the details
............................................. TA DA.........
My Snow Journal

.............and an enlarged pic just to show off the details huh...........
  I had these cuckoo clock ends just sitting in my stash and thought they`ll work nicely to add interest to the ends of the ties.
And of course you have to have a little rust  ........Some raised snow flakes..........
The back ground paper came from Just Something I hand Made   I adjusted the colors a little.

A chickadee painted in acrylics, because you just have to have a bird with winter!
.............and a tiny bit of blink for one snowflake centre, from a re purposed rhinestone...........

..........................so out with winter.......... and let's SPRING  forward into COLOUR......................
Thank you for taking a peek.........................

Fog

                                       ......  one day last week the fog rolled in  ......    
                                             and just as quick as it came  .......  left

.....   the sun peeking through the clouds  .....

                .......playing with painting and photo..........

Winter

.........Foot prints and shadows.......

............snowy day...........

.........road home............

My first contest entry

I figured it would be fun to enter a contest, never done this before.
A beautiful picture Gail from Mind Wide Open created for us to use.  Below the original.............

                 











This is what I came up with after altering the image...........
 

  

Free Gift Tags

                              Here is a free Paris themed gift tag for you to use year round.  Enjoy!

Winter Finds

Today the air has a definite chill.

Still the sun has a warming, healing effect.

Out and about here are a few snaps

I captured today out in the yard.                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

I couln't resist taking a snap

of our cute girl China.

She was enjoying soaking

up the sun and didn't seem

cold one bit.  Of course

with that woolie coat who

would be?

I see there are a few berries left still on

the crab apple tree.  The birdies haven't

           snaffled them all as of yet.                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Here's China sprawled out,

enjoying some R & R









 

A new card created from some vintage pictures and

a picture of a barren tree in a yard with some

towee's from last winter, collaged into a winter card.

 And last but not least, a welcome

wrought iron sign at my front door.

  I guess the winter mum's

are almost finished.   A friend

brought them over

one day, and they were

lovely to brighten the corner

of our porch.



                       

My Favorite Bits

           Insert to a lamp belonged to my granny.....  I love the details.....only piece I have of her's.

 

..... more candles, love this planter ... my families old photo album, wonderful details on cover.....

   

  ..... decadent candle and frame ..... love the richness .....

In the mood for creamy white

Addicted to graphic art, new fun card designed.  With talk of white, I needed to change things up a bit on my blog.  That, and in the distance there was a dusting of white on the tops of the mountains. I was convinced.    I don't know if you are like me but I change pic's quite often, need to shake up things a bit and get the olde creative juices flowing.

An idea from a fellow artist for using papers and such.  How about a recipe book, collage, altered, what ever you may, share recipes back and forth with friends.   Great idea for a quick gift, for that someone special.

I hunted through my bits and bobbles of jewelry, and came up with the focal for this new creation.  I think it should be called Give a Bow.  A re purposed larger sized bow is asymettrically placed, alongside some vintage faux pearls and bronze pearls.  A tiny brass bird and heart, because a girl just can't have too many of either.
And I had just enough matching pearls left to add matching earrings.

Winter Card

Hello everyone,
I am so glad you dropped by. Well, I am at it again, getting so addicted to doing graphics on the computer.

Here is a free card for your enjoyment. Part of this was created from my original painting, and the rest from vintage papers from the lovely blogs I follow.

One in paticular I have found to be be a fabulous blog you might want to check out is http://the-feathered-nest.blogspot.com/

You are free to download this card and do what you may with it.  Thanks for visiting.

Winter Wonderland

Well it's that time of the year again.  There's a definate chill in the air.  My favorite color is red, and a great color for this time of year because it is so warm and inviting.  To celebrate the winter season a few new creations.  An  original altered art card.   A red velvet re purposed necklace and a new collage Winter card from original bird paintings together with vintage papers . Thanks for stopping by.

 

Playing

Okay, if your anything like me, when you get on overload, you zone out (at least that's my excuse
and I'm sticking to it)!  Those are the times when I  loose myself, creating something so I don't have to think.

                                                                             

Don't think hubby quite gets it all!  Yesterday was one of those days to say the least. So like the fool I am, I stayed up way past my bedtime (ashamedly). This is the result.  Seem to be in a Paris funk lately.  Blame it on the girls on the Vintage Altered thread on etsy, (you know who you are).  Some of the graphics for the right hand card came from The Graphics Fairyhttp://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/
The other collage on the left, was created from  photo's  I found on Steff's blog http://stephanie-elena.blogspot.com/, thanks to some of the terrific blogs I follow .   So why not GO grab yourself a cup of java,  play and just have some fun for a while.
Both these blogs have brag days, so you can show off all you fine pretties!
Make it a PLAYDAY!

Love Vintage with a Paris theme

I am so inspired lately with all the talented girls that do vintage altered art.

I found this wonderful group of artists on the etsy forum.  They have provided incite to some wonderful blogs that feature vintage papers and such.                  .vintage themed and inspired collage thread on etsy

Of course this is right up my alley, nothing gets me more excited than vintage styled art, antiques, jewelry etc....

Clean as a lady      
 Clean as a lady
  cool as glass
  fresh without
     fragance
  the tulip was.

By Humbert Wolfe

1924

Thinking along this line I thought I would post a link to this free downloadable pattern.   This will include a line design of the tulip, instuctions and a larger sized picture to create yourself.
Here's the link titled Tulip Full Pack Download

The paper is not included, but feel free to personalize from your own inspirations!         Enjoy!
Thanks for stopping by.

.....tonight.........

             Tonight I am a bit later to give my  critters their last hay.





Out side, immediately I am struck with awe at all the stars that can be seen, looking upward.  The air has a little chill to it, but such a clear and crisp evening is refreshing.

                            

                             Just a hint of mist, but you can clearly see the big and little dipper.

 I am wary going out, now that the nights are longer and it darkens quicker. The moon is only showing a quarter of it's normal size.

 My mind plays tricks, and I worry,  just in case I stumble on momma bear and her cubs.

My trusted companion is near at hand, and notifies me of anything that may be a miss.







 In the distance I can hear the slight sound of the rumblings of a train
on the tracks

Taking away a little from the ambiance, is some loud noises off towards the eastern way. I guess  someone is being entertained with
early fire works.
                            

Back inside the  house warmth is appreciated.  My thoughts go to pouring a rich glass of  wine, but instead, content with a cup of tea.  Will save the wine to share with friends at a later date.