Birds and Bounty....

I so love looking out our sundeck doors and watching the birds fatten up for Winter. I've got to get myself another feeder to replace the suet holder ( just behind the squiggly branch ). I'll prob. 'tie' the suet holder in between the two arms, so that will mean more birds will be able to enjoy more food.
The plate is temporary, I wanted to see if the birds would actually feed off of it. Right now there's some ripe pear smeared with peanut butter and sprinkled with bird seed. It seems to be quite a hit !

The main birds so far are: red breasted nuthatch's ( love the racing stripes on their heads ! ), chickadees and others I don't know the name or just can't recall right now ( I think the black-headed birds, one on sundeck floor, is called a Towhee ).

They have their ranks & sometimes squabbles, but it's still such a joy watching them with a big mug of hot tea. A great way to wake up !

And this whimsical pic. is showing off our really small bounty of apples this year :P We've only been in our new house for a year, last year the tree was full of apples & I was able to make quite a few pies. BUT, we also have a full pear tree and a couple of days ago we picked quite a few, with the hopes that they will ripen this year ( we picked too early and they stayed rock hard ). Our toes are crossed, hoping to be able to make some tarts or whatever else is tasty in the way of pear treats.

And dontcha love the pumpkin bowl lol !! I found it at Michaels last year & could not resist it's whimsical face and wobbly googly eyes. It's a Dept.56 item ( just noticed the insignia last week ).

The pinecones fell, along with many others, from our neighbors pine tree. The smell is wonderful ! I am so looking forward to collecting fallen pine and cedar branches too, they're so Christmassy to me & make tealights in glittery red glass votives so festive.

Now back too arting, what's new :)

Mary's Felties, Charms and the answer to "what was that felt thing" ?

Hi all ! Been a few days since popping over here :) So I've got a long one for you today and it's filled with fun treasures woohoo !

I would like to introduce you to a wonderful new Etsy creator and seller, her name is Mary and her shop is:

♥~~HappyFelties.etsy.com~~♥

Mary makes wonderfully whimsical and detailed wee felty characters, using a wide variety of colorful felt and definately a happy imagination.

I found her while I was trying to get an idea of prices for felt brooches. Her bright colors immediately caught my attention and I couldn't resist buying one of her creations. The wee blue cat was listed as 'Its good to be blue happy feltie cat brooch'. I'm still wearing as I type and won't be taking it off anytime soon.

Please go on, go on and check out her delightful wares. You won't be disappointed, a wonderful shop and wonderful seller and wonderful packaging too !

Mary, in the memorable words of Ahny "I'll be back" :) ♥

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So, what are these charms ?

Well you may remember when Amber Dawn had her International Charm Swap ? ( April 28 ).

Today I received these lovelies and am so delighted with them ! The first lot are from Lorraine who lives in Liverpool England ! I love the eclecticness of these pieces and plan to wear them as a trio with added beads, will show a pic. later on. The atc ( artist trading card ) was such a beautiful addition, it will be sitting along with my other atcs in my art room :)

Please, pop on over to her wonderful blog and Etsy shop ( see pic. below ), she makes huggable shoulder bags and enchanting art bags --even ones for ATCs ! Thank-you Lorraine !♥

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Who's next ? Well it's a very sweet birdy charm from Pat Winter ! Isn't it precious ? This is one of her charms she was offering for the Charm Day, thank-you Pat :) I love the wee ribbon work, little blue 'egg', little bird, everything !

I plan to add this charm along with some of my other bird inspired charms, probably make a necklace or brooch for me to show off.

Pat creates wonders with fabric and thread, you'll be amazed at her ribbonwork. Please check out her Etsy shop ( and her Fairy brooches ) won't you: Patwintergatherings.etsy.com

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So here is the unknown creature from my prev. post. Say hello to Charlie the crow :) At first he was a raven, but the more I sewed, the more he began looking like the crow from an aceo I made several years ago. So now he's a crow.

Hee-hee, isn't he a sweety ? Crows and ravens are my absolute fav. birds ( next favs. are swallows and owls ). I find crows and ravens such intelligent creatures and rather whimsical too. One time, while driving somewhere, I noticed on the side of the road a pair of crows. One had it's head lowered while the other was very gently preening it, almost as if it was kissing the top of it's head. When the preening crow would look away, the other crow would wiggle over and gently nudge him for more 'kissing'. My heart melted, the sweetest thing I ever did see. Apparantly crows and ravens mate for life, another reason why I love them so much.

So when it comes time to call my husband and I a pair of 'old crows', well I certainly won't be insulted lol :)

Wee Charlie here took a lot longer to make than I thought ! Part lots of handsewing and part procrastination :P

The sequins came from my birthgrandmothers stash and outline his wing. I dabbed on some shimmery purple and black paint along his back, you know how crows and ravens have those blue-black feathers. His feet were fun to make, out of copper wire and then wrapped with DMC floss. I was going to paint his toenails black but decided the copper gave them a bit of punch. His funny smile was lined with beads for additional glimmer. Oh how I love this fella ! I finished him off by sewing on a simple safety pin. He is puffy and is meant to 'stand out' from wherever you pin him, not flat at all !

Oh, the glittery black fabric came from my garbage bag of fabric scraps. This particular piece belonged to my dear friend Kris.

Funny how you think you don't want certain things ( like fabric scraps ) and then a couple of years later you're so glad you kept them !

I look forward to making more crows for you :) Why not pop over and check him out in my shop:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25142810

Now it's time for me to get cracking on Christians printed tshirt. We're going to Video Games Live on Thurs. and he wants a Resident Evil shirt. I'll post pics. of it later :)

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Day to Day Joys I'm Thankful for....

The kitchen window is one of my fav. places to be in front of. The scenery wakes me up & ready for the day ahead, the birds flitting to and fro in the trees, the lone squirrel perfectly balanced on the chain link fence with a found treasure in its paw or mouth. Every season is easily seen and enjoyed immensely. I'm thankful my eyes can take in this beauty and never tire of it.

After breakfast I usually make a pot of tea, today it was Raspberry Earl Grey with a bit of sugar and hint of skim milk, very yummy :) That's one of my many fav. big mugs and my dear moms teapot and kettle. I'm thankful to enjoy the taste of this satisfying sweet delight and to share it with my husband, son and friends.

The plate is dinner size and was one of those things I really did not need, but I LOVE cardinals and couldn't resist ( besides, it was on sale ). We don't have cardinals here on Vancouver Island, yet they've always been such a beautiful eye-catching bird. Other fav. birds are ravens/crows/chickadees/owls/finches and many more. The Albatross is another one but none over here. I'm thankful to have this fluffy flitting wildlife around me, even if a few of these birds can only be enjoyed in pictures.

My journal, recently purchased from one of my fav. stores in Sidney B.C. ~Cameron Rose~ . The artist & designer is ~Anahata Joy Katkin~ another favored artist, I even purchased a slice of her pink blossoms & birds wrapping paper which is going to be made into a magnet board.

Usually I don't create with the need for drawings, etc...but when I saw this beautiful journal, well I could not resist. Now it comes with me almost everywhere ! I've actually drawn ideas, written ideas, thoughts and more. I find plain paper tends to kill off the urge to create, but now this book has greatly helped bring art back to life :) The glittery blue pen was a gift from a sweet friend, goes so nice with the journal. I'm thankful to be able to write and draw out my feelings, to keep something of me to pass on to my son and his family.

These are just a few things I'm thankful for.......what about you ?