C is for Cardinals

 

Spring is Coming and with it more birds for us to watch out the window.  

I love   

cardinals

They stick around all winter and are a beautiful sight on the feeder 

when all is white & they add their shock of color.  

  The top bird is from The Graphics Fairy. She offers links to an amazing 

treasure trove of vintage images for personal use.

This fancy guy is from Sarah Suplina. I follow her on Instagram and am amazed by her little 

intricate creatures from layered pieces of paper paper. You should check her out.

One of my favorite fiber artists, Ann Wood, has a pattern for little song birds.

She recently posted an add on to the pattern to turn them into crested birds 

such as cardinals. There may be a couple of these in my future.

 Need to raid the red fabric scrap pile. 

With no intention on my part my first 3 A to Z posts have been about winged creatures.

That is going to change tomorrow. 

Stay healthy & safe everyone.

B is for Bee House

Mason Bee

Isn't he gorgeous?

 This is a Mason Bee House.

 A friend made this for us as a Christmas present. Since Spring is almost here in Northern Michigan we can put it up outside soon. He spent loads of time on these  (he's made several) and they are delightful. Not only their natural appeal but the fact they help pollinators to stay safe. 

The link is the Michigan State Extension's instructions for building your own 

as well as how to manage these "bee hotels".  Interesting stuff. 

Without intending to the first two posts have been insect related. Hummm.

 Tomorrow will be different.

A to Z Day One A is for ala

   ala plural

    n a flat wing-shaped part of an organism

   “the alae of the nose”

   “the alae of a maple seed”

   “the flat petals of a pea blossom are alae”

a winglike part, process, or expansion, as of a bone, shell, seed, or stem.

either of the two side petals of a flower in the legume family, as the pea.

(in an ancient Roman house) a small room, as an alcove, 

opening into a larger room or courtyard.

 

Away we go. The 2020 installment of the A to Z challenge begins. 

For my theme Inspiration, I can blend my love of words along with 

a print I recently created in a great class I took (more on that later) for the letter A.

 

 

 

 I first ran across this word via Word Smith. I subscribe to their word a day.  The etymology

is always interesting. Not what you may expect in many cases. 

This is where my weirdness shows up in my search & capture of items that inspire me.

 

 

This little guy lay dead in my studio last summer. It's about 1 inch long. I saved it...not kidding.  I used it for the details of the print at the top of the page I made in a wonderful class I took recently (more on that later). It helped me get the veining in the wings to look correct. 

See you tomorrow!