Wordless Winter Wednesday . . . . .

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For the Birds . . . . .

I wouldn’t call myself an avid birdwatcher, but I do have a strong appreciation of all things nature, and birds are no exception.

Lee and I have a fairly large backyard, with lots of shrubs and trees, and over the years, our yard has been visited by countless birds, and home to many.

Although we don’t have a huge variety of avian wildlife here in our part of the suburbs, we do enjoy the sights and sounds of junkos, blue jays, house finches, quail, hummingbirds, mourning doves, flickers and magpies on a regular basis.

There have been many a morning that I have awakened to the cheerful chirping of robins and the melodic songs of the cute little house finches that frequent our yard. Lee and I love to hang feeders in various locations throughout our back and front yards, where we can watch bird activity year round from our deck and through our dining room and front windows.

In addition to providing real-life diversion and fun photo opportunities, birds also provide me with inspiration for my card creations. Sometimes I’ll be struck by a particular quote or play on words that lends itself well to a handmade card with a bird-related theme or paper piecing. Other times, I’ll discover some colorful and cute patterned paper at the crafts or scrapbook store that includes a bird image or theme, and I’ll be inspired to create a card around that. And yet other times, I may find an especially sweet or whimsical ready-made bird-themed embellishment that just begs to have a handmade card designed around it.

I never quite know when I first start working on a card, how the final design is going to turn out. . . so each new card design is a work in progress, until that final moment when my eye and my heart say to me, “That’s it! It’s done!” And indeed, this is the aspect of card design and cardmaking that I most enjoy. . . .this sort of free-floating aspect that allows one’s creativity to emerge and evolve.

Only recently have I realized just how many cards I’ve actually designed with a bird-related theme, and there have been quite a few! So, I thought it might be fun to share some of my previous and current card designs with you.

May I present to you, my collection of bird-themed handmade card designs, which I’m calling “ For the Birds.” I hope you like them!

Until we meet again. . . may you always keep a song in your heart.

HOPE is like a bird . . . . . .

My dear friends and fellow bloggers,

As some of you already know, this past week has been a difficult one for my husband Lee and me, as well as for our sweet greyhound Harley. Lee has been in the hospital for the last nine days, with a complication of an ongoing condition that has been under control for quite some time.

In between long and sometimes stressful stints at the hospital with Lee, I have managed to spend some time quiet time here at home with Harley who, despite being lonely, has been amazingly mellow throughout all of this. But productive, I have NOT been. And there has been very little time for my usual creative pastime (indeed, my "therapy") of cardmaking.

Nevertheless, because my Blog is also a creative outlet for me, as well as a valued connection to the outside world, I've been trying to continue to post a few entries during the past week. Not surprisingly though, I don't have many words right now to go with my blog entries, so I've been relying upon some of my favorite photos and photo memories, as well as some of my previous card creations and favorite quotes to carry the "messages" of my blog posts of late.

Tomorrow, Lee is scheduled to undergo another diagnostic procedure to help the doctors figure out what's causing this current health issue and to help decide where we need to go from here. Lee and I are both relieved that we now have a plan, and we are thankful to have a group of skilled and knowledgeable physicians involved in his care.

So it is with a hopeful and confident attitude that both Lee and I are approaching the next few days. Hence, the theme of my Blog post today is HOPE . . . . .

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Until we meet again. . . . . may all your days be filled with hope.