I've got Bramblings!

No, it's not a horrible disease. Bramblings are little birds from the finch family. They come from Russia and Norway and visit Britain during the winter months and I have never seen any before. Usually they are very shy but I read today that they will venture into gardens to feed during very severe winters. Considering we have had more snow that I have seen in years I think February could definitely be considered part of a severe winter. These birds are so attractive with their yellowish chests and mottled heads and tummies. The female is one of the prettiest female garden birds I have seen yet. Usually female birds get to be dull greys and browns. I'm very glad they came to visit. I'm afraid the photos are not great because I took them through the kitchen window which was splashed with rain drops.

Last week I managed to capture a brilliant image by pure chance. I just happened to press the shutter button on my camera as the action happened. A poor old blackbird fell off a snowy branch and splatted in the snow. I couldn't have taken that photo even if I tried. He didn't fall far - just a couple of inches - and he got up and ran off after another male blackbird that was trying to eat his food.

Red

Here is a Valentine's card I made for my Mum to give to my Dad. My family decided they would rather pay me for my cards than spend money in the shops for something that will just be thrown away. So I get asked to make cards for all sorts of occasions - including St Valentines - my least favourite festivity. There is something about the day that is very artificial for me. Everyone is being told they have to do something nice for their loved one, spend, spend, spend, but I would rather have something given to me for no reason at any other time of the year. It doesn't take much imagination to buy a bunch of flowers or a box of choccies when every shop is screaming at you about Valentines and waving giant hearts and teddies. If someone does something for you for no other reason than they love you then, to me, that means more than a thousand Valentines.

Anyway, the card was made with hand painted paper that was embossed with orange and copper embossing powder. The heart was cut from chipboard, covered with hand painted paper, lightly stamped, had a coating of oil-on-water foil round the edge and gold acrylic smooshed round the circumference. Then came the ultra thick embossing enamel. While the second coat was still molten I sprinkled micro beads onto it and added another coat of UTEE. A little 3D foam, some shiny red card as a mat and and a cream hammered card and it was done.

Life in miniature

I have been painting a little more these last few days. For some reason painting flows, then stops, flows, then stops. However, I am about to embark on a large commission so I felt I had to at least pick up a paintbrush and fling a little paint around. Here are two miniatures - one of a puppy watching a butterfly, the other of a badger watching a butterfly.

Post It post

I am a Post It note fiend. I also have a chronically bad memory which is why I need the Post Its. My bookcases, desk and any other available surface has Post It lists attached to it. What to do, what I've done and shopping lists galore. They come in square, rectangular, big and small. In short, I love 'em! So my mini Post Its inspired me to make some covers for them. They are made from hand painted watercolour paper that I rubber stamped using a selection of Inkadinkado acrylic stamps. The holes were reinforced with eyelets just so they last a little longer.

Snow time for fun?

It snowed yesterday. And snowed and snowed and snowed. To top it all of it snowed a little more. I haven't seen this much snow in years. Compared to some places I could mention it is just a drop in the ocean but Britain has been lacking in snow for a few years now. Everyone was blaming global warming, of course, so councils were totally unprepared for the situation this time. Now the media are complaining about all the school that shut and people who could not get into work. I find that sad. People up and down the country have been out in the snow having a great deal of fun. These days, when people are loosing their homes and jobs due to the credit crisis it is nice to see something joyful happening. I, myself, went for a walk in the snow yesterday and today shoveled snow to clear the path to my door. I had fun. I even built a little snowman out of the snow I cleared away.

Not to be outdone I created a few sparkling snowflakes of my own to hang inside too. Some die cut snowflake punched out of hand painted papers were liberally glittered using a new glitter I bought. It is made up of strands rather than tiny dots and gives a different effect. It also spreads for a mile when you spill it on the work surface.

Disintegrating

Seth at The Altered Page has created a new collaboration of artists taking part in a project of disintegration. Basically you wrap up a bundle of papers any way you like then place it in a nature and watch what happens. Those taking part have posted before photos of their paper bundles and will post after pictures on the first of May in a grand unveiling. As a nature observer I have seen many things disintegrate through natural actions and it is fascinating. This is the first time I have seen art created out of it. I chose to make my bundle in the form of ancient scrolls. Anyone who has watched documentaries about ancient history will be familiar with the image of piles of scrolls in museums. Discoveries of ancient scrolls are often of decrepit sheets, rolled tightly and crushed by time. Now I get the chance to see my very own snapshot of the ravages of time.

What a card!

These are some of the cards I have made over the last month. So many celebrations - birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Next stop on the greetings card express will be Easter.

The Birds!

This weekend is the Big Garden Birdwatch hosted by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. It is an annual survey of the birds that visit the gardens in Britain and, as usual, I took part. It always amazes me how you can see changes in nature if you just take a little time and watch regularly. So far this year I have had one greenfinch to my garden (usually I have handfulls every day) and two nuthatches that now visit regularly. I will have to wait until next year to see if these changes are permanent as often these things happen for no apparent reason then the pattern changes again. There is also a pheasant who comes every day. He has a tendency to eat all the food on the ground - if he can get there before the crows.

While I don't have any pictures of garden birds or pheasants I do have a needle felted chicken to show. And, no, the sheep do not visit my garden but they are in the field in front of the garden so I was inspired to make a needle felted sheep.

Technological breakdown

I have been without my computer for the last week and a half. Not fun. The computer repair man seemed to think it was thinks to a malware attack. Now, no one is more careful about what they are doing online than me. I update my internet security software every day, have anti-spyware software that is run regularly and I don't visit sites that might carry something untoward on them. Unfortunately the virus, malware and spyware creators are becoming more sneaky about getting their products into computers. Let's face it - many of the security software packages just aren't up to the job of keeping your PC clean. It is a very sad state of affairs and I can't help but think that the world would be a better place if the brains behind viruses, etc were to put their knowledge to more legitimate use.

Anyway, I did manage to be a little creative - painting, card making, beads and needle felting. I'll post some pics over the next few days. To begin, here is a Zoomie painting of a Golden Retriever pup.

Zoomies

The time arrived to try something new with my paintings. I created a series of wildlife works called the Zoomie series. They are 11x15 inches in size and took no more than 20 minutes to do each. They are not highly detailed. They are, as the description says, zoomie - quickly done with a large brush and lots of strong coloured paint. Neither are they pieces to be sold. They were just exciting to do, something I was inspired to try and for no other reason than to have some fun. If you fancy trying to paint or draw it doesn't always have to be about detail and high quality workmanship. Just get out a big brush, a few colours of paint and a large piece of paper and let rip. I can recommend it.