Unruly Sitting Birds

Unruly Perched Birds

Unruly Talkative Birds

I clipped out these words from a very old book of nursery rhymes.  Some of them are REALLY dark and disturbing.  What the heck is "chop-a-nose" day?  It was SO odd I felt compelled to use it.  If the information I googled is correct, it refers to the little game where you pretend to catch a little kid's nose between your fingers.  Seems like telling a toddler you are chopping off his nose might result in some scary dreams...

More Marvelous Maxine's

I met my friend Julie at Maxine's Pickety Patch the other day to scope out ideas for wedding decorations for her upcoming nuptials. (I believe that may be the very first time I've written the word "nuptials"...it looks mighty funny on my computer screen).

Anyway, if you haven't had the pleasure of experiencing Maxine's floral and gift shop, RUN (don't walk) to it as soon as possible to soak in its delightful sights, sounds and aromas. It’s a heady vortex of fantastically colorful flowers, peeping-cheeping real life birds and sparkly eye candy, mixed with the earthy scents of fresh flowers and abundant greenery.

For more photos of Maxine's shop, check out a post from last year...and stay tuned for more optical goodness later this week. This is just a smattering of the wonderfulness that IS Maxine:

Maxine offers classes in how to make these huge crepe paper flowers. You can't tell from this picture but each one is at least 12" wide! I took it last year with a friend and it was a delightful, pampering creative experience.

We SHOULD be inspired...

Here are a few shots of an inspiration board I made to inspire me to sit down and actually draw birds. I love birds, and I love this inspiration board, but I have yet to sit down and...you know...actually draw birds.
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I used the "Cartoon" feature of my camera and got this effect:

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But I'm in good company. Here are my cats who also show absolutely NO inclination to sit and draw birds despite the presence of said inspiration board:
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The Lost Valuables of E.L. Parrish

Here's a necklace I recently made that I love to wear. Of course it's assembled from a hodge-podge of treasures I compiled from a zillion different places.

The central round disk, embossed with the bird images was part of an old necklace. Kind of cool, but the images didn't really stand out until I rubbed a bit of black paint over the surface and into the crevasses to emphasize it. Then I punched the 3 holes in the bottom so I could attach delicious danglies.

I've participated in a bunch of charm swaps and have a huge stash of lovely little embellishments that had been wasting away in a storage container. What on earth was I thinking? It was criminal, I tell you, criminal! So I laid them all out on a metal tray and now I keep them with my jewelry supplies so I can incorporate them into my jewelry. The stacked buttons and the rhinestone pendant both came from that stash.

The very best part, though, is the little lost and found tag with its natural patina of age. I wonder if the owner attached it to his or her suitcases when traveling? It must have been something valuable because they offer a reward if returned.

Then of course because I am obsessed with all things aviary, I added a few little bird charms as a final touch.

Insatiably curious (some might call it 'nosey'), I typed this address into google maps. I felt a bit like a secret spy pouring over satellite photos as I tried to determine what house, if any, was associated with that address. I could see a grainy image of a small, white building in what appears to be a field; it was impossible to tell if it was boarded up or not, but I'm inclined to think it was since that address did not yield any other results from my online search.

Hmmm, the plot thickens...

Altered 2010 Calendar

Becky, my good friend from WAY back in the day, always sends me a Missouri Botanical Garden calendar each year for my birthday. I absolutely loved the Garden and used to visit it regularly when I lived in St. Louis, and the calendar is a such a treat. This year, the images were gorgeous as always, but I couldn't help but notice a certain shortage of...birds. Of course, given my obsession with all things aviary I proceeded to alter the calendar, adding some sort of bird image(s) to each month.

Using a template from an art friend, I cut birds out of old text pages, taped-together paint chips (check out the name of the color under the crown...perfect, isn't it?) and translucent colored vellum. For fun I used my crown punch to mark everyone's birthday. Let's all wish Judy "Happy Birthday" on August 9!



I also put my trusty bird punch to work and popped out entire flocks of tiny, colorful birds. And then I had to doodle some yellow trumpet vines. OK, I sort of made up that name, but you have to admit, it fits.

Again with the birds!

Yes, I know....I am obsessed. Obsessed with birds. I can't help it. And truth be told, I don't want to help it.

This is a favorite of mine I made recently. I cut up an old, stained tablecloth, sewed on a bird silhouette (silk from an old pair of pajamas!) and then covered it with a snippet of wonderful vintage lace. The cool embroidery stitch was WAY easy and WAY fast (double yay!)

Birds and dots...dots and birds

Whenever I go on away with one group of friends for an art retreat we always make cards for a card swap. For this batch I used paint chips (the long ones with 5 coordinating colors) and torn-out pages from old books. And of course, my favorite Signo white gel pen. Little white dots just make everything better. As do little birds. And birds and dots together? Well, that's the shizznit!

And if you look really, really closely...you can even learn a few random and outdated facts about New Zealand and Pakistan!

Return in 5 days to...NEST

Here are a couple of thank you cards I made for folks who helped out with the Art Party last week.

I took a brown business folder (the kind that is more like cardstock and has one of those metal paper fastener thingies at the top) and cut it into strips about 3" wide. Then I sewed on scraps of coffee-dyed cheesecloth, vintage sheet music and bird images. I stamped out "NEST" on old, yellowed paper and doodled with my favorite white Signo pen. Goodness only knows where I originally found the teeny, tiny stamp that reads "RETURN IN 5 DAYS TO" but I pulled it out of my stash and used it on both cards. I lined the inside with ruled penmanship paper...the kind that alternates solid and dashed blue lines that we used to laboriously practice lower- and upper-case letters way back in the day.

I don't know the name of the stitching pattern on the lower card, but I love it because it reminds me of seagull prints in the sand.

Watch those lips!

This binder of volunteer information was so bland I decided to bling it up with some crazy collage. I cut flowers out of old wallpaper, glued egg images onto a paint strip, outlined parts with funky red tape and used my nifty Sigmo white pen to doodle. Ahhhhhh, MUCH better....

Except, I get that the woman in the June Cleaver pearls and blouse really loves her bird, but each time I look at her, I fear for her lips.

More ROY G BIV-ness

Inside cover...

and pages celebrating the color orange...

That doesn't make the birds felons!

Here are two of the cards I made last evening for an upcoming card swap. (Note! If you're in said card swap, look away now so as not to spoil the surprise). I just bought the little bird punch and it was fun to find tiny text that showed up on the birds.

I lined the inside of the cards with sheets of paper from one of those grade-school penmanship pads...the ones with the alternating solid and dashed blue lines. And of course I had to add a few swoops and dots with a white gel pen.

True confession...it IS a Martha Stewart punch. I know, I know...it's no secret that I am NO fan of that particular felon. And yet...I just loved the shape of this punch. One little, tiny purchase won't hurt, will it?

Marvelous Madame Maxine!

A friend told me about a flower shop in north Seattle called Maxine's and said I should go there with a big wallet. So of course I promptly responded to the call to duty (on Saturday after I taught the Stitched Paper Collage workshop at the Salvage Studio).

And...oh...my...goodness. I LOVED Maxine's. I was ridiculously happy as soon as I set foot in the place. Imagine an explosion of flowers and birds (real and handmade), Parisian frou-frou, vintage flea-market jewelry, delicate wire nests and wildly decorated 3-tiered faux gateaux.

Birds cheeped and peeped from ornate Victorian birdcages in every corner. I could barely see the pink striped walls behind the huge strands of enormous tissue paper flowers, rustic farmhouse displays and beaded chandeliers. The French music that was playing made me want to write bad poetry along the banks of the Seine.

Meanwhile, Maxine herself, looking EXACTLY as you would expect, was assembling a floral display behind the counter, her chartreuse parrot perched on her shoulder, nuzzling her cheek.

My very favorite touch was just inside the front door. Random clusters of silk flowers were glued onto the wall over abstract little paintings of leaves and petals. I've got a serious hankering to try something similar in my stairwell leading down from my kitchen.

And head vases! Is there anything cooler than head vases? I want to get one and make a Carmen-Miranda style tropical confection for her to sport.

I am going back to Maxine's soon. I would like to get to know the proprietress herself. I've seldom met someone who is so fully self-expressed in her artistic vision. I know I could use a little more of that...

Photos borrowed with permission from Maxine's web site.

Valentine's Day

When we were kids, we thought it was SO clever and SO naughty to say, "Happy VD" on Valentine's Day. Of course, kids today have never heard the acryonym "VD" so it's only funny to us old folks. Dork that I am, it kind of IS still funny.