Feeling Better and a Bird Helps!

Well, after two weeks of craziness around the Bird Nest....I think things are finally getting better. Today is the first day I can move my neck to the right and not jump. It's still sore, but I can live with it at this point. It has been a very LONG two weeks. The AT&T fiasco from week before last has been solved. THANK GOODNESS!! And, my poor old body is recovering from my ambulance trip of a week ago yesterday. Thankfully, I did not have a heart attack, just that awful pesky, trapezious muscle and what with Valium and Hydrocodone, I've been 'somewhere else' most of the last week. A good thing. On Friday I had a physical and was told that my thyroid was very low, so more meds were ordered and I've had two of those so far.
No idea what to expect as I didn't know I had an issue with that. We'll see how it goes. But long story short........hopefully, you won't hear about my woes for a long time.

In my last post, I showed a photograph of my latest Shorebird embroidered pincushion. I didn't want to show much of it until I knew it had flown to Alabama....it's new home. It was made
especially for my blogging friend, Sandra, and now that it is actually in it's new home, I'm going to tell you about it. Sandra was so very patient in waiting for the bird to arrive and I am very appreciative of her patience. As I've said, hers was my last piece of commission work. From now on, I will just make what brings me joy and show it here and if you are interested, you can email me. Otherwise, I will just surround myself with these little pieces of embroidery and whatever else I come up with....and either post them here or on my etsy, or keep them here for my own entertainment.

Sandra had requested a Shorebird last fall. (See how long she waited!!!!) She gave no other requirements, so I just let the painted fabric and thread 'talk' to me and this is what we got out of those conversations. For those of you not seeing my pincushions before, I just dream up a 'scene', paint some vintage linen fabric (or sometimes other fabrics), and proceed to embroider my birds, flowers, and so forth, by hand. I always like to incorporate embroidery floss, perle cotton, silk ribbon, and those types of things to stitch with...then add beads, stones or pearls for extra interest. It's so much fun. LOTS of work, and sometimes tedious, but fun too. The bird is embroidered with one strand of DMC embroidery floss in several colors. In the 'fringe' of this pincushion, I chose to add some shell beads here and there as they looked kind of 'watery.' You have to look for them amongst all those seed beads though. There are forty beads in each 'loop' of the beaded fringe. And, I think I did five beads on each little loop shape at the top of the fringe.

These projects are always fun to me....but, boy, they take a long time. I'm so proud I could finally send this one to Sandra. She tells me she slept with it by her bed the first night she got it.
Well, that made me feel just GREAT!!!!! I hope she enjoys it for many, many years!! At some point in life, I possibly could make more birds....but only if my head and heart tell me to. And, of course, all my projects are completely different from each other, so this particular one, like all my others, are totally individual and will never be repeated. I like that.

I'm probably going to show you too many photos....but, just bear with me. I'm so glad the pincushion is done....and then, I did that collage. It was made at the downtown studio and until I began to take photos of each of these projects, it never occurred to me that they MATCH!!! How weird is that? After taking photos of the collage, then the bird pincushion, I just knew I had to photograph them together. So, when I sent the bird photos to Sandra for approval, I just HAD to include the one with the pincushion and collage together. Just for fun. And, I guess...just for her fun....she wanted to buy the collage too. I was so excited over that and was happy to pack them both up and let them fly along to their new home. She says they are happy....me too!!!

The collage, if I remember correctly, is 11" x 14" and the pincushion is 6" x 6".....I really love how they look together. For the collage, I was just dabbling with paint, then decided to make a tree.
Loosely translated as you can see. I found a little bird on a paper napkin for the bird in the nest, and the larger bird is a piece of scrapbooking paper. Never knowing when to quit, I took a page of text from a vintage book and painted it, then cut out all those leaves. Making a little vein with a liner brush and glued them on with gel medium. Well, of all things.....I LOVED doing that!
And, of course, more words had to be glued on...as you know I love to do:

"A flock of birds
A gentle breeze is blowing
In the nest are some little eggs among the trees."

Just choose some words and add them to your collage. To me they don't have to make sense...just sound kind of 'poetic.'

For the back of the pincushion, I chose this lime green fabric I painted last summer. I placed a bird stencil on the wet painted fabric, laid it on my patio in the afternoon sun and it made these cute birds and branches...which I had saved until now. Just right for the back of this pincushion!

So...there you are....my latest work. And, I'm feeling better.......hopefully, my new meds will straighten me out and I'll be back in my little quiet rut!!! So, thank you for checking on me and caring...pat

PS. One funny story. Well, not really funny, but WEIRD! Around 8:30 a.m. last Sunday my grandson went to get my prescription filled that was given to me at the emergency room. I told him to drive my little PT Cruiser. Being a pretty day, he opened the sun roof. As he pulled into a parking place....a bird just happened to fly right over the car and decided to poop right then and there. Of course, it fell inside my car and hit Tyler right in the EYE!!! How awful! He went into the restroom and washed his eye out with that handsoap in the dispenser. Don't you know that felt good! Then, insult to injury....found out that the Walmart Pharmacy isn't open until 10:00 a.m. on Sunday. This kind of story happens in our household all the time. Funny, but NOT!! And, he was just trying to do a good deed! He's fine...but says he doesn't know if he will ever open the sunroof again!

Just another delay!

Well, it's 8:47 on Tuesday, March 6th. And, I'm WAY late to post something for you. So, I'm sending you a photo of my recent work...already delivered to Alabama and in my next post, I will show you more and tell you all about it. Just for now though....this is all I can do. You know I never talk about 'private' stuff, but since this is the second delay lately in my posting, I feel I need to explain. I was taken to the hospital Saturday night by ambulance. We thought I was having a heart attack. So the ambulance crew (such nice guys they were!) gave me those aspirin as you are supposed to and some nitro-glycerin and off we went. Only once in my life have I ever hurt that bad. Machines and blood tests, etc. showed it wasn't a heart attack........but something more like spasms in my trapezious muscle. It's Tuesday and I still have trouble moving my head and shoulder and my neck is not cooperating very well either, pain, pain, pain. I go back to the dr on Thursday. So, I HAVE thought of you..........but thanks to Valium and Hydocodone, I am mostly sleeping. I came out to the computer to pay bills....all of which are now late because I totally forgot about them...so I'm doing that then hitting the bed again. Please know that I will be back ASAP!!!

PS. And, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, my sister!!!!!!
You all take care, hugs, pat

Just a Note!

Just a little note to let you all know that my Internet has been down since Monday morning...so life has been crazy this week as I have spent part of every day with AT&T. It hasn't been pretty. But, as of about twenty minutes ago....I am now back on line...and not a minute too soon. Hope you are all well, I will be posting something for you to enjoy sometime before the weekend is over. It's so good to know I can now consider what I'd like to show/tell you and then actually be able to do it!!!! Hope you have a wonderful weekend....pat

PS. Who knew we could so involved with people both near and far that we might not ever meet?
It's such a delightful thing!

A Mr. G Watercolor

OK...it's still February, so I'm still finding 'hearts' to post. Here is one of my very favorites. This painting was created in 1996 by my very dear friend, Jim...sometimes I call him Mr. G. I don't know why except his last name starts with a G. It makes sense to me....and he doesn't complain.

Mr. G presented me with this wonderful watercolor 'out of the blue' one day and I have loved it ever since. Isn't it fun? It was his way, I expect, of making me a 'different' kind of quilt. It's approximately 24" x 30" and has been hanging in my house since the day I received it...well, except for a couple of times it escaped and managed to be shown in a couple of Jim's quilt showings.

I love all the bright colors....and all the little 'blocks.' I am particularly fond of that big red heart, the 0ff-kilter basket, and the house...three of my very favorite motifs. Yeah, Mr. G knows me alright....he seems to always manage to either make or find things that he knows I will just be 'over the moon' about. Thanks, Mr. G, again, for this lovely painting...it is one of my great treasures!! Y'all take care out there. pat

PS. The other day I finished a project I have been trying to get finished for what seems like years, but it's only been months. I am so happy to have it done and on the way to it's new owner, a very patient owner, I might add. I'll be showing it to YOU very soon...I'm waiting until the new owner receives it so I can share her thoughts on it with you. And, NO, I have not forgotten I'm to do a heart tutorial and another giveway...they'll be here soon too. (Time just gets away from me...does it you?)

Two Rose Collages

Well, two more collages today...these with more 'paper roses.' I use paper napkins in many of my collages and I have to say....I'm pretty fond of this particular napkin. You really have to see the napkin as it was purchased in order to see what I have done with it, so I'm beginning with a photo of that napkin. I rarely use the napkin as a whole, usually tearing bits of it to suit whatever it is I have in my mind. So, I hope seeing the napkin photo, helps you understand how it was used in each of these collages. By the way, I seem to find the prettiest napkins at Tuesday Morning. This one was is copyrighted by Gail Flores, Licensed by Suzanne Cruise. It's gorgeous.

The first collage is what I thought would look like a rose basket. I tore the napkin to 'fit' the painted canvas, and then drew the 'basket' on.......and finally added some stamps from my stamp 'collection.' (My stamp collection was purchased all at once, in a gallon jar, from the flea market a couple of years ago. I will probably never be able to use all the neat stamps from that jar, but I do have fun with them.) Again, a paper butterfly. A strip of ribbon too. And, the words, of course. "The fragance of the rose," cut from old book pages. I have 'touched up' the roses with even more paint. I like the way it turned out.

Next, is a canvas I painted, then made into this collage. I had cut the words out of a magazine,
"Well behaved women rarely make history." I just thought it would be fun. A page from scrapbooking paper, a date from a very old ledger from my son-in-law's family store, and again.....the wonderful rose napkin! (Don't worry about the vintage ledger....it was falling apart, so we didn't worry about using it for collages as there are wonderfully intact and beautiful ledgers we would never touch!)

The 'lady' (I think she is gorgeous and don't you love her outfit and jewels? I used some hot crystals for her earrings.), well, I just don't remember at this moment where she came from, but from scrapbooking paper or somewhere similar. I did add some hand drawn vines, touched with a bit of paint...and that number - 509...means nothing except it was the page number from the ledger. I had fun making this...getting paint and gel medium on my hands is great FUN...and using these napkins is too.

So...there you are...two of the latest made in the downtown studio...and, as always, for sale there.
If I can get my etsy up and going again...SOON....they might wind up there, but for now...they are with me as I play in the paint downtown. You all stay safe, warm and cozy....pat

Two Heart Collages

Yesterday I promised to show you two 'heart' collages I recently made at the downtown studio. Here they are. Yeah, ok, so I'm not the best collage artist around...but I sure do enjoy making them. The 'girls' at the downtown studio all paint, and beautifully, I might add. I've never really used paint much...well, except to paint my background fabrics on some embroidery. But, I like watching them paint and they have inspired me to try things....just because they seem to enjoy it so much...even when it is WORK.

So, I took up this collage business. I do get to use some paint, plus lots of paper napkins. I think that is just a hoot! Who knew? I learned to use paper napkins from Sharon at allnorahsart. I've been reading her blog for a long time and was fascinated with what she did with paper napkins, so I had to try it. Of course, that also means I am always on the look out for pretty paper napkins. Oh, the thrill of the hunt...one of my favorite things!!!

There is the 6" x 6" stenciled bird collage. This was FUN! I had the bird stencil and I cut two hearts out of old book pages...."tied" the hearts on the branches with linen thread and then embossed the hearts with embossing powder. The first time I had tried the powder. Well, ok...there's another thing to find out more about!! I like the hearts really well and the embossing kind of highlights the words underneath. I also used the powder to make the 'snow.' Can you see it? Little snow drops. Gosh, that was fun!

Then, the heart. I painted the background, drew the heart freehand, then added the paper napkin roses. I love the napkin those roses came from. I will be showing you another collage that I made using that same rose napkin. I'm even going to show you the napkin....so you can see just how that works. FUN. But, for now.....I just added the roses. Then, I wondered what to do next and found the birds on another napkin. Two sweet birds....they gave me the idea for what the words would be and I found them in two different books. It's so much fun to pick out words that seem to have something to do with your collage....but really, it's just random words. I love the words on this one.

So, there you go. Two heart collages. They are for sale at the downtown studio. And, I'll enjoy them until they fly off, maybe near, maybe far. Hope you are all well, safe, happy, warm and cozy!!! See you in a couple of days or so.....pat

The Valentine Giveaway Winner!!!

Did you have a Happy Valentine's Day? I certainly hope so. I was pleased to receive your comments concerning my Valentine Giveaway....y'all are so nice to visit and comment too. So...want to know who the winner is? OK, then....the winner is PAT SALADA! And, she says her birthday is in February. How cool is that? (Thank you, old Navy man, for your help!) So....PAT, please email me and let me know what your mailing address happens to be so I can send you a package from my little NEST to yours.

I appreciate all of you who responded and would like to remind you that I will be having another giveaway toward the end of this month to celebrate Bird Nest on the Ground's 4th anniversary. Please visit again and see what I will be giving away...it will involve more hearts and some beading. And, kindly come again in the next day or so, I will be showing two collages I made for the downtown studio. Til then, stay safe, warm and cozy!!! pat