My Talented Followers Series - 7

Today I had a hard time making up my mind on choosing items, so I  decided to feature two items from each of my talented followers!  Enjoy!.

Nature's Fragile Beauties Collection

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=31297739

created by Faerie Moon Creations on Etsy.

Birds and butterflies are my weakness! I just couldn't decide which to pick! So I decided to include both!:-)

Sing a Happy Tune Collection

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=303446116
This charming wood pendant is part of a wonderful collection creatd by Faerie Moon Creations on Etsy.
I just love Theresa's jewelry! These cheerful little chickadee's would look so great with my handpainted Nuthatch Wood Box!

To see the complete Collections of 'Sing a Happy Tune' & 'Nature's  Fragile Beauties'

Visit her Etsy shop: http://www.faerymoongoddess.etsy.com/

Blog: http://faeriemooncreations.blogspot.com/

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Garden of Mist

 http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=32825973

 Vintage Whimsical Necklace Harvest Green Enamel Flower Prairie Steampunk by

Bionic Unicorn on Etsy.

 Kristen is another amazingly talented jewelry designer! I love, love, love both of these necklaces!

Sunflower Periscope 

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=29454563

Vintage Yellow and Orange Autumn Enamel Flower Fall Harvest Halloween Steampunk Necklace

Bionic Unicorn Etsy Shop:  http://www.bionicunicorn.etsy.com/

Blog:  http://bionicunicorn.blogspot.com/

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Haunted Hayride

Handspun Thread Plyed Yarn - Merino, BFL, Mohair, Bamboo, Silk and Glitz

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=31095679

This is Hauntingly Beautiful!!

Sedona Hand dyed New Zealand Wool by Split Rock Ranch on Etsy.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=32210307

This full time rancher and fiber artist offers gorgeous hand dyed and hand painted rovings and yarns, handspun yarns and custom fiber blend batts. I am so jealous that she is surrounded by Llamas! I kid my children about wanting to get one - they think I'm crazy! But I just love them! :-)

Visit her Etsy Shop http://www.splitrockranch.etsy.com/

Blog at http://www.splitrockranchllamas.blogspot.com/

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Check back soon for more incredible Artists and Blogs!

Birds in My Garden, Birds in My Art! (Part Two)

One of my next endeavors was to design a Courtyard Habitat for my children's elementary school. Several Moms got together one afternoon with a shared idea. That idea was to turn the unused school courtyard into an outdoor classroom, where children could interact with nature. As a landscape designer, I was able to volunteer my design skills and knowledge of nature to help develop a beautiful place for the children and teachers. After creating a master plan, we developed a 5 year plan to convert this unused space into wildlife habitat. Through donations and lots of hard labor our Courtyard Habitat became a reality and has won several awards and grants. It is now a registered Schoolyard Habitat with the National Wildlife Federation http://www.nwf.org/ and a certified Monarch Butterfly WayStation. http://www.monarchwatch.org/

This charming bird house was inspired by a recycling project we did with the children for our Outdoor Art Gallery (part of our habitat). We asked the children to create birdhouses out of recycled materials. It was our first project to utilize the Art Gallery that we created by using log pedestals made from the trees that had been taken down on the school property that spring.

My children decided to use recycled aluminum cans along with other collected items on their bird houses. We had such a good time that I became hooked, and began making them! After their debut at the school's Art Gallery, we brought them home and immediately a Carolina Wren moved in and had a family! I hope to track down some of the pictures I have, and add them to this post!

Has anyone else been involved in creating a habitat at their
school? I'd love to hear from you!

Birds in My Garden, Birds in My Art! (Part One)

Birds have influenced my life and my art since I can remember! As a child I remember setting up a laundry basket with a string tied to a stick and carefully putting a few pieces of bread out in a neat trail leading under the basket! I would quietly sit there for what seemed like hours to capture some poor unsuspecting bird. They almost always got away and if not, I would happily let them go, it was just very cool to get so close them!

Red Bellied Woodpecker 'Winter Birds' o8 Collection
Hand painted glass ornaments.



Years later, my sister brought home a pigeon for me to raise. She found him on the ground at her elementary school and knew exactly who would love to take care of him! I could write a book on my life with 'Babes'! I was inspired to draw and paint him, I created a beautiful lithograph in my high school art class, and photographed him! He was amazing and challenged my art skills as I tried to capture his wonderful personality! He followed me to college and actually introduced me to my husband! He was my companion for years!

Winter Birds '08' Collection:

Male Cardinal,Rose Breasted

Grosbeak, White Throated Sparrow

This love for Babes gave me a love for birds in general. I began learning to identify the birds around our yard and quickly realized how unique each one was. It gave me a whole new appreciation for birds.

When my husband and I moved into our home I found an injured Catbird that had flown into a window. He lived in one of our empty bedrooms until he could fly again. I set him free, but he stayed around my garden! Perched in a branch, he would call out to me to let me know he was nearby watching me work outside! He came back year after year! Eventually, people would bring me their injured birds to rehabilitate.

After having my first child I could no longer take on the responsibility of taking care of a bird 24/7. Investigating my options, I later found a wonderful place that would take in these birds called the Raptor Trust. This is an incredible place that I was so lucky to have found. I try to donate to them when I can, it's an incredible facility and provides a wonderful service! You must check them out! www.theraptortrust.org/

With three children, I began to see that many children had little knowledge of the the plants and wildlife in their own backyards. I decided to fill that gap and became a 4H Leader. With a group of my children's friends, we began our two year journey and called ourselves the Backyard Nature Explorers !(this would make another book!) Here I introduced them to anything that one would find in their backyard. I taught them how to identify birds, make bird feeders, bird houses, dissect owl pellets and mount our finds. We learned the different owl calls and visited the Raptor Trust. The money we raised at the 4H Fair was also donated to the Raptor Trust.

Now you can start to see how my love for birds has intertwined through my life in many ways. Forgetting that I only started photographing with a digital camera several years ago I will have to scan pictures before I include them. So here are a few of my very recent items.

Sorry I can't seem to get any of my other pictures up! I'll try later. See my shop on Etsy. tkdesigns.etsy.com