Another Front Porch Kit Project

Remember this sneak from last week?  Did anyone guess what it might be?

This "Time to..." kit comes with a little white clock.  The Design Team was challenged to alter or decorate it in some way.  This is what I created - a little birdie for "Time Flies"!

I alcohol-inked the front of the clock and then used the new small leaf "movers and shapers" die to cut a bunch of "feathers" for the bird's body.  I overlapped and glued them to the sides and around the front of the clock.  

The wings are book pages handcut into wing shapes and covered with beeswax, then glued to the sides.  The head was also cut from the book text and inked.  The eye is hard to see but is a drop of black Enamel Accents from Ranger.  "Time Flies" was stamped on a strip from the border of the same page.  

And the little feet? Craft sticks are included in the kit so I cut one in half, shaped the ends and painted them with black and white stripes.  All supplies are from the kit, with the exception of the alpha stamps, inks and paints.

Birds - Chapter 3

Remember that nest on my front door and the four little birdies that hatched before we left for Mexico? When we returned, the nest was empty - I had mixed emotions as I wanted to see the little ones learn to fly but at the same time, I'm anxious to clean up the mess.

When I opened the door this morning to let the dog out, was it my imagination or did another bird fly into my house? I thought I heard a loud chirp but since all the windows were open, I figured it was outside. This evening after work, I was relaxing on the sofa when I heard the now familiar sound of bird-flying-in-house! What is this, a bird hotel? Has the word gotten out that this is the place to be? All my life I've never had a bird come inside and now there's been two in as many weeks.

Here it is perched on my upstairs loft railing. I wonder if it was thinking "ha, ha, you can't get me up here." I was too tired to chase her/him, so I opened the door to the garage and ignored it. Eventually it flew out and I quickly closed the door to the house and opened the garage door. When I looked to make sure it had left, I found it walking around on the grass very close to the garage - do you suppose it's one of the youngsters?

Oh well, I've really had quite enough of birds this spring. Next year you will NOT find an arrangement on my door!

Bird in House

No, this is not a current art project, but it is what I have been occupied with these past few days.

A mama bird has decided to make her nest and lay 5 bitty eggs in it in my front door spring arrangement! We have been trying not to use that door too much this past week so as not to disturb the nest.

One day when I let the dog out front, she flew out of the nest as I opened the door and scared the daylights out of me. Now when I do open the door, I noisily rattle the door before opening it so she can make her getaway.

Late last night when I was preparing to go to bed, I let the dog out front, making the aforementioned noises. She did not fly out so I figured she was out scavenging and opened the door. She must have been sleeping as she flew out, but flew straight into my house! My husband is out of town and this was 1:30 am, but I opened both the front door and the back door into the garage to have double the chance for her to get out. She was panicked and just flew around, alighting on the ceiling fan, drapery rods, a wreath hung high in the two-story family room, and the balcony railing. But she never came down and found her way out! After trying to shoo her out (have you ever tried to catch a "wild" bird?) I finally gave up and went to bed, closing all doors I could so she wouldn't get trapped where we would never find her.

This morning I again opened the doors wide, hoping her chirping buddies outside would call to her and lead her out. No such luck. Since I had to work all day, I figured I'd just leave the door into the garage open and hope she would be out by the time I got home. If I came home to her still inside, my last option was going to be calling animal control. (And I even wonder if they would come!)

However, just as I was walking out the door, she alighted on my kitchen chandelier and I attempted one last time to shoo her toward the door with a magazine. (Picture me - the "I don't do mornings" person rushing to get to work - waving a dangerous magazine wildly in the air at a teensy little bird!) Finally, she managed to make it out the door into the garage and I quickly closed the door to the house and opened the garage door. Now I hope she will find her way back to her nest and those still-to-be-hatched eggs. But, I must say, after this ordeal, I'm over the "ahh, cute little nest" thing and may just be moving that arrangement off the door!

Have a great day, everyone, and I hope you will learn one thing from today's post: don't put enticing, flowery decorations on your door in springtime!