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Spring has sprung! FINALLY. I got maybe 15 oranges off my calamondin tree the other day.
It's been a long rainy winter - well "winter" - it hasn't really been cold - so I'm ready for some relentless sun.
I read somewhere that this year's weather is going to be a repeat of last year, so it's also time to prepare for some bugs if we get this much rain two years in a row. BIG bugs. I opened the door Saturday morning to see about 100 moths all over the storm door - some big hatch. The first of many, I'm sure.
But the signs of life out back are awesome. I have two jalapeno plants that made it through the winter, which is quite rare, and most of my succulents. We've been solarizing the flowerbed we removed our holly bushes from (they are a carpenter ant attractor, so we said goodbye) and are ready for some big decorative pots and fun new plants out there. Also a birdbath or two, since little birds used to hop around in those bushes and provide CatTV 24/7.
I painted today's card in December for the leadup to Creativation - I was thrilled to see a botanical that was the right size for painting, so I sat down with this orange stamp set and my Daniel Smith watercolors and a podcast. The image is stamped in Fadeout Ink and the sentiment in Nocturne.
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My neighborhood really has an amazing bird variety. As I told you in the roof rat post, there's an oak canopy which is home to all manner of wildlife.
My neighbor's tree comes over the fence into my backyard, and is the home to a mated pair of screech owls (which are so poorly named - they make the sweetest sounds) and a mated pair of Great Horned owls, whom I love and am also certain will murder me a la the Staircase.
One day I walked out of my house to hear very loud squawking, which is an unmistakable sound if you've ever heard it, coming from an extremely large and chatty roadrunner zooming all over my neighbor's roof.
For the last few days though, I've been hearing a woodpecker in that same yard across the street every time I take out the trash. I CANNOT FIND THE LITTLE BUGGER.
I wanted to go out there today with binoculars, but then I thought that might look creepy if my neighbors walked out of their house and saw me peering at their house through binoculars. This just happens to be the neighbor that already thought I was a murderer, after all.
So I'm still on the hunt to see this little guy - they are such beautiful birds. I'm also hoping hearing him doesn't mean we are having some sort of tree beetle invasion this year, because it's not a bird I see often here.
It's gorgeous here right now, as February can be, and I'm just waiting to see the butterflies come back into my yard. It's been pretty rainy and gross so I've missed all the signs of life out back. This weekend, my back porch was COVERED with these sweet little moths, so there was a hatch of some sort.
The upside of the rain is that my calamondin tree has shot three foot runners up, so I'm hoping this will be a "leap" year for it. #seewhatIdidthere.
It's such a perfectly sized image to be the star of the show. I'll re-post the video of the technique I used to achieve this look below. I used Green Man Infusions and the sentiment from this set - which I'll be back on Wednesday with! I cut the mats for the sentiment with my circle infinity dies - I don't know why I ever file these - I should just leave them out since I use them on every card!
Here's the video for this very simple stencil technique in case you missed it!
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When I was little, Easter was my most favorite holiday. Not only did I get a ceremonial dress - some foofy pastel something or other - but there was all the puzzle solving of an egg hunt, there was CANDY, and there were art projects in the form of dyeing eggs.
What more could the childhood version of me ask for??? One of my favorite photos that hangs in my house is of me and my childhood BFF David prior to church on Easter. He was Italian, and so his Easter attire included shorts and a little leather holster for his toy six shooter. I laughed right out loud typing that.
The world was a simpler place then.
ANYWAY - the imagery of Easter is so overwhelmingly positive, it's always been some of my favorite stamping fodder.
Since it's Crafty Friends day - if you want anything from my beloved, smart, sweet, funny friend Gina - she was nice enough to give us a coupon code for you! You can get 20% off by clicking the banner and using code CRAFTYFRIENDS20 to shop!
