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I could be on the home stretch with my birds - which is very sad  ☹

We are nearly all out of the branches we use to make little bird feet and legs. It seems like, unless I come up with another ingenious solution to making them, then I might be only making about 10 more birds. And then thats it!

The source of our bird feet and legs was a fallen tree in our backyard. God knows what type of tree it is (we rent see, and didn't plant the tree) and we stumbled upon it by chance whilst gardening. I knew this day would come - but I don't think I'm ready to move on yet....

Here are some of the most recent birds I have made - I'm liking long legs at the moment. Maybe I am wishing that I too had long legs?

 

jewellery too...

Did you know - I make jewellery too?

But these days, I don't really get the chance to make much. This is made from heat treated titanium on a sterling silver chain.

I should list it on etsy. One day...

part of the flock...

new birdies hanging out with some of the older birdies

long weekend projects

It has rained most of the Long Weekend - but we enjoyed it! It brought out our Spring Cleaning spirit strangely enough!

We planted more vegies in our little vegie patch and they look lovely. God I hope they grow!

We made more legs for the 10 birds I made this weekend (including the toucan). That's right - I made 10 more new birds! I feel like I am maybe catching up on my bird making duties!

I re-photographed the birds I had already made, because quite frankly - the original photos were a bit *crap*. This time I used a 75 - 300mm lens which blurs the background but makes the subject sharp and lovely. 

Here is the before and after shots...

BEFORE SHOT

AFTER SHOT- MUCH NICER!!

The last shot is much truer to colour and the light is even. The background is my wooden paling fence in the backyard. Do you think the second is nicer??

Oh - and I finally photographed one of my little mice. I have more of these to finish too, but its always the final hand sewn details that slow me down. I always put it off and thats why I take so long to finish my birdies and mices. 

how to make a toucan??

I promised to make my mother a bird.... and she asked for a toucan. A toucan!
Have you seen what those birds look like?? They are truely amazing - but how the bloody hell do you make one?

I have started on some research. I found lots of beautiful images on google but I like this one best...

I also like these two...

Its amazing how they blend into the tropical forests. I found some excellent info on Toucans at this site. Did you know that their beaks are hollow and can grow up to 45cms in length? Amazing.

Here I am on the kitchen floor starting to work out the pattern. Planning on making the beak hollow and stiffened with lots of interfacing. Should be done by Christmas I reckon!  

I'm so far behind on all my birds. When people ask me for one, I quite seriously tell them there is a 12 week wait! But yesterday I made 4 birds - and they are now just awaiting legs and feet. And a leg ring label. And and and...

remembering summer 2009 ....

it feels a bit like summer right about now....
the washing was hung on the line by 8am and was bone dry by 9am,
the strawberry plants are hanging heaving with little strawberries not-yet-ripe,
and the grass is going brown already....

In the summer of 2009 we had an amazing holiday up the coast around the Bellingen district ☀

We drank champagne, floated in the river, played bocce on the rolling green fields and flew a mean kite in strong onshore winds. It was magic!

We were very clever with the Holga when we took this. A fancy double exposure done in-camera ( okay, okay - and a tiny bit of digital editing after it was scanned... )

we'd both go back to that day in a second. It really was magic ♥♥