Bird Migration! Spring IS on the way!

This American Robin seemed to be a tag-a-long with the flock of over 200 Cedar Waxwing birds that stopped in our backyard this last weekend. There was a smaller flock of Robin along with the Cedar Waxwings.
There were so many Cedar Waxwings that it truly was difficult to catch a close-up of just one bird. They enjoyed flying to and fro between the trees with the little berries and the big Cedar trees in our yard. I think they were enjoying an all-you-can-eat buffet!
The markings of the Cedar Waxwing are striking! I love the mask around their eyes, it's not just black, but outlined with white. Their tails have yellow feathers at the end. The marking for which they are named is the red "wax drip" on their secondary wing feathers. Their bellies are a buff yellowish color. I had seen them dashing back and forth in the yard while I was sitting on the couch in the house looking out to the backyard. I had heard the Robins outside earlier, so I just thought that it was Robins. But when I looked closely, through the raindrops, I saw the Cedar Waxwings on the Cedar tree. I dashed outside to first hear the birds and then see the massive amount of them!

They would take breaks from berry eating by perching in the naked Sycamore tree in our front yard. It was really impossible to count them all!


If anyone can tell me what type of tree this is, I'd love to know! I don't have a tree book and I'm not sure where to find it on the web.
Aren't they beautiful!? God is so amazing. When I did the Bible Lesson for the Level 3 kids at BSF I was able to use these birds as an illustration of how we can see God in His creation. Hope you have a wonderful day. Take these birds as notice that Spring is on it's way my East Coast friends!!

Out from under winter

I made this wreath for Valentine's Day. Using old book pages is quite trendy these days. You know already how I feel about that! The base of the wreath is a wire form that I wrapped book pages around and taped them on. Then, I made giant rosettes of book pages, just like I did for the pennant banner that I showed you how to make in an earlier post. I hot glued the rosettes onto the wire frame. I made a center plaque with a piece of chipboard that I covered with a book page. I embellished that with L O V E and some ribbon. I glued a wrinkly piece of pink scrap paper on the back of the chipboard and then stuck that with hot glue onto the wreath.

I gave this wreath to Carla for her front door as a hostess gift for having friends in to make Valentine cards. There were ten of us who got together to make 6 Valentine cards! Here are five of them. The sixth one was camera shy. So, I'll post a picture of it in a day or two. Three of the cards were little mini ATCs. ATC stands for Artist Trading Card. They measure 2.5 x 3.5 inches and are lots of fun to make.

Have a great day!

Birthday Blessings

My little sister turned 40 this year. To help her celebrate, I gathered wishes from friends and family members and then scrapped them into a Birthday Blessing Book. I made an altered tin for the book to go in. Her initials are on the front cover.

The tin got a little bulgy with all the wishes in the book...so I had to tie the tin shut with ribbon!

I made special pockets for the book for the original emails from her friends. The pocket paper was from Martha Stewart and had a sort of vinyl feel to it, so it is stretchy and able to hold folded paper. I punched a notch in the top of the pocket. The papers that I used for the book are from Heidi Grace.

I wanted to make the book interactive, so I hid things here and there. Traci had a Bible verse for my sister which I hid under a taggy flap, securing it closed with a mini magnet.

This picture shows Traci's verse when the taggy flap is closed.

For Rebecca's wishes I used clear buttons that I glued matching papers on the back, then tied the buttons with frayed ribbon fibers.

On Rachel and Marsha's wishes I used super cute epoxy brads as little accents. I also made "ribbon" with paper strips.

When using ribbon on projects, make sure that you use super adhesive to help the ribbon stay put. I love Stampin' Up's sticky strip.

Carolyn and Abby's page both had interactive elements. For Carolyn's wishes I put them on tags that I made by using the birdcages as shapes for the tags. For Abby's, I folded paper and used a punch to create the circle flaps. Fold paper in 1/2 and then put it in your punch without punching through the folded bit and you'll create a sort of book. I made the tag on Traci's the same way.

For the greetings from Grace and Michelle I just kept it simple, adding a little texture with ribbon.

Here's another look at the email pockets. I only used adhesive on the bottom of the pockets because the inside edges were held closed by the black rings, while the outside edges were folded over in one continuous piece of paper--didn't need adhesive.

Janey's greeting was the last one that I put in the book which was getting really thick by now! Because I was worried about the tin being able to close, I didn't put any embellishments on Janey's page.

You can click on any of the pictures for an up close look. Happy Birthday sis!!

Things in my backyard

This year Fall has been more colorful than I remember it being last year. It could be that I'm just used to the perpetual green around here now and I can see the fall colors in the midst of that and not be overwhelmed by the green. Whatever it is, I find it beautiful! This Japanese Maple is in our backyard not too far from the swimming pool.

I think I might be obsessed with mushrooms! The yard guys come on Tuesdays and mow through any mushrooms that have grown. So, if I want to take a picture I have to look sometime before they get here. These little red mushrooms keep coming back in about the same spot every week. I finally got down on my knees to take this picture. Shots from above just look silly, like there is a clown nose in the grass. When I pick the mushroom to take pictures that way, it feels like something gets lost in that process. I'm sure I'll keep trying.

Happy Fall!! Soon it will be Thanksgiving. May you be blessed with much to be thankful!

Still MORE Jellies

These last jellies were pink, and not in the same tank as the orange jellies. Hope you've enjoyed my jellies!

Egg Yolk Jellies

These are the Egg Yolk Jellies I saw at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Aren't they cute!? They remind me of my Egg Yolk poppies that I took pictures of this summer! Check out my posting on 7/14/2010 if you want to compare.

Happy Weekend! I'll post even more jellies tomorrow.

Spotted Jellies

These pictures I took are of the Spotted Jellyfish from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Aren't they amazing!? At the aquarium there is an entire room full of various Jelly Fish. Tomorrow I'll show you the Egg Yolk Jelly. Can you guess what it looks like? Jellyfish are zooplankton.

Jellyfish do not have brains. They are cnidarians, pronounced nih dhar' ee uhnz. Their name comes from the Greek word, "knide", which means nettle. The spotted jelly in my pictures are Phyllorihiza punctata and are commonly found around Australia in the summertime. Most people know that Jellyfish sting anything that comes in contact with their tentacles. Their stings can be deadly. The process for stinging is similar to a bee sting. The bee inserts the stinger which then leaves the bee's body, while the Jellyfish inserts a hollow thread that is attached to a cell within their body called a nematocyst. The thread is attached to a little arrow like sharp point which breaks the skin, then the thread delivers the poison to the victim. The threads are attached to the tentacles which then bring the now paralyzed victim to the mouth of the jelly for consuming. Humans are too big for a jellyfish to digest, so if stung by a jelly, you will not be eaten by one! However, the jelly's sting is full of poison and will cause swelling and irritation. Some people are allergic to this poison and may suffer more than others; still others have died from jellyfish stings. So, stay away from jellyfish!

While it is true that jellys do not have brains, they are far from simple. In reading just a few pages from my kids' science books, I am truly amazed! Once they use up their nematocysts, more grow in their place. Once a bee stings you, it dies. If a jellyfish stings you, it just regenerates the nematocysts. Their lifecycle is complicated. The way they reproduce is astounding. They are not able to process visual information, but they DO have eyes which can detect light from dark! This is very important for their survival because it allows them to tell up from down. Survival is toward the light, or the surface. They rise to the surface at night to avoid predators like the leatherback turtle. In the day they sink toward the bottom of the ocean. Some jellyfish can grow to be 400 pounds! Jellyfish eat fish. A group of jellyfish is called a smack.

I'll post the Egg Yolk Jelly tomorrow along with an orange jelly. My information on jellyfish comes from "Exploring Creation with Zoology 2" from Apologia Science.