CQC45

Isn’t this a serene scene?  So pretty!!!  Arielle’s ColourQ Challenge today is a sweet fluttering of butterflies against a white background.  The design is CAS, so I did a fairly clean card as well:

using the Things I Love set in the inspiration colors.  I added a little pearly embellishment on the chocolate, a bit of texture on the Wild Wasabi panel and some Wild Wasabi DP peeking out from behind.  The heart theme is carried into the inside:

Hmmm, maybe I should have put some glitter on that piece of chocolate…anyway, check out what the other designers on the Colour Court have come up with and show us your take on these pretty colors!  You can check out the ColourQ blog or just click on the sidebar for all the details! 

Before I go, I thought I’d share a couple of photos I took yesterday evening in my little flower garden:

A male American goldfinch:

A male ruby-throated hummingbird:

Same hummer, from the rear!!!

A grumpy female domestic shorthair cat, who thinks she is a much better “crop” than whatever I can put in this basket from my garden:

Thanks for visiting today!

Snow Birds

This is an almost 100%-non-stamping-related post, so if birds and/or snow don’t interest you, just move on.  It is snowing like crazy here todayin SE Pennsylvania, on top of the 24” we got over the weekend.  The birds are flocking around my feeder because there just isn’t anywhere else to find food!  This was taken a day or so ago, right through my front window, where I have holly bushes.  The bird shown is a yellow-shafted flicker.  Normally they are ground feeders, but in the winter when there is not much food, or snow on the ground, they love to decimate my holly bushes!!

Their markings are very unusual---spotted breast, yellow under their tail, black bib, red mark on the back of the head; they are part of the woodpecker family.  They have a very distinctive high-pitched, shrill cry, too, so you always know when one is around.  Here’s another shot of one on my suet feeder, along with a Northern cardinal on the ground:

Isn’t he a sharp-looking fellow?  Or maybe it’s a female, I’m not sure!  They NEVER come this close to the house, so to see them like this is a real treat!  Here’s a cute little sparrow:

This one is a white-throated sparrow, I can tell by the yellow spot near his eye.  Here he is again, different angle:

And how about nature imitating art?  Here is a card I posted a couple weeks ago:

Now look at this photo:

Cool, huh?  Here’s a better cardinal photo; this one was taken from my kitchen through the window screen:

I am surprised that the birds that usually frequent the feeder, the chickadees and nuthatches, are not around!  Hunkering down in the storm, I guess.

And one last one; no birds, but the bell, angel and my little church are totally “painted” white:

I know that lots of people complain about the snow, but there is really nothing we can do about it!  Take it easy, don’t stress…the Lord is in control!