A site for my handmade cards, accompanied by my photos and written meanderings which are occasionally witty, often tongue-in-cheek, and rarely profound. Beginning in June 2013, you'll also see lots of NBUS, which is an acronym I coined for Never-Before-Used-Schtuff. Note: my Privacy Policy can be found at a tab below and you can find my NBUS Challenge online. I hope you'll join in the fun there! Thanks for coming by! Have a beverage and enjoy!

August 1, 2012

CASology #4, BIRD

Aaaccckkk, it's August Already!!

I got a call yesterday to go to the office today and do an emergency Power Point presentation.  (Not "do" the presentation, as in be the presenter, but "do the presentation," as in prepare the materials.)  I had my container of bird stamps open in my Playhouse when the call came in.  So many birds, so many ideas, so little time, this will have to wait until tomorrow  . . . then I remembered that I had a print photo of my birdhouse in my "to do" slot, waiting to be made into a card.  So that's what I did.  Thank you, Serena Dippity.

As you've no doubt guessed, today's cue word at CASology is "bird."


Here is my photo of the cute little birdhouse hanging in the back yard:


And here's my card, made from a previously taken photo.  I should have taken a picture from another angel, too, to show you better how the little "hello" is attached so it can be closed over the birdhouse entry hole.

~~~

Okay, you guys, so in Wild Kingdom news, you know that cute little squirrel I showed you a few days ago, the one who was eating some mystery item up on the fence, which he's still doing and which I think are undeveloped sunflowers, and the one who brought out the hatred for squirrels in some of you?  WELL!  Looks like I'm going to be joining the ranks of squirrel haters.

Wait, first, back to the birds.  You see, without the birds, who just happened to be the focality of this post, I wouldn't have caught the squirrel.  So there I was, getting up and down straightening out my stamp cupboard yesterday and this bird caught my eye, hopping along the patio right under my window, where birds don't normally hop, so I stopped to watch it.  Turned out to be a mama.  Here she is:

She turned around and hopped over to the big decorative boulder where, by now, this other bird was waiting.  Turned out to be her baby: 


Here is mama feeding baby. Sorry, it's so blurry, but I get a little picture-taking-tremor when I get excited by these critter moments.  Not to mention, baby is all a twitter over getting fed:


And here they are unblurry:  Aaawww . . .


So, as I'm taking that picture, I notice one of the jade trees right there starts to shaking.  I focused and could just see a furry little brown bottom:


What the heck?  I can't even imagine what he's doing in there.  Just then, Mister came home and Squirrel scampered away: 


I mentioned it to Mister and we walked over to instigate.  Oh my gravy, that little sheet was EATING one of the jade trees!!  We've had them five years and this has never happened before:



That was a big 'ol chunk.  I can plant it in another pot and it will probably take root, but I hope he got a first-class tummy ache so he doesn't do it again!  Man, oh, man.  And here I was telling the whole world how cute he was.  That's the thanks I get!

It's amazing I get anything done, huh, what with my ADHD interrupting my OCD like that.

Okay, gotta run.  If you haven't checked out CASology yet, please go over and join in the fun, even if "clean and simple" isn't your normal "go-to style." The creations are always amazing, always enchanting, and a lot of the time, ridiculously brilliant! 

Enjoy!   As always, thank you for stopping by to visit.   Special thanks to you if you take the time to join as a follower or leave a comment!

Paper:  SU white
Stamp:  "Hello" SU, set unknown
Ink:  PTI dark chocolate
Photo:  © Darnell J. Knauss


24 comments:

Kara Lynne said...

I love the birdhouse card! The aged look against the tree bark and the colors in the bird make it so artistic. Clever idea with the "hello" door too.

Redanne said...

Picture this - I am sitting on the edge of my seat, you are showing us the beautiful birds and talking about how bad the squirrel is and I am getting all worked up thinking that the squirrel is going to attack said birds......whew, what a relief that it was your plant and then I though OMG that beautiful plant! OK that's enough excitement for me today........lovely photos though Darnell.......Crafty hugs, Anne x

Carole said...

Your too funny. Loved the story, and I hope the jade plant did the squirrel a big belly ache too! Really cute card.

Ardyth said...

Thank you so much for all the kindness you left on my blog today - you have been with me from the first day pretty much and your support means a lot to me!

I love your birdhouse card and I'm so glad you played along with CASology again this week!

Loll said...

Great birdhouse card!!

I used to think squirrels were cute ... but now they are just pests that dig up my potted flowers.

Asia King (aka Joanna K) said...

Lovely pictures and that birdhouse is so adorable!

Thank you so much for the congratulations wishes! Mwah! x

Carol L said...

I love your birdhouse card - it's so clever and cute! I've never heard of a squirrel eating a jade tree before, but at least he didn't try to eat the baby bird! LOL

Kim Heggins said...

Just so stunning...love all of your amazing photos too, you have such a lovely backyard.

Michelle said...

Darnell, I almost missed your card in this post! It looks so lifelike, LOL! I was also distracted by the birds and the naughty squirrel. Another fun story! You have me giggling, again. :-)

Jen W. said...

Your garden is like a little Wonderland! I love it! Those birds are adorable and your squirrel is super cheeky! LOL!

Love the card you created with your photo and the cool sentiment panel! Thanks for playing along with CASology this week!

Sandy said...

Oh and he was just so darn cute too. Now he had to go and spoil a good thing. Maybe you need to plant a few of those other things he likes to eat. Love your birdhouse photo card the colors are lovely. Sandy :)

Victoria said...

What a naughty squirrel, but I am glad he didn't get the ickle baby bird... I thought that's where the story was heading... and I can't cope with that sort of trauma while blog hopping. I do like how you incorporate your photos into cards - tres clever!

Craftychris said...

I love your birdhouse and the card is gorgeous! ooh those birds are so sweet and the squirrel is a little pickle! (I thought I would be polite!) xx

shirley-bee said...

Love the birdhouse card, Darnell (and the real birdhouse!). I like the little hello door, nice touch.

Jean said...

What a great idea for a card ~ and the wood grain background and birdhouse shape is perfect. Thanks for sharing the lovely bird pictures. Hope your chewed off jade branch takes root!

Lin said...

Hi Darnell! I came over to say thank you for your sweet words on my blog, and fell in love with yours! I'm your newest follower. So enjoy your style of blogging and I love your birdhouse card today - what a great idea to use a photo!!

Jenni's Jems said...

Darnell, I really enjoy reading your blog and the different styles you use with your cards all add up to a great read ,but oh when I saw your stash of stamps I nearly passed out with envy - all of mine fit in a shoe box! hee he x

Maria@Crafty Cre8tions said...

Great way to play in the challenge especially with your limited time!

Thanks for your blog visit and sorry about your plant!!!

Judy1223 said...

Darnell, I love your card and thoroughly enjoyed your entire post! Those birds are so sweet (I love catching mamma feedig baby!) and that squirrel causing trouble...naught squirrel! I laughed out loud at your comment re: your ADHD interrupting your OCD like that...too funny!

Rosemary said...

what a cool card, darnell! a brilliant out of the box take on the challenge... thanks for playing along with CASology this week! and for sharing all those sweet pictures of the mommy bird and her little one!

Princess Judy Palmer said...

I was waiting for the squirrel to get the baby bird. Whew, you really had me on the edge of my seat there. I'm glad he didn't get the birds, but oh my! I never knew they would nibble a jade plant like that! I get hawks who hunt out of my bird feeder, so I now feed the birds sporadically. No squirrels though! A raccoon once-that was a surprise.

Bonnie said...

Pesky squirrel, sweet birds, lovely birdhouse. What a clever idea to use the picture for a card!

Anonymous said...

What a cool birdhouse card.

kingstonmama said...

Fabulous birdhouse card, Darnell. Love your photos. Those darn squirrels are so mischievous. :) Ann