new fun things hooray

The art fair season is officially under way, and I'm having fun with some new additions to my booth... mostly these! --->

I've only made a few, but as soon as my next order of glass tiles arrives, I'll be playing in the studio and making more of these pendants, using various images from my photographs.

I LOVE THEM.

They're fun to make~ very gratifying. And I really enjoy the process of playing around with different images. Some photos I'd planned on using turned out to look pretty dumb, and others surprised me in a very happy kind of way.

(A few are up in my Etsy shop! And I can make custom ones with kid pictures, pet pictures, etc. Snazzy!)

bird stalker

There's a pair of pileated woodpeckers preparing to nest in the wooded area outside the house where I work. I watch for them whenever we pass by the bay window, pretending that we're standing there to greet the ficus, talking to the baby, "Good morning, friend plant! Hello, great outdoors!" I tell him about all of the edible fungus growing on the trees, all of the critters soaring or scampering by, all of the things we'll do together when he gets bigger... But all the while, I'm hoping for a pileated sighting.

Today was my Lucky Day. I saw both of them, and this one stayed for quite a while, working very diligently on what I assume will be their nesting cavity. The baby was patient while I took three thousand pictures. I put him in the sling and went outside to get a better view, and I'm pretty happy to have managed a couple of reasonably clear shots. We were pretty far away, and I had a wiggling person attached to my torso, so I can't complain.

These birds are interesting, and rather comical, to watch~ and it felt like an honor. I don't care if that sounds cheesy. We rarely see them, and it's usually a glimpse of red and then they vanish. They're huge, but not terribly confident when it comes to a human audience, so this was a treat~

open heart

The things that re-opened my heart today: the new baby, who's bravely smiling and cooing his way through his first cold; the beautiful hawk that sat outside my mechanic's shop and stayed long enough to pose for some great photos; and good friends who love me out loud and hold my heart on good days and bad.