my desk…
Hello my crafty friends! It’s me! I am sitting out on my deck on this lovely morning typing this post. I borrowed my son’s phone yesterday to take a picture of my desk. His phone takes the most amazing pictures. I still won’t cave and buy a new phone.
For those of you that aren’t familiar with WOYWW (What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday), head on over to Julia’s Stamping Ground and you will find desks from all around the world where we get to snoop on other crafter’s desks.
So let’s take a look at my desk. I found this amazing coloring book on the bargain table at Barnes and Noble. For any of you that are new to my site, I love nature and all that it entails. I grow a flower and vegetable garden on my property and am a lover of birds.
I had taken my boys to the bookstore over the weekend to fight the heatwave we were experiencing and came across this lovely coloring book that simply had to come home with me. It includes 39 birds of paradise from the New Guinea region. The cover has gold foil accents with the most amazing images. I could not walk away from it.
I was even more excited when I opened up the book because on the left side there is a small image of the bird and below it is listed the name of the bird and a little bit of information about them. In the back they list the birds and have a color photographs of all of the birds. The book is produced by The CornellLab of Onithology, who is the world leader in the study of conservation birds.
They also included a link to watch the birds that they filmed on YouTube. Grab a cup of tea and a snack and prepare to be amazed. I can’t believe how magnificent the male birds feathers are. My husband and I watched this and some more videos on these amazing creatures.
One thing I notice about me, is that I get hyped up when I see a coloring book and then when I get it home, I usually set it aside for a while before I begin coloring in it. But this one, I really wanted to dive in. So yesterday, I spent a short time doing just that. I have some amazing glitter gel pens that I have really been eager to use in my coloring books. So I held my breath and went for it. Because many of the birds in this book have iridescent feathers so I thought I would try to incorporate my gel pens in the coloring. I am not sure how much I like it but will know when I finish. I am using my Prismacolors as my main source.
One thing I notice about me, is that I get hyped up when I see a coloring book and then when I get it home, I usually set it aside for a while before I begin coloring in it. But this one, I really wanted to dive in. So yesterday, I spent a short time doing just that. I have some amazing glitter gel pens that I have really been eager to use in my coloring books. So I held my breath and went for it. Because many of the birds in this book have iridescent feathers so I thought I would try to incorporate my gel pens in the coloring. I am not sure how much I like it but will know when I finish. I am using my Prismacolors as my main source.
I am going to try and sneak up there today and continue coloring. I would like to get back to regular coloring sessions but with the construction still going on at our home, and all of my other things I need to do, it gets pushed aside. Well I think I will stop this chatter and go snoop on some desks! Have a crafty day!
Belinda
My hydrangea didn’t bloom this year and all of the sudden two stems have bloomed! Crazy. I will walk among my plants until it gets too cold looking to see what they are doing. Even the ones that are preparing for the winter are fun to observe. I like all stages of my plants’ cycle.
I love how the underside of the butterfly wings are lighter. I will have to remember that when coloring in butterfly images with my Copics. I like using images of nature in my garden for color inspirations when coloring.
This one let me get so close and then I set my phone for close up photos and captured this beauty. I don’t take their visit for granted because I am aware of all the damage chemicals and pesticides are creating for our birds and insects. I hope we will always be blessed with their visits.
Hello and happy Monday! I am getting this out late because I spent the morning nursing my garden. I say nursing because in addition to the funky weather this summer, our vacation getaways and my less than enthusiastic maintenance this last month and a half; my poor garden has suffered. So this morning after dropping off Nick, I decided to go salvage and care for my plants. My girlfriend, Ashley is one of my big inspirations and usually this time of year, I am sitting around a bountiful veggie garden and explosion of blooms and texting her about my daily happenings in the garden. But this year has to go down as one of much neglect when it came to the garden. So in the midst of my pity party, I put on my garden shoes and headed out to water and make adjustments, but I realized that despite the lack of care, there were so many things to be grateful for in my garden. Above is a Phlox that my former neighbor gave me before she moved. I just had to stop and smile at this delicate beauty.
This lovely yellow rose bush was ripped out of the grown when we had some major plumbing work done in June and I was so afraid that it wouldn’t last after being transplanted to another area in my garden. But today, to my surprise I peeked behind my echinacea and there this single beautiful bloom greeted me.
I don’t know if you can see what’s happening in this photo but I had my sprinkler on my side lawn and went inside my house to talk with my son while I waited to move the sprinklers. I had set a timer on my phone to remind me to go out and turn off the water. When I came to the door to come outside, I saw between 6 – 8 birds (mostly Robins) running in and out to the sprinkler and washing off. It was the cutest thing to see. So the total bird-lover in me decided to let the water run a few more minutes to let them cool off and play.
I wanted to share these photos because I wanted to show how small miracles are happening around us all every day and all we have to do is slow down and be open to receive them. I could have stood out there and grumped about the veggies that didn’t come or the excess leaves that are already falling from the trees but I chose to look at the beauty that exists when I open my eyes. I am grateful for the nature that I can come into contact with right in my yard every day and I do not take it for granted.
I know Monday can be stressful with all of our ambitious to-do lists but just make sure you pause for a few minutes in nature today and I bet you will be pleasantly surprised.
