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I found some nifty plain white birdhouses at HobLob on clearance, and bought the remaining three. I figured I'd paint them or decorate them somehow, but I ended up just stuffing the bag under my crafting table. While pondering crafty gifts to make, I remembered the forgotten houses and decided to give them to my mom as a xmas gift. I gathered supplies: paint, brushes, sandpaper, decoupage medium, paper scraps, ribbon, inspirational transfers, and more. Spread out on the cold concrete floor of my craft room, I started painting the first one and just waited for the colors and personality of the house to reveal.

Feeling quite proud of the first one, with its denim-look paint job and bronze-y accents (including a filigree under the eaves), pleasant glittery yellow roof and chipper bird, I forged on to the next:This second house turned out to be quite merry, with its patchwork-look 'wallpaper', a cheery green roof with flourishes, real cedar siding (from a tree in my yard), a touch of gold paint, and another filigree accent. Second merry birdhouse complete, I turned to the third. I was a bit stumped, I confess, not sure of how I could outdo myself on this one! But I think I did:I painted it yellow, then smeared a tiny rag dabbed on a black ink pad all over it, then went over that with green paint. It came out quite natural looking, lots of depth in the various layered colors. I tried crackle paint on the roof, but it didn't work (too cold?), so I sanded it down and ended up with a gorgeous weather-beaten, aged effect. I didn't want to decorate this one too much so I just used some more cedar bark and lichen-covered branches from my yard. The bird is sitting on a small chunk of ball moss, which covers the lower branches of my oak trees.

I poured a lot of creative effort into this project. But I have to say that I was thrilled with the outcome, and I just wish I could find more of those little houses!

A new piece... I have been collecting quite a few vintage stones, and now that I've recently purchased some filigree wraps, I can make use of them! I love the color of this stone... it seems to sparkle, doesn't it?



I've also been playing around with different backdrops for my photos. Do you like the words?

You can now follow me on twitter!

http://twitter.com/TheLadyJ

We'll see how well I can keep up with it... heck, we'll see if I can even figure it out! I have to plead ignorance when it comes to social networking sites. But I'm trying!