Hyde Park Parrots

In my Chicago neighborhood there is a year round population of Monk Parakeets. Their beautiful blue/green and yellow plumage is almost as loud as their squawk. It is still amazes me to see these tropical looking birds perched in a bare tree in the middle of winter. The mottled green and yellow paper that comes in so handy for a dandelion studded lawn works well for these birds.

The Spots!

I knew handmade paper was good for feathers and flowers, but fur? That's a new one . . . for me.

Mosaic Treasure Box

Taking advantage of the incredible sticking power of newly made paper and the abundance of pint-sized plastic berry containers this time of year, I made this little stained-glass treasure box.

 

 

Start by making sheets of different colors.

 

 

 

 

 

While the sheets are still very wet, tear off tiny pieces and stick them on the outside of the plastic container --- in a random fashion.

 

Keep it up.

 

 

This technique is very forgiving. You can move the pieces, overlap them. etc/

This takes a little time, but you can leave it and come back to it.

I'll bet this technique would work nicely with more subdued shades.

 

Dandelions Galore

By mixing up green pulp, then adding some yellow paper and mixing again for just a few seconds, I was able to create this very summery field of grass and dandelions. I liked the effect so much I used it again to create the backyard scene in my picture book, "This Old Man." 

Nothing says "Summer" like a dandelion bouquet.



In this card, I used several kinds of handmade paper and some recycled paper.



In this picture book, I used handmade paper to create a summer backyard

Happy Mother's Day

For this card, I used two kinds of handmade paper, one for the mother duck and one for the ducklings. To get the mottled yellow paper for the ducklings I used recycled white and yellow paper and added dried rose petals. I love the blush of purple where the rose petals bleed out. For the mother duck I used recycled white paper, brown paper bag and dried plant stems. Since the two sides of the handmade paper dry differently, I used one side for the body and the other for the wing.


Baby duck staying close to Mom.

Happy Mother's Day to you!

Robins

Let's sing about Spring