Spring is in the air!

Welcome!

"A gust of wind" by Gaetano Bellei

my-museum-of-art.blogspot.com

Ah, visions of Spring!

I know some of you have already had Spring, or are in a different zone where this is coming into your (gasp) winter!

But today, we are having a typical Rocky Mountain Spring:

snow.

Yep, snow.

7 - 10 inches of the white wet stuff.

poor little squirrel.

good thing he has a tail...

www.life-is-beautiful-that-way.blogspot.com

But....

Spring is still in the air...sort of.

I have lovely jonquils and daffodils blooming in my gardens.

At least, they were blooming yesterday. Today they will freeze and turn brown and wilt-y. Oh well, there's always hope for the coming tulips!!

www.greenblueglobe.blogspot.com

"Spring

hath put a spirit of youth

in everything."

- William Shakespeare

"Water, Palm and Butterfly"

original Collage Art doll using all recycled junk mail

www.collagepaperpainting.etsy.com

I am still dreaming of spring wildflower hikes...

 a stampscape rubber stamped card by Rose Walkers

www.stampincatstudio.com

I am looking forward to nature walks, gathering things for my art...

"Garden Wings Fairy"

original Collage Art Doll using all recycled junk mail

by inkspired

www.collagepaperpainting.etsy.com

"Nature has been for me,

as long as I remember,

a source of

solace,

inspiration

adventure

and delight;

a home, a teacher, a companion."

- Lorraine Anderson

vintage clip

Here is a cute miniature scene. It comes with a 'Christmas' tree, but you can decorate that or not, as you wish.

from Karen's whimsy site

no, not me, another Karen!!!

for some strange reason, my computer saved the Large Tree in a weird format that I can't open.

Sorry.

Still learning this foreign language called "computer-speak".

I bet if you printed at 300% or so (play around with the sizing) the one large tree, it would be the right size for the 'Christmas tree'.

:0)

Have fun,

and don't forget to take pictures to share with us!

wee blue happy house by www.lulurocks.etsy.com

Spring -

Time for the bears to come out!

www.origamibears.com

"Walk quietly in the spring;

Mother Earth is pregnant."

- Kiowa Proverb

(North American Native American Indian tribe)

Another reason I love Spring is all the Spring babies!!

Bar-headed Goose with day-old chick

Zoo of Servion, near Lausanne, Switzerland

photo cred: Dominic Favre

unknown credit

3 week-old sand kittens, thought to be extinct in Israel

born in Ramat Gan Safari Park, Tel Aviv, Israel

photo cred: Nir Elias

female trumpeter swan with new cygnet,

Chicago Zoo

a 4-day old seal under mom's watchful eye

Schoenbrunn Zoo, Vienna

photo cred: Herwig Prammer

"The World is very old;

But every Spring

It groweth young again,

And fairies sing."

- Cicely Mary Barker, Fairies of the Spring, 1923

vintage illustration

by Sheryl A. Knowles

copyright 1906

at the right of my blog you will find some of my favorite web sites.

This comes from the Music Library site.

Well, it's that time again where I need to close.

It is still snowing outside. I don't mind. Living in a semi-arid climate -

we can always use the moisture!!

I best go turn on our fireplace, Turner loves to lay in front of it and get all toasty warm!

until next time...

inkspired

www.inkspired.etsy.com

www.collagepaperpainting.etsy.com

www.inkspiredmusings.blogspot.com

and on pinterest: kkloberdans

New Birth is in the air!

Chirp!
(That's 'good day' in sparrow language).

c.1848

Today I'd like to focus on all the New Birth that this season brings us.

The new birth of baby birds.

The new birth of baby animals.

The new birth of flowers blooming.

and

The New Birth that Jesus Christ gives us with His death and resurrection.

c. 1899

 “Everyone wants to understand painting.

Why is there no attempt

to understand the song of the birds?"

...Pablo Picasso

Rubber stamp image courtesy of VivaLasVegaStamps.

Check out Stampo's wonderful website, listed on the right.

 

“I like pigs. 

Dogs look up to us. 

 Cats look down on us. 

 Pigs treat us as equals.” 

~Winston Churchill

c.1906

wildflowers

"Endless repetition, in and out of season, has spoiled for us

the freshness, the naivete, the simple romantic charm of the Gospels.

We hear them read far too often and far too badly....

When one returns to the Greek,

it is like going into a garden of lilies

out of some narrow and dark house."

....Oscar Wilde, from De Profundis

Here's a sweet bear paper doll, with her baby bears:

 'For God loved you so much 

that He gave His very own Son

 so that when you believe in Him

you won't perish but have eternal life.'

paraphrase of John chapter 3, verse 16, Bible

"If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures

 from the shelter of compassion and pity,

 you will have men who will deal likewise

with their fellow men."
— St. Francis of Assisi

Let me close with:

inkspired

http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/

dominoes@myinkspired.com

Easter chicks galore!

Hi!
First of all, don't you just love the word 'galore'? We just don't use it enough.
So, today we will have paper dolls 'galore', chick coloring pages 'galore', and darling chick photos and vintage clip 'galore'!

Since I know you have that big ol' box of crayons out from yesterday, here is a fun Easter Chick coloring page for you!

and another:

Here is a rubber stamped card from Peddler's Pack:

Okay, okay, I know these wonderful eggs will not become cute little chicks,
but the card was so pretty I had to add it!

So, here are some more chicks:

and another vintage postcard:

“Our theories of the eternal

are as valuable as are those

of a chick which has not broken

its way through its shell

might form of the outside world.”

 - Budha

Here is a fun little paperdoll by Lucinda Darbin, courtesy of OrigamiBears.

Be sure and make some extra outfits!



And we can't leave out Betsy McCall, now can we?

"We can see a thousand miracles around us every day.

What is more supernatural than an egg yolk

Turning into a chicken?”

- S. Parkes Cadman

Here is a tip for making your own Easter egg stands:

Cut a toilet paper cardboard core into 1 inch cylinders.

Have fun decorating with stickers, scraps of fancy paper, lace and ribbons!

Now, how easy is that?

Here is a darling little cupcake recipe from McCormick's seasonings:

Chick Cupcakes

Hatch a batch of these cupcakes this Easter with your little kitchen helpers.

Makes 12 (1 cupcake) servings.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

1 container (16 ounces) vanilla frosting

McCormick® Assorted Food Colors and Egg Dye

2 cups flaked coconut

12 unfrosted cupcakes

12 plain donut holes

12 pieces candy corn or 6 orange jelly beans, halved lengthwise

Miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Tint frosting yellow, using 18 drops yellow food color. Place coconut in resealable plastic bag. Add 12 drops yellow food color to coconut in bag; shake until coconut is evenly tinted.

2. Spread top of each cupcake with tinted frosting. Press opposite sides of each cupcake into tinted coconut. Spread donut holes with remaining frosting. Press a donut hole into top of each cupcake to form the chick’s head.

3. Press coconut on top of the head for feathers. Insert a candy corn or jelly bean half into the face for the beak. Use the chocolate chips for the eyes.

Test Kitchen Tip: For ease in frosting donut holes, first insert small wooden skewer into donut. Use skewer as a handle when frosting donut. Invert frosted donut onto cupcake then remove skewer.

Copyright © 2008 McCormick & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. | www.mccormick.com

And for a final too cute end:

Hope today's blog has made you smile at least twice!

inkspired

http://www.inkspired.etsy.com/

http://www.myinkspired.com/

dominoes@myinkspired.com