Welcome to my
Perfectly Imperfect Life..........

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

An Exciting Sighting!


Checklists Submitted:   172,151       
 Total Species Observed:   5,869         
 Total Individual Birds Counted:   27,160,822
                 Statistics last updated on March 1, 2017

The weather wasn't very cooperative for The Great Backyard Bird Count this year for our area. Disappointing to say the least.

A few of the regulars stopped by in between the 
wind and rain storms.

House Finches

They used to nest in the front Rose covered arbor, 
but stray cats found it easy to climb and raid the nests :(


Now they have live in my backyard Gazebo
 which is to difficult for cats to climb, 
plus the dogs keep them out of the backyard :)


They have several nests in my Rose and 
Honeysuckle Gazebo. It's densely covered 
so the Finches are much happier now.


I only prune the side and 
let the top run wild for the birds :)


 Of course, the Scrub Jays had to stop in 


and play in the pond waterfall ~ raining or not


One of the pair of Eurasian Collared Doves 
came out for a short time.
It was so windy it just sat on the fence.
This is the 3rd year they have nested in my Podocarpus.
It's very, very dense towards the top,
they feel secure in there.


All the birds in my yard disappeared!
Everything got quiet.
THEN I had a very big surprise!

All of a sudden a Coopers Hawk landed on my garden bench!!!








It was a beaut! 
After the bench, it hopped over to the bird bath, 
poked around then took off. 
That was my excitement for the weekend!

Saturday, February 25, 2017

Personalized Plain Photo Frames


I've been told I have too many family photos in my home.
I don't listen to the nay sayers - they don't live here I do and like to surround myself with my family, whether in person or in photos (past or present)
So there :p

I love to pick up plain frames at the Dollar Store, yard sale or any where I find them inexpensive then customize them to my liking.
I use everything from vintage jewelry to buttons to whatever suits my fancy ;)

Recently I picked up a small one for my newest Grand to go next to the one I have already of my first Grand on my refrigerator.
Never enough photos of those precious babies!

Since this one was a boy I wanted to decorate it in blue.
First I gave it a coat of blue craft paint I had so if any of the frame peeked through it wouldn't be so noticeable. 

Then out came buttons, beads, jewelry, etc. anything blue!
Since this frame was a little smaller I put the photo in and added the embellishments around as to not block the photo.


I ended up using the teeniest blue buttons. After playing around with other things, I realized I didn't want it frou frou, he was after all a BOY.  OK, I did add a couple blue pearls in the end ;)


I did come across a clear heart button. Since it was clear it really didn't show up very well when added. I got out some bluish tinsel nail polish I had and painted it.  Then went over it with some light blue glitter nail polish. The tinsel and glitter really made it pop!


OY!
Too many projects at once. 
A cluttered work space means a creative mind, right?
That's my story and I'm sticking to it!


Katie waits patiently.
Yeh, she's bored ~


The finished product!
I love how it turned out with the soft blues and 
the heart button up in the corner.


It was going on my refrigerator so 
I glued a magnet on the back :)


There they are, side by side.
The first time I held each one, right
 after delivery in the hospital.

A few other frames I've done in the past ~

Over the top... 


to simpler



what I'm working on now :)


So maybe next time you see a frame that's a plain Jane,
 rethink her into a Marvelous Marilyn

Anne Orr Tatting Instructions







Remember you can click on image to enlarge :)


Thursday, February 23, 2017

Rethink.....Miami? and an Important Update


By now you all have probably seen the
AT&T "Rethink Possible" TV Commercial.

All the flowing, billowing orange fabric
rolling down, down....



Cool ad, but it seemed so familiar.

It reminded me so much of when
the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude surrounded the Florida islands with
all that pink fabric in the '80's.
It was called "The Surrounded Islands".

We were stationed there at the time and
what a sight to see!
We all thought these people were crazy!
All the strategic plans that went into the project....
dealing with all the flora, fauna and not to mention the water.

But, when they were done, it was unlike anything
we had seen or would ever see again.


The islands were draped for 2 weeks,
if I remember correctly.

But I digress...

It seems I wasn't the only one that thought AT&T's Ad looked familiar.
Others thought the Ad resembled "The Gates",
in which the artists used orange fabric to 
obfuscate parts of Central Park in New York.

   
Little did I know that there was a big controversy brewing.

Jeanne-Claude passed away last November and many
thought this was a tribute to her and, of course, Christo.


But in all reality, it had nothing to do with either of them.
 They recently added at the end of the ad a small disclaimer that reads:

"The artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude have no direct or indirect affiliation or involvement with AT&T."

Quite sad and very disappointing, to say the least.

But, who am I to say where their inspiration was
derived from.

For me it recalls the much different life we
had while living in the tropical setting of Florida.

One I would never want to forget.

*~*~*~*~*~UPDATE ~*~*~*~*~*

I was recently received an exciting email I must share! 

'' Hi - my name is Louise, and I work at Artsy. While researching Christo and Jeanne-Claude, I found your page: http://dragonflytreasure.blogspot.com/2010/06/rethinkmiami.html

I am reaching out to certain website and blog owners that publish content in line with our mission to make all the world’s art accessible to anyone. We hope to continue promoting arts education and accessibility with your help. 

The National Gallery of Art is currently exhibiting “In the Library: Process and Participation in the Work of Christo and Jeanne-Claude”, which features Christo and Jeanne-Claude. As such, we would like to take the opportunity to now promote their work. Our hope is that the timing of this outreach will effectively support both the Museum and Claude. 

Our Christo and Jeanne-Claude page provides visitors with Claude's bio, over 25 of their works, exclusive articles, and up-to-date Claude exhibition listings. The page also includes related artists and categories, allowing viewers to discover art beyond our Claude page. We would love to be included as an additional resource for your visitors via a link on your page. We believe that by spreading access we can provide a new, empowering way for approaching art. If you are able to add a link to our Christo and Jeanne-Claude page, please let me know. Thanks in advance for your consideration! 

Best, 
Louise ''


I feel so honored to be asked to do this! 
What a beautiful mission :

Arty's mission is to make all the world's art accessible to anyone with internet connection.

We are a resource for art collecting and education.

Please, when you have a chance, check out their page.
Very informative and interesting to say the least and full of beauty.
A true tribute to Christo and Jeanne-Claude as well as other artisits.

The post Rethink.....Miami? appeared first on Dragonfly Treasure
on 6/5/10.


Saturday, February 18, 2017

GBBC 2017


What a storm we had blow thru yesterday, Friday. It lasted until early Saturday morning. Neighbors tree branches landed on our roof, but luckily no damage was done.

Counting the birds was basically nil on Friday with only a few brave cocky Scrub Jays doing a quick fly through, then taking off when they discovered how wet the seed was. Can't blame them. They were lucky there was even any seed left in the feeders. The wind was horrid - the electricity flickered all day Friday threatening to go out. The weather had said it was to be stormy until Monday or Tuesday - pretty disappointing for the Bird Count.

But when I got up this morning the sun was out and the wind had died down. I didn't recognize my yard with all the branches that had fallen and other things toppled over! I went out and picked up quickly, dumped out the wet seed and refilled the feeders.  There's a lot of nests being built right now so any extra food will help the birds energy wise to keep them healthy.

I came back in for a while so they could check things out, then went back out and sat to watch. A few came around I think the majority are still getting their bearings after yesterday! I did manage to snap a few pics. I'll be going out again later, hopefully the sun stays out and it warms up a bit!

The Eurasian Collared Doves are nesting in the Podocarpus behind the waterfall.

It's nice and dense and they love it.




They took turns coming out today. 

 

Almost caught a Scrub Jay leaving the platform feeder
 as I dropped my phone, 
yeh, I'm a klutz.
There's always tomorrow :)


Mannequin Makeover


I've always wanted a mannequin...

let's face it,
if you don't already have one you want one too!

When my friend Dawn heard,
the next time she visited
she brought an old adult one
for me that she had.

Thank you so much Dawn!!

I've had it for a while and using it regularly.
I've been wanting the adult to have more definition
as she is a shell.


She had a broken leg that I taped for stabilization.


I had an idea.
Didn't know if it would work,
but felt it was worth a try 


I have a pile of filling bags from garage sales.

I always pick them up when I see them
mainly because they are usually 10-50 cents.


I decided to start with an old blanket.

I shaped it to fit inside her shell and taped it in place.

Then I used the filling to fill in her legs, arms, and neck.

It was all secured with tape to hold in in place.
 

Once secured, I covered the back with tape.
 

Trimmed around the edges...


and decoupaged the whole thing with and old vintage sewing pattern I had.

I really like the different shades from where the pieces over lap,
makes it look older to me.


Now I can use it to display my latest jewelry....



or an old dress I Love....

(I know it needs to be ironed, I was in a hurry!)


Or both!
 



I am linking this to Carol at The Polka Dot Closet
for her Mannequin Dress form party.
Pop over and join the fun!

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