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luvstocraft

chickadees

luvstocraft
14 years ago

Painted these little birds as part of a thank you gift for a friend. The little wooden plaque is from Dollar Tree.

Luvs

Comments (15)

  • paintingfool
    14 years ago

    Luvs, these are the cutest birds. I love chickadees. I have them (the black cap chickadees) feeding at my studio window feeder. They eat really fast and love sunflower seeds. Love it but I don't see your signature.

  • kraftymom
    14 years ago

    You gotta love Dollar Tree. Really like your Chickadees, so cute!

    Paintingfool...birding is my day job (I work for Wild Birds Unlimited). I thought you'd like to know that Chickadees don't actually eat fast, they have a pecking order and so they fly one at a time to the feeder, take a seed, and eat it or stash it elsewhere. That's why you never see a Chickadee hanging out for any period of time at a bird feeder, they have to leave so the next one gets it's turn.

    Cool Facts about Black Capped Chickadees...

    The Black-Capped Chickadee hides seeds and other food items to eat later. Each item is placed in a different spot and the chickadee can remember thousands of hiding places.
    Every autumn Black-capped Chickadees allow brain neurons containing old information to die, replacing them with new neurons so they can adapt to changes in their social flocks and environment even with their tiny brains.

  • luvstocraft
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    PF, I seldom ever sign my work, always afraid I will mess it up with my lousy handwriting! So where would you sign you name on this? Would you use a gold pen? Maybe I'll just write something on the back.

    Kraftymom, that's interesting about the chickadees. I love watching all kinds of birds, but really don't know much about them. The details you shared just once again confirm for me, the miracles of God's creations. Even little birds have such complex rituals--amazing!

    Luvs

  • paintingfool
    14 years ago

    Kraftymom, I watched the birdies this afternoon a little closer and I think they are pecking fast to get the sunflower seeds, they seem to be throwing the other seeds to the ground - could this be why they seem to be pecking so fast? I just love birds and I could just sit and watch them for hours. We have a swing in our front yard just so we can watch the birds. Thanks for the info.

    Luvs, I would sign it in the bottom right hand curve of the plaque. I use a Micron pen to sign if the background is light, I use the .005 brown, and if dark I use the black. On my ornaments I sometimes write Merry Christmas, Warm Winter Wishes, etc., and the year. I like having a year marked on my ornaments since my memory is not as good as it use to be.
    Later

  • phonegirl
    14 years ago

    Luvs,

    What a cute bird plaque you painted for your friend for a thank you. Perfect pattern for this time of year with the holly on them. I bought a bird book but have never painted any from it. I'll have to think about it again.

    Thanks Kraftymom, for all your information on the birds. I enjoyed reading about them. Punk

  • kraftymom
    14 years ago

    Luvs,

    You should always sign your work. I always sign mine on the front and believe it or not I still do it with a paintbrush! lol My signature changed a bit over the years until I created one I liked and stuck with.

    PF, If it looks like the Chickadees are throwing the other seed to the ground it's because they are! The Chickadees are digging to get to the sunflower seeds because they know they are there. Other birds will do the same thing to get to their favorite seed when you have a blend in your feeder.

    Fact: The Black Oil Sunflower seed is the one single seed enjoyed by most birds.

    That's my bird education for today. lol

    Fun Note: An aquaintance of mine works at Trader Joe's. (Trader Joe's and Wild Birds are just one door down from each other). I've known him for years but in recent months I found out he is married to a very well known animal/wildlife artist. Even though she paints all wildlife she is known mostly for her artwork of cats and dogs and her art has been showcased all over the world from the NW to Christie's in London. I am very excited because he came into the store yesterday and invited me to her holiday open house! Some of the proceeds will go to the Cascade Animal Protection Society. I am excited about meeting her, I always get inspired when I meet 'real' artists. lol

  • kraftymom
    14 years ago

    I got so excited I forgot to tell you the artist's name...it's Sueellen Ross.

  • phonegirl
    14 years ago

    Kraftymom, I can understand why you are so excited about meeting Sueellen Ross. She paints fantastic animals. I went to ebay and viewed her work. Thanks for sharing this with us.

    Luvs, Did you give this plaque to your friend yet? My Christmas dinnerware has birds on them so I would like to go through my books and see what I could come up with. Maybe paint on a vase or tray.

    I want to start getting out Christmas decorations but would like to paint this weekend so don't know what I'll end up doing. We are having sewer issues again so might not get much accomplished at all.

    Punk

  • luvstocraft
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Hi Punk, I can't wait to see your Christmas dinnerware. You could enlarge the design from them and make a plaque for your door or to sit on an easel--wouldn't that be cool?

    Kraftymom and PF, I will make sure I sign my little plaque before I mail it. I usually see them signed and dated. Guess that's a good idea. Hmmm, wonder if when someone finds them in the TS a few years down the road, they might hesitate to buy them even if they like them just because they are "old". LOL

    Luvs

  • pezabelle
    14 years ago

    Luvs.....I love your Chickadee's! They look like they will just fly right off the plaque. They are all fluffed out trying to get warm in the cold weather.

    I love my birds! But they have abandoned our porch feeder and my other hanging feeders for the seed we put out for our Morning Doves. Normally the feeder is up all year, but we did the "fix'it up" on the porch and deck and had to remove the feeder and ended up making a new one. Maybe they don't like the color! Might have to paint it brown...never thought of that. And I didn't know we had so many different and beautiful birds until we started to feed them many years ago.

    Anyway, Luvs....you have created another heart warmer!

  • pezabelle
    14 years ago

    They Have Arrived! As I was sitting here posting to the conversations side I looked out and there was a dozen or so birds eating away, and I had just told my DH that we might have to repaint our feeder...which got a real blank stare. He then told me, "if we wait....... they will come." so...now I will get a "I told you so!"

    Belle

  • phonegirl
    14 years ago

    Kraftymom, is this the week of the open house? Luvs, has your friend called to let you know she loves her new bird plaque you painted for her? They are such pretty birds you painted.

    Belle, you are making me want to rethink another bird feeder. We had one and the birds made such a mess, I got rid of it. Do you have any problems with a mess?

    I love my humming birds so maybe I should try the others again and put the feeder out in the yard. Maybe I've grown up and could tolerant more in my old age.


    Punk

  • luvstocraft
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Punk, I haven't given the gift yet, I'm still working on some other things to send with it.

    I used to put birdseed on my back wall for the birds but they made quite a mess of it. For now, I'm just feeding the hummingbirds.

    Glad you liked my little birds, I've seen patterns with birds everywhere from very simple to very detailed. These were sort of a happy medium and just right for me. LOL

    Luvs

  • kraftymom
    14 years ago

    There is such a thing as 'no mess seed'. Basically it is just single seed types or seed blends with all the hulls removed. It cost more because of the hulling process but you won't have shells everywhere underneath your feeders. They are our biggest selling seeds at the store, I use a no mess seed myself.

  • anjabee
    14 years ago

    Look what I almost missed! Cutest little bird plaque ever! ha Love your chickadees Luvs! Your friend will love it too!. I always forget to sign my stuff too. Some things I've gone back later and signed and dated the back or bottoms with a pencil on the wood. When I remember I sometimes do my little fancy initials intertwined and then sometimes just my first name. Guess it depends on my mood. ha Great job on this. I really love it. ~Anj

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