shhhhh…nature is happening here

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This is my ode to the natural world sign I made in honor of all the creatures that also inhabit our small slice of sw florida.

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They are full time residents, just like ourselves.

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While they don’t always show themselves, I find that when I’m taking photos of items to put in our shop, quietly and for long periods of time,

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…one of them, at least, will poke its head out to observe and see what I’m up to,

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always unexpectedly; never when I would really like for them to appear for photos.

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Using a few of the pictures I had taken in our yard, I created a collage with some bamboo slats.

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I wanted it to have a ‘summer camp’ look to it and decided on one photo for each slat.

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After the photos were glued on, I printed and cut out two different boston fern leaves to overlap the photos on each side.

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Did you know that boston ferns are native to florida even though they are called ‘boston’ ferns? Yeah…I don’t know why either.

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We have quite a bit of this pretty plant; it grows wildly in our yard.

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Jeff made the slats from splitting bamboo poles and drilled holes close to the edges.

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After dry brushing some brown craft paint on the photos I gave it a couple of layers mod podge. Then, I strung the slats together with hemp cord and attached a piece of twisted silver wire to hang it with.

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With thinner wire, I webbed together some small bamboo pieces, that had some of jeff’s carvings and a green paint wash; along with a tiny silver jingle bell.

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I think the collaged nature sign looks awfully pretty there on our hammock post, but ‘bringing the outdoors in’ is a décor trend that I am all for. It will most likely find a protected spot inside the house.

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I want to thank you for stopping by and taking a peek into our yard that seems to have more of a life of it’s own than meets the eye

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…something that I am forever unexpectedly, yet pleasantly, reminded of everyday.
~dale

6 comments:

  1. Awesome pics. I am so jealous that you have your very own squirrel! I love those nutty critters.
    Nice artwork too.

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  2. What a lot of wildlife! And this piece is like a celebration of all the beauty around you... Fantastic!

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  3. Thank you, so much. Your comments are really sweet! The squirrels have a lot of history with us here. It seems like we end up raising one or two babies after every hurricane that blows by.

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  4. Haha, that last pic of the squirrel with his legs sprawled behind him is great! And, I think it's so cool how the creatures in your pictures are looking right at you, or at least it looks that way, even the butterfly!

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  5. That's funny. They do always look at me! I can't imagine what they think I'm doing. After all this time, though, I believe they've learned not to be camera shy. I'm so glad you stopped by, Niki.

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  6. These photos are stunning, and the artwork you have created from them is breathtaking. I really love the dragonfly. Thank you for sharing these with us.

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