51/52 Bird a week - Keep a green tree...

"Keep a green tree in your heart and a singing bird will come"

This week's bird is one I started a while ago, but only finished this week.   It is a lidded box with the sides of the box made from a car license plate that I bent and painted.  

 

The top and bottom are painted pieces of wood and the whole is then mounted on casters (to add to the whimsy). The lid is adorned with a little singing blue bird on top of a tree branch in the lid.

The bird on the branch with a red heart painted below, symbolizes the quotation "keep a green tree in your heart and a singing bird will come". 

I think it's a lovely quotation - encouraging us to keep an open, fresh heart and good things will happen.

The bird is made from plaster wrap cloth, which I wrote a simple tutorial on using, back in September.

He is my 51st bird this year...one more to come a week today and then I'll have made a different bird each week for the whole year.  There are a few of us on No. 51 so click on the links below to check out their penultimate 2011 bird too:

12/52 Bird a week challenge - Teeny weeny bird

I am enjoying trying different media and this week, I've been looking at some different air dry clays.  So I decided to make my bird of the week out of one of these.  I wanted to see how small the clay would let me work, and try some color blending.

This clay is made by Deco and used a lot to make flowers.  It is very light and airy.  The colors mix beautifully and I really like that about it.  This bird ended up so light, I think he could probably very well fly :=D  And he is only about 1cm tall!

At the moment, he's busy eating so maybe he will gain some weight!!!

Please take a look at what the others in our year long challenge to make 52 birds in 2011, have created this week by clicking on the links below:

Surprise!!!

February 2nd - and its my birthday!!! Yes, and for American's, its groundhog day (that I'd never even heard of until I moved to the US), and also Candlemas.

Today my birthday is full of surprises - with nice pressies and my husband taking me somewhere for the day...but no hints so far.

So as I'm getting surprises today, thought I'd share one with you: - my latest creation although I haven't quite got a name for it ....maybe just "Birdbox necklace".

Here it is: a round silver box with a little silver birdie on the latch....




























And then open up the box and SURPRISE!!!!!! - a little blue bird jack in the box!