Owls!

Using the owl as a subject matter in my shadow boxes has been on the to-do list for a while now. Once I finished my Valentine's crafting it moved to the top of the lists.  Here is a matching set of four owl shadow boxes.

Featured are four owls that are native to my home state of Connecticut. From top to bottom are the Great Horned Owl, Screech Owl, Barn Owl and Barred Owl. Each is perched in it's own varied tree and silhouetted against a full moon.

These are simple to assemble - just a three-layered shadow box. And I have created individual assembly video tutorials for each.  When complete each shadow box is about 6.5" square. Here are the links to the files and the tutorials.

• http://3dcuts.com/screech-owl-tutorial
• http://3dcuts.com/barred-owl-tutorial
• http://3dcuts.com/barn-owl-tutorial
• http://3dcuts.com/great-horned-owl-tutorial
• 
  
• http://3dcuts.com/shadow-boxes-nature-themes/screech-owl
• http://3dcuts.com/shadow-boxes-nature-themes/barred-owl
• http://3dcuts.com/shadow-boxes-nature-themes/barn-owl
• http://3dcuts.com/shadow-boxes-nature-themes/great-horned-owl
• http://3dcuts.com/shadow-boxes-nature-themes/owl-shadow-boxes-all-4

Winterberries and Chickadees • DIY Shadow Box

I designed a new shadow box last week.  I have had winter shadow boxes bouncing around in my head for months but they got pushed to the back once Christmas crafting took over.  Last week I again thought about it and decided to use red winterberries as the theme.

Winterberries are just about the only color in the woods this time of year. I did a search on winterberry images only to discover that it seams to be a very generic term for anything that has red berries that stay on the branches in the winter.  I followed the growth pattern of the type above because that is one that abounds in the wetter areas around here. There were a plethora of images of others types as well. 

Photo of Winterberry in snow, courtesy of the 

Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, 

from the Web site of Brookside Gardens (Wheaton, Maryland).

I am not at all certain what is officially a winter berry! I harvested a bunch of these branches with the red berries from a nearby swamp back in December and have created several arrangements with them for winter color on the door stoop and in the sunroom.  They last beautifully in unheated areas.  I liked the contemporary combination of the simple spray-painted recycled bottles with the bright red berries.

And then I used it as the design inspiration for this new shadow box. Along with a pair of chickadees!

I thought about hitting the layers with a shot of spray snow but didn't because I just love the color as is.

I have posted the Silhouette cutting files up on the Silhouette online store here so you can get them as well.  For those of you with other cutting machines, I am actively exploring getting my files (especially Ledge Village) transferred to SVG format. It does look like the easiest method requires redrawing. Does anyone have good information about preparing and marketing SVG files? And what cutting machines use DXF? Looking for resources here. Thanks.

Happy crafting!

Previous posts of interest:

Butterfly Shadow Box

Red Poppies Shadow Box

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© 2014 Marji Roy, Ashbee Design

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Using Feathers • Turkey Feather Wreath

We have wild turkeys roaming our woods and occasionally as we hike, I find a feather or two. I have been saving them for years, collecting them in feather bouquets. This morning I took the smaller turkey feathers and quickly inserted them into the twig wreath hanging on the family room hearth.

It added some wonderful fall accents to the very plain yet natural wreath.

I know everyone in the blog world is all about painting brick white (along with every piece of wood tim and cabinetry). I just can't see it in my home which is filled with natural elements. I'll keep the natural brick.

A little history about this hearth. I built it myself long before there was an Internet to learn how. This room was David's original workshop and there was a cinder block chimney there. I went to the local school which was having an addition built and I watched the masons laying brick. I asked a few questions and I came home a taught myself some basic masonry. This is my only brick project and it works well in our home.  The wood stove is our heat source. I probably could dig up a picture of me over 20 years ago slinging the mud for this project. Maybe not!

On the far wall you can see one of the sculptures designed by my husband David. I have explained his work before but for those of you that are new viewers, here is a link to his website ( my other job!). Take a peek to see his kinetic sculptures in action.

Happy Fall everyone!

Previous Posts of Interest:

• Feather Bonanza
• Birds of a Feather
• Beautiful Find on a Fall Walk

© 2013 Ashbee Design, Marji Roy

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Wild Flowers on Display

It has been well over a year since I installed the handmade ladder in my portico area. I figured it was time to move on so I brought back my birch stumps. I'd had them drying in the top of the garage for the last year. I decided to top them off with some wild flowers. There is a new variety growing out along the road, a dull pink flower in full bloom. I decided to experiment and see how they do in a dark corner.

I paired them with some of the natural ferns in my IKEA buckets and they seem to be doing quite well. The trick with wildflowers is that first test. Can they hold up once picked or do they wilt immediately? These seem to be lasting. I already know this type of fern is a good one. It easily lasts two weeks in water.

I tend to prefer wildflowers in this corner. Every flower or plant that I have purchased immediately grows fungus or mold and dies. Certain varieties of wildflowers seem to do much better.

I visited the Connecticut Botanical Wildflower sight which has a nice "search by color then picture" feature.  I have unofficially identified this weed as Eastern Joe-Pye-Weed. Here is their identifying photo.

Photo credit - Janet Novak

• Family: Aster (Asteraceae) • Habitat: swamps, shores, wet meadows• Height: 2-5 feet• Flower size: tiny, in rounded clusters 4-7 inches across• Flower color: dull pink• Flowering time: July to September• Origin: native to Connecticut

The dull pink flowers combined with the bright green ferns and birch logs really lighten up the dark corner.

Previous Posts of Interest:

• Queen Anne's Lace
• Mid- Summer
• Daisies for June

© 2013 Ashbee Design, Marji Roy

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Birch Bark Houses • DIY

Earlier this year I made my husband, David a new desk for his studio space from a massive live-edge slab of birch. When we first purchased the slab it still had some impressive chucks of thick bark on its edges and I saved those knowing I would find a use. Today I did. I crafted minimalist tiny houses out of the bark to be displayed above the desk from which they originally came.

My goal with this area of David's studio is a contemporary, clean feel in mostly black and white warmed up with touches of wood tones.  The thick birch bark with it's recognizable outer black and white layer is a perfect texture to add to this space.

The warmth of the grain beneath the bark and left exposed in this application emphasizes the wood desk already in place.

This simple craft started as the sides of an impressive birch plank. Before I handcrafted the desk. I carefully pried these from the plank edges and saved them.

Using a band saw I cut them into simple house forms. The cuts are easy and could have been completed with a hand saw as well.

I made a collection of different shapes and sizes.

I had previously purchased a small, black floating shelf at Target. It was for this location and my original plan was to put the black bottles with wood veneer that I made a couple of weeks ago here.  But after installing the shelf I really likes a combination of the birch bark houses and the stark white winter photograph above.

Combine that with the birch desk and a small rock vase of black and white feathers and David's desk space is starting to look down right artsy!

The photograph is the one we purchased at the Paradise City Arts Festival over Memorial Day weekend. It is by Jon Olsen and we had a hard time selecting just one photograph to purchase.

Quick, easy and elegant! My kind of craft.

Not a bad place to work!

Previous Posts of Interest

• Live-Edge Desk • DIY Tutorial
• DIY Live Edge Desk
• Up Cycled Bottles with Veneer

©2013 Ashbee Design, Marji Roy

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Feather Bonanza

Most days David and I go for a three mile exercise walk through the woods. During the cooler spring and fall days we substitute that for a session of cleaning the woods. We pile our pick up truck high with dead fall and bring it down back to an immense brush pile we've been building for years.  We love the neat woods and it helps with the exercise program.

This week, as I was directing David in backing up the old pick up, I noticed some feathers on the ground. I then realized there were a whole lot more than a few. Apparently there had been a recent kill on the edge of our brush pile and all that remained was a scattering of feathers. Not sure if I ever mentioned it before but as we walk, I collect feathers (and seed pods, and pine cones, and sticks, and stones, and birds' nests and robin egg shells and......). We gathered all the feathers and I used some for a tiny arrangement.

I can't identify most birds from found feathers but these had a few very distinctive patterns including the  black spot on brown and the white tipped with black swoop. Anyone know what bird this was?

The feathers were a perfect addition to the drilled stone vase given to me last Christmas from my sister and brother-in-law. At first the feathers were too tiny and just slid into the hole but then I considered using brown rice as a filler.

A perfect solution to holding the feathers in place! Like the vase? I love it. Check out the collection available in Maine granite from the Portland Museum Store.

When I find a feather I always collect it. I don't find them often, and rarely in a quantity like this. For years I have stuck every feather into a pitcher I have (now two) which create a year round, never need to water, arrangement.

I have a lot of turkey feathers! And a few other interesting ones a well. But the point is, I always have a collection for when a need a feather or two for a project  - like my birds' nests ladder from a few weeks back.

Previous Posts of Interest:

• Birds' Nests Ladder for Entry
• Birds of a Feather • Book Pages
• Paper Craft • Bird's Nest Tutorial
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© 2013 Ashbee Design, Marji Roy

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