Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds Watercolor Illustration

Just in time for Spring and the arrival of the Ruby-Throated hummingbirds back from their migration journey. To me hummingbirds are one of the most amazing creatures we have on this planet. I'm always amazed at the super-sonic speed of their little wings and their intrepid force to retrieve the nectar, dive-bombing the other hummingbirds to feast. These little birds are voracious when it comes to the luscious red nectar! Oh how I love watching them, so beautiful, so tiny...

nature is brilliant!

My original piece was created in watercolor. Prints are now available in my Etsy shop.

Think Spring... with a Bicycle!

We really needed a new rug for our foyer and I feel like the beginning of Spring is a great time to do it! We needed something fresh + fun around here after the long, sad winter!

spring blooms

I woke up really early today because we had the windows open and the birdies sounded like they were having a fiesta in all of the surrounding trees. While it was nice to hear them chirp, do they all have to chirp the same tune at once and really loudly too? Oh well, I'm not complaining because I'm really happy it's finally Spring!

Yesterday I snapped a few photos of some things starting to bloom from our yard and my neighbor's yard too!

spring weekend at the cottage

We checked the weather for over two weeks. We told friends up at the cottage that if the weather wasn't good, we weren't coming up. Wednesday night we checked the weather again. It changed a little as far as temperature but, it still looked good. So we packed that night, loaded up the car and left early Thursday morning. Halfway up it started to rain. Okay, rain it's Spring we can handle that. Then... it got colder in the car and pretty soon that's right you guessed it, its snowing. The trees and grass alongside the freeway are completely covered. So, while we're still hopeful that maybe it missed our area at the cottage and even though it looked pretty on the trees and ground, we were not exactly thrilled about seeing the snow. It was so cold! We were over it. But, Mother Nature wanted a little more and well, she's the boss.

Our view from the front of the cottage... upon our arrival.

Even the dogs were bummed out about the weather. It was even too cold for them to go outside to play. I didn't even feel like doing any illustrations which is so unlike me. I usually pack up all kinds of painting supplies and have ideas all planned out.

I think he was trying to tell us to pack it up and let's go home where it's warm!

But, Sunday morning... it warmed up! The bluest skies were out and the sun had melted all of the snow. We took a long walk and the dogs frolicked in the yard. And...

life was good.

it was "real" good!

Snooty Bird : Cafepress shop items

I love my little Snooty Bird illustration so much that I decided to adorn a few more items other than the archival prints in my Etsy store.

So, I added the illustration to a few items in my Cafepress store. For the girls you'll find a tote bag and a women's fitted organic cotton tee. For the kiddie's I have a baby bib, an organic cotton baby onesie, organic toddler tee and an organic kid's tee. Lastly, for the mini button collectors I have a snooty bird for you too!

You can find all of the sizing information you need on the page of each item. If you see an product on Cafepress that you could  like the Snooty Bird illustration (or any of my current illustrations) put on that is not currently listed in my store, just send me an email and I'd be happy to put the image on that item for you. Also, If you want your tee or item personalized, for $5 extra dollars I can create a file with a name under the illustration just for you! You can e-mail me at: cheryloz@wideopenwest.com

Here's just a few images of the items listed in my Cafepress store.

Mini Button

Perfect for the button collector

Organic Cotton Baby Onesie

A soft 100% organic cotton onesie. Perfect for a unique shower gift!

Organic cotton women's fitted tee

100% soft organic cotton by American Apparel - Order up one size for a looser fit.

Heavy weight 10oz. natural canvas tote bag (full-side & bottom gusset)

Size: 15" x 18" x 6" - Perfect for toting around all your favorite things.

Machine washable too!

reminders of a beautiful spring day

On Friday we got our first really nice taste of Spring. In fact, it lasted thru till Saturday and the temps rose up somewhere in the mid-70's. Highly unusual, but most appreciated.

I went for a long walk that day and took my camera. A neighbor had some pretty daffodils, and we found a few tiny bird nests that were too cute to pass up.

spring opener

We're back... This was our first trip up to the cottage since Fall, and I'm always a little nervous to see if anything has happened while we were away. Everything was perfect though, just how we left it.

For some reason, at Spring opener on the island, the house is always loaded with flies and they get into every nook and cranny. Basically we spent the weekend sucking up every last buzzing bugger that we could find. It's annoying and some might find it gross to have all of these flies, but I must admit I derive some pleasure from the act of vacuuming. 

There was still a lot of snow, but mostly mounds here and there, nothing completely covering the grass. We got lucky and the weather, although cooler in the 40's was sunny everyday. We still got to spend quite a bit of our trip outdoors. We did a lot of walking, Jeff planted a few maple trees and I tried my hand at some nature photography, and of course the dogs enjoyed themselves frolicking about the property. (I'll be posting some photos soon.)

On Easter morning, we took a long walk together and I took photos along the way. When we came back Jeff planted his trees, and I finished up my second Dogwood bloom watercolor painting for my series. I have one more to go. Later on Jeff grilled our ham on the Weber and the two of us had a quiet dinner. It was pretty much a perfect end to our getaway.