a new bird, dogs and a guest

I've made a lot of birds
since the first little robin
after the workshop of Mandy Pattullo in Stitch Club.
And then along came Ann Smith of Persimmon Stdio Art
(during the fun week of "Making ZEN")
she had this mini workshop making a zipper pouch
with a blackbird on it.
No pouch for me, but the blackbird was a good idea
for the 20 x 20 cm background
that was lying around for a while, with nothing on it.

I loved Ann's idea of nót only using black.

I made a template for a blackbird,
found some snippets to add and the stitching fun could begin !

After the bird was attached I stitched the background
(after adding a bit of my "magic thread")

This time I attached the piece to a canvas
that I painted on the edges with matching colours

Painting the edges of a canvas
was something I also did earlier this week for daughter's work.
She made some fabulous pieces for
the handfasting ceremony of some friends.

She made the little dog portraits the way Susie Vickery taught us in SC !

Don't have to tell you that these presents were a SUCCESS !!!

And while daughter and kids were away to the handfasting party
WE
had a sweet guest to look after for those few days !

This beautiful boy isn't what you would call a daredevil
so a chair under the table was the preferred spot,
but that lasted only the first day.

He's home again now
(but he can come gladly some other time !)