The first snow has begun dusting the land ... and the little cardinal sitting on a branch ...
Actually we don't have snow here yet which makes me very happy.
Also, we don't have cardinals here in Europe and yet we know that the cardinal is as much a part of Christmas imagery as our European robin.
In 2015, I wrote a post about Christmas birds telling a bit about the legends around the robin and cardinal if you are interested.
Both had been on the infamous list in my mind ever since, but I had never managed to actually make one of them.
Only when I found a piece of beading foundation that had already a bird outline drawn on for another design, I thought of the cardinal again and it juuuust fit.
I couldn't resist using the silver lined red instead of a "real" red because it is so Christmassy.
So here he is now on his little branch nibbling on his berries :-)
Robin next? We'll see.
While der Dekan tried to steal him out of my hand (which obviously speaks for the incredible lifelike look ;-)), Gundel was not so sure about him, I guess, and she absolutely refused to let me take a proper picture of him against her fur!
Beautiful rendition of a cardinal. We don't have them here on the west coast of the US; they live to the east of us. I've only ever seen on live once so this is a very exotic bird to me. The silver lined beads were a great choice; how I'm hoping you'll do the European robin next - you could do an entire bird series! :) Dawn
ReplyDeleteThank you, Dawn!
DeleteThe robin will stay on my list for now, maybe you can remind me again in eight years ;-)
That's a long time to make me wait, Cat! :)
DeleteI know. But you know me, my mind is all over the place, like a hummingbird flitting from flower to flower!
DeleteThe cardinal is amazing! We have cardinals at our bird feeders all the time, and they really are just brilliant as your cardinal is. They look incredible against the snow. But like you, I’m glad for no snow at the moment.
ReplyDeleteMichelle
Thank you so much, Michelle! I'm very, very jealous now.
Delete