Linda's Magic Workshop - Linda Britt Design

Before I met Peter, my avid birder, I had never heard of the Sandhill Crane.   That changed as I began to learn about birds and become aware of my surroundings!    Sandhill Cranes fly south for the winter forming flocks of over 10,000 birds.   One terrific place to observe them is at Bosque del Apache in New Mexico.   There is an annual Sand Hill Crane Festival every November.   We took a birding trip and got up very early in the cold morning to get to the area where the cranes would take off and land.   Thousands of these birds migrate to this area each year to create quite a noisy spectacle.   The birds are skilled at soaring with their 5 -7 ft wingspan and they can ride the thermals for hours at a time.   These beautiful light grey birds with red foreheads land by the water and in fields making loud trumpeting calls.   They eat plants, grains, mice, snakes, insects, and worms.   They often dig in the farmer’s fields for tubers…..probably not politically correct behavior! All cranes

 2 Silver Clay Tortoises and 1 original sculpture  The last post about the tortoise left you hanging…..... with a mold ready to use!   The original sculpture was done with polymer clay and baked.   The mold was made with 2 part mold compound and I was concerned about his head and made a second one.   Just a note here….the first one was the best! For those of you not too familiar with silver metal clay, here is a brief description.   The clay is made of micro filaments of silver (recycled I understand) and blended with an organic mixture so the clay is malleable.   It dries pretty quickly so it is important to work quickly and keep the clay moist.   Getting the two parts ready In the case of my tortoise, I conditioned the clay and pressed it into both parts of the mold and let it dry.   Then I removed it from the mold and was anxious to see how the two parts fit together.   With a little adjustment they did well!   After cleaning the insides and sanding them so that the sides

more flower hairclips at www.etsy.com/shop/lindabrittdesign Hair clips, ribbon flowers, feathers, and beaded flowers are very popular this Christmas.   Since it is time to wrap my holiday gifts and because I like to be creative, I took one of my ribbon flower hair clips and attached it to ribbon on a package.   Rave reviews!   So the person who receives my gift gets a bonus…a pretty package, the gift inside the box, and a one of a kind hair clip!   It will be a gift she will remember and be able to wear in her hair or on a hat all year! Other shops to peruse for hair  http://www.etsy.com/listing/88428691/emerald-kelly-green-and-black-peacock?ref=ss_listing http://www.etsy.com/listing/86230312/lime-green-and-white-french-beaded?ref=pr_shop