Cards Hot Off the Press!

You know that rush of relief when you check things off that have been haunting your to-do list for too long? I am supremely happy that I met one of my biggest goals before the end of 2014. Way back in March I told you that the wonderful sales rep who was selling my greeting cards to stores stopped repping. It took me awhile to scramble back to my feet, to decide to sell my cards on my own, and to master the many moving parts involved in that.

Designing a brochure was a big part of the project, since I can’t go visit each store to show them my cards. I kept it simple (just the facts, ma’am) – a nice large photo of each card, its number, and basic info.

My wonderful local printer, Jayne at Cerrito Printing, made the process easy and affordable, and I think the brochure turned out beautifully! Hummingbird cards take up 3 pages, the largest portion of my line.

Butterfly cards are really popular.

A lot of garden stores order the flower cards, and few can resist the squirrels!

The back page has an enlarged image of my favorite card and more order info. But wait, by the time the brochure was printed I had added another large task to my to-do list – I decided to design eight new cards. When those were all printed (thanks, Cerrito Printing!) I designed an insert page to show them off, and even had room for an order form.

So now I’m well on my way selling my own cards, a lot of work but really fulfilling. If you know of any shops that carry my kinda greeting cards, also garden stores or nurseries, send me an email with the name of the store and I’ll contact them! You can click here to see my entire card line, and here’s a link to the brochure as a pdf. 

Happy Hummingbird Day

Yesterday my Facebook friends informed me that it was: (1) National Hummingbird Day; and (2) National Fight Procrastination Day. Good timing for the second, because without even knowing about NFPD I had finally gotten down to work on a project I’ve put off for months. But bad timing for me that it was National Hummingbird Day, because I had to put off writing this post honoring hummingbirds. So, please excuse that I’m a day late to show you some of my favorite original photos of my favorite birds.

This is one of my most treasured photos. George noticed a hummingbird darting into the tree in front of our house, and patiently waited until she trusted him enough to return to her nest. With a long enough lens I didn’t have to get too close to her for this shot. Her two eggs hatched and the babies thrived and flew away. You can see a photo of them on the “Birds” section of my website.

Another shot I’m really proud of. This hummingbird kept visiting the flax flowers in our friend Joan’s garden, until his beak was totally covered with pollen.

Along with the flowers and bushes George plants in our garden for the hummers and other birds, we also have feeders so they can quickly get strength from the sugar-water to keep foraging. I can sit for hours watching them dart in and away from the feeders, and once in awhile they reward my patience by hovering there long enough for me to get a photograph.

They also love the buddleia (butterfly bush) that George planted for the bees and butterflies.

This little fellow kept returning to a branch near where I sit in the backyard. I crept closer until I got this shot of him with his feathers fluffed out.

And here’s one as he zoooomed past me!

I have many more photos of hummingbirds on my website. I also have a wide range of prints, cards and other products that I make from my hummingbird photos, which you can see on my Artfire and Etsy stores, or that are made and sold through my Zazzle gallery.

Finally, when the stars align, and when the light and angle is just right, I catch the bright scarlet head of the male Anna’s hummingbird in all its glory!

How did you celebrate National Hummingbird Day? Did you cross anything off your “to-do” list for National Fight Procrastination Day?

Inca Princess Flower blooms

What’s that flower,  I asked George. It’s rare that I spot a treasure in the garden before he sees it, and he was delighted that the first flower on the Cantua buxifolia he planted last year bloomed.

We had grabbed the Cantua the minute we saw it at Annie’s Annuals, figuring from the flower’s shape that hummingbirds would like it. Annie’s helpful i.d. card confirmed our hunch: “Adored by hummingbirds!” George didn’t remember the common name but thought it was something like Queen or Princess of the Incas. It’s the national flower of Peru, and he wasn’t far off – one of its common names is Sacred Flower of the Andes. He probably remembered reading about the Inca legend associated with the flower, you can see it here on wikipedia.

A hummingbird was zipping around the garden. We hoped he’d feed from the Inca Princess flower but he decided to visit the Meyer lemon tree flower instead.

I only had time to grab these two photos before he sped away.

What’s blooming in your garden this week, and who’s feeding from it?

 

Photo of the week

I haven’t posted a favorite photo for a while – but I finally made time to work with a few of the photos that have been piling up, and here’s my current:

This hummingbird zooms between our back garden and the deck feeders. I sit out back, hen on lap and reading a book, with my camera turned on. Hummingbirds dart around so quickly that you need every advantage you can take. I was so happy to grab this photo of him getting nectar from a flower on our lemon tree. The light was low, and although I loved his pose the photo was a bit grainy. Instead of getting rid of the noise, I used paint and other image tools to emphasize it.

Did you take a special photo this week, or make a drawing or other piece of art?

Early Summer Garden

Welcome to June-time in our garden. As the roses fade we have some other wonderful flowers blooming. The stream orchid (Epipactis gigantea) is a California native orchid. Here’s a closeup; the flowers are only about a half inch.

The flowers of the Soap Plant (Chlorogalum) are also extremely small. Bumble bees love these; I’m always amazed to watch the fat bees light on and weigh down the delicate flowers.

A trill from our guard-hen, Maureen, alerted us to a visit by Bambi. He was waiting in our neighbor’s yard for us to leave so he could graze on George’s delicious flowers and plants. Last week he ate nearly every leaf off our poor peach tree. Guess the fruit wasn’t ripe enough for him, he left us those.

Anise swallowtail butterflies, probably the ones that we raised and released in the past few months, have returned to lay eggs on our fennel. We caught this one flitting about, and I managed to get a photo of her leaving some eggs.

Finally, the hummingbirds are back, and happily visiting our flowers and feeders.

What’s growing in (and who’s visiting) your garden this summer?

Early Birds and Night Owls

I’m an early bird.  At this time of year, the sky has just barely started to brighten as I emerge from BART to walk to work. Then, like a cruel trick, daylight savings steals even that bit of welcome light from me, and I have to wait again for the spring sun to rise earlier. George is a night owl. He’s ecstatic that he’ll have another hour of light in the evening. This is my blended photographic collage, for you night owls:

And this is my latest collage, with the same pocket watch photograph, for early birds like me.

Whichever you are, don’t forget to spring ahead tonight!

Hope

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. and the inauguration of President Barack Obama.

It’s All in the Tail

With a stunning clear day, a lot of luck, and some patience I caught my first favorite photograph of 2013.

This male Anna’s Hummingbird hovered in the sky, checking me out before darting to one of the feeders that George constantly replenishes. I’ve never gotten such a clear shot of a hummer’s spread tail feathers.

Male Anna’s use their spread tail feathers to intimidate rivals or threats. They also use the feathers during an amazing courtship display. Have you ever seen a hummingbird fly high up in the air and then dive quickly down? If you heard a “chirp” during the dive, it wasn’t a vocalization. Two UC Berkeley students discovered in 2008 that the sound is caused by the bird flaring its tail feathers near the bottom of the dive. According to their research: “At the bottom of the dive, the bird flares its tail for 60 milliseconds. The inner vanes of the bird’s two outer tail feathers vibrate in the 50 mph airstream to produce a brief chirp.”

And so – a cherished moment and my first favorite photo of the year!