Owl Thank You Box Card

We're just back from sunny and warm Marco Island.  It was so nice to be outdoors again.  I took lots of pictures.  I always enjoy watching the Pelicans and can't resist taking lots of pictures of them.  Here is a photo of my favorite Pelican. He stood on the pier for quite awhile watching the fishermen clean the fish and hoping for any left over scraps.  He was the only Pelican with beautiful turquoise eyes. He was so adorable that I pleaded with the fishermen to throw some of their fish scraps directly to him.  I wanted to do something nice for him since he allowed me to get close enough to get some great photos.

Large Aloe plant growing along the walkway.

 While I was on Marco Island, I attended the Shell Show.  The Shell Show had some amazing art work and craft items all created using shells.  I stopped to talk to an artist who had carved a cameo in a large shell, using her own antique cameo necklace as the inspiration.  After viewing the exhibits I walked through the shop with handcrafted items made using shells.  I spotted a unique shell sculpture.  I picked up the sculpture and chatted with the artist and decided that this piece would be a really useful addition to my studio to hold all of the small items that usually end up rolling around my drafting table while I'm working on a project.  As I walked away, I noticed a group of ladies crowded around a large table full of baskets of shells.  The ladies' took a small zip-top bag marked $3 and proceeded to fill the bags with shells from the baskets. The shells were beautiful and I was able to fill a bag with about 100 small to medium size shells.  Picking through baskets of shells is a lot easier than hunting them on the beach ( which I also did ).

Shell Sculpture

Sample of the shells purchased at the shell show.

I'm really enjoying all of the capability of my Silhouette Cameo.  I found a Lori Whitlock A2 Box Card in the Silhouette on-line store.  The SVG files for the Owl Thank You Box Card can also be purchased directly from Lori Whitlock.  This card is cute and different.  I cut a second owl tab and added some tulips to the front of the box.

Owl Box Card

Side view of Owl Box Card.

Directions for Owl Box Card:

Turquoise and purple print card stock
Light purple, aqua, dark purple, green and ivory card stock
Small flowers
Wiggly eyes
Lori Whitlock A2 Owl Box Card SVG file


 Cut the card according to template directions.  Cut three squares and a long rectangle out of the purple print card stock.  Cut the box out of ivory card stock.  Cut three rectangles out of turquoise card stock.  Cut the Thank You sign out of aqua card stock and the owls out of light purple and their tummies out of dark purple. Cut three owls (duplicate the owl on the long tab).  Cut the leaves out of green card stock.  Assemble the box according to directions.  Glue one owl in the front of the box and glue two small flowers behind him.  The flowers were some that I had punched using the Martha Stewart Tulip paper punch and scraps of left over card stock.

Marco Island, A Week In Paradise

Snow, snow, snow! It seems like it snows almost every other day and like everyone else, I'm so tired of this weather. Fortunately our friends invited us to spend some time with them on Marco Island, Florida to escape the winter weather. My husband and I bundled up in our wool sweaters and coats and headed for the airport, hopped on a plane and left the winter behind. Marco Island was warm (82 degrees) and beautiful. Every where I went I was inspired by the beauty of the island- sunsets, beach and the animals. I ended up taking over 200 photos, some of which I intend to turn into paintings. I decided to share some of my favorite photos.

The marina is inhabited by a flock of Pelicans. While my husband and his friend were cleaning the fish they caught I decided to take some pictures of the marina. I was amazed that this Pelican let me get close to him to take this picture. I was only 6 inches away when I snapped the picture. This guy is the bird in the front on the bottom picture.

The marina was also home to a beautiful Snowy Egret. He was a little more shy than the Pelicans so I had to zoom in to snap this photo.

While walking on the beach, I was able to get fairly close to this group of Royal Terns.

The sunsets on the beach were so beautiful.

Our week in paradise has ended and we flew back to freezing weather and snow (of course) but as I look at these pictures I feel optimistic that I can endure these last few weeks of winter.