maanantai 1. helmikuuta 2016

Q is for quelea

I'm ready to admit, that I have to cheat a bit with the Craft Barn alpha/dictionary challenge... the letter q happens to be one that practically doesn't exhibit itself in the Finnish language. It is in our alphabet though, I have no idea why! Anyway, the wildlife encyclopedia I'm using for this has a register with latin names and I had the choice between two birds. Introducing the Red Billed Quelea. Would you believe this (never before heard of) bird is estimated to be the largest in population of all birds?


The q and background stamp are from Rubber Dance, the stencil (used to bleach out ink behind the bird) from Designs by Ryn. I am also linking to the Rubber Dance February challenge that asks for the colours kraft, white and red... Had to postpone blogging this until the shift of the month, because I knew of the challenge and the colours of the bird were so perfect!


The back of the card has again the text describing the bird. Since you probably still haven't learned much Finnish, this is a link to the wikipedia article :) The name my encyclopedia uses (verinokka) means "bloodbeak" which I find quite appalling. Perhaps it's also outdated, because when I googled for the English name all the Finnish articles called this the "millionweaver" (miljoonakutoja) which sounds much nicer. I wrote it on the side of the card.


14 kommenttia:

  1. What a cutie. Can't believe there are more of these than there are starlings in my garden stealing my chicken food!! Love the soft browns and the pop of red. Hugz

    VastaaPoista
  2. Lovely, Kristiina! Interesting to learn about the birds here on your blog. The Norwegian name for this one is "blodnebbvever" which means "blood beak weaver", so I guess we wanted to cover all its name in one ... Thank you for using my stamps and linking the card up to our February challenge!
    ♥♥♥

    VastaaPoista
  3. Fab project, never heard of this bird before. Your background fits the bird's colours perfectly :)

    VastaaPoista
  4. I think his red beak is what got him that bad name back when. I like that you have the text beneath his feet upside down. It makes the appearance of scratched ground beneath him. I like how you've designed with him.

    VastaaPoista
  5. kraft, white and red is just a perfect colour combination. You're lucky you found a suitable Q word.

    VastaaPoista
  6. An inspired choice of subject. They are indeed exceedingly numerous in Africa!x

    VastaaPoista
  7. Great little bird - great project!

    VastaaPoista
  8. Gorgeous artwork.
    They live in huge flocks, I've seen them in documentaries and the flock sizes are extraordinary. I'm pretty sure the name is purely because of the red beak, rather than anything sinister.

    VastaaPoista
  9. For such a popular and prolific bird, I've never heard of it. However, I certainly enjoyed it and the upside down text that makes it seem even more important. Lovely, lovely Q entry.

    VastaaPoista
  10. Love your little bird, I have never heard of them either.

    VastaaPoista
  11. Beautiful page, especially like all your stitching round the edge. Lou x

    VastaaPoista
  12. Love the colour combination for your background and the image is gorgeous.

    VastaaPoista
  13. A lovely project and the stitching finishes it off perfectly.

    VastaaPoista