I love the leaf "landing pad"! Cute idea!

Woooooooowwwwww!!! That is unique. First time to see anything like your creation!!!!!

Thanks Susie & Marlene for your nice comments. After looking @ pic posted BIG like that (Ive gota learn to reduce pics on photobucket) I think I need to paint inside of gourd w/ something... not black...to dark..or the green of leaf , I dont want it to get lost...Poly it natural??blue?? white??? How bout some input..Please...I wanna do red, but that will take away from the tranquility of it...OK..Next one will be RED....I love making gourd birdhouses, thats why I need to grow them !!!!!

jitterbug, I am totally impressed at your ability to cut out that leaf design so beautifully! I can't imagine that being very easy! I would leave the inside of the birdhouse "au naturel" but maybe paint the edges black or another dark color to kind of outline it. I would think no one would be able to really see the inside very well. Cameras seem to really brighten it up. Plus I'm not sure how paint would affect the birds. Great job!

Looks great to me! I didn't know gourds were so thick! Like how it came out & I wouldn't paint inside either! Jan

Very creative!!

Jitterbug, I love your birdhouse. Does the painted scene wrap around the back? Very clever to use the leaf for a perch. What type of knife did you use to cut it out? I tried to cut a lid out of a gourd and broke the tip off my craft knife in the first inch. I used to have a small woodcarving knife that worked really well, but haven't been able to find another one.

Dremel tool is a girls best friend !!! You can do all kinds of things w/ asst. bits. Gourds are harder to cut than they look at first. Yes the scene wraps around to the backside. Shoulda taken a pic of that,but learning camera.Took 5 times using it to realise I could look through eyepiece to take pics. I'd been looking at the big screen & couldn't see in the glare in daylight...duhhhh..judy