Rehydrated rose petals are beautiful but very difficult to use as a covering for the bird armatures. 

The "paper" from a hornet nest is naturally waterproof, so this material has to be coaxed into adhering to the armature. The colors of the various wood pulps that the insects chewed up to make their nests is visible in the variegated stripes of the material. I think it is absolutely gorgeous.

When the Brood X cicadas emerged in the summer of 2021, I was excited to collect their wings. Animals (especially birds) eat the insects, but leave the wings behind and I could scoop them off the sidewalk after the carnage. These special limited-edition birds have cicada wings arranged as their outer covering, but need an additional overlay of used tea bag paper (abaca) to secure the wings to the surface, since wings are hydrophobic (reject water, not surprisingly). I love the antiqued effect.

Pair made with the cover (left) and music (right) of a favorite piece of piano music (2017)

The paper in old books can be quite brittle, but sometimes I am still able to use it for a bird. This bible had already been deconstructed into cropped portions when I found it, so I don’t feel I have desecrated it any more than it had been already.