Free Illustrated Template for Garden and Nature Journals, Scrapbook Page or Spring Graphic Design Projects: Cheery Robin Decorative Border

Birds know themselves not to be at the center of anything, but at the margins of everything. The end of the map. We only live where someone's horizon sweeps someone else's. We are only noticed on the edge of things; but on the edge of things, we notice much.
― Gregory Maguire, Out of Oz
Lovely antique border showing a cheerful robin perched on still-bare branches singing a song to welcome in the spring. You can use this to decorate a journal or scrapbook page but it is also useful for spring-themed announcements such as for baby and wedding showers, yard sales and community get-togethers.

You can find the high-res 8.5" x 11" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.


All pre-made templates by FieldandGarden.com are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Please credit and link back to FieldandGarden.com as your source if you use or share this work.

Whimsical Fairytale Illustrations for Card Making, Collage, Crafts or Scrapbooking: A Garden Fairy & A Spring Workman

And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you
because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.
Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.
― Roald Dahl
Two fairytale illustrations; the first shows a girl fairy sniffing a white blossom as she stands on the leaf of a rose bush, with a pink rose curling in towards her on the left. From a late 19th century Victorian trade card.

The second illustration was published in April 1874 and shows a small winged cherub with a paint palette and brush painting the colours onto a garden pansy, one of the first flowers to appear in spring. The caption that originally accompanied the drawing stated that this was "A Spring Workman (from a French picture)."

You can download the first illustration as a high-res 4" x 6" @ 300 ppi JPEG here and the second illustration as a high-res 6" x 4" @ 300 ppi JPEG here. Both digital files are watermark-free and can be used for card making, collage, crafts, scrapbooking or other creative projects.


From my personal collection of ephemera. All digital scans by FieldandGarden.com are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Please credit and link back to FieldandGarden.com as your source if you use or share this work.

Free Vintage Nature Poem An April Song by an Unknown Author

From 1881, here is a Victorian poem called "An April Song" by an unknown author. Accompanying the poem is a decorative border with an illustration of a blossoming tree and various spring flowers plus a scattering of assorted planting paraphernalia in the garden.

The poem goes as follows:

Earth's heart with gladness glows again,
Gone is all wintry gloom;
The sun peeps through my lattice-pane,
And fills my little room
With life divine, and bids me fly
My books and pens awhile,
To wander forth beneath a sky
That wears an April smile.

Old loves at every step I meet,
Sweet fragrance fills the air;
Such songs of praise that birds repeat,
As move my soul to prayer.
E'en primrose clusters on the banks,
And violets nesting low,
To Him uplift a look of thanks,
From whom all blessings flow.

The hyacinth hangs her languid head,
And waits the gentle May,
Now drawing near with noiseless tread,
To kiss her tears away;
The fields with daisies are besprent,
As white as flakes of snow;
And from the whispering woods are sent
Joy-murmurs, soft and low.

You can download a free 8.5" (w) x 12" (h) @ 300 ppi JPEG of the poem (without a watermark) for collage, graphic design, junk journal or scrapbooking projects here.


Public domain poem is from my personal collection. All digitized poems by FieldandGarden.com are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Please credit and link back to FieldandGarden.com as your source if you use or share this work.

Free Vintage Nature Poem for Kids: Cheery Robin by B. Lander

Image source: Wikimedia
The following is a public domain Victorian children's poem written by B. Lander and originally published in 1880. The poem is called "Cheery Robin" and this is how it goes:

Robin in the April time
Blithely sings of summer prime,
Every mellow note outwelling
Sweetly telling of his glee;
How his merry carol rings!
As he sings,
In the budding April time, -- Cheerily!

Robin in the summer prime,
What cares he for autumn rime!
Present care and present pleasure
Fill the measure of each day;
And his merry carol rings,
While he sings,
In the golden summer prime, -- Cheerily!

Robins in the autumn rime
Singeth of a sunny clime,
Where the bowers glow with flowers,
Where the hours brim with glee.
Still his merry carol rings!
Still he sings,
In the chilly autumn rime, -- Cheerily!

Robin to the aged Year
Sings a parting note of cheer;
Happy heart of sunshine, Robin,
Ever throbbing merrily.
Sweet contentment Robin brings,
When he sings,
With a cadence loud and clear, -- Cheerily!

Public domain poem is from my personal collection. All digitized poems by FieldandGarden.com are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Please credit and link back to FieldandGarden.com as your source if you use or share this work.