Christmas Thank You Cards

 

I used some of the cards I had made for the project for Mom & Dad's neighbours in early December.  I really appreciate the gifts and experiences I got for Christmas.  I got to make tourtieres (meat pies) with my Aunt, dryer balls and reusable produce bags from my sister and a blue baking dish which matches my dishes and a big wooden cutting board.

Sylvia Simple Shots

Mom's move to the lodge has gone well.  There are a few loose ends to finish and our parents will be settled for the next phase of their lives. 

The move took place and freezing temperatures.  We have been into this deep freeze for a week now.

I have been hibernating because it is just so cold.

Books have been very helpful.

They are predicting a warm up for the first two day of 2022 then back into cold temperatures.

I have to go out tomorrow then I have appointments next week so I will have to force myself out there.

Not liking it!

I spent a day with my aunt a couple of weeks before Christmas.   We make Tourtieres which are French Canadian meat pies.

We made 19 small pies.  We stuck to 5 inchers since neither of us are hosting any get togethers any time soon.    We also made some with just top crusts to cut down on carbs and calories.  It was a really nice day.

I had bought a silicone handle for my cast iron frypan.   It was too large and a bit thin to as effective as it needed to be.

My sister came to my house so we could head to Mom & Dad's early the next day.  She offered to help to improve the performance of the silicone handle.  That required some cutting and wrapping.  I chose to use 100% cotton thread to stitch up the wrapper.  A few strategically placed holes through the handle to secure the wrap.   

It was very helpful to have 2 sets of hands for this project.

Super happy with the result!  Thanks.

The Saskatchewan Saga by Ruth Glover was a great read.  I borrowed them from my sister so i was able to return them to her during our visit.

Set in the late 1800s, the stories introduce Scottish and English emigrants who bravely journey to the wild Canadian frontier.  British Women's Emigration Society offered women freedom and independence working as domestics in the wilds of Canada.

It is based on a fictional place called Bliss Saskatchewan near Prince Albert.  Cold winters in the boonies of Saskatchewan had me empathizing with the ladies based on the temperatures outside. 

All the women's stories eventually come together from different directions and we get to know them all.  It was a very good series.

I can always count on Nicholas Sparks for a good romance.  In the case of Safe Haven the story revolves around Katie who moves to Southport North Carolina.  She finds cottage down a gravel driveway, a job at a local restaurant and a friend in Jo her neighbour.

She is on the run, fleeing domestic violence at the hands of her cop husband, Kevin.  She has managed to evade him this time. 

She has to walk to her job and to buy groceries so she shops at the local country store.  It is owned by Alex, who took it over from his father in law.  He is widowed and raising a son on his own.

Katie meets Alex at the country store and her neighbor Jo vouches for him as a good guy.

Over several months, they get to know each other, trust each other, then fall in love.  

There are a few twists and turns but another wonderful story.

It turns out this is the last book in the 3 books series.

In the final episode in The Christmas Box collection, David and MaryAnne Parkin find a mysterious letter at the base of their child Andrea's grave that eventually returns joy to their marriage, which had been strained in the nineteen years since her death.

This story features family secrets, abandonment issues, friendship and doing the right thing.  Sometimes you have to go away to come back and so Mary Anne takes a trip to see her brother with no intentions of coming back.

She does return when a friend passes and the letter brings about healing.

I will keep an eye out for the other books in the series.

I chose to show both covers because it shows both women in the center of this story.

As a Gracekeeper, Callanish administers shoreside burials, laying the dead to their final resting place deep in the depths of the ocean.

North works as a circus performer with the Excalibur, a floating troupe of acrobats, clowns, dancers, and trainers who sail from one archipelago to the next, entertaining in exchange for sustenance.

It is set in a world mostly covered by water.  It is quite mystical and other worldly.   It is very interesting how their lives come together.   I really enjoyed the circus who travel in coracles - which were one person boats used thousands of years ago.  A nice change of pace.

I'm always up for a Christmas story.  A Mrs. Miracle Christmas by Debbie Macomber was a good one.

Jake Finlay is the manager of the toy department and he has made a large toy purchase on a hunch that it will be "the toy" this Christmas.  He father is skeptical.

Another quick moving romance involving Holly who is taken custody of her nephew as her brother is posted to Afghanistan.

Holly's chance meeting with Jake at a coffee shop leads to more encounters sometimes helped along with Emily Merckle who has been hired as seasonal help at the Finlay Department store, the toy department no less.  .

This romance evolves over the 2 weeks before Christmas where love blossoms, healed relationship between the Finlay father and son, Holly's boss sees the merits of the spirit of Christmas,  and Emily fades away with her work done.

A shot for Flickr Macro Mondays which was to choose 2 themes from 2021 and shoot on photo with both themes.

I chose Five and Game Board Pieces and composed this shot of Trivial Pursuit pie pieces with a nice bokeh background.

I bought the game secondhand and it turns out there are pieces missing.  I only have 4 full pies.  The 2 boxes of trivia are there.  

I think I will work this into a board game shot for a future project.

Stay warm, be safe.

Gift - Table Runner Trivet

A table runner trivet is a quilted piece one can place in the center of a table or other serving area to protect the surface from hot dishes.  It replaces the use of several trivets and looks pretty.  Upon doing some on-line research I found a place that recommended layers of terry cloth as good insulation.

I wanted to make this runner reversible so I took my fabric to my sisters a while back and we checked out her collection of fabric and found several pieces that would compliment the fabrics I had chosen.  In the end, I rejected some of the ones I had selected so that both side would work together.

I had just purchased the printed sunshine yellow piece of fabric.

The solid fabric was a left over from a quilt I made a couple of years ago.  The color name I would use is Soft Suede which is a green brown color.  

The cork fabric and the circle fabric came from my sister.  I have now swapped her some from my stash.  

All the fabric is 100% cotton.  

The layers involved are

• cotton quilted layer
• terry towel fabric
• 100% cotton quilted batting piece
• terry towel fabric
• cotton quilted layer

I chose to put the quilted piece in the center of the trivet, the terry cloth goes the full width of the runner.

The front and back pretty quilted layers were stitched to the terry cloth layers.  The front and back are different designs and therefore quilted differently.  I needed to come up with a way to hold the quilted piece to the center of the runner. 

The final measurements of the piece is 14x40 inches and the center is 12 x 37.5 inches. 

The seam in the yellow is the one which goes through all the layers and holds the center batting piece in place. Each side had a yellow in this space.  The sunshine yellow piece on the cork side and a more lemony yellow on the circle side.  Allowed me to have yellow thread in the top and bobbin of the machine.

It would have been really nice to have my walking foot fo rthis project but the order is still on hold awaiting a shipment from over seas.

I decided based on my fabric to make the warm sunshine yellow side in a ladder pattern.  I cut strips of varying heights and 10 inches wide.  The Soft Suede, the cork fabric, some solid burgundy make up the pattern on this side.  

The other side features the circle fabric and this piece was larger and I did not want to cut it up into smaller pieces.  It was also getting late in the day and I wanted to get the project finished. I added some teal from my scrap stash which worked out well. 

I wanted Soft Suede to be on the edges of both side so they would make it the same color no matter which side was showing.

I stitched all the way around with the good sides together leaving an opening then turned the trivet runner inside out.  I top stitched very close to the edge where there was only the terry towel layers.  

The last seam was the one in the yellow that holds it all together.

I hope my niece likes it and it comes in handy for serving from the kitchen island or the middle of her dining room table. 

Peace on Earth 2021

Wishing all my blog friends 

a very Merry Christmas, Peace on Earth, 

or Happy Holidays 

however you celebrate!

Bespoke Shelf Art

I wanted a piece of Christmas art for the shelf above my wall tree.

It's snowy and cold outside so not too interested in heading outside and shop.

I use the frame with the JOY word in the previous photo.  I cut a piece of paper to fit inside the frame (8x16 inches) approximately. 

I printed a few words with fonts that I liked and adjusted the size to suit the composition.

I traced the words onto the white paper then painted them with black acrylic paint. 

I added the holly in the corner for a bit of color. It was a quick solution for this year.  I really like it!

Wall Christmas Tree - 2021

My Wall Christmas Tree is up!

Thanks to my niece who came to visit this weekend for the help to installing the photo shelf at the top which holds the ring to hang the tree from.

I sprayed the star at the top with Brilliant Gold paint.  Very happy with that!

I was surprised to see that I had liquidated all the large ornaments last year so only the small mostly clear glass ornaments remained.  It seems it was quite clear to me that this idea of a wall tree was going to materialize! It did just as I imagined it.

The Nativity has been set up on the old trunk next to the tree. A soft light on the right lights the scene and the tree area for nice shadows.

I have put my JOY alphabet photo letter art on top of the shelf for now.  I did some searching on the web and did not really find anything I liked. I will create a bespoke one for later this year or next.  I am loving the tree!

Card Exchange - October 2021

I made a couple of large cards for my October card exchange.  Since they are late and it Christmas time I chose to make them with a Christmas theme.  Love making Christmas cards at any time.

I chose turquoise alcohol ink background paper in 4x6 and cut ornaments with the Sizzix Bigz Die - Ornaments #4. One of each design.

I cut the hangers from copper metallic paper and glued them on top.

I added copper metallic thread.

I embossed a layer of white with a Cuttlebug folder from the Winter Bundle.  I wrapped the thread to the back and adhered the snowflake layer to the front of the Tempting Turquoise card.

The ornament was adhered with 3D foam tape.

I added a Stampin Up Modern Label greeting which was offset with a punchie from the same paper as the ornament.

On this one I added the copper star and mounted the turquoise one in the left hand corner.

These are large A7 5x7 cards.

These are on their way to my card exchange partners.

Card Exchange - Nov 2021

I am getting caught up on my exchange cards.

These are late for November.

I used the Sizzix Bigz Die -Assembly Snowman by Tim Holtz and cut all the pieces for this snowman.  The hat and eyes from black, the nose from orange, the hat band and scarf from red velvet paper, the arms from textured brown cardstock and the snowballs from white card stock.

I embossed the falling snow background with the Sizzix - Tim Holtz - Alterations Collection - Christmas - Texture Fades - Snowfall and Speckles in blue card stock.

I adhered the snowman with quick dry adhesive then mounted him on the card with 3D foam tape.  I added a prism snowflake attached with bling Zot and a SU Artisan Label greeting in the bottom right hand corner.

Winter Birthday Card

A birthday for my Dad who celebrates his birthday this week.

I will see him tomorrow.

Dark green A2 card base, spattered with Gleams White acrylic paint.

I cut 3 trees with the Hampton Art Tree thin die.  I chose dark and warm green card stock.

I added a bit of white to the dark one I put in front.

A SU Modern Label punchie greeting in the bottom right adhered with 3D foam tape.

Special Project - Thank You Set 2

I made another set of cards this morning for the special project at Mom & Dad's.

I chose a piece of 12x12 designer paper in Soft Sky color with white polka dots and cut 9 circles with the Spellbinder smooth circle thinlets measruing 3.25 inches.  I again traced loosely the images of butterflies, garden and bird with a border with black marker.

Layered the white Cuttlebug Thanks Words embossed layer onto the card front. 

Used a brad to hold the ornament in place so it can be removed by the recipient.

Loving these! 

Thank You - Large Card

I created the card to put next to the treats at Mom and Dad's apartment.

The small cards will be addressed to individuals that Mom & Dad choose.

This is a general card to communicate with the other neighbours.

I have chosen nuts, chocolates and candies to share with these wonderful people.

I started with a Taken with Teal card base in the A7 (5x7) size.

I adhered a piece of alcohol ink paper in 4x6 size to the card front.

I then printed the words on vellum with the ink jet printer and embossed the words with silver powder.

I trimmed the vellum to allow the background to show.  Adhered the vellum with tiny white brads in the four corners.

Special Project - Thank You cards

 

I made some thank you cards for the friends and neighbours at Mom & Dad's apartment building.  They have been so good to them.  We planned some treats for them which I will deliver this week.

I started with the watercolor paper which I taped to glass then applied the color to the wet paper.   It was allowed to dry overnight which left it very flat.   I cut the circles with Spellbinder smooth circle thinlets - this one measures 3.25 inches.  I added a length of silver metallic embroidery thread.

I found a few simple images on line - birds, garden and butterflies.  I placed them on my light table and loosely traced them onto the watercolored circles with a black marker.  I added the border all the way around.

I cut pieces of white card stock which measured exactly what I needed then ran them in the BigShot with the Cuttlebug Thanks Words folder.  

I chose a card base that matched the colors in the ornament. I adhered the Thanks layer to the card base then used a black brad to attach the ornament to the card front.  This will allow the receiver to remove it and hanging it in a favorite place.

Sewing Project - Tea Towels

I have been working on a sewing project.

I decided to make some beautiful tea towels this year.  I was fortunate to find several pieces of wonderful 100% cotton fabric this fall.  I wanted something with a bit of weight and texture.

These measure finished 20 x 28 inches.   With 3/8 inch fold over hems all the way around.

The Fleur de Lis pattern is wonderful, the botanical pattern gives a nice touch, and the ribbed texture will provide drying excellence.

Each of the towels got a twill tape corner loop for hanging and mitered corners. Super happy with these.   It was a real pleasure to work with 100% cotton.  It ironed beautifully. 

Sylvia's Simple Shots

With trips out of town to support Mom around Dad's hospitalization there has not been much time for photography.  We are making progress on having them housed in appropriate places.  They will be living close to each but in separate buildings.  Mom will have to cross the parking lot but she will be able to see him every day. 

I loved the sun on the clouds one morning this week. This was taken from the balcony and not on a walk outside.

I should be getting outside more considering that the weather is still pretty nice for the first week of December.

I finished this book last week.  The Widow's Walk by Robert Barclay.  

Not a traditional love story. A haunting and romantic novel of passion, destiny, loss and an eternal love that will bring two people together across time.

The central character is the house which is the Seaside which has been Constance Elizabeth Canfield's home for 150 years.  How can that be?  Magically, she has been living between worlds for a long time.  She lived there with her sea captain husband Adam.  The house has had many owners since her transition to this in between place.  She has never left the property and wanders the grounds, the house and the out buildings.  She can see them but they can not see her.

Garrett Richmond knows the house and has lived nearby all his life. He is compelled to buy it when again it was in foreclosure. It is on the waters edge and he has always wanted to live with an ocean view.

The wonderful thing is that he is an architect and will completely restore the house to it's original splendor.  During his few first days at the house as renovations begin, they meet.  Garrett can see, hear and touch her! This begins their relationship of another world.  

I will not spoil the ending.   It was a wonderful book and would highly recommend it.

I found this Cobalt blue and white art glass paperweight at the thrift store yesterday.  I just love blue and white so it had to come home with me for $3.00.

It is in perfect condition.  I have done some research and it would seem that these are all unique.

Several websites suggested they are vintage but with no markings or labels it is pretty hard to determine its origins and age.

I just love it.  I will have to find a place where I can see it every day.

I will show the top down view in another week.

Soon it will be time to hang the tree but first I have to hang the shelf. I hope to have my niece help me with that project and the drill I brought which was Dad's will come in handy.  It replaces the hand me down one he gave when I left home 40 some years ago. I had just been looking on line to replace it and God is good and this one appearing just in time.

I figured I was not going to splurge for the cordless version but that is what I got with an extra battery to boot!

I am so grateful. 

I brought this ornament home from my visit with Mom last week.  She is taking very little Christmas stuff with her to the lodge so there was a small box of ornaments up for grabs.

These are as old as I am.  They have hung on her tree every year for a very long time.  There were 5 of these in the box which is amazing considering how many times they have been hung.

It is a vintage glass tree ornament in the shape of the teapot.  I will hang this on my wall tree this year and for many years to come.   It has a plastic box to live in so that no harm comes to it during the off season.

I will have to sort out my ornaments this year and pare down to what will fit on the wall tree.

Four Season Art Show - My Submissions

The theme for our end of the year member show this year is "Four Seasons".

I chose to do a smaller version of the large sunrise I painted for the stained glass piece. You can check out the Sunrise Stained Glass project. 

Title: Summer Sunrise

Size: 14 x 14 inches

Watercolor

Mats: White Double Archival

Frame: Black Wood medium profile

Print: 8x8 inches

I used my Loew&Cornell watercolor palette to paint this piece.  The black lines are done with a Micron Archival marker. 

Back to my regular art of photography.  This was taken a couple of years ago.  Love the crystal looking frost on this pine branch.

Title: Winter Frost

Size: 16 x 12 inches

Signed Photography Print

Mats: White Single Archival

Frame: Black Wood medium profile

Print: 8x10 inches

I chose to do a mixed media piece as well.

Title: Four Seasons

Size: 13 x 11 inches

Mixed Media

Mats: Wood

Frame: Black Wood medium profile

Print: 5 (4x6) openings

This is a wooden frame with 5 openings for 4x6 photos.  I chose the first pussy willows for spring, bees buzzing for summer, a beautiful orange horse chestnut leaf for fall, and a small evergreen tree in a snow covered landscape for winter.

I watercolored a background onto which I printed words I created which describe the transition from winter to fall. 

Decorate A Bag Fundraiser - 2 more

 I picked up 2 more bags when I delivered my 3 pieces of art for the Four Seasons Member show on Saturday.

You can find the details of the first in this post. 

I was gifted the batik embroidered leaf squares by a fellow quilter a couple of years ago.  I made a quilt with several of them.  Check out the details - Applique Leaves Quilt.

I added a 2" wide strip of black cotton fabric around the square.  I was thinking of making a pocket but I felt the leaf had to stand up straight so that idea was out.  I pressed the edge over and pinned it really well and appliqued it to the front of the bag.

I found on the first one it helped to have a strip at the top to stabilize the top edge.

Here I added a strip of black.  I cut 2 inch strips, sewed them together to have a strip at least 30 inches long.

Sewed it up and turned it inside out.  Once well pinned I appliqued it along the top edge of the muslin bag.

There is a tab of strip which is held down by the blue button.  This gives a place to hook something should the need arise. 

Again, the strip provides some stiffness to the top edge which is helpful with such a light bag.

Love the wonderful blue colors in the leaf.  

The black sashing really makes the leaf the focal point.

The blue button picks up and repeats the blue in the leaf.

I just love the watercolor effect of batik fabrics.  The background as well as the leaf are this type of fabric.

 

The button is simply decorative.

On this third bag, I did put a pocket.   I used leftovers from a man's shirt which I turned into an apron a couple of years ago. 

The pocket was cut from one of the sleeves.  Wonderful navy and burgundy stripes provides a bit of a different style to this one.

Tacked the upper corners well.  Added another strip along the top edge.  I wanted the stripes to go up and down so I had to combine several pieces to make all the way around the bag.  I chose 3 buttons to go on the strip. The center one is shanked to accommodate the loop from the pocket.

I am really happy with these contributions to the fundraiser.  I will deliver them to the gallery later this week.

I like that fact that the loop is long so it will accommodate a book or something a little taller than the 8" pocket.

The loop is just a piece of fabric folded the edges to the center then onto itself and I put one line of stitching down the edge.

The bags are about 13 inches square with fairly long handles.

Makes a great bag for all kinds of purposes. 

Exchange Cards - Christmas Cards

I am playing catch up on my exchange cards.  With Dad`s hospitalization I have spent more time with Mom which involving traveling.   These are December`s cards then I will get the November and October ones done.

I chose Stampin Up Christmas Jingle designer paper because it had a green and red side.  I decided to make A7 or 5x7 inch cards. I printed a greeting layer of Very Vanilla with greetings in Real Red and Old Olive trimmed to leave a border all the way around. I punched 14 stars out.  Then applied thin 3D tape to the bottom ones and thicker 3D tape to the top ones.  The top ones match the card base color.  I placed them in a round shape to create a wreath. I added a Real Read wide grosgrain ribbon below the wreath and taped the ends to the back.

I adhered the greeting layer to the card front and pressed them over night.  This morning I added the prism elements of a snowflake on one and a star on the other adhered with Bling Zots.  I then added a thin gold cord bow to the wreath.

These are headed to my exchange partners. 

Christmas Cards for Seniors

 

I prepared some Christmas cards for seniors which will be distributed to nursing homes by a local scrapbook store.

I have several techniques in this collection of 24 Christmas cards.  

1) recycled commercial cards onto new card bases and new inserts - several which worked better in the 5x7 size.

2) refurbishing handmade cards I have received - some from friends who took my card making classes so the designs are mine but I did not make the cards, some I received in my monthly card exchange. 

I am very happy with the selection and variety in this collection.  Soon they will be delivered to the scrapbook store.

2021 Photo Card

I try to make at least one Christmas photo card every year.

I was given this dove ornament a couple of years ago by one of my sisters.  I decided this year to use it for my photo card.

I wanted Peace on Earth so I needed to create myself an earth. I set the dove up in my photo studio so assess what size the earth should be.  I determined it needed to be about 8 inches in diameter.

I found a dish in the kitchen and traced that onto a piece of bristol vellum card stock.  I found a tutorial on line on how to draw an earth.  Using the instructions I drew an earth in pencil so I could erase until I had it right. I then painted it in watercolor ensuring that I had enough texture in the land and water.  I then added the borders in black Sharpie marker. 

Once it was dry, I installed it in the studio adhered to a blue material background I have for the studio.  I used several Zots to hold where I wanted it.

Then I found many shots with different lighting and angles.   I reviewed my shots and took some more and repeated the process one more time.

I was finally happy with one of the shots.  

I added the greeting and the olive branch in post processing.  I printed the card at 4x6 inches.  Once those were back from the developer, I got ready to create the cards.  I was glad that I had used black borders and black shadow on the greeting which worked really well with a black 110lb card base.  I adhered the photos to the card front of a 5x7 (A7) card base.  I printed a sentiment in keeping with Peace on Earth on letter paper and trimmed those to fit inside.  I adhered those with glue stick. 

Just like that I have 15 photo cards to add to my stash.  Very happy with these.  The ornament is headed to my other sisters house for Christmas because she loved it.  I am sure the earth will come in handy in the photo studio again.  Win Win!

Sylvia's Simple Shots

My aunt and I took a walk along the river with our cameras recently.

It was very nice temperature wise and the sun was shining.  A great time.

As you can see, though the river is frozen but we still have no snow.

Love the fall grasses in the foreground with the reflection of the sun on the river.

Gorgeous blue skies which are typical for Alberta.

We heard geese which I was surprised were still here despite the frozen water.  Who knows what they are thinking!

I joined another aunt for a visit to the Art Gallery.  The weather was still nice and I was tasked with driving us downtown and finding parking.  That went well.  It was really weird to be out and about.

First time, I used my vaccination record to visit a non essential place of business in 20 months.

There were 2 exhibitions I was interested which both featured colorful art.  Mostly abstract as well.

The blue and pink piece was about the how color can be dispatched to for social control.  The pink color which is used in institutional settings was studied in 1978 and was found to make inmates violent.  The barn is a piece about our abandoned farm buildings.  Love the abstracts.

Our first snow arrived on Sunday Nov 14th.  

It continued to come down for a few days in varying degrees.

I had to go out on Wednesday and the roads were like slushy soup as they had not been ploughed yet.  Yuck!

I had several places to stop and it was a bit harried but I managed to keep the car and myself intact.

I made roasted vegetables yesterday.  I used the large roaster so I could keep them to one layer.

Yams, red onions, brussel sprouts, rutabaga, turnip, garlic and carrots.  A bit of olive oil and seasonings.

I added fresh oregano in the last bit of its time in the oven.

They were yummy.

That means its time to head for groceries as I am completely out of veggies in the fridge.

An Irish Cottage by Patrick Taylor is the book I finished this week.

Love this author and his stories of a medical practice in rural Ireland in the 1960's.  

In this book the Donnelly's looks their cottage to fire and the community rallies to find the family a temporary place to live.   Then further efforts are made to rebuild the burned out cottage.

The civil unrest with north and south regions plays a part which I don't really understand well.  

Another theme is women's reproductive rights in the 60's where one women is not wanting another child and another woman desperately wants one and is having difficulty conceiving.

The doctors and their house keeper and neighbours provide wonderful stories!

The Perfect Christmas - Debbie Macomber revolves around a young woman who wants to be in a relationship.

She finally decides to hire a matchmaker for $30,000 to find the perfect match for her by Christmas.

The matchmaker gives her several tasks to prepare for her first date with John, her perfect match.  She stands outside a mall ringing bells to raise funds for a charity, dressing up as an elf with Santa at the mall, and prepare Christmas dinner for her neighbors in the apartment building.

Each of these provide opportunities to learn things about herself and ensures visits from the matchmaker to monitor her progress.

In the end, she finds the man of her dreams but it was not exactly as the matchmaker had planned.

It was okay for a light read.