Sylvia's Simple Shots

All creatures are seeking shade as we endure time under a heat dome here on the prairies.

I found this wasp resting in the shade this morning as I was seeking shade myself.  I managed about 40 minutes outside this morning before heading inside.

 

We are expecting almost another week of over 30C highs which is very unusual for this part of the country.  

It's cold herbal tea with ice cubes this week instead of hot tea.  This Chai Green tea is pretty good.

I finished this book recently. Nice light romance about a girl following her dreams to run a tea shop instead of working in an insurance office.  Of course, when she gets the opportunity it's in a castle with a handsome manager. 

With a few bumps along the way, she wins on all fronts - family, love and work life. 

I have been making decisions about what needs to be cleared out so that I can store the things I want.  One of the things that needed a home was camping equipment.  

The shelf in the storage room has been cleared of paper. Rolls of gift wrap, pads of card stock, and freebies from years ago that I never used.

I have been consulting my Stampin Up color samples to see which card stock is going to be stored in the card making area and which is going.  This green was a great match and stayed.  Trimmed to letter sized sheets and added next to the other Always Artichoke card stock.  I have added an aluminum table and a lantern to the mix.  I am working on getting a fry pan for cooking on a butane stove.  This latest recipe includes tortillas on the top and bottom and cheese to hold the middle together.  The experimentation continues.

I picked Haskap berries when I visited my aunt last week.  I am a berry picker from way back and could not leave them on the bush.  The berries remind me of gooseberries.  

I found a recipe on line for HASKAP Chutney.   I replaced the raisins with cranberries.  Changed the flavors to ginger, garlic and curry.  Check out that color and it tastes great. Three small jars were processed and are waiting to be enjoyed.

I finished this book today!  It was really too hot to do much work so I sat near the fan and read instead.

Love Nicholas Sparks books and this one was full of mystery and suspense and a few scary bits. The Guardian involves a Great Dane dog which comes to live with Julie after her husband dies. 

Once she starts dating, she meets a man and goes on a few dates. Then things go a little strange and he will not let her be. She moves onto to another relationship but is plagued by problems with Richard.  The police get involved when a crime is committed then the chase begins. 

It was a good love story with some tense moments.

Flickr Macro Monday`s theme this week was `Pins`.  There is a good variety of them - straight pins, clothes pins, cotter pins, garment pins, head pins, safety pins, jewelry pins, and many more. 

Here I have put Love Macro Monday on punchies held onto a cord with tiny clothes pins.  Check out my Flickr Photostream (SMDPics) for the one I submitted.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #137 and 

Mersad at Through My Lens #295.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I met my Aunt at the University of Alberta Botanic Gardens this week for a photo trip.  We had to book online due to COVID restrictions and limit our time at the garden.

It is a huge place but we managed to get most of the places within the garden we wanted to visit.

I spent some time in the Japanese Garden.

The White Anemones were blooming and quietly swaying in the gentle breeze. 

We had perfect weather for our visit.  Being in shirt sleeves at 10:00 am.  I did put my sunscreen on as I missed earlier in the week and caught some color.

This was a great book - Woman of a Thousand Secrets by Barbara Wood.

A story of a young girl found in a basket on the ocean.  Adopted and raised on the Caribbean Islands before Europe discovered them.  To help save her father she journeys to the mainland in search of a red flower.  She finds people who look like her - fair and tall. She finds fellow travelers some of which are friends and some are foes. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

It was a week with a special birthday for me.

I shared the day with my sister.  We had a bubble wand, hotdogs and ice cream cake. The best!
 

I received this art for my walls this week.  It is a digital drawing done by my aunt. 

Corvus Brachyrhynchos is  a digital drawing which I thought was wonderful.  It almost looks like a photograph.

I found a frame to put it in and placed it on the shelf in my bedroom.

Since I missed my post last week I finished this book as well.  In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Allende.  I have read another book of hers in this post.   This one takes place in New York City during a big snow storm.  A gentleman of a certain age has an adventure with a lady from Chile and young woman from Guatemala.  Each of them have to venture out of their comfort zones to address the crisis in which they find themselves. 

They grow as people, become closer almost family and stay true to their values in difficult circumstances.

I enjoyed the book.

The challenge for Flickr Macro Monday this week was matchstick.  Not a very broad subject matter.

You can check out my Flickr Photostream (SMDPics) to see the image I submitted.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #136 and Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #294.

Have a great week!

Father's Day Card

These supplies are from an old card kit.

The card base is Soft Suede with a rectangular piece of teal designer paper.  It was adhered on an angle and then it was trimmed to the card edge.

I added some leaves cut with the Tim Holtz Tattered Leaves die.  Two in Soft Suede and one gold one.

I added a Stampin Up Decorative Label greeting with color printed words.  I used SU chalks to softly color the greeting in the right colors.  I punched a Soft Suede label which I cut in half and off set behind the greeting.

A card to let my Dad know how much I appreciate him.  I am so glad he is still here with us.

 

Special Birthday Card

My first card made with Stampin Up supplies since the major clear out of card making supplies in my craft space.

The card stock is Certainly Celery topped with a piece of Porcelain Prints DSP. 

I added twill ribbon in the same shade.  I added a short piece of Not Quite Navy tied in a knot.

I punched a couple of Five Petals punchies in those 2 colors. I added a small So Saffron flower in the center all held in place with a mini brad.  I adhered the flower to card front with 3D foam tape.  

The greeting is a color printed circle punchie with a NQN backer.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I think of June as lilac month. 

I brought some into my place for the beautiful scent and wonderful color.

This hand painted vase works well with these blooms with similar coloring.

I finished this book this week. It holds 4 modern romance stories.

Gift of Love by 4 different authors. 

The short stories vary from young love to romance with older folks.  City and country settings are featured.  I enjoyed the stories despite that they were pretty predictable.  They were tastefully written with Christian values which I appreciated.

I came across this cool idea this week.

To add a nice scent to your bathroom by just placing a few drops of your favorite essential oil on the inside of the roll.  Every time you pull the roll the scent will be released.

I used my Bergamot & Grapefruit oil which I am enjoying everyday instead of having it sit on a shelf.

Great idea.

I found these Mikasa Crystal Tea Bag Holders this week at the thrift store.  I could not resist as they were on half price. 

I have several tea bag holders so I will have to do some culling. I have too much tea related stuff such as cups, mugs, tea pots, etc. There will be a culling soon.  

I got my 2nd COVID Vaccine shot this week!  Feeling better about this whole thing.
 

I went for a photo shoot with my aunt this week.  We tried a new wetland in hopes of it being a little less busy than the big ones.

We met at 8:00 am which was late for me and early for her. 

It took us about 45 minutes to walk around the 2 ponds.  There were many types of ducks and water fowl.  There are places where it was difficult to get close to the water.  Also, the early morning light was not great because it was in our faces when we were close to the water so an early evening visit may be better.

The number of people was low but I'm not sure that would be the case later in the day. 

This is a female Redhead Duck.  It was a very pleasant hour with social distancing and masks. 

I found a few pink flowers this week for my mosaic.  Gerber daisies and geraniums.  I am so grateful to those who plant flowers in their from gardens for others to enjoy!
 

 

The challenge at Flickr Macro Monday this week was Board Game Pieces.  Of course that leads to a great variety of options.  I was surprised at how many themed Monopoly Games have been produced. 

One of the shots I took for this challenge is chess pieces - you can check my Flickr Photostream (SMDPics) for the shot I submitted.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #134 and

Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #292

Major Clean Up, De-clutter, Storage and Organize - Craft space & Photo Studio

I did decided I needed to do some major clean up and de-cluttering with the goal of having ALL card making supplies in the craft space.  This necessitated getting rid of a lot of supplies.  I have been mulling this over for several months.  

 

Finally, I decided to keep my Stamping Up supplies and cull the unrelated stuff for this reason. I have card stock, designer paper, ink, watercolor, chalks, ribbon, brads, and some stamps that all coordinate.  I have enough to last me the rest of my card making career.  I am keeping 110lb for photo cards too.

I started by removing all the non SU designer paper from my 8 color coded drawers.

Then, I took the 4 drawers of SU designer paper which were crammed to overflowing and sorted them into the 8 color coded drawers. It was a bit tough because SU paper comes in sets which are organized by color collections - Brights, Subtles, Regals, and Neutrals rather than colors.

Now, I had 4 empty drawers.

I then looked at the Iris cases in the bedroom that held 12x12 designer paper.  I kept the special papers like metallic, no shed glitter, and vellum pieces which translate well to Stampin Up.  That is what is in that bottom drawers.   Look 3 empty drawers!

I have a large box overflowing of designer paper to get rid of.  I will hold onto it for a couple of weeks in case I remember a few pieces I want to pull back.

 

 

The card stock cupboard needed to be addressed as well.  A while ago I had moved 8.5x11 Stampin Up card stock to this cupboard but now the 12x12 card stock had to be moved as well.

It was being stored in the dining room secretary along with table linens so it was time it moved.

The left is 8.5x11 card stock and the right is neutrals and 12x12 card stock on the bottom.

The middle shelf holds the boxes for my 2 projects - Compassion House and Cards for Seniors.

Here's the bottom shelves of the secretary in the dining room.  

I have added a few plastic containers to organize. The top shelf holds small vases, small bottles, charger plates, place mats, and a grey box of table runners and doilies.

The bottom shelf is a container of napkins and table cloths on the right hand side.

There is room for a few pieces if I decide something new in the future.

I now have 7 Iris cases that are EMPTY!

This is the photo studio area and you can see in the right hand photo that I have filled some of them with Macro Monday props. Clear cases which are well labels so I can quickly find what I need.  

I don't know what I will use the empty ones for just yet.  I can live with them empty for a while and get used to the space.  Having spend the time to empty them I will be sure to fill them with plenty of thought!   SO HAPPY!

Christmas Card Challenge - June - Dove

The challenge for June is Dove. These card feature a die cut white dove.

The watercolor background is one I did earlier.  I cropped it to square and applied a fade to blur the right hand side edge. 

I drew the olive branch and added it to the digital background. Added the sentiment below and printed this on white card base.

I die cut the dove from heavy card stock with the Sizzix Green Dove die.  It was then mounted to the card front aligning it on the olive branch.

The 2 cards below are using copies of this card which I had messed up when printing. I trimmed them to leave a small border and mounted them to coordinating blue card bases.

Added the die cut dove.

A few more cards for the Christmas card box.

Cards - Exchange - June

I chose the theme of pink and gold for my card exchange this month.

I chose a white A2 card base with a portrait orientation.

I added a pink textured layer which was embossed with the Stampin Up Subtle 3D folder.  I asked permission to use it before I delivered it to her last month.  Very nice folder. 

I chose a piece of white with foil stars decorative paper and adhered it to the pink layer.  I then punched a slot on the left and right hand side with the Stampin Up slot punch.  I pulled the white grosgrain ribbon through both and tied in on the front. Trimmed both ends.

I added a couple of gold star punchies and a pink handmade paper flower adorned with a gold flower sequin and attached with a gold star tiny brad.

I added a Stampin Up Modern Label punchie greeting color printed in pink, adhered with 3D foam tape. 

I followed most of the supplies from the first one.  

Started with a white card base A2 and put it in the landscape orientation this time.

Same treatment of the pink layer.

Added the ribbon and taped the ends to the back of the pink layer.

I added the gold foil star decorative layer over the ribbon onto the pink layer.  The trimmed piece of grosgrain ribbon I adhered behind the gold star layer and trimmed the ends. 

I added the Modern Label greeting with 3D foam tape above the bit of ribbon. 

I adhered 3 small gold confetti below the ribbon with Bling Zots.

These are off to my partners.