Card Exchange - January - Watercolor Birds

 

I have been busy so my Card Exchange cards are almost late.  I decided to use the small bird image I used for the thank you project I did in December.  This time I wanted to actually paint the birds.   I prepared my pieces of watercolor paper with different background colors.  The paper is 3.5 inches wide and I just applied a wash down the sheet changing the colors as I went. It was taped down and allowed to dry completely.

I trimmed the pieces of watercolor paper to squares roughly having a different color in each square.  I traced the bird onto the center of the square by placing the line drawing below my watercolor onto my light table. I used a permanent black fine Sharpie marker to trace the image.  I then used the colors I had mixed for the backgrounds to color the bird accordingly.

Then I matched the card base to the bird color.  The one on the left is Close to Cocoa and the right is Bashful Blue.  I added a length of Soft Suede grosgrain ribbon across the card and taped the ends under the focal element.  The birds are attached with 3D foam tape.  I spattered the cards with a bit of brown watercolor.

These are off to my partners.

National Hot Tea Month - 2022

January is National Hot Tea Month.

I enjoy hot tea every day.  This morning it was Earl Grey Decaf with a bit of honey.   

It was part of my breakfast in front of the dining room window so I can see outside while I eat.  It's the back alley so it's not great but better than the side of another building.  Maybe the view will change this year.

I served it in my Steeped Tea large clear glass tea cup.  I love big mugs/cups.

I hope you are enjoying a cup of your favorite tea.

Breakfast was three gluten free pancakes made with 1 to 1 flour and some wheat bran for fiber.

Topped with home made chokecherry syrup which I made this summer.  A bit of cream to make it delicious.

Tea served in my golden yellow tea pot sitting on the sunflower hot spot my niece made for me a few years ago.

I had one with maple syrup as well. 

Bean Bag Support for Phone

Mom's phone in her room now sits on a different piece of furniture than at the apartment.  It's taller and so she can not see the numbers as well.  If it was tilted up more it would be easier.   I started my research to find what I could make to help.  I was thinking polyfil or rigid Styrofoam but a better idea came to the fore.

There are many bean bags being made and marketed to support mobile devices.  I was sure I could adjust the idea for what Mom needed.   At the grocery store I bought the cheapest beanish' stuff I could find. A large bag of yellow split peas came home.  I was not sure how much I would need.  The rest will not go to waste - yellow split soup is on the menu for this week.

I used black microfiber cloth which will wear beautifully.  I cut a square about 9.5 inches.  I sewed all the way around leaving a small slit to fill it.  I added box corners to the far end measuring 1.25 inches.  I then slimmed down the sides so it became narrower at the bottom. With doing some testing with the phone at my place I decided that it would work quite well.

I created a paper funnel to get the peas into the bag. I think I used about 2 cups of split peas.  I then stitched up the fill slit with top stitching.  I then added a row of stitching about 2 inches from the bottom to leave room for the bottom of the phone to rest on the surface.

I added some non slip material on the bottom so that the phone will not move when she presses the buttons. 

This is an Ikea product - STOPP which I have used a lot.  Under my rug in the kitchen, under cutting boards, etc.

It was a whirlwind visit so I hope that this tool does the job and makes her life a little easier.  I will check in with next week and see how things are going.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

This is the steam from a heating system rising above a building across the back alley.

Back to very cold days.  We have had warmer temperatures with no sun, rain, freezing rain, and now back to -22C.  This has created crazy driving conditions - school bus cancellations, folks not getting to work, and mostly chaos.  I have been staying home.

I cancelled a visit to a sewing center to test out a walking foot for my vintage Bernina 830 record.  I hope to get there by the end of the week.

I finished this book on the weekend.  The Brushstroke Legacy by Lauraine Snelling is a story of painting which crossed several generations.  The main characters Ragni Clauson is the modern day women working for an advertising agency with the pressures that come with it. Nilda Torkalson lived in the 1900s in the family cabin and she is Ragni's great-grandmother.  

Ragni goes to the family cabin with her 15 year old niece Erika to assess the required repairs and ensure the minimum is done to save the building. They will camp on the property for the first while till the cabin can be camped in. 

The neighbour Paul Heidelborg has been keeping an eye on the place and was the one to advise the cabin needed attention.

The girls get back to nature, clear the tall grass, fix some windows and the roof to ensure it is critter proof, remove the rust from the cast iron stove in the cabin.  During the process both reconnect with painting and discover some rosemaling painted in the cabin by Nilda.  

Rosemaling is of Norwegian origin.  Nilda came to the cabin as a housekeeper and cook for Mr. Joseph Petersen who ran a farm in North Dakota.  She takes her young daughter across the country by train to assume this new employment.  She living in a very rural area and in a rustic cabin which is so different from the grand house in New York which was her previous employ.  Assessing the meagre food stores in the cabin puts her in a state of concern.  Mr. Petersen and his hired hand have been living in the cabin and working the farm - being bachelors doing their own cooking and housecleaning.  Needless to say improvements are necessary.  

Mr Petersen has asked for a supplies list for a trip to town.  She faces her fears and makes a good list for staples, laundry supplies, and pencils and paper.  She will at least be able to drawing until she gets paid and can buy paints. 

Another story with story female characters who grow, find their way and eventually thrive.  Loved the book and would recommend it. 

In order to make my own gluten free baking I followed my sister advise to make my own oat flour.  Take some whole large oats. Place in a blender and chop/grind until it is a fine texture.

We have found this flour can replace wheat flour.  My Mom has been eating gluten free for her cancer and couple of us have adopted it to some degree.  This is also my Mom's vintage blender which still works great. 

I made muffins from Mom's recipe.  They were great.  You can use any gluten free flour - 1 to 1, almond, quinoa, buckwheat or corn.   She eats them with cream cheese so it is a snack she can still have at the lodge as she has a small fridge.  We need to bake them for her.  I will make some more before my next visit.

I have been working on a sewing project.  This is an Art Portofolio Carry Bag for my art work. 

You can check out the details here.

The Flickr Macro Monday challenge this week was to take a shot as close as possible with the camera equipment we had.  The limit is normally 3" but we should get much closer.   There were several tiny objects to use as subject matter.  We needed to include the measuring as well in the photo. You can check out my photostream (SMDPics). 

I am sharing with  Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #321 .

Art Portfolio Carry Bag

As I de-clutter I am finding pieces of art so I decided that I needed a place for those to be stored all in one place. I decided a bag to hold a mat board sandwich would work. I have a piece of mat board 32"W x 25"T.  After checking the pieces of leftover fabric stash, I had a navy piece that would work with the mat board.  When we emptied Mom and Dad's apartment a piece of batik fabric that was made by my brother in art school was returned to me so I decided that would be appropriate for this project.  I chose a couple of other colors to complement the bag.

I needed sturdy material for the handles so I chose polyester twill tape in an warm white color.  They will run the full height of the bag to distribute the weight.

I wanted a flap over the top because I did not have a zipper long enough to close the top.  By adding a piece of teal which matched the batik that worked well.

I added the piece then worked out the flap and where the bottom would be.  The bottom was just a folded edge and I thought it needed to be reinforced so I sewed a narrow strip of the navy along the bottom. I also sewed box corners to allow for the depth of my mat board sandwich.

The mat board sandwich will be 2 pieces of similar sized mat board stuck together at the bottom with duct tape. 

I will leave about an inch of tape between the 2 to allow the sandwich to grow.

It is quite big but I thought I would maximize the use of the fabric and board I had.  Maybe I am destined to do a large art piece.  The sunrise piece is quite large.

The batik piece on the front serves as a pocket.  You can see a pad of drawing paper peeking out of it in this picture.

It is quite large and should fit any type of paper pad I need should I eventually take to a class.

A button on the pocket keeps its contents in place. A twill tape loop slips over the large purple button.

All the stress point have been reinforced.

Now I needed to keep the top closed and I decided that I would use a couple of pieces of velcro 3 inches wide near the handles.  The pieces were sewn on to the front and the closing top flap.

Now, I had stitching  showing on my flap so I placed a strip of batik fabric across the flap to look pretty and cover the stitching.

Next,  I needed a visual reminder as to where the velcro was and a grabbing point to pull on the flap.  

I added 2 short loops of the same twill tape I used for the handles.

I think this bag will work well to store my art pieces and allow me to find them when I am needing one of them.

I need another piece of mat board before I can assemble my sandwich.

Happy with this project. 

Christmas Card Challenge - Watercolor - January

 

I made these three watercolor cards for my Christmas Card Challenge - Watercolor for January.  I chose 140lb cold press watercolor paper.  I cut a piece of paper and taped to a piece of glass.  I drew my images by hand then painted them.  I traced the images with a black permanent marker after they were dry.  I them spattered them with watercolor.  I trimmed the images and I had cut it too short so on some of them you can see the line from the tape.  Live and learn.

The first is a candle and I used a gradient wash from blue to purple on the body of the candle. I added holly leaves and berries then added some different foliage. I added yellow, orange and red to the flame.  I left the foliage not touched by the black marker. I added a background to the bottom and the top.

The  middle is just a Bethlehem Star.  I tried to add spatter with bleach thinking it would remove the color but it did not.  Maybe I should have added yellow. 

The angel is a design I create years ago for a custom ornament.  A background was added to this one also with a spatter of blue.  I think I made the bow too small.  Still happy with it.

2021 Christmas Cards Received

 I cleaned up the Christmas cards I received in 2021 today.  I gave away about 50 and received 16.  I am grateful to those who sent cards and newsletters. There were 3 handmade in the bunch so that is a bonus.  The red tablecloth and plac emats have been put away for another year.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

At the end of the day full of errands I found this sky at the park.

I was out because it was the first day of reasonable temperatures -10C in 10 days of -30C or colder temps.  I have been hibernating for sure.

There was a band of heavy cloud above this brilliant band of gorgeous color right at the horizon and the sun shone through!

It's been a time of very few outside photos but we are going to have a week of decent temps so I will head out every day. 

The COVID numbers are ridiculously high so one has to be careful all the time.

The wall Christmas tree is put away and I was wondering what I was going to hang in this new space.

I have decided to hang my gold geometric wreath.  It works well and the size is just right.  I have hung a mercury glass ball in the center for now.  I was going to put a bow above it but did not have any ribbon that would work.  I'll take another look later.  Certainly not doing anything other than essential shopping right now.

The shelf was another challenge because it is very shallow.  Fortunately, I had not culled all my small photo frames.   I found these 3 black frames that work well.  I went through my photo collection and found 3 that worked in them. The center is a water drop on a single piece of grass, The left is a silhouette shot of weeds against sky and the right is dew drops on a spider web.  The 2 far end pieces are just what I had on hand.  I will work of something different for there.

I inherited this enameled cast iron pot from my Mom.  We called this the "bean pot" as she made home baked beans in this pot and it has made it to many a potluck meal.

During my visit to my aunt's before Christmas she showed me how to make vegetable lentil soup.  Very easy.

With my doctor recommending my reducing my sodium intake I will be making my own soup from now on.  This pot is just the ticket.  Thanks Mom.

The World that we Knew by Alice Hoffman is a story about a Jewish woman in Berlin, German during the second World War.  Hanni Kohn is a widow with a 12 year old daughter who has to do what she must to save her and ensure her survival. She decides to consult a renowned rabbi, but it’s his daughter, Ettie, who offers hope of salvation when she creates a mystical Jewish creature, a rare and unusual golem, who is sworn to protect Lea. Once Ava is brought to life, she and Lea and Ettie become eternally entwined, their paths fated to cross, their fortunes linked.

Ava and Lea travel to France and end up living at a convent where Jewish children under 12 are housed.  Ava becomes the kitchen worker. Ettie is working for the French resistance and saved many children by walking them to the Belgian border. A love story, a warrior story and full of brave women.

It was a very touching story and I would highly recommend this book!

The theme for Flickr Macro Mondays was "corner".  Of course, the options are endless but what will make an engaging image.

Above are 3 of the images I took for the challenge. Left an crystal block, a post in note block and a magnetic frame. You can check out my Flickr Photostream (SMDPics) to see the image I submitted.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #163 and Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #320 

Have a great week!

2022 Christmas Card Challenge - Watercolor

I have decided that I so enjoyed making the few watercolors Christmas cards I made in 2021 that I will concentrate on watercolor for my 2022 ones.  Of course, the medium allows for simple to complex compositions. My drawing skills are not great but there are tons of videos available on every skill level that I will manage to produce ones I am happy with.

Dig out the Crayola Box, the watercolor pencils, the watercolor pans, or the professional grade, whatever you have and put it onto paper.  I would recommend good paper though, a 140 lb paper would be great. Use watercolor however you choose and add whatever other elements you are led to use. If you are following feel free to mix and match as you feel inspired.

The only goal is to get our Christmas cards made by December 1st.

If you are inspired to make Christmas Cards, please leave a comment below with a link to your cards.  I look forward to sharing this creative journey with you.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

It's cold and windy.  The wind blew overnight and created a few winter landscapes aka snow banks.

We are at -27C feels like -36C wit the windchill. 

I confess, I took this photo from inside.

I did go out last week to mail stuff that needed to be postmarked in 2021.  I had 2 pairs of fleece sweat pants; a long sleeved shirt, my blue fleece jacket and my winter jacket; a tuque and my parka hood; 2 pair of gloves, and my winter boots.  I had 5 blocks to walk to the post office, I stood in line for a few minutes then 5 blocks back.

On the weekend it warmed up to -12C so I did my big grocery shopping and put the gas in the vehicle.  On Sunday I had a visit with my aunt as we were headed back in the deep freeze.  It was nice to have a couple of hours with my humans.

While visiting my aunt she mentioned that she was liquidating some of her ornaments as she has downsized to a 4 foot tree from a 7 footer. 

I was allowed to choose a few.  These are the ones I chose because of course I have a much smaller tree myself these days.  They are all glass and old. The pink round one is 2 inches in diameter and the bells are a bit smaller.  The bells actually have clangers and tinkles when rung.  I think these would be classed as Shiny Brights which were ornaments imported from Germany in the early 30's.  The left one is not silvered on the inside which I understand from my research was discontinued during WWII which sometimes helps to determine the age of an ornament.  You can check out more information on Shiny Brights on Wikipedia.

I finished this book last night.  A Turn in the Road by Debbie Macomber.   A story of a road trip with Bethanne, Annie her daugther and Ruth her ex-mother in law.  They travel from Seattle to Florida for Ruth's 50th Class reunion.  Bethanne has been divorced for 6 years when her husband walked out on her and their 2 kids.  She had to reinvent herself after being his partner in life and his biggest supporter in his realty business.  Having hosted many events in support of his business she turns to setting up a Parties business and has done very well.  She has several stores which she runs with the help of her daughter and a business manager.

On the trip the itinerary changes as each woman puts in her dibs for where to stop along the way.  Ruth wants to stop and look up a woman who was a neighbour and friend when she was first married. The girls pitch in at the restaurant during their visit.  The next stop is to visit a beautiful lake which some customers had mentioned at the restaurant.  The rental car breaks down and help arrives on motorcycles - the bikers from the restaurant. Bethanne takes a ride back to town with Max on his bike to get help.  He had caught her eye the day before when she was waiting tables. All three women have their love stories develop.   Ruth was meeting an old flame from high school at the reunion.  Bethanne's ex-husband now divorced again makes a play to reunite and Annie meets several young men along the trip.  

I found the struggle between these three women to get along as they wrestled with their own insecurities about life and men challenging.  I guess that is what it's like.   It was just okay for me.

I decided to purchase some essential oils sometime in December.  They were a bit pricey. My favorite essential oil bottle was getting low and I was not going to the biggest craft sale to purchase more.  My wax melts as well were needing refreshing and I was not going out into a crowd to find a Scentsy rep. 

I found a health food store with the scents I wanted.  Pine Needle for the Christmas Tree and Grapefruit and Bergamot to replace my near empty bottle.  I use it on my doll diffuser mentioned here.  I put a drop on each morning as I do my exercise.

I thought I would just use beeswax to make wax melts.  I melted some and added my grapefruit and bergamot oils and let it solidify.  

When I researched a bit more I discovered that I need to add coconut oil so it will melt in the warmer.   So I will have to wait till it warms up next week and purchase some.

This one will have to be remelted and adjusted.

I used a silicone mold to form it and it should be the right size to fill my warmer's bowl.

This project is on hold for the time being.  I did have some Scentsy pieces left so I still have time to make this project work.

I received this felt tree oil diffuser from my sister for Christmas.

It will get the pine needle scent next year.   I think I had a bit of a reaction to it this year so I will leave that for the time being.

Love the light color and stitching on this cutie.

It will go into the box with the decorations and come out next year.  Maybe next December the world will have righted itself.

The theme for Flickr Macro Mondays this week was "cotton".   Mom and Dad are now settled in their new residences. Mom at the lodge and Dad at ExtendiCare. Fortunately, only across the parking lot from each other.  During the sorting out of this from Mom & Dad's move I brought home an apron my Mom embroidered about 60 years ago.

It features these beautiful cabbage roses, so I used that for my image on Macro Mondays.  You can check out my Flickr Photostream at SMDPics. 

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday # 162 and Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #319. 

Have a great week.  It good to be back.