Sylvia's Simple Shots

I found White Pelicans at Beaumaris Lake this week!

The water was blue and it was very good.

Not the best shots but they are only the firsts.

Teatime for Firefly by Shona Patel

A story set in India. In prewar WII Layla Roy lived with her grandfather and she was educated. They had great discussions and she was able to debate and express her self.  One day, a young man came to visit her grandfather - Manik Deb. He was handsome, well spoken, had very good English and could rub shoulders with the British.  He is betrothed to a girl down the way.  He has a good job.

Suddenly, it is heard that Manik has taken a job on an Assam tea plantation.  Why? The marriage is eventually withdrawn as the girl is not moving to hinterland of northern India.  What was he thinking.

He had his eye on Layla.  Now with his future clear he can marry Layla.  He does and takes her far away from her home and she is meant to mingle with wives of tea planters.  She is in charge of servants and Manik works long hours.  It all works out in the end.

The White American Pelicans have arrived in Sherwood Park as well at the Heritage Hills Wetlands.

The story continues with not great photos but I will persevere.

My plan to give away the cards I make is working well.

The recipients are appreciative.

This set is headed to my niece.

The Red Winged Blackbirds are back in all the wetlands.

This was a the Heritage Hills Wetlands.  

I only had a bit of time so that is what it is.

Birthday Gift - Blue and white dinnerware

 My niece and god-daughter is celebrating a birthday and I will be able to see this year!

There is a large box of wonderful stuff ready for her.  

She already knows what is inside so it's okay that it has been identified.

She has just moved into a new house and is working on getting the kids back to school and unpacking and setting up the house.  

I have had this Blue Nordic by Johnson Brothers dinnerware for several years but was not using it to it's full potential.  I want to downsize and when I found out she would love it, it was an easy choice.

I'm not sure she has the piece of furniture in the dining room yet. These good dishes will likely be in their place for Christmas dinner.

I am sure she will enjoy it!

The set includes enough of the pieces for 6 place settings.  The pieces are dinner plates, salad/dessert plates, cereal bowls, soup bowls, and teacup and saucer. They are a family of four so there is enough for one set of grandparents.

The extra pieces include the teapot, cream and sugar and a large serving platter.

I am super happy to have this set going to a good home.

I bought most of it at a thrift store.  I collected tea cups and saucers along the way.  I found the platter at a second hand store. 

I wanted her to have a surprise as well so I made her a linen tea towel and a pale green linen fabric.

My sister and I had a conversation about using linen for bath towels the other day and I managed to find her some linen/cotton fabric she will be trying out. I do have a couple linen tea towels.

This is a perfect color for my niece.  I had a piece just the right size.  Finished size 18 x 27 inches.  I added a hanging loop in one corner and made mitered corners.  On hindsight, maybe the loop should have gone in the middle.

During my visit this summer, she expressed wanting a special silver spoon for a lovely container.

She had a small spoon from Air Canada in the other dish and wanted another.  (Remember when airlines actually used real cultery with their in flight meals?) How things have changed but I digress.

I'm not sure what the chances are of finding another Air Canada spoon but this one is quite similar and can work as a stand in until the better one shows up.

Tied it onto the tea towel with the same twill tape.

Sunflower Birthday

A sunflower card for my niece that celebrates her birthday in September.

The photo was attached to the heavy card base.  I added a greeting with double sided tape.

I added an insert so she can remove it and reuse the card.

I am including a few cards she can use as she is a very busy mom and card making may not always rise to the top of the todo list.

The Zoo - Pandas

A trip south to see the Giant Pandas at the Calgary Zoo was on my road trip list for this summer.

I managed to get there on the last day of summer weather - Sept 11th. It snowed the next day.

The 4 pandas Er Shun and Da Mao, and her two cubs, Jia Panpan and Jia Yueyue will be staying in Calgary for 5 years.

There was only one who was active during my visit.  Check out the last photo in the mosaic.  Do you think it wants to see anybody?  Don't think so!

I fortunate that kids were back in school and my visit was during the day so the crowd was small.

My niece came with me so I had a great guide to making the most of my limited time there.

It was great and I expect to visit again before they leave.





The Butterfly House was another must.  The species seem to bit limited in this house and I found the same at the Botanic Gardens earlier this summer.

Of course the Blue Morpho is the hit of the house. I managed one with its wings spread. The other is one which had just emerged in the chrysalis house.

This black and orange one on the left is the Hecale Longwing and the one on the right is the Dark Evening Brown.  I was concerned it had lost a lot of wing but its wings are very squarish.

In the Canadian Wilds area I found the Whooping Crane and the Great Grey Owl.

Sharing with Maggie at Normandy Life who hosts Mosaic Monday #101.

Framed Art Canvas - Owl

I created this piece of art of my niece and god daughter who celebrates a birthday this week. 

The canvas was created by another niece who produces this wonderful pour art. Xyla Creations.  I purchased this piece back in May as it had the perfect colors for my god daughter.

I added the black frame. 

I created the tree trunk and branches from ripped black card stock. 

I added the circle moon cut from copper metallic card stock.

I added the brass owl pendant in front of the moon with his feet on the branch. 

I added the sentiment with vellum tucked into the bottom of the art with out being adhered.

I used glue dots to attach all the pieces only to find a day later all the pieces had fallen down.  Attaching stuff to acrylic paint has been a challenge before.  I resorted to tiny black brads but I really did not want to make holes in the wonderful canvas. 

The owl is a piece of jewelry so I gave my god daughter the matching chain in case somewhere along the line she wants to wear it.

I was able to deliver it in person and spend a day with her.  It was a wonderful time.

Lunch out is always a nice thing.

Thanks - Rounded Squares

I started with a cinnamon colored card onto which I printed the greeting in black open letters at the bottom of the card.
I chose some double sided card stock to coordinate.  I punched 3 large and 3 small squares with the Creative Memories Double Square punch.  I corner rounded 2 opposite corners then layered them onto each other.
I placed a piece of black grosgrain ribbon across the top third of the card and taped the end to the inside of the card. I mounted the 3 squares over the ribbon with 3D foam tape.

Share Your Cup #205

I received this Spearmint plant from my sister on the week end.  It was running wild in a garden of a friend of hers and I had mentioned I would like one so she took a bit and brought it home.  I brought my pot and we gave it a home.  It needs to be in a pot so it should do well on the balcony for the summer.  I am looking forward to adding it to iced tea and lemonade over the next couple of months.

I received this gorgeous yellow ceramic basket from my niece for my birthday.  I love it!!  It is handmade in Italy and it will be added to my tea cupboard.  She called me months ago about how much space I had on tea cupboard to replace the wooden box that was there.  I completely forgot about the conversation and voila this arrived that fits perfectly.  It will hold the bags of loose tea.












 

This trunk is one of the items that I have inherited from my Mom & Dad. I believe it came across the country or the ocean with my paternal grandfather. 

I will be doing some research about it, cleaning it and then restoring it.  There are plates that need to be reattached, wheels on the bottom that need to be replaced, and a finish to be done. 

I will be using it as a side table in my living room so I want to create a glass top which will protect it but still allow its beauty to show through.  I will have design the top then work out who can help me create it. 

Looking forward to this project.

 My niece made my sister and I matching pouches.  The outside fabric is wool from a Japanese kimono.  The inside is lined with yellow wool.  It can be used for a cell phone, cosmetics, jewelry, or a small purse when going out on the town.  The colors are great.  She is so talented.  Thanks so much, Suzanne.

This is one shot from a photo shoot I did at my sister's this weekend.  She owns the full set of the heart shaped cups from Steeped Tea.  I really wanted to include them in the 2017 Tea Calendar I am designing.  I took about 150 shots which included my Royal Worcester bone china tea cup with her bone china tea pot.  Her good dishes teapot and cups, heart cups and several others.  

This is a sneak peak.  Keep your eyes here for an update when the calendar is available for sale.