Sylvia's Simple Shots

I have had to remind myself recently to Not Give Up!  I have had challenges with the car, the house, creatively with cards and photography and then there is the pandemic! 

I took a picture of a park bench at a church yard in my neighbourhood. Plastic ends with 5 pieces of painted 2 x4 and lickadee split you have a bench. I was inspired to use it as a quote back drop.   Here it is!

Things are hard and hopefully we are not all down at the same time.  When you feel better be sure to encourage those around you!  You don't know who may need it so just give it when you can.

I have had quite a few flying creatures appear on my balcony recently which is quite unusual.  I have had a couple of sparrows just sit on the rail for a few minutes just where I can see them.  They never stay long enough for me to get the camera but I enjoyed them anyway.

This large dragonfly staying for quite a while and I was able to get the camera. I wondered what it was doing.  Upon checking the photo on the computer you can see a set of wings right next to the corner.  I checked on line for what they eat and they are carnivores!  I expect it was eating a fly.  Wow!  I did not see that coming.  

I think of them as pretty and mild kind of creatures!

I  have been filling my face full of ripe chokecherries on my walks in the last few mornings.  They are always better after a freeze which I hope is not near. 

Canada Red Chokecherry trees are full of them and I can pick the bottom ones and leave the high ones for the birds.

I finished "The Paris Orphan" by Natasha Lester this week.  It was a great read. 

Set in the 1940's during World War II and then in modern times.  The main character Jessica May goes from model to photojournalist covering the war in Italy, France and Germany.  Victorine is the orphan that Dan Hallworth, an American soldier has rescued and "adopted" as she has no one else.  Dan is a good man and a great leader so is being promoted during this conflict.  He is working hard to motivate his men, protect the women (journalists and nurses) and children. There are many twists and turns in the story so keeping it all straight is a challenge.  Great characters which are honorable, trustworthy, prepared to do the hard stuff and love with all their hearts!

After talking with my sister yesterday about the papers I posted here I decided to give it one more try.

I made this one this morning and it comes much closer to what I had in mind.

I used liquid acrylic ink in teal, chrome yellow and silver metallic on this grey patterned designer paper.  I was looking for ink splotches.  I achieved this by knocking my wet paintbrush against another directly above the card stock from about 2 feet.

Really happy with this one.

I have found several window paintings during my walks around town.  These are reflections on windows of building where the glass creates a distorted image of the reflections.  The panes around it are flat and reflect the objects quite realistically but these are different.   I don't know what accounts for one pane being less flat than those near it but it does create nice images!

Flickr Macro Monday's challenge this week was "water". That should be easy!  Again, I don't know if it is my head space or what but it was another challenging week with hundreds of photos taken and not really meeting the concept in my mind.

On the left is a bubble showing off all it's color. You can check my Flicker SMDPics photo stream to see which one I submitted.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #92 and with Mersad who hosts Through my Lens #252.  You can check out my Instagram SMDPics100 for a photo a day!

Macro - Bubble

One of the challenges I had this week was on Flickr - Macro Bubble.
Of course, I took lots of shots many of which were not good but I had a few good ones.
I took a kid's bubble maker to the park and blew many of them.  This one was quite small attached to a stalk of grass.  It's great to spend time outside.  I really enjoyed myself.
I love the soft background colors.

Submitting to:
Macro Monday 2

Decorative Paper - Set 3

This card features paper created with the Bubble Painting technique.

This technique was done on plain white card stock so it matte and not shiny.  There is a great variety of greens from moss to a yellowy one.  I chose a green grey card stock.  I trimmed the decorative paper to leave a small margin and adhered it to the card front.  I then placed a piece of River Rock card stock across the bottom third of the card.  On top of that I adhered my greeting with 3D foam tape.  The greeting was color printed on ivory card stock and punched with the Stampin Up Decorative Label Punch.  I rubbed the edges with Always Artichoke ink pad. I cut a star from River Rock then a smaller one from the same bubble decorative paper.  These where layered and adhered above the greeting to the left.

Here's a sympathy card made with the circle trio using the same bubble paper.  I punched the decorative paper with the smaller 1.25" circle punch then the solid card stock with the 1 3/8" circle punch. These were adhered together.  The large greeting is my own design and was printed in Mellow Moss.  I used the same green grey card stock as the first card. I adhere the left and right circles leaving even borders then just place the third one in between leaving even borders.

This card features Paste Paper.  The acrylic paint used in the technique was brown.  I cut the paper leaving a small border.  It was adhered to the front of a warm brown card which worked well with the colors in the paper.  I cut the Memory Box Birch Tree Trio from sand colored card stock.  I adhered them to the paste paper with snail adhesive so I could just rub off the areas which had adhesive sticking out.  The greeting is printed on vellum in black then embossed with clear powder. I ripped the top and bottom edges.  I placed it across the bottom third of the card and added the copper maple leaf brad in the top right hand corner.  I used several tiny round brads to hold the rest of the greeting in place.  Once in place I trimmed the ends to the card edge with scissors.

Simple Birch Trio

I selected one of the backgrounds I created during my bubble decorating paper session and printed onto the front of my card.  I added a thin border in dark green.  I glued the Memory Box Birch Trio cut in white card stock over the background.  I ripped a piece of white card stock to create snow and a grounding for the trees.   I added a strip of SU Pool Party card stock across the snow bank. I stamped the greeting with a clear stamp and Baja Breeze ink.

Submitting this card to the following challenges:

Holly Jolly Christmas Challenges - Clean and Simple

Card - HB Turquoise

I made this card for a dear friend celebrating a milestone birthday this weekend.
I started with a piece of card stock colored during this process. It was one of the first ones I did so it did not have the classic bubble look I wanted for my first project.  I wanted it to be warmer so I spritzed it with turquoise water that I used to dye the ribbon. That was slightly successful.  Once I had ironed the paper dry and as flat as I could I cut it with the Spellbinder A2 Ribbon Thread die. I ran the slightly blue seam binding through the slots and tied it in a knot at the top.  I adhered it to the warm blue card front.  I used a dot background stamp with Tempting Turquoise ink and added some more texture to the die cut.  I chose handmade paper flowers in turquoise to accent the card. I stamped the greeting in the same color on vellum with a small clear stamp then ripped the strip top and bottom. I placed it on the card front and held it in place with 2 turquoise handmade paper flowers, white sequins and tiny white brads.  I added several more flowers.  I added some white sequins held in place with Zots for Bling.

Christmas Card Challenge - April - Peace Coloring Large Greeting

Here's my card for April. I worked on the coloring by making my own background with the bubble technique.  You can check out the details on this post.  I printed the "on Earth" and a few bubbles onto the layer with the color printer. I chose to cut the greeting with the Cricut and the Winter Woodland cartridge.  It was cut at 1.75".  I chose a pale yellow card stock.  I chose a warm blue card which matched very well with the bubble paper. The background layer was adhered to the card front then the greeting was glued on next.  I punched a star from silver glitter paper with the Creative Memories Sparkle punch. It was adhered just above the greeting. Super happy with these cards.

On this second set of cards I used the blue bubble paper.  I selected a deep warm blue card. Trimmed the background paper leaving a small border.  I cut the greeting from silver glitter paper which worked great! The star is punched from the same card stock as the card. This added a good number of cards to my stash.

How To - Bubble Technique to Decorate Paper

I'm working on my Christmas Card Challenge for April which is Peace, Coloring and Large Greeting. 
I wanted some decorative paper for the background of my large greeting so I made some bubble paper for the project. 
It is quite a messy process so I covered my space with my trusty blue plastic mat.  It took several containers and straws till I got the look I wanted.  The small container and the small straw worked best for me.  I cut my paper into quarter sheets as I will be using them for cards. The color changed as I added drops of color.  Blue, purple, added yellow to get green. I have 36 sheets of beautiful paper to use in this project and future projects. It was an absolute blast!
Looking for something to do with the kids while they are home on spring break?  Give it a try!
Check back April 1 to see the card I made for the challenge.  Have you started your Christmas cards? Seize the moment and get a few made. 

June Photo a Day Challenge - Last 2 Days

Here's the last 2 photos for Kati's June Photo a Day Challenge.

Day 29 - Grass

I chose the clump of new sprouted grass.  I like the fact that the grass has variety of colors including red and green. The rock provides a decent background with texture.

Day 30 - Looking Up

I've had this idea from the first time I read the theme for today. I bought myself a large bubble maker and set out. It's taken a while to get a shot I was happy with.  I went out several times in the evening but the wind was just too much.  This time I spent an hour in the morning, less clouds in the sky but also less wind.  Having to blow the bubbles then chase them around was an exercise.  I didn't really know what I had till I got home and looked at the pics.


I would like to thank Kati for this challenge. It's been fun!!!