Oil Diffusers - One of a Kind - Set 3

Another set of One of a Kind Oil Diffusers

Marble Cube

This diffuser features a cinnamon colored marble cube with an matching insert with a hole.  I have placed wooden rods in the hole which will be the diffuser. I have placed a piece of felt under the insert to catch any drops.  The sticks are held together with a bit of jute.

This diffuser would fit nicely on a desk, in a man cave, or near a favorite chair.  The outside cube will protect your furniture.

Place a drop or two of pure essential oil on the wooden rods and enjoy your favorite scent. 

Amber and Gold 

Glass beads in gold and amber have been strung on this crystal glass square.  

I have placed a chocolate brown felt under the beads which is the diffuser.  Place a drop or 2 of pure essential oil on the beads which will makes their way to the felt.

Sit back and enjoy a time of rest in your favorite personal space.

Greek Tea Cup

I have used an old tea cup made by Pratt Potteries with the Greek design featuring beautiful horse and lady image on the front with key stone pattern around the inside edge of the cup.

I have added a black felt stuffie in the cup with a vintage button and bronze thread embroidery which coordinates well with the metallic accents on the tea cup.

Place 1 or 2 drops of pure essential oil on the black felt and relax in your favorite spot.  The cup will protect your furniture from any stray drops.

Will fit into any favorite spot as you enjoy a cuppa.

Sylvia`s Simple Shots

The weather man, the calendar and the leaves outside say that fall is here.

I went for a walk with my aunt yesterday and captured the colors.  Here we mostly have yellow leaves with very few red ones.

The temperature was in around 20C so that is summer temperatures so a vest and long sleeved shirt was enough for the afternoon walk.

Of course, it is cooler in the mornings now and I am choosing to walk later in the day most days.

Someone pointed out on Instagram (@smdpics100) that there are no bugs so that is a bonus.

I took a trip to the country last week which included a scouting trip for craft supplies (more about that later) and to visit family.

I came home with a bag of frozen raspberries which were quite unthawed when I arrived home.

I had planned a recipe of Raspberry Bavarian so early this week I made it up.  I like this dessert with chocolate wafers.

Last Christmas, in the height of pandemic I was not going out to buy them so I found a Chocolate Wafers recipe on line.  This way I can also control the sugar in the recipe.

Yummy!

It's time to do the running shoe shuffle.

The runners I have been wearing outside for the last couple of years have to go.

That means my indoor exercise runners will be demoted to outside runner duty.

That meant I needed a new pair of inside exercise shoes.

I am happy with these Nikes.

I will soon start up doing my exercises inside again as the weather becomes cold and then snowy later on.

I picked up this book at the large garage sale I attended with my sister and niece a few weeks ago.

I did not realize that it was part of a series but "The Waterfire Saga" was a clue if I had paid attention.  At least it is the first book.

It is a fantasy type story which takes place with mermaids under the sea.  

They have all the same trials with family, politics, love and friendships as we do.

The main character is Serafina of the princess of the Mediterranean Sea.  She has a dream that is foreboding of an evil possibly being released on the globe to reek havoc.

When the palace is attacked and she escaped with her cousin they are launched into a pilgrimage to prevent the release of this evil.

During my visit to the country I was on the search for small branches to create my new Christmas Tree.

You can check out this January post when I came up with the concept.

I have purchased faceted beads, borrowed some nylon cording which will form part of the project.  I have the hooks already.

It involves a drill to put holes in the ends and I have to come up with a plan for the star at the top and the trunk at the bottom.

I also have to find a hook which will extend from the wall a bit to allow space for some of my dimensional ornaments to hang.

I'm not sure how long it will take for me to complete it but I will post my results when it is ready to hang.

The challenge at Flickr Macro Mondays today is "Knots".   To the left are a three of the shots I took for the challenge.  

You can check my Photostream (smdpics) to see the one I submitted.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #149  and Mersad who hosts Through my Lens # 306. 

Have a great week!

Sylvia Simple Shots

Cold drinks are an absolute must in these temperatures.   We had 30C yesterday which is way too hot for me. 

Just ice balls with soda water in a double walled glass so it will stay as cold as possible!

I created a low key image to have the yellows stand out!

Staying hydrated in this weather is important and I don't need extra sugar so this works well for me.

I had 4 extra glasses of water yesterday. 

My African Violet is blooming!

I have such poor luck with plants so I am stoked to see blooms. As you can see they are a gorgeous deep purple color and there will be many it seems!

Yeah! Yeah!

The north window is working so well.  Now that it is hanging just above the sewing machine, it is great. I have plants in a couple of places in my home!

I believe this is a thistle bloom.   I love the jagged edges of the petals.

It has not rained in about a week here so I generally always carry my spray bottle to give my photos a bit of something extra when needed.

I love this shot!



I found a Lady Bug Hatchery! There was a lot of them in different stages of development.

The bug on the right is a Lady Bug Larvae becoming and developing it's wings.  Very cool!  It is interesting that the body under the hard wings looks very similar to the larvae but we hardly ever see it because it's flying when the body is exposed!

I worked on making more face masks. I tried a fitted one this time.  I like it.  Still hot in these temperatures but less fabric.

The features of this face mask are a draw string tie so you just pull to tighten.  I had found someone on line recommending putting a kleenex on the nose piece to help with glasses fog.  I decided to put a permanent layer of terry cloth which fills in the spaces around the nose and absorbs the moisture from your breath.  Works quite well.

This one also allows me to put a filter on the inside if I want to.  Never know what options I will need before this is all over.

Flickr Macro Monday challenge this week is Chocolate! Well I love this one!  I bought 5 different kinds because I wanted options for a good photo. Photographing chocolate up close is challenging because some of it is not pretty.  Do we really look at it before we put it into our mouths, I would suggest not!  I have Chocolate Chips here and check out my photostream SMDPics for the image I submitted.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #91
and
Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #251           Have a safe week!

Sylvia Simple Shots

I found Black Terns at the John Poole Wetlands on Sunday.  They were being very protective and almost dive bombing me so there must be a nest close by.

This is a new bird for me.   I have not seen them before in my area.  Black Terns eat mostly small fish and insects. Male and female select the nest site together.

I know that we have more flattened bull rushes in this wetland compared to other years.  It makes it easier for us on the platform to see into the wetland.  That is how I saw the Sora Rail the last time I visited. 

Loved learning more about this bird and it's life and behaviour.  You can see the rain.

I made Bavarian this week and brought a few over to my sister's while we had a social distance visit. 

I have one more package of raspberries in the freezer so I will have to find a source.  The friend where I have picked in the last couple year has moved down east.  A call to my other sister may be needed.

This was a combo of raspberry and rhubarb.  I added a cherry as that was the only fresh fruit I had.  You can check out the recipe in this post.

I normally serve this with store bought chocolate wafers but I was not headed out for just that!  I found a great recipe for Chocolate Wafers which was really tasty!

This is the book that has been on my night table in recent days.  It was a nice change from those I read recently. 

Each chapter is a story of an incident from his small animal veterinary practice in England in the 1940's.  He was in practice for nearly 50 years.

Some hilarious, some moving and touching, some just plain hard work. 

Most of the stories are set in the fictional town of Darrowby.  James Herriot is a pen name for James Wight.  He wrote many books.

I have seen animals other than birds this week.  On the top is muskrat eating bull rushes.  We were all wet myself included.  I was prepared with a plastic bag for the camera and my rain jacket so I was comfortable.  

A Barn Swallow fledgling was taking refuge from the rain in a small hole in a municipal sign designed to remind dog walkers to pick up after their pets. The holes I think were meant to hold plastic bags.   On Sunday they held small birds.  There was 3 holes and birds filling 2 of them.  I felt for these little ones.  Having to sort out feeding themselves and it has rained for 4 days.  Miserable weather.

The coyote I was warned about by a fellow walker in the river valley.  She was walking a fairly large dog and the coyote had not really been intimidated by her or the dog. Great! I thought.   I walked on fully aware of my surroundings.  Just a few minutes later he came out of the bush on one side of the trail and stopped to eye me.  Thankfully he just moved on across the trail and headed down towards the golf course.  

I am due for a large grocery shopping trip so some ingredients are in short supply.  I had bought an avocado and wanted to make a salad.   Found a great recipe but the dressing was the best part.

Veggie Salad: The grain is quinoa, tomatoes, the last of the celery, red onions, and a bit of dried rye bread for crunch.

I was supposed to put dried cranberries but totally forgot!  That would have be even better.

Fortunately, the ingredients are things I always have on hand.  The recipe did 2 large bowls but I should make some ahead.  The dressing was tastier on the second bowl the next day.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #87 and Mersad who hosts Through my Lens #247

Flickr Macro Monday challenge this week was Squared Circle.

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

You can check out my Instagram SMDPics100  I post a photo a day of my wanderings and being out and about.

Have a great week and be well!

Recent Photos

I went to see Mom & Dad this week to celebrate Dad's 90th birthday. 

There was 7 of us for lunch then we headed to their place of chocolate cake.  My sister made the cake which was healthy with zuchinni and bran.  We had fresh fruit and some whipped cream to top off the cake. 

It was great to see them and Dad will have had 3 celebrations before the week is done.

Champagne was had with their friends on Friday. 

The large nativity is up with the new to me Avon Nativity figures my sister found at a thrift shop.  I connected with her at Dad's birthday. 

I got the stable last year when my niece spotted at a thrift shop.  It needed a lot of cleaning but it looks great.

I added some gold fabric to represent straw, put stars in the sky, the fused glass star I bought at the Art Gallery Christmas Store last year.  Perfect size.  Mercury glass trees in the background.

I think I could use a couple of the animals (donkey and or oxen) from the Avon set.  I will keep my eye out during the year. 

The round Silent Night ornament was purchased at the craft sale I was part of 2 weeks ago.  Works well here!

I cleared the telephone table from the clutter and it is sitting where I can see if often.

I bought a soapstone card holder at the reception at the Art Gallery on Saturday night.  I like support other artist as I would like their support for my products.

I love the cool green outside against the warm colors on the inside of the stone.

I plan on using it in my photography to add words easily.

Love the quote from Wayne Dyer that was included with the holder.

Sharing with Angie at Letting Go the Bay Leaf who hosts Mosaic Monday #57

This Week in photos!

I had an Easter Bunny at my place at the breakfast table Sunday morning.

Milk chocolate my favorite and in such a cute shape.

The bell around his neck actually jingles. Way too cool.

I shared it around the table and had  the left overs with my supper last night.

I always bring flowers to Mom for Easter so those are the pink tulips.  They will open later this week. There was a basket of mums on the table and see the blue bunny hiding amongst the blooms.

There was a little boy celebrating his 2nd birthday on Saturday.

His Mom had made this beautiful cake.  The train actually ran around the cake on the track.  Very cool!

The fondant decorations was very well done.  Hills, mountains, gulls, flowers, a big sun were all around the cake.  Chocolate cake was great.

I stopped to take a photo of these stands of trees along the highway.  They soon will lose their silhouettes and but leaf covered.  It was early evening and the sky was starting to be multicolored.


The theme for Macro Monday this week was "bottle cap". We could photograph anything which would seal a bottle.

This is a glass stopper for a glass perfume bottle.

I added some bokeh in the background.  You can check Flickr here.  My photos here.

Sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday and Mersad who hosts Through my Lens.

Apron - Cross Back - Sunny Side Up

I made another apron this morning.  I chose the 100% cotton fabric called Sunny Side Up by Ro Gregg.  I lined it with a piece of chocolate brown fabric.

This one is wider than the last one.  I added 3/8 of an inch on the fold as well as 3 inches more than the pattern.  Over all folded dimension was 20 inches at the under arm.

I used the remnant from the armhole cut out to make the patch pockets.  I edged the slant of the pocket with a strip of the chocolate brown fabric from the lining.

The pockets were placed a little farther apart as well at 2.5 from center rather than 2 inches.   It is a bit longer as well at 37 inches bib to hem but I maximized the length of the brown. I just could not cut off just a bit.

I did place one line of stitching down the front on the skinny brown line to keep the 2 pieces together.  Choosing the brown means the seam hardly shows.

The straps were cut 3 inches wide by 27 inches to ensure I had enough.  This time is sewed an end in order to have something to push on when turning it over. It went really well with my 12 inch chop stick.  Ironed it flat with the seam in the center.

The straps were securely attached with X stitching in the front on the bib.  The straps were crossed and securely attached to the back as well.  Still 22 inches between bib and back edge. 

I love the extra cross over at the back and the weight of this one feels great.

These are wonderful colors.  Another beautiful apron which I hope someone just wants to buy!

Birthday Card - Olive and Chocolate

I made a couple of masculine cards.  This is coordinated designer paper in chocolate brown and olive green.   It features red, orange, vanilla triangles.

I cut the brown layer to 2.25 inches by 5.25 inches tall.  It was adhered to the left on the olive card base.  I added green piece measuring 3.75 inches square.  I layered it toward the top of the card.

I mounted a small oval greeting in the bottom right hand corner. 

I punched balloons with the Martha Stewart Balloon punch from the brown paper.  I added black thread strings to the balloons.  I adhered the balloons with 3D foam tape.

I made this card as a DSP Split.  I cut the green to 3.25 x 5.25 inches. The green is cut to 3.00 x 5.25 inches. These were taped into a single piece at the back with tape.

I adhered the designer paper layer onto the olive green card. I placed a piece of brown grosgrain ribbon across the joint and taped the ends to the inside of the card.

I added an oval greeting on the right hand side with 3D foam tape.  A couple more for my depleted stash.

Birthday Cards - Trio Squares

I made a couple of birthday cards.

I chose designer paper by Blue Fern Studios - Paisley and Vine - Bohemian.  Love the rich colors in this paper.  I punched 3 large squares from the designer paper with my Creative Memories Double Square Punch.

I cut a strip of deep teal green card stock and adhered it to the deep red card base on the left hand side. 

I adhered the squares along the teal strip with 3D foam tape. 

I added the strip banner greeting in deep red.  I adhered it aligned on the left edge with the bottom square and cut the flag end by hand with scissors.  I have added a piece of 3D foam tape at the end of the banner greeting.

As you can see the card layout can be modified to the landscape (wide) or the portrait (tall) orientation. 

On this second card, I placed the greeting on the teal card stock strip and added a teal mini brad on the left hand side.

I added a piece of chocolate grosgrain ribbon under the 3 punched squares.  The ends are taped to the inside of the card.

I added a blank insert.

Christmas Card - DSP Split - BoBunny

This card features the designer paper by BoBunny called Rejoice Collection.

I chose a snowflake and strip to create a DSP split.  The stripe was cut to 3.5x4.00 inches and the snowflake at 1.75x4.00. These were taped together and handled as one piece. 
I placed the chocolate & vanilla grosgrain ribbon across the split and taped the ends to the back.  This layer was then adhered to the front of a Christmas green card.
I cut the snowflake with one of the Marianne Design Creatables - Snowflakes Style 1 dies.  I cut it from cream pearl card stock.  
It was placed over the ribbon and a push pin was used to make the hole for the chocolate brad which holds a red round sequin and the snowflake.

Brownie Bran Muffins

Brownie Bran Muffins

1 3/4 c unsifted flour ( whole wheat)
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 c brown sugar
2/3 c cocoa
1 1/4 c wheat bran
2 eggs beaten
1 1/4 c milk (skim)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 c oil
1/2 c apple sauce

Line 18 muffin tins with silicone or paper liners.
Preheat oven to 375F
Sift together dry ingredients into a mixing bowl, the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and cocoa.  Mix in bran.
Combine well beaten eggs, milk, vanilla, oil and applesauce.
Make a well in the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients and mix until just moistened. Batter may be lumpy.  Fill liners 2/3 full.

Bake for 18-22 minutes.

I have been making these muffins for 35 years.  The whole wheat flour and the replacement of some of the oil with applesauce are more recent adjustments.  Enjoy!!!

Mosaic Monday - Tea, Stills & Exercise

Today when I opened my treat box there was still a couple pieces of chocolate!!! Hard to believe but true.

I got the table ready for a cup of tea but I am just getting around to it very late in the day.

This wood stand is something my Dad made on a lathe years ago.  I was really happy to see that my cake stand top fits over it nicely.  I placed doily between the two and added a yellow candle on top.  The wood stand has great color and various woods.  I'm trying to work out how best to see it's beauty.

I have returned to my exercise after being sidetracked with bronchitis a couple of weeks ago.  To quote one of the senior ladies in my card class today. "Use it or lose it." Her comment on how some seniors in her residence prefer to just sit around and not do much.  She is in her eighties and she cuts an d glues with the best of us.

Submitting to Mosaic Monday hosted by Judith at Lavender Cottage.

R2G Christmas Card Stack Kit - Snowflake

I stated with the snowflake designer paper.  It is good weight and was great to work with.  I matched it to a blue card.  I chose to coordinate it with a chocolate silver shimmery ribbon.  I cut the designer paper to leave just a small border and adhered it to the card front.  I then placed the ribbon to the left of centre and taped the ends to the inside of the card. I cut 3 snowflakes: 1 blue the same as the card with a Martha Stewart punch, 2 thin snowflake from mirror card stock with a Stampin Up snowflake sizzlet then 3 a white punchie with a smaller MS punch.  I layered these then placed them over the ribbon on the card front and used a push pin to make a hole for the brad.  I used chocolate brown brad to hold all these layers to the card front with the prong being spread apart inside the card.  I designed the banner greeting then color printed it.  It was trimmed by hand then adhered to the card front with 3D foam tape. I added 3 small rhinestones just above the greeting using mini Zots.

Notecard - Scallop Circle with Sticker

A few more notecards for my friend.  I made these from left over supplies from this card.  I selected a chocolate brown card and a wide strip of white card stock.  I used the Stampin Up! Adorning accents Edgelit dies to added a scalloped edge to both sides of the strip.  I placed a dark brown piece of 1/4" gross grain ribbon set off centre and taped the ends to the back of the white strip.  This layer was then adhered to the card front.  The sticker was placed in the centre of the green SU scallop circle. I adhered the scallop circle accent to over the ribbon with 3D foam tape.