Tree Scent Ornaments - More

I had a silver metal angel in my stash.  It was customized for Mother's Day.  Not really what I wanted for a Christmas tree ornament.  It needed a diffuser. 

Rummaging through my stash I found a white crochet angel that was stiff and dirty. I had nothing to lose to see if the starch would dissolve.  It was just the right size to be a skirt for the metal angel.

I stitched the skirt on to the metal body of the angel with white thread.

I added a white and silver satin ribbon hanger.

This gold metal Christmas wreath had lost its dangle piece in the center.  

It needed a diffuser so I decided that a wood bead would work well.  I chose this raw wood oval bead with wonderful wood grain.

I used a jewelery flat head pin onto which I placed a gold EBead, then a small wood bead, then the oval wood bead. I topped the stack with a gold sequin.  I did add eBeads in the middle of the large bead to keep it straight.  I then formed a eyelet at the top of the pin.

I then added a jump ring to give the bead some movement in the center of the wreath.

I added some gold eBeads onto the gold thread hanger and knotted it.

This red wood ornament needed a diffuser.

I cut a round circle the size of the ornament. I used hot glue to adhere it to the back of the ornament.

I gave it a gold metallic ribbon bow and hanger at the top.

The green felt is the diffuser.

This gold metal wreath ornament is vintage with a Hong Kong mark on the back. It needed a diffuser and a bit of bling.

I cut a green felt circle that fit the back of the ornament.  I sewed red glass beads to the front which served as well to hold the green diffuser onto the back of the ornament.

I added a ivory and gold hanger and bow at the top.

I think this is the end of the tree scent ornaments for this year.  I need to move on to other products as the delivery is on this coming Wednesday.

Sewing Project - Wine Bottle Bag - Japanese 1

 I found a couple small pieces of this Japanese print fabric by Schwartz Liebmen Textiles Inc. in my stash. I believe it to be 100% cotton.

I chose to make the front of the bag be a panel of the gorgeous fabric.  I found some red that my sister gave to supplement to the size I needed. I sewed a piece to the one side but that made it tricky to figure out where to place the the handles.

I placed a row of brown twill tape along the top edge aligned so it would be centered for the purple accent. That was stitched with the wavy decorative stitch then several lines down vertically to quilt the flannel to the outer layer.

Now I would not have a back seam. I did manage the handles correctly but totally forgot about it for the box corners.  I did have to undo the box corners on the outer and lining pieces and then iron the piece well so I would know what was the front.  It had to be done.

With the bottom seams and the box corners now in the right place I could do my 2 rows top stitching at the top of the bag.  

I hand stitched the purple crochet element at the top of panel on twill then added a red button in the center.

I chose red thread and an off white polycotton lining.

Information on "My Bag" Line 

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I found this bit of snow which had collected on an aspen leaf that had settled in the evergreen tree at the park.

Its been a few days since it snowed and the temperature has warmed up so I see a bit of ice forming on the bottom edge.

I found it a nice image on my walk yesterday.

Jeopardy is one of my favorite shows and I watch it every day.

Of course, Alex Trebeck has been hosting for long time and it was very sad to hear of his passing.

I will miss this Canadian smile, kindness and class as he hosted some many people on this game show. 

No gimmicks just great show.

My first Granny Square since the 1980's.  I had to do a lot of research to find a pattern that worked for me.  Before the internet where would I have seen a pattern for crochet?

There used to be monthly magazines which you bought monthly. They had all kinds of crafty and food ideas.  This is the Christmas Helps from 1980.  I found a traditional Granny Square pattern in it.  And it is all contained in a single entry.  I was finding on the internet the information was spread over a few pages and no print file was available.

I made home made Ginger Chews recently.  I had discovered some packaged ones which tasted pretty good.  One of my favorite flavors in food is ginger so I went on the web to see if I could find a recipe.

I found Fiery Ginger Chews recipe which is very yummy.  It reminds me a lot of pulled taffy we used to make when I was a kid.

They are very sticky and I decided not to coat them in icing sugar as suggested.  I just wrapped them in wax paper.  

Very yummy and good for coughs and nausea as well.

The Macro Monday Challenge on Flickr this week was Spiky.  A lot of options for this challenge.

I found bottle brush trees, push pins and pods from the potpourri.

You can check my photo stream SMDPics to see the image I submitted. 

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #106 and 

Mersad who hosts Through my Lens #266.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

A red barn on my road trip to the country a couple weeks ago. 

It was before the snow came.

I loved the red and green colors - dare I say the Christmas colors.

We have had snow and last night it rained and now it's all gone again.  I guess it will not be white for Halloween at the end of the week.

 

It was very interesting to read another of Amy's books.  This one takes place in China in the early 1900's.   Violet is the main character who is growing up in a courtesan house owned and managed by her mother Lulu who is an American.  They are living in Shanghai in the International Settlement under China's last imperial dynasty.  They see the collapse and how that affects businesses and trade.  They see the consequences of the 1918 Influenza epidemic.  It was eerie to be reading about that one during this one.

This is a story of strong relationships between female characters.  Violet suffers a long heartbreak, tragedy, betrayal in her young life. But with faithful friends she makes it through.

I really enjoyed the book.

Another set of skeins of yarn for my afghan.  

Beautiful blue color from my sister. 

Will have to work on finding an actual pattern for a classic granny square. 

I have owned this set of hooks since my early twenties.  Nice to some things last a long time. 

This is the crane that is used to build a new high rise close to my place.  I could not see it this summer because of the leaves but now I can see it pretty well.

I manage to get it sparkling in the sun through the trees one morning. 

Construction has not really slowed down here during the epidemic.  Glad to see some people kept their jobs. 

I will have to take a walk and check out how tall the structure is becoming.

The Flickr Macro Monday Challenge this week was "One Color".  You can check my Photostream (SMDPics) to see my submission.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I have been laid low with health issues and finally this week my energy is back.

I have gotten very few shots of Blue Jays but last week I got this one.

I was so excited.  He had been foraging on the ground which helped me spot him.  I did get a few shots on the ground but would prefer a tree shot.  

He then accommodated me and sat there for a very short while before he flew off into the wild blue yonder.

I finished this book during my low energy phase.  It is a memoir so a true story.  A woman of the world but struggles with mental health.  When she decides to settle down and have kids she suffers a miscarriage first then has a baby but by then the partner is gone!

She builds a group of people to be her "family".  Her mom and brother are involved but there is the nanny Tita which I believe saved her life.  She became an employee, a partner, and a friend during the critical first 3 years of her baby's life.  There were several others who came in and out of her life at critical points.  She had the capacity to embrace these folks which is wonderful.

Great story of adapting, going with the flow, discernment, hurt, process emotions and just moving forward when you are lost.

This is an afghan I crocheted in the 1970s.  Can you tell?  The oranges, the browns were primary colors in that period. 

Interesting how being sick makes some things clearer.  I have decided that I would like a more "me" afghan for my bed so I put the call out of free yarn when I researched the price of new.

My aunt dug through her stash and donated some.  My Mom called the other day and said she had some I could have.   I have no idea how much I need so I will have adjust along the way.

This is the stash I was given with no orange or brown visible.  

I have to dig through my box of patterns to see if I can find the original "granny square" pattern and the size of hook I used.

I have decided to assemble the squares with navy which Mom has donated.

Great watching TV project for the winter.

This book I gave up on about half way through.  Having sex is what everyone here is doing and that is mostly what the author was focusing on.

Not my idea of a great book.

I am back to getting outside for photos.  This is a pond on my road trip this week. Decided to head to the country rather that compete with people at popular destinations.  We still have Canada Geese here as the weather overall has been great. No frost or s**w yet. I love the reflections of the old sticks of wood in the water.  A goose feather where they had been bedding down.

The challenge at Flicker Macro Monday is Translucent.  Here, I have shot a glass star behind a textured glass tile.  I love how just the wire which is closest to the tile is in focus and the rest is not.  You can check out Photostream SMDPics to see the shot I submitted.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #100 and

Mersad who hosts Through my Lens #261