Oil Diffusers - Travel Case - Set 2

 This is the next set of One of a Kind Oil Diffusers in a travel case.

Just Bee - I made a bee by appliqueing 3 yellow pieces onto a black base piece of felt. I added a circle for the head which I stitched to the body. I used a piece of thin gauzy polyester fabric and cut out the wings. I satin stitched all the way around the outer edge of the wings then put some texture stitching in the wings. I stitched the wings to the body. I then stitched the bee to a piece of turquoise felt which measured about 4x4 inches.  

The back is a piece of cotton fabric which looks marbled.  I added my loop for the hanger and the yellow drop.  The 2 layers were stitched together with blanket stitch all the way around.

Follow your Heart - I cut 3 hearts in different sizes getting smaller as I went. I stitched these together with running stitch then added the 3 flowers at the top of the white one. I then stitched the whole heart to the front of a white background piece of felt measuring approximately 4x4 inches. I stitch the follow stitching in pink around the heart.

The back piece of this diffuser is cotton in a bright fuchsia color with a hanging loop and a pink drop. I chose white thread for the blanket stitch all the way around.  It comes with a travel case.

Note: The background fabric should have been a light color so it would not have darkened the white felt on the front.

Tea Time - This oil diffuser features a yellow teappot ( my favorite) which I drew then cut out of yellow felt. I place a strip of white lace along the edge of the front layer to serve as a tablecloth. I stitched the teapot onto the navy layer over the lace adding accents to it as I went.

The back of this diffuser is white felt with a navy loop and drop.  It comes with the hanger in a travel case.

Just One More Chapter - I created a small book to put on the front of this diffuser.  I chose a patterned piece of cotton and a white cotton for the inside.  I hand stitched these together, trimmed the corners and turned the piece inside out.  The book is stitched to the green backer along the spine of the book so that it opens. I put a little quote on the inside. 

The backer is yellow felt with a loop and drop.  I blanket stitched all the way around with green thread.  It comes with a hanger and a travel case.

Oil Diffusers - Hand Stitched Original Designs

I have been working on these diffusers all week.  These are all hand stitched with my original designs. They measure approximately 3.75" square. The fronts are felt with fabric as the backer.

I came up with this design to provide diffusers in a travel case. These cases are nice because they are transparent. 

The diffuser can rest in the slot and stand in your personal space to provide a relaxing scent based on the essential oil you have chosen.  The oil can be placed any where on the felt but depending on the ingredients of the oil it may discolor so I have provided a drop on the back for that situation.

I have added a loop above the drop with a small hanger so it can be hung in your personal space of horizontal space is at a premium.

They are very cute and appealing.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

 A beautiful hollyhock plant grew on the edge of the parking lot of an abandoned building.

It is a volunteer! I am so glad it decided to grow there.  I have no idea where the seeds would have come from.  I have not seen some of these in the neighbourhood.  I suppose it could be dropped by birds? Carried by mice?  Who knows!

A very tall stalk sporting several gorgeous warm pink flowers.

It was a precious surprised and it blessed my day.

My niece gave me a nice macrame plant hanger when I saw her a couple of weeks ago.

It was to replace the flimsy one I had cobbled together to hang my spider plant in the bedroom.  The plant is doing so well there in the north window.  I have been cutting off the spiderettes when they grow on this plant.  I may decide to keep the next one to create a new plant.

I decided to re-pot this plant while I was at it.  I put it into a bigger pot and added soil. It should be good for the next year or two.

I am wanting a Sansevieria / Mother in Law Tongue / Snake Plant which likely will go in the bedroom as well.  I stopped a CTire today and checked out their garden center but no luck. I will have to go to a green house this week.

I found a new tape measure.  The one I have owned for 30 years had the lock break about 6 months ago so it is very difficult to use.  

I found this one this week for $1 so the price was right at the thrift store.

It may be shorter than the other one and it is smaller so better size for me.

Trying to decide if I keep the other tape for crafts or not.  Probably not as I have other priorities.

It worked well to determine how much flooring I would need for the kitchen.  We shall see!

This book Take me with you by Brad Newsham was a great change from the fiction I have been reading.

I'm not much of a traveler so I have not experienced wanderlust where one just needs to leave and go.

As a young man in his twenties in the early 1970s, Brad took a trip to Europe but was pulled to visit Morocco, Turkey, Iran and finally to Afghanistan.  The trip was to be a month but lasted over 7 months. At the end of the trip he wrote in his diary - Someday, when I am rich, I'm going to invite someone from my travels to visit me in America. 

14 years later, he lives in San Francisco and drives a taxi for a living.  Safe to say travel may be in his blood.  Now, single again, he decides to take 100 day trip. On this trip he has decided to keep the vow he made years ago. He visits the Philippines, India, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and South Africa. He is traveling on a very low budget of $25 a day so he find very cheap accommodations in each country.  As he travels he gets to know people along the way. He gathers the name and addresses of many people.  Some he has promised to send photos he has taken.  He has not shared his plan with many people.  The book tells it like it is to travel in very poor countries, travel in less than ideal conditions, but meet some salt of the earth people. 

I have been able to pick about 1/2 cup of raspberries in the patch at the end of the block.  I have permission to pick.  I am amazed that many don't pick them but I guess if you grow up thinking raspberries come from the grocery store then you may not recognize them on the bush dow the block.

I love raspberries and they are my favorite fruit to pick.  I love picking my fruit clean and it is very easy with raspberries.

I have had raspberries on my breakfast 3 times.  It is delicious and nutritious.

This has been a very good year for raspberries.

I won a few things at the raffle at the reunion.  

There was a Tupperware tumbler with blue and yellow items.  That got my attention.

Here's the nice tea towel that was included in the tumbler.

There was a small Tupperware key chain, stainless steel straws, and a few other things on the summer theme.

I hope you have a great week.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I took my first trip of the year to the Heritage Hills Wetlands yesterday.  The winds were high, the water was choppy and the streets were being cleaned so I could not leave my car parked on the street.  That meant a quick visit. 

The ducks and gulls were on the pond.  The water is very low and there are now islands of mud in the middle.   I guess it provides a safe haven for wildlife but makes for not the prettiest pictures.

I captured this adult male Mallard Duck with it's mate feeding.   I don't know if they have eggs yet.  It has been so cold that I hope not.

I will return when I can spend more that a few minutes.

I finished Memories and Stories by Aaron A. Lehman this week.  I chose the book because it had an Alberta connection.  This fellow was a teacher in our province for many year.

He came to teach in one of our communities way up north.  The accommodations were not the best but he and his wife made the best of it.  She was pregnant with their first child and it was his first year of teaching.  Being a new Dad, setting class lessons and being in a remote communities were all growth edges for this couple.

They made it through.   It is interesting to read about coming into Edmonton which is the big city.  Travelling on the train from the United States, then by bus north and being hosted by kind strangers.

His wife was a nurse so there was no lack of work for her.  They raised their family, stayed connected with their US relatives and contributed to the young people of our province.  

I'm glad I read it.

To get the machine back into it's desk I needed to take the spider plant off of it.  I wanted to hang it back up on the hookr but needed a prettier hanger than a pink shoelace to keep it in place.

I had limited resources at my disposal so I checked my yarn box and found some yellow that would match the pot.  Great!  Very skinny so I braided 2 strands together then tied on end to the spout and the other to the handle.  Added a metal ring at the center to keep the two lengths going down. 

Yes, that will work nicely.  I added a few knots to shorten it a bit 

The plant is very happy in the north window and now I can put the sewing machine back in the desk.

The sewing machine went in for servicing a couple of weeks ago and it was ready to pick up on Thursday.  A general servicing was all it needed to get the decorative stitches to work again and the pick up of the bobbin thread. I brought it home and let it sit till the weekend.  I set it up on Sunday with a project already in the planning stages.

I spend some time in the living room working on design and when I returned to the machine it was whirring, smelling and very hot.  I unplugged everything and let things cool down.  I have no idea what's up.  I was so looking forward to sewing.  It is back in the shop waiting for a diagnosis.  They assured me they would not make me wait the standard 2-3 week serving time.  We shall see.  If I have to start looking for another I will be really bummed.

I typically don't pay hard earned cash for pens.  I get free ones where ever.  I picked them up at the ReUse Center.   But I was getting really tired of trying pens in the holder and they no longer making marks.  I went through the holder and chucked all the one which no longer worked.

I took at trip to the office supply store and actually bought some pens.  I prefer blue ink to black.  I like to have a red one when I want to highlight changes or check off done items on the to do list.  The green one was a bonus.

These then to blob ink at the very beginning so they need to be brushed on scrap paper before I start writing on the good paper.  It is what it is.  

I'm glad to be able to write as soon as I pick up a pen rather than to find it does not have ink it or it has dried out.  Yes, I did check that item on my list with the red pen.

Just finished this book - Thursdays at Eight by Debbie Macomber this morning.

Four women at different stages of life and in various circumstances meet at the writing workshop.  They decide to continue meeting after the classes end.  They meet at a cafe Thursday mornings at 8am.  

They bring their hopes, trials and challenges and find support, comfort and reassurance that things will be all right amongst this group of friends. 

Made me miss my Welcome to my Kitchen friends more than ever. 

My niece was here last week to visit and see Mom before her treatment.   She brought a small DVD player so that has allowed me to get back to aerobics.  With some help from my other niece I got the TV set up to access the internet.  I have been watching a bit of new shows.   The green USB stick holds music so that I can play music on the TV and no longer need a stereo to play my CDs.  It turns out the DVD player will play my music CDs.  Great@

I am sharing with Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #334. 

Christmas Card - Magnificient Merry

Another attempt with a large greeting on Christmas cards.  I started with this background that I did a week ago and it did not work out for what I wanted so it was set aside.  Today, I decided that maybe I could work it for my monthly challenge.

I started with a bright green piece of card stock. I ran holes into it with a sewing tracing wheel.  I then used Stampin Up Watercolor Wonder Crayons to highlight the shapes I had created with the dotted lines.

I added an ornament punchie made with the Stampin Up Ornament Punch and warm green designer paper.  I added a warm white hanger (credit unknown) and a warm pearl card stock snowflake punchie.  I added a string which I chalked a bit to make it warm green. I taped the ends to the back of the background layer.   I put a bit of 3D foam tape behind the ornament.  I adhered the background to the front of a Kiwi Kiss card base.

I cut the Magnificient Merry thin lit from deep red card stock. I then adhered the "merry" to the card front and traced the edges with a Sakura Stardust Clear gel marker.  It was adhered to the card front with Scotch quick dry adhesive.  I placed it loosely aligning it with the lines on the background.  I color printed the "Christmas" banner and chalked it with warm green. It was adhered to the card front with 3D foam tape.

I then spattered it with white acrylic paint which had been warmed up with a bit of green watercolor which was used on the original background.  Turned out okay!  Check back on May 1st to see the design I used for the May Christmas Card Challenge.

Christmas Card Challenge - November - Ornaments

This month's Christmas Card Challenge is Accent of Ornament(s).
I chose the SB Heirloom Ornament Nestabilities.  I used the one which would work best on the card and cut it in white card stock.  I stamped the "Joy" greeting with a stamp by Rubber Stampede Posh Impressions in Versamark ink and embossed it with clear powder.  I water colored the ornament which highlighted the white embossed greeting, let it dry and pressed it to flatten it. I cut the ornament hanger in violet card stock with the Sizzix Ornament #2 die and glued it to the SB ornament.  I embossed the white background with the Cuttlebug Victorian folder.  I cut the green branch in a moss green with the MS Double Edge Pine Needles Trim punch. I adhered the ornament to the white background then I added some white pearl thread onto the hanger, ran it through the pine border the taped the ends to the back.  Adhered the pine border  to the embossed layer then glued this all to the card front.