Sylvia's Simple Shots

The first Sunday of Advent. The season of waiting, preparing, anticipating.

This is my Advent Wreath set up with purple glass beads below the 4 candles with white under the candle in the center which is lit on Christmas Day.

I love glass and this is a sparkly wreath that helps me to have a happy heart while I wait.

 

The first candle is represents hope. The promise of the coming of Jesus through the many years before He arrived.

So many people waited, hoped for the light to come to the world.

Fervently anticipated the coming of the one who would bring salvation to the world.

This is my go to book for the Advent Season.  It is written by a Canadian author Ann Voskamp who is well known for her books.

As I read for the first few days of Advent here are some of the points that stand out.

He begs us to spend the the attention of Advent on 

     the little,  

            the least, 

                   the lonely,

                         the lost.

Do you fit into the adjectives?

             Do you have someone close who does?

                          Do you see someone in your daily life who does?

Pay attention to those who have been placed in your sphere of awareness and influence.

You alone were formed by a huddle of hearts: Lets make human beings.

The Three Persons of the Trinity - Father God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit gathered close together to imagine you and me.

And God in three persons, uncontainable affection, knelt down and kissed warm life into you with the breath of His love.

Amazing to me which fills me with gratitude of my life despite the uncontrollable circumstances that living on this earth brings with it. 

Lakeside Cottage by Susan Wiggs is a book I finished recently.

The main character Kate Livingstone return's to her family's lakeside cottage, a place of simple living and happy times. She hopes that her shy son Aaron will blossom here with the quiet life at the lake. No TV, no internet, warm weather and plenty of fresh water in this remote part of the Northwest.

The neighbor JD has escape to the remote place to find peace from the media frenzy following his actions preventing a terrible tragedy in Washington, DC.  He wants his life back where he can work, play and enjoy life without cameras, reporters and curious strangers.

Callie is a teenager who has been in the foster system for too long an wants out.  She is "adopted" for the summer by Kate who gives her a glimpse into life with a family. with Aaron a younger brother, Kate a substitute mom and JD as a father figure she grows into her teenage years supported, loved and respected. 

Of course, they all have been living in an idyllic world which healed wounds then the end of the summer brings reality but they are all able to handle it better.

My wheat bag sprung a leak.  It's not surprising as I have touched most winter days for years. 

When I have sore muscles, aches and pains, the heat brings comfort and healing.  

Sometimes I just need a bit of warmth to fall asleep.

It had been repaired many times and now the inside bag just needed to be replaced.  It had to be 100% cotton but I found a white pillow case that would do the job.  The thread has to be 100% cotton as well. The seam in the middle was a change I made during one of my repairs but I decide to keep it.

It is back in service!

I decided recently that I needed a scrap bowl on  my kitchen counter as I prepared my meals.  With the garbage under the sink I was always opening and closing the cupboard door and it was a hassle.

This way all scraps go into the bowl then I can empty it into the garbage pail once.

I like the idea.

For now I have relegated one of my medium bowls to this use.  We shall see if something else comes along which would work better either color wise or size wise.

Another good idea.

The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani is another book I wrapped up last week.

This was a great book.  Not the boy meets girl, fall in love and a happy ending type of simple romance stories.

This story is starts in the Italian Alps at the turn of the twentieth century when Enza (girl) and Ciro (boy) meet in her tiny village on the occasion of her youngest sisters funeral. Ciro was hired to dig the grave. They have an immediate connection but life gets in the way.

There are trips to America for both of them before they meet again. He comes to America to apprentice as a shoemaker. He learns his trade well, innovates ways to increase the income of the business but sees no benefit as his mentor's wife pockets the profits. He goes to war and meets his future business partner.

Meanwhile, on the mountain things become difficult for Enza's family and she convinces her father to travel to America so they can earn good money to build a house on the small piece of land they own.  She works as a seamstress in a factory in Hoboken for a while, then she meets a girl Laura at the factory who will be her best friend for ever.  After a scary incident at the factory they decide to take the leap to New York to find better jobs and better accommodations. Just in time they are invited to join the team at the Metropolitan Opera House.  They do well. 

When Ciro returns from World War I he finds Enza waiting outside a church on her wedding day.  He speaks to her and pleads his case, fortunately for him, he has always had her heart and she says yes.

They move to Minnesota to set up a shoe making business with his army buddy Luigi.  The set up 2 shops a few miles apart.  Life moves on, children are born, Christmases are celebrated, wonderful summers are enjoyed. Visits from Laura and Enza's father take place.

Life changes again, some return to Italy, some stay in Minnesota, children graduate from college and then a big trip is planned to visit the house house in Italy which was built by the hard earned money Enza and her father sent home for years.

A truly wonderful story and it read very easily.  I was up late into the night a couple of times.

I finally bought an audio player so that I can play my music while watching my exercise video on the TV.

It plays CDs and music on USB which is great. It also will record from the CD to the USB.  I spent a morning a few days ago organizing all my CDs into categories and boxes.  They have all been labeled so it will be easy to find what I want.

I decided to buy a USB stick which will be dedicated to music on this machine.  My exercise music for 30 minute, 40 minute and 60 minute routines has been copied to the USB.  I am working on my favorite Christmas music at the moment. 

Christmas Tree Scent Ornaments

For those of us who put up artificial Christmas trees wouldn't it be nice to still have the smell of a real tree during the holidays?

I love the smell of a real tree.  I received one of these last year for my tree and I was on the search for the right scent.  I discovered that it can be tricky.  I believe we always had spruce trees at Christmas when I grew up.  Others will have different types of trees in their tradition therefore a different scent.

There are quite a few Christmas tree blends available as well.

I bought Pine Needles last year which was not quite right.  I will add Spruce this year in a blend and see how that goes.

I have hung these on a tree ornament stand.

I started with traditional green triangle trees for the first set.  I cut them 3.5 inches high and 3 inches wide at the base.  Triangle trees are very efficient in materials.  I cut 2 exactly the same size. I embelished the front triangles. On the left with red embroidered garland with gold e bead ornaments. On the right with small round felt button ornaments tied on with gold thread.  Of course the need a star and a trunk. 

Once the fronts were done, I layered them together, put my trunk and my hanging thread in between and sewed very close to the the edge all the way around.  The stars were added on last with a bit of hand stitching.

I made 3 felt ball wreaths with these non traditional colors of white, black and aqua.  I strung them onto string cotton thread and tied them really tight.

I added a white thread hanging loop.

For these ornaments I would recommend put the oil on the black balls so no discoloration will show.  For the other ornaments I would put the oil on the back so again if the oil causes some discoloration it will not be on the front.

I made some round ornaments featuring reindeer die cuts.  The white one is sporting the red nose of Rudolph. 

The reindeer were layered on a medium circle then onto the 3.25 inch circles.  The reindeer and the medium circle were attached to the front large circle then they were sewn together very close together in coordinating thread with the hanging thread in between.  

The one on right I tried making my own grey hanger and on the second I just put a small circle of felt in between the large circles and stitched it in. 

I made one with a white snowflake die cut on red medium circle on dark green large circles. Then used a small felt circle for the hanger. 

On the right, I made a non traditional colored one with purple, white and some blues.  The focal element are white and blue layered hearts to which I stitched some silver ebeads. I added an tiny felt button with silver ebeads again on the right hand side. These were stitched together with a small purple felt circle hanger with white thread loop. 

I ended up finding some die cuts in my stash which I used to make a couple more.

The pink and white dove has a pearly ebead for a eye and again is in not traditional colors. The wings are stitched on both sides and it has a felt hanger.

The gingerbread man was cut from ginger looking felt and blanket stitched around both layers with a piece of red fabric put in between for the hearts and a bit of white for the eyes.  The mouth was outlined with black permanent marker.  Just a simple thread loop to hang.

These can just be ornaments on your tree with out having scent added to them.  If you are going to add essential oil to them be sure to put it on the back in order to avoid discoloration on the front of the ornament.

A Little Love for Mom

I made a book mark from some of the denim I cut off my jeans the other day.

I zigzagged about 1/4 in from the edge around the full rectangle with a tight stitch.  This will limit the unravelling that can take place.

I included a bit of lace at the top and a navy gros grain ribbon which can be used as a place marker as I stitched around.

I had to look up some embroidery stitches and find a needle and thread but eventually found all three.

I put 3 hearts in red along the length of the bookmark.   My stitching is not the greatest but it is the sentiment that I love her which is important.

Say I love you to those precious to you today.

It is ready to be mailed today.

Christmas Card Challenge - June - Brown Gingerbread

The prompt for the Christmas Card Challenge for June is Brown Gingerbread.

I selected a plaid designer paper which had a nice variety of colors.  It has brown, green, pink, blue and ivory.  For this set of cards I selected blue, pink and green card bases.  I cut the designer paper to leave a small border and adhered it to the card front.

I cut the gingerbread men with the Sizzix Gingerbread Man die from warm brown card stock.  I coordinated the pieces behind the gingerbread for eyes and hearts with the card base. I used my white opaque marker to create the marks around the edge of the die cut.

I adhered the gingerbread to the card front.  I then made 1/8 inch holes in the top of the card with hole punch.  I then pulled a length of Martha Stewart brown seam binding through the holes and created a knot in the center of the card.  I trimmed the ends with scissors.

With a great pink option on the back of the DSP I was able to create six cards which a just a bit different from one another.

I finally threw out my white gel markers.  They have not worked from the beginning.  I will have to find a fine white marker because this gingerbread is a regular accent for my Christmas cards.

St. Patrick's Day Birthday

I made this card for a friend whose aunt celebrates her birthday on St. Patrick's Day. 

I chose a warm green card base.  I added a few stripes of vellum which were adhere to the inside of the card  then flipped forward to cover the front. I added some double sided tape down the card which will be covered by the greeting.

The greeting was printed on bright warm green card stock and then I ripped the bottom and top edges.  It was adhered aligned to the bottom of the card front.

I punched 3 hearts from plaid green glitter paper with the Stampin Up Sweetheart punch.  I cut a stem by hand with scissors.  I added 3 small hearts over the glitter ones adhered with 3D foam tape.  The shamrock was assembled and glued in place with double sided tape. 

The white narrow ribbon was added just above the greeting. I used a 1/8" circle punch to create a small hole in the fold on the left hand side.  I ran a length of the ribbon twice through and tied a knot on the right hand side of the card.  

I added an Irish Blessing on the inside.