Tree Scent Ornaments - Silver Plated Frames

 My tree scent ornaments sold well at the Christmas Store in the Allied Arts Council Gallery this year so I am starting to make more for next year.

I found 3 very cute silver plated cat frames while shopping at the thrift store with my niece this weekend.  The price was right so I took them home.

I decided to embroider small felties to put in them as the diffusers. I enjoy my slow stitching.

This one features a cat sitting in the sun with flowers growing in the garden.  The flowers mirror the potted flowers on the windowsill and the sun is warm and wonderful

A variety of greens for the garden in the beyond the window.

I mostly kept the pieces intact except the easel back which would not work for ornaments.

I added some fusible pelon to the back of the stitched work to hide the stitching and add some depth. I added a piece of white card stock to which I affixed the silver plated sticker.

I added a color coordinated 1/8" satin ribbon as a hanger which has been hand stitched to the embroidery piece itstelf.

I returned the glass for a spacer and allows the frame to be returned to that purpose if so desired.

The screws on the tabs needed to be tightened and I was done.

I created the night time scene with the full moon in the sky accompanied with silver stars stitched with silver metallic thread onto navy felt.

The moon is grey thread and the outline stitch.

I created a span of water below showing the reflection of the moon in it.  A few ripples in the water were added with a few grey stitches.

The cat is gazing out from its windowsill into the night.

I added a navy satin ribbon hanger and reassembled the layers into the frame and it was done.

I added a distant landscape outside the window with a beautiful warm sun.

The sky features a white cloud and a black bird.

The landscape is created with a variety of green threads with the outline stitch.  The are very closely stitched side by side to hide the blue felt sky.

The cat sits on the sill while enjoying the scene outside.

Self Closing Card - Christmas

I cut the Memory Box Birch Tree Trio from black pearl paper. I left some at the bottom attached so I could glue them all together onto the sparkly paper.

I added a pearl snowbank with I cut with my Cricut Ceramic Knife. Works very well.

I punched a moon from the same paper and placed it behind the trees then used Quick Dry Adhesive to glue the trunks of the trees.

All put onto a teal card base measuring 6x12 inches. Scored at 5.5 inches and just less than 1" for the flap.   Double sided tape on flap and generous insert.

Sparkly paper background with a silver foil star cut with the Sizzix Star #2 die.  Mounted with 3D foam tape.

A greeting with SU Modern Label punchie and a SU Word Window greeting.

Dark green card base measuring 6x12 inches. Scored at 5.5 inches and just less than 1" for the flap.   Double sided tape on flap and generous insert. 

A navy card base measuring 6x12 inches. Scored at 5.5 inches and just less than 1" for the flap.  

I cut the Sizzix Large Starburst with a thick die from silver matte card stock.  

It was mounted on a piece of white textured decorative paper strip.

A SU Modern Label punchie in silver offset behind a white one with blue greeting. Mounted with 3D foam tape.

A background of sparkly paper.

Double sided tape on flap and generous insert. 

Another Tim Holtz Winter Wonder snowman card.  Cut from white card stock. 

The snowflake and the Creative Memories star punchie from pearl card stock.

A great sparkly paper background and a pearl snowbank hand cut with the ceramic knife.

This card base is green linen which measures 6x12 inches and is scored at 5.5" and just less than 1" for the flap.

A generous insert.

Slow Stitching - No. 015 - Eclipse and Stacking Running Stitch

This is my piece for week 15 of Kathryn's Slow Stitch challenge on K3N Cloth Tales. 

With the solar eclipse that took place on April 8th this was a great idea.  The technique was stacked running stitches which was used to create the rays of the sun. 

I chose a dark blue fabric which I had to patch to make big enough. I added a yellow layer between the blue and the white. I made my moon black.

I invisible stitched around the edges of the circles to start with.

I covered the moon with seed stitching. 

I had the same problem with my yellow layer so I added some stitches on it to have it lay flatter.

I added a running stitch in black to tack down the edges of the dark blue layer to the white.

Slow Stitching - No. 014 - Layers and the Moon

Week 14 of the Slow Stitching challenge with K3N Cloth Tales.

The prompt was layers and the moon with the lunar eclipse coming soon. It was geared to experiencing stitching through several layers of fabric and how the stitching starts giving it structure and weight.

I chose an owl for my animal.  I started with a 4.25" square of deep purple linen, then a striped layer for horizon line, then my yellow full moon and topped with  my Owl. This is a smaller version of this one I created for Inktober.

I stitched the horizon layer to the linen in several lines of stitching. Then I stitched the moon with running stitch in circles, then I stitched my Owl on with black thread. I added yellow accents with felt eyes, beak and feet. I used the stem stitch for the branch is sitting on in brown thread. I added stars to the night sky and voila another square done.

Celestial Stuffies

 

I made a set of stuffies for a little girl celebrating a birthday soon.  Sun, Moot and Star.

The Sun: I cut orange and yellow felt with rays layered on top of each other then turned the yellow one over. I cut a circle of warm yellow and stitched it to the center and stuffed before closing it up with over stitches. I add longer stitched to connect the rays to each other.  I added some orange stitches to the center.

The Moon.  I cut 2 large circles from white felt then cut out smaller circles from one of them. I layered some grey flannel fabric under it and used stab stitches to connect the two. Once the 3 craters were done I stitched the 2 white circles together with the blanket stitch around the outside. Once I was close I stuffed the moon with fiber fill and then closed the opening.

The Star: The 2 star shapes were cut with Stampin Up Star thinlit dies from yellow felt.  I embroidered the front shape with variegated thread.  The shapes are held together with blanket stitching.  It was stuffed with fiber fill. 

Sylvia's Simple Shots

We had been reminded on the Weather Network for days that it would appear so I did remember to aim the camera outside this week to capture the Hunter's Moon.

No, I did not wander outside at - 10C temperatures but I am fortunate to see it from my dining room window.  There was a little bit of cloud but just enough for interest and not enough to blur it out altogether.

On Monday, October 23 2023 we had our first snow fall.  As snowfall goes, it was quite light.

The temperatures have dropped considerably in just a few days so it is taking a bit of adjustment.

I had a eye appointment on Wednesday and it was a challenge to find the tuque, winter gloves and such to head on a trip to the north end of the city.

The streets were wonderful.

I am grateful to have had winter arrive not like a lion.

I have seen Halloweens in the past where we had 2 feet of snow and -20C where the kids were wearing parkas under their costumes.

I have discovered a new reality show from the UK. It is very good fun and a nice watch compared to what the US produces.

There are 16 series so I will have something decent to watch for the next while.

 

I have been watching FBI Files on the TV while I eat my supper since early October.

It does not bother me to watch crime, murder and such over my meal.

Again, there are years of the show and hopefully it does not disappear at the end of October but you never know.

I went to view the fall art show at St. Albert Place on Friday afternoon.  Some wonderful pieces of art to behold.

There was another very large Geode which I learned in the spring is done with styrofoam.

There is an artist there which produces very textured pieces and this fall I learned she uses a lot of recycled items to create the substructure of her trees etc.

It was an excellent art show.  Found out later that my aunt sold one of her paintings. Yeah!

I took a short walk along the Sturgeon River before I headed home.

There are still ducks on that cold water.  I guess their thermal systems allow for such madness.

The clouds were pretty heavy, the temperature quite cool, and the sun was just peeking through.

On Saturday, I dropped off my submissions for the Value of Color show and had visit with my aunt.  We spent some time working on getting pictures from her new phone to the computer.  When things change the process changes and needs some learning of new how tos.

I did fill the car with gas because it was 121.9 a liter.  It's been months since the price was that low.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

 
On my way back from visting my sister I stopped at the Reynolds-Alberta Museum which carries exhibits of old cars, farm equipment, airplanes, and other wonderful stuff.  One of their current exhibits is Driving Thru the 70s, which was a great one.  Cars, movie trailers, trucks and all things in the 1970s.  There was an energy crisis where the cost of oil quadrupled in a few months. Loved seeing the colors, the cars, the little drive in with the speakers and they were showing movie trailers. The vehicles were terrific.  Did not enjoy the 1.5 hours moving 5kms an hour on the big highway because a truck lost his load.  That does not help the gas mileage - talk about energy crisis.

I had a great visit with my sister and brother-in-law.  

I brainstormed some ideas for the Christmas market.  Sticky Note holders, recipe cards or postcards, fire starters either pine cones or paper wreaths. We did some experiments on the fuels and picked pine cones in the rain.

She shared the bounty of her flower garden with me.  Flowers for my table - rudbekias, cosmos, dahlias, marigolds, and zinnias.

Enjoyed having a bouquet on my table.

She shared produce from the garden too! Tomatoes, the cucumbers I ate before I took a picture.  Carrots and cabbage and the sticker is from peaches from my niece but all there was left was the sticker when I remembered to take a picture.  Thank You!

The Orphan Thief by Glynis Peters.  Another wonderful story set in England in World War II. Ruby Shadwell was dealt a several blow during the Coventry Blitz in 1940. She must regroup with members of the family gone as well as the family home.

She starts cleaning the street and reuniting precious things with those to whom they belong.  Many neighbors are grateful.  She checks in on friends, neighbors and her grandmother. Fortunately, a building nearby remained standing and the man that lived there was the accountant for her father's business. She attends her grandmother's funeral and starts the search to find Fred who lived in this house. She finds him at a private lodging after checking hospitals, medical tents and the morgue. When he is better he comes back to his home where she as been living. 

Ruby starts a bit of an enterprise to sell items scrounged from the streets to get a bit of food. She has registered as a survivor with the help from a kind lady. Tommy has brought several items of jewelry for her to buy but he keeps his distance regarding where he lives and when his mother works as he is generally hungry and dirty when Ruby sees him.

She suffers set backs with her small enterprise as the bombing and looting continues.  She befriends Tommy and eventually finds the truth about his living horrible conditions. 

She meets a Canadian Military officer who is documenting the situation in Europe with his camera. They become friends and he checks in with her whenever he is in the area.  It turns into a love story and the story has a good ending.

I missed the full moon, and I checked while I was at my sisters but did not find it from my bedroom window.

I did get a good shot of it several days later.

It is called a blue moon because it is the second full moon in the month of August.

Always nice to have clear skies.

Traveling Light by Max Lucado. I finished this book this week that has been on my night stand for a while.  It took longer to finish as I fit it in between novels I have been reading.

We carry burdens like self-reliance, discontent, weariness, worry, hopelessness, guilt and arrogance.  All packed into our minds and hearts which weigh us down like heavy luggage.

The supporting text of this book is the 23rd Psalm - The Lord is my Shepherd. We need to turn to God as He promises to provide rest to the weary.

A good book to remind me to let go and let God in many situations in my life.  In reality, I control so little and must trust some one greater for support and relief.

Max is a very good author.

Share Your Cup #198

We are finally getting some clouds in the sky which I hope will lead to some much needed rain.  I caught the moon just behind some clouds.  We had some rain over night.

A friend mentioned this book a few weeks ago and I asked to borrow it.  This is a good read.  Marie presents a method for tidying up through decluttering and organizing your space.  She presents a quite extreme but effective method.  I quickly was able to clear some clothes from my closet.  The question to ask is "Does this object bring me joy?"  I wholehearted support the idea to surround yourself with objects that bring you joy.  I find I have less trouble keeping on top of my kitchen now that it has many things I love.






 

These were taken during my first trip to the wetlands this year.  

Mrs. Robin came to check me out and I got a good shot. 

This is a Ruddy Duck with that distinctive blue bill.

Canada Geese were feeding.










The Red Wing Blackbird has been very difficult to photograph. This shot turned out really well especially with his wings just opening.

Submitting to Share Your Cup at Art & Sand hosted by Carol.

Card - Deer in Neutrals

I took a sheet from a Spanish dictionary and applied Tim Holtz Distress Stain in Antique Linen and Gathered Twigs.  I dried it with the heat tool and then used TH Distress Stain in Walnut Stain with a brush to paint the landscape and the trees.  I ripped all the edges.  I stamped the greeting in the top right hand corner with Versafine Vintage Sepia with a clear stamp. I chose a Bazzill Pinecone card stock for the card. This layer was adhered to the card front with glue stick which helped to smooth out the wrinkled paper. I punched a 1" circle from Champagne pearl card stock for the moon and adhered it with 3D foam tape.  The chipboard deer is left over from this card project. I applied a bit of bronze shimmer on them with a dry brush but it does not show up in the photo.

I'm submitting this card to the following challenges.
52 Christmas Card Throw Down - Coffee and Cream
Hazels Christmas Card Challenge - Anything Goes

Photo - Summer Camp

I spent a few days at Summer Camp this week.  I took a few pictures to remind me of how beautiful and restorative time by the lake can be.  The weather was great!  I took the camera out each day.  The chair on the dock, I spent an hour there just enjoying the sounds.  I did capture a dusty spider web, it was nearly a full moon and this is the best one of the bunch but it's not great, lichen on a piece of wood, and finally the mist on the water early in the morning.  It was a great couple of days!

Challenge - Woodgrain

I made this card for the home card challenge on CST.  I embossed a piece of white card stock with the Stampin Up! Woodgrain folder.  I then applied Walnut Stain with a foam brush on the high parts.  I cut a set of trees with the Tim Holtz Tree Line edge die.  I placed my embossed layer on a brown card.  I added the tree line die. I stamped a SU! greeting thermal embossed with pearl powder.  I added a pearl moon layered on black to have it pop.  It was mounted on 3D foam tape.