Sylvia's Simple Shots

 This tealight candle holder is likely the replacement for my Advent Wreath which is broken parts.

I bought it for $5 at a Thrift Store between Christmas and New Years. I like the lines, the fact that it holds 5 candles, and that there is space below to add decor for occasions throughout the year.  It will stay out all year long.  At a thrift store on Tuesday I found these beautiful tealight holders in green, red and amber glass.  Gorgeous blown glass holders. They are Christmas colors.

I have a year to find other candle holders.  I would like to have crackle glass ones again, crystal would be nice, cut glass as well.  What I want is the shadows on the wall which I had with the other one.  I recognize that my lifestyle is going for downsizing so this will be smaller than the other one. 

I bought this Stampin Up punch recently.  I think I will be making watercolor ornaments for Christmas cards and this was a good price.

It is from the Gleaming Ornaments Punch pack which included 2 punches and a stamp set.

I will be designing my own images to trace onto the watercolor punchies. 

You can see I was working of the lines for the hanger on the right hand one.

I was looking for a small scissor sharpener for my embroidery scissors.  I visited a couple of fabric stores and found this one.

I would say it is not the top quality but it has improved the sharpness of the blades so I can cut embroidery thread reliably.

The price was not as high as the Fiskars one I was looking for but the same basic design.

It has improved my experience so for that I am grateful.

It is dangerous to go into a fabric store.

I did come out with 3 small remnant pieces for about $1 each. Check out those flowers on the lace! I hope I can dye them, we will have to see.

The other two pieces are 100 cotton so they will dye nicely. Gauzy fabric to create texture easily on my big embroidery project.

I did buy heat and bond hemming for quick basting of my embroidery projects.

Another World War II story.  The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff.

I love strong female leads and Eleanor Trigg is no exception. This story runs in 2 time lines - 1944 London and Paris during the war and 1946 New York just after the war.

She works for the Special Operations Executive in London for the British Forces. Their male agents are being captured. There is the language and they don't fit in as well as needed. Eleanor is "just a secretary" but she proposes using women which would be less visible. Once the project is approved, she recruits female agents who will be working in occupied France assisting the resistance forces. Radio operators, couriers, and as it turns out much more dangerous tasks. 

Marie and Josie are 2 of these women.  They are sent to Scotland to train in the highlands. Combat, firing a gun, repairing radios, endurance training, learning cyphers to code messages being transmitted and received. 

Grace finds a suitcase at Grand Central Station one day and inside finds photos of 12 young women.  She is compelled to take the photos and she is not sure why.  She eventually learns the suitcase belonged to Eleanor who was killed that day just outside the station. When she returns to the station to put the photos back the suitcase is gone. 

She does eventually learn the names of the girls most of which perished in France just before the D-Day battle.  She learned who Eleanor Trigg was and her purpose for being in New York that day.

Very good book.

Christmas Cards - Joyeux Noel - Blue

 

Another set of French Christmas cards. These feature blue paste paper my sister and I made years ago.

I chose Stampin Up Brocade Blue card stock for this set.  I cut a layer of Whisper White to leave a small border all the way around.

I cut the paste paper 3.5 inches wide and 4.75 inches tall. I aligned the Memory Box Grand Joyeux Noel thinlit along the top edge top edge up and cut with magnetic platform. The cutting has created many little pieces that I had to make sure to collect.  I adhered the die cut to the white layer with tape and quick dry adhesive around the Noel word to keep it stuck down. I then had to find the right piece for the noel O and E and stick those on with quick dry adhesive. 

The accents were cut with the Martha Stewart large snowflake punch and the Stampin Up Ornament punch. I used a tiny navy star brad for the dot on the J and a blue round sequin in the middle of the snowflake. I adhered a blue star confetti in the middle of the ornament with a Bling Zot. I drew a line to the top with a fine blue marker. A tiny blue sequin was placed for the dot on top of the J. 

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.

Pop Up Gift Card Holder

I'm working on gift card holders for last minutes gifts.

For this one, I used the Stampin Up Card Base Pop'n Cuts Die.  The card stock is River Rock with Holiday Thyme designer paper cut with the Top Note die.  I added an Ornament punchie stamped with the Delightful Decorations ornament in Cherry Cobbler on Very Vanilla.  I added a bit of Cherry Cobbler twine.  I created the dip in the pop up with the Word Window punch.  I added a piece of DSP which matched the front then a sentiment from the Festival of Trees stamp set. I followed up with the rest of the sentiment on a piece of Very Vanilla which I cut again with the Top Note.

I love the way this card closes with the tabs in the slots. 

Decorative Paper - Christmas Cards

I used the Memory Box Snowflake Collage die for these cards.  I cut the snowflakes out of a piece of white card stock which was trimmed to 5.25 x 4.00 inches.  I then layered a piece of my own decorative paper between the white and the colored card.  This die is great because it can be used alone on the card front but there a couple of places where greetings can be added if you like.   The cards can be presented wide or tall which adds to the versatility of the die. I used it with blue, purple and blue green paper and coordinating cards. 

For this card I used decorative paper made with fabric paint.  I cut the blue green paper and corner rounded a couple of the corners.  I added a couple of Martha Stewart snowflake punches held in place with a gold star brad and a white round sequin.  I punched the paper with the Stampin Up Medium Snowflake punch which makes a hole instead of a shape.  I placed tiny gold brads in their centers.  I added several white sequins to the card front with Bling Zots. I added a greeting which was color printed then punched with the Artisan Label Punch.  I punched a blue one and cut it in half and offset it behind the white one.  I used that same technique in card above.

I bought this Memory Box die this summer knowing that I would be making Christmas cards for french speaking folks.  It has been patiently waiting to be used.

For the red green card I cut a piece of green paste paper.  Trimmed it to fit the bottom of the card and added a poinsettia designed with the Stampin Up Five Petal punch in red and gold.  The center is a flower sequin held in place with a tiny gold brad.  I added a green sequin to the dot on the J which is a gold brad.
For the card on the right I cut a piece of soft green bubble paper and adhered it to the bottom of the card.  I added a single gold brad for the dot on the J.  I punched the Stampin Up Medium Snowflake in the same paper then punched the Ornament punch around it.  I added some cream and gold ribbon to the hanger.

Card Club - November - Love Peace Joy Ornaments

I created the background from a photo of an old board I took during the summer.  I selected all the rough parts of the board and created a pattern I could color.  In this case I have used Stampin Up! Always Artichoke on textured ivory card stock.  The words are circle stickers which I glued to the green SU punched ornaments.  I added cranberry thread to the ornament hangers and tied them with bows.  I selected a deep red card.  I glued the background card stock to the card front. I decided on the placement of the ornaments then I added strings with a black marker.  Then I applied 3D foam tape to the ornaments and adhered them to the card front. 

Christmas Card Challenge - Sept - Foliage

The theme for my Christmas Card Challenge for September is Foliage.  That could be Poinsettia, Pine Boughs, Trees, Wreaths, Holly & Berries, Pine Cones, Mistletoe, Evergreens, and much more. 
I chose boughs for my card.  I started with an ivory card. I put a piece of muted striped DSP onto it.  I stamped my ornament with warm red ink on the same ivory card stock.  The ornament is from the Stampin Up! Tags till Christmas set.  I punched out the ornament with the matching punch. I wrapped a piece of ivory crochet cotton around the hanger, knotted it then adhered the ornament to the card front with 3D foam tape. I pulled the string up and placed a hole in the card front aligning so it would be covered by the bough later.  I pulled both ends of the strings through the card front and taped them to the inside.  I cut the bough from warm green card stock with the Impression Obsession die of a branch/bough (DEI021-N). I chalked it with a couple different shades of green to add some depth. I glued it to the card front with quick dry adhesive applied with a small pointed tip making sure to cover the start of the string. It needed something more so I added 3 small dots of ivory card stock on the right hand side.

Challenge - Christmas Ornaments

I made this card for the Christmas Card Challenge at Holly Jolly this week.  The theme is Christmas Ornaments. I chose to upcycle an old Christmas card.  I punched the glittered snowflake out with the Stampin Up! Ornament punch.  I aligned the color printed greeting in Island Indigo with the hole already in the card.  Once printed, I glued the upcycled card onto the card front.  I tied the string to the ornament and then glued the ornament to the card front.  I then pulled the string up to the top fold.  I used a push pin to make a hole in the fold and pulled the string through and taped down the end on the inside of the card.