Sylvia's Simple Shots

An early morning walk around Beaumaris Lake today. There were a few waterfowl about.  No pelicans yet.

Plenty of Canada Geese, Mallard Ducks and this Common Merganser duck with its rust colored head and red bill.

The wind was brisk and I was glad that I worn layers because it was cool and gusty.

My first time this year.

I had my replacement Tupperware order as well as my niece's order delivered by my sister.  We have been working on this for a while.  

Even back to Christmas we were looking for broken pieces so we could get them all into a large order. My niece delivered some a while back as well.

The blue lid was a purchase and it cost dearly as the original lid has been discontinued.  This lid works but is from another bowl. Glad to have it.

My sister and I head out for supper but the restaurant we wanted was closed so we had to find another.

I may have been to the Sicilian Pasta Kitchen once before.

We shared a salad and a pasta dish and it was super delicious.  We ate it all because there was not really enough leftover for take away container.

It was a great idea to share so we got veggies and pasta.

A nice visit on top of the great food.

The Bookstore on the Beach by Brenda Novak was the book I finished this week.

Autumn Divac has been searching for her husband for 18 months. He disappeared in Europe under some mysterious circumstances. Her teenagers need a break so she heads to the town she grew up in where her Mom and aunt run a bookstore on the beach.  She has great memories of the place.

There is great time for family but teenagers have their own ways so there is making friends and connecting with people their own age. The daughter finds a supportive friend to get her through her crisis and the son finds a man who can provide male role model that he is missing.

The ending was very surprising for all the parties. Autumn and her husband, the old boyfriend, the new teenagers discovered.  Great read.

I headed to the Legislature Grounds for an early morning walk. The first this year.

The morning was cool but less wind that early this week.

The Alberta Legislature grounds feature a Kwakiutl totem pole, carved by artist Oscar Maltipi and donated to the province in 1971. This pole is a visual representation of kinship and family crests, a common practice among Indigenous cultures. It's located near the lawn bowling pitch.

It was donated by British Columbia First Nations to mark the 100th anniversary of that province joining confederation.

Caramel Popcorn

I got some Caramel Popcorn made thanks to my sister.

I spend a short visit with her on Dad's Birthday. 

We went to the grocery store and bought stuff. 

Thanks to Mom there were plastic bags to hold the goodies.

I really appreciated a day of normal away from the hotel. 

Treats for our family Christmas. 

Harvesting - High Bush Cranberry Syrup

I was out to visit my sister yesterday which was a much nicer day than Monday. One of the tasks was to pick up the High Bush Cranberry Syrup she made on Monday.  She picked 2 pails of them in the snow with gloves to keep her hands warm!  We generally process them together but the berries were wet and she decided to just do it!

We have decided standardized our jars for preserving. She is using pint sized Mason Jars with Gem Lids which you see in the photo that hold 1.5 cups. I brought her 2 flats of them which I unearthed from my corner kitchen cabinet that have been sitting there since I moved years ago.  I will be using the 1 cup tapered Mason Jar with Standard Lids.  Those are the ones you see in the background of this photo. 

I brought a few of the 1 cup jars back with me so I can make Chutney nearer to Christmas time.

Card - St. Patrick's Day Birthday

I made these two cards for a friend who requested special cards for a relative that celebrates her birthday on March 17th.  I started with the Spellbinder A2 Ribbon Threader die which cut some DSP by Echo Park - For the Record2 - Damask - this is the flip side.  It gave me some illusion of movement with it's diagonal lines.  I trimmed the holes at the bottom of the die which here is the right hand side.  I then found this wonderful soft green image of a shamrock wreath to which I added the greeting then color printed it.  I added notches on the corners with a punch.  I had some mint colored seam binding which was too clear a color for the rest of the card so I colored it with Tim Holtz Bundled Sage Distress Stain to give it some warmth in color.  I ran one length through the slots and taped the ends to the back.  Then, I pulled a second piece through behind the first one and tied a nice soft bow.  I found a card in the coordinating green but it still needed something.  I decided to add a layer of DSP by Basic Grey - Porcelain - Chintz which supported the warm greens in the rest of the card.  This layer was adhered to the card, then the ribbon threader then the wreath was added with 3D foam tape.

Cards - Sympathy - Silk Flowers

I made a couple sympathy cards this morning for folks who have lost loved ones recently.  The top one is for a lady who lost her husband.
I started with a mint green card and added some K&Company Designer paper in muted tones of green, grey and teal.  I added a ribbon across the bottom and mounted the sentiment on top of it with 3D foam tape.  I added an accent of layered silk flowers and leaves in similar colors. All held in place with a tiny white brad with a gold flower sequin as the outer most layer.

The next one is for a friend who lost her sister at 95. What a long life!  On this card I played on the bits of bright pink in the bottom left hand corner hence the bit of pink in the silk flowers.  The sentiment was color printed and punched with the Stampin Up Decorative Label punch.  Again mounted over a ribbon with 3D foam tape.

Cards - Birthday in Greens

I created these cards for a friend who has a family member who celebrates a birthday on March 17 - St. Patrick's Day.   I made some for her a while back. Check it out.
Left: The card is Certainly Celery with double sided designer paper by Stampin Up!  It was cut 1/3 to 2/3 and the top piece was flipped over.  I color printed the greeting in CC on Very Vanilla and cut it with a Spellbinder Ribbon Slider thin die.  I placed it onto a piece of CC ribbon which was placed over the join of the 2 piece of DSP.  The ribbon is pulled through a slit in the card fold and taped to the inside.  I added a large silk flower and dyed a smaller one with Tim Holtz Peeled Paint Distress Ink. They are held in place with a vanilla brad.
Right: I selected a dark green textured card stock.  I selected some green DP by Basic Grey - porcelain arabella.  I color printed the greeting and punched it out with the SU! Decorative Label punch.  I punched another from the green cardstock. I cut it in half and mounted the halves top and bottom of the punchie. I added a coordinating gross grain ribbon.

Card - Kiwi Flower Trio

Another green card. I started with a Kiwi Kiss card. I had dyed several white silk flowers with the matching re-inker and let them dry over night. I added white smaller silk flowers and attached them to the card with terracotta colored brads to coordinate with my decorative paper. I cut my striped decorative paper with a scallop thin die. I glued 2 of the scallop borders to the top half of the card. I color printed my greeting, ripped the top and bottom edges and added 3 small buttons with Zots to the right hand side. This greeting was layered over the scallop die cuts.

I have a new scallop Die-namics border die - thin dies from My Favorite Things MFTStamps.com. I am very happy with it's proportions for card making. It's six inches long. Perfect.