Stitching - Exercise Mat

With the floor being installed I decided that I would need a mat to do exercises in the living room.  The floor is hard and provides no cushioning.

I researched options and found a large rug at IKEA which was 100% cotton and a color I could live with.  I had bought a yoga mat from my sister who had purchased it for a class and never used it again.  That provides the non slipping base for the rug.  I only do walking videos so there is not much impact exercises.

It is about 5 x 7 feet in size so doubling it up with the yoga mat would provide 3 layers of cushion.  That should be good.

I did try it for a few days until I was convinced that the idea would work.

It would really need to be solidified into a single piece now that it was folded because there were open edges which presented tripping hazards.

The blue yoga mat is just a bit smaller than the mat which is okay.

It really sticks to the floor so keeps the mat in place very well.

It is big enough to do my floor exercises and the cushion makes those comfortable.

I clipped the folded edge first for stitching.  That way any adjustment can be made on the open edges if needed.

I laid the hemmed edges opposite the fold next to each other instead of over each other to make that edge smoother.

I chose some heavy 100% cotton crochet cotton for the stitching. It is Clark's Anchor Cronita size 10 in Turquoise to add a bit of color to the mat.

I am so grateful for what I have learned on my slow stitching journey this year.  These experiences gave me confidence to know I could do this.  I found a heavy needle in my stash. 

I used a back stitch which doubled up the stitching on the back.  Hopefully that will wear better than single stitch.

Now there were a lot of inches to go about 250 of them so it was going to take a while.

The weaving of the thread was quite open considering the size of needle I was using.  The weaving was very even so I could just follow the edge of a row.

I made crosses at the corners to really tied down those thick corners.

I am very happy with my even stitching.

The turquoise color is great.

It took about 8 hours of stitching to go all the way around.

It feels and looks great!

I found a piece of webbing and a clasp to make a strap to keep it closed when I roll it up every day when I am done.

This clasp just traps the webbing in a clip on both sides so no sewing was required.

I am amazed sometimes at what I have in my stash.

It was exactly what I needed.

Everything needs a home at my house so I placed a basket on the bottom shelf of my IVAR shelving unit to hold the mat and my indoor exercise running shoes. 

That works very well tucked away in the corner of the living room.

A two week project but bodes well for regular exercise with  my walking videos now that fall is here and the temps will be cooler.

 

Die - Decluttering and New Work Station

 All my die cutting stuff has been in storage for a year and half.  I knew that I wanted to get rid of a lot of them so I decided to unpack the 10 boxes and make the hard decisions.

My sister helped me as she was going to chose from what was left and was willing to liquidate the rest.

I brought 4 boxes home out of 10 which was really good.  I had worked out how I was going to set up the station when I got home.  I set up the shelving unit on July 1st. 

We had scoped out some clear containers at Dollarama while I was at her house. Once I looked at what I had brought home and purchased a few more.  These were all original thick dies so they are really heavy for plastic containers.

The containers had feet and the shelving has gaps between the boards so I needed something to on the shelf to allow the containers to slide.  

I dug into my plastic placemat stash which were just the right depth so I needed 2 to make it wide enough for the shelf.  I used clear packing tape to join them and that solved that situation.  The placemats sometimes have textured surfaces so I had to turn them upside down so the smooth side was facing up.

I had to do the same thing for the diecutting shelf where I was putting my Big Kick machine.  I used some wonderful yellow striped ones and again taped them together. The machine has feet which may be a problem with the gaps and I don't what to lose small pieces of paper in the gaps.

There is lots of room on the shelf for my work light, a small garbage can, and a wooden box that holds my spacers and cutting plates.  These need to be close at hand everything I cut something.

I love the yellow stripes on the work surface.

Generally, the thick dies in either original or Bigz size fit in old style CD storage containers.  I had these wooden storage boxes from IKEA and the dies fit in perfectly. Luckily most of them were empty so that was a win.

I have not labeled all the drawers yet but I will. One drawer contains the amount of embossing folders I kept.

The wood boxes are much sturdier than plastic but I still have to be careful  I used to store dies in plastic pop crates which were very sturdy.

The red drawers will hold thin dies which are stored in CD cases.  Those have not been unpacked yet.

The black case was designed for the Sizzix original dies so that is where they are stored.  I have a really hard time using stuff I can't see so I may have to put die cuts on card board and hang them in the space to at least remind me what I have.

The second shelf has the small yellow and green dies and sizzlets, and movers and shaper dies in clear containers.

I am using this translucent corrugated plastic sheet from IKEA on my die cutting work shelf to provide a neutral background for taking photos of my cards for my blog.

The plastic is stored on the top shelf above the red wicker baskets when not in use.

Here you can see my grey IKEA lamp in it's super heavy white base which sits on the left.  The shelf is by a window but there will be times that I need a light to work.

The wood shelf is from IKEA as well is was called STEN when I bought it 20 years ago.  The shelves are 11 inches deep and about 33 inches wide.  With the cross brace on the back it make for a very stable work surface.  Strong enough to hold the weight involved with storing these dies.

Here's my die cutting work station.  There is still some space on the bottom shelf which I am not planning on filling.

It works really well and I am so happy to have it back.  It may have to be dismantled if I move this year but at least is way more manageable.  Now it lives in the craft space which is wonderful.

The dies I did not keep were gone through by my sister, then my niece and the rest will go to my sister who runs a daycare.  There are about 30 dies going to her.

They will have good homes and I have just so much less to manage.  Many dies I had purchased when I was running card  making classes and card club.  Many suited that situation but I no longer need them as I don't do classes anymore.  I am retired.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

These rain drops on leaves was creating a magical world low down near the ground.

The leaf was turned upside down which happens when it rains.

There were some perfectly spherical drops and some fatter wider ones too.

I did get wet knees as I had to get really low to capture the magic.

I purchased this fused glass tree at the Art Walk in Beaumont a while back. 

I had seen them posted on Instagram in the spring and really loved them. I knew the artist was in that area and her work was in the local gift shop as well.  There was a good chance I would find them at the walk or the shop.  

The shop is called the Painted Door.  I did purchase some loose tea there as well.

I did purchase it from the shop but then introduced  myself to Chrissy (A Touch of Glass) at the art walk.  Glass is one of my favorite art mediums. 

I found another dessert plate for my Snow White Regency dinnerware.  I now have 7 which leaves only one more to complete a set of 8.

That works really well with the little book I bought a couple of weeks ago.

Totally Tea Time Cook Book.  What a cute little book published in 1995 written by Helen Siegel and Karen Gillingham.

I love the cover and that fact that the book is shaped like a teapot.

With chapters like snacks and sandwiches, Scones, Crumpets and Tea Breads and Tarts, Puddings and Ice Creams it should be ideal book for getting back to entertaining.

The Iced Tea chapter is ideal for this hot summer weather we are experiencing right now.

I am so glad to have found this small book.

I have been looking for a metal object which would fit on top of the stove and allow my pots to be higher than the top of the stove.

This plant stand will do the job wonderfully.  The metal was flexible enough to be placed in the firebox and provides at least 2 inches of open space which will allow air to flow and me to add wood to the firebox. 

I finished this book Fingersmith by Sarah Waters last week.

Set in London England in 1860's it had great potential for my kind of read.

I enjoyed the first part which described the lift of Susan Trinder, an orphan raised by a kind woman Mrs. Sucksby.  The house is occupied by various characters of dubious reputations.  Fingersmith is a word to describe a thief of which Susan is one of many in the house.  Goods are redistributed by Mr. Ibbs and Gentleman is a caller who makes regular visits to the house.

The other orphan is Maud Lilly who lives in a grand house outside of London in the beautiful countryside. She lives with her uncle and serves as his secretary for his business.  Her uncle is obsessed with books and had a grand library where he spends most of his time. His clients come to visit and time is spent in the library.  Eventually, one discovers that the books housed in this library all relate to unsavory subject matter. 

I skipped quite a few chapters which went into the library's subject matter which I did not need to know.  I read the last few chapters which concluded the story of these 2 young ladies. 

This is definitely a book for mature audience and I can not recommend it as a wholesome story.

With keeping with the way I had prepared the place for sale and I have decided to keep the counters in both the kitchen and bathroom as uncluttered as possible.

The stuff from the counter and from under the sink had just been stacked willy nilly thinking that all would be sorted out when I moved.

Alas, I am not moving as there is little movement in my market and the prices are so low that I could not move forward with a sale in this market.

I had to address the clutter in the cabinet so I purchased several clear totes and sorted things out.  I had hoped for drawers like I have on the other side but the P-trap position prevents me to put an identical drawer unit on this left side. 

At least they are clear and I can see where things are.  The small one on the top holds my everyday items - hair brush, tooth brush, glasses cleaner, etc.  Easily pulled out to access what I need and then placed back out of sight.

Major Clean Up, De-clutter, Storage and Organize - Craft space & Photo Studio

I did decided I needed to do some major clean up and de-cluttering with the goal of having ALL card making supplies in the craft space.  This necessitated getting rid of a lot of supplies.  I have been mulling this over for several months.  

 

Finally, I decided to keep my Stamping Up supplies and cull the unrelated stuff for this reason. I have card stock, designer paper, ink, watercolor, chalks, ribbon, brads, and some stamps that all coordinate.  I have enough to last me the rest of my card making career.  I am keeping 110lb for photo cards too.

I started by removing all the non SU designer paper from my 8 color coded drawers.

Then, I took the 4 drawers of SU designer paper which were crammed to overflowing and sorted them into the 8 color coded drawers. It was a bit tough because SU paper comes in sets which are organized by color collections - Brights, Subtles, Regals, and Neutrals rather than colors.

Now, I had 4 empty drawers.

I then looked at the Iris cases in the bedroom that held 12x12 designer paper.  I kept the special papers like metallic, no shed glitter, and vellum pieces which translate well to Stampin Up.  That is what is in that bottom drawers.   Look 3 empty drawers!

I have a large box overflowing of designer paper to get rid of.  I will hold onto it for a couple of weeks in case I remember a few pieces I want to pull back.

 

 

The card stock cupboard needed to be addressed as well.  A while ago I had moved 8.5x11 Stampin Up card stock to this cupboard but now the 12x12 card stock had to be moved as well.

It was being stored in the dining room secretary along with table linens so it was time it moved.

The left is 8.5x11 card stock and the right is neutrals and 12x12 card stock on the bottom.

The middle shelf holds the boxes for my 2 projects - Compassion House and Cards for Seniors.

Here's the bottom shelves of the secretary in the dining room.  

I have added a few plastic containers to organize. The top shelf holds small vases, small bottles, charger plates, place mats, and a grey box of table runners and doilies.

The bottom shelf is a container of napkins and table cloths on the right hand side.

There is room for a few pieces if I decide something new in the future.

I now have 7 Iris cases that are EMPTY!

This is the photo studio area and you can see in the right hand photo that I have filled some of them with Macro Monday props. Clear cases which are well labels so I can quickly find what I need.  

I don't know what I will use the empty ones for just yet.  I can live with them empty for a while and get used to the space.  Having spend the time to empty them I will be sure to fill them with plenty of thought!   SO HAPPY!

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I took a drive out of the city on Saturday morning.  I needed to take pictures of something different!  I needed to get away from people and be able to relax a bit.

I found several country roads with interesting things along their ditches.

There is water everywhere as it has rained a lot this summer. These are bulrushes were in overland flooding water in a farmers field.  The area I expect has a few but now there were lots of them.

The wind picked up a little and distorted the reflections in the water.

It was a great morning.

It's almost time to pick raspberries.



I will have to find a new place to pick them this year. 

I better get onto my research.

I have moved the cabinet in the bedroom which holds my die cutting dies.  It is now tucked away in an alcove in the corner by the window.  I took off the shelf that Dad had built onto it so I can access the contents more easily. I have put up some plastic drop sheets to keep the dust out.  I put the hinge back and have used some rare earth magnets to keep it in place.

The space for the new to me sewing machine is ready!

It will sit right under the window where there will be a lot of light.  There are electric outlets on the left and right so I can always add a light for night time.  It will align with the window frame on the left.  That will leave me enough room (18inches) to access the window.

The African Violet has been moved to the corner but it  may not stay there!  It was right in front of the window before.  I will have to see how that works with the sewing machine desk there.

There is still room for the photo frame containers on the left which may be used for extra shelving to manage quilts.

I have a lot to go through with frames and get rid of a stack of them.

This is my new photo studio!  I had a shelf at the end of my bed which just accumulated stuff so I decided to have it be my work space for photography which I like out all the time anyway.   I used the pine shelf I removed from the cabinet in this space which gives me at least 1/3rd more space for photography. 

I am working on having my photography lights, tripod and other gear near at hand but with a place to live so that it will easily be put away.

I love the extra space for set up.  I think it will be great!

I went to the St. Albert Botanic Garden on Saturday morning.  Of course, there are a ton of flowers to photograph!  6:00 am and my car was the only one in the parking lot. Yeah!  There is a walking path nearby but there is a lot of space.  It had rained the night before so I had soaked feet in no time.

I picked 4 of the yellow bloom varieties for my mosaic today.  I have the Chinese Globe Flower in my area as well, makes me think of Buttercups.  Check out the bee in full flight ready ready to land on the Cotswold Queen, beautiful yellow flower clusters with purple centers. The Martagon Lilies were gorgeous in several varieties.  This is the Nepera, lovely golden yellow petals with dots.  The other is a Tiger Lily.

The roses were in bloom, peonies were still in bloom, Jacob's Ladder, daisies, and a lot more to show off another time.

The Flickr Macro Monday challenge this week was Spiral. This is one of the shots from the hundreds I took this week. 

Check out my Flickr Photostream SMDPics to see the shot I submitted.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #88   and Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #248 

Have a good week and be safe!

Share Your Cup - This Week

This is a plain ordinary office file sorter but the color is what made it come home with me. 

I am using it to hold the cookbooks I use all the time which live on top of the fridge. 

I was challenged by a video on Youtube the other day where a lady living a minimalism life style suggested getting rid of cook books and looking up recipes on line.   I think I will look at the books on the bookshelf and evaluate whether I really need them.

These are my regular cookbooks.  The Purity Cookbook I received as a high school graduation present. It's cover has gotten separated from the book which I don't remember how that happened.  I am usually very careful with books.
I use a couple church/community cookbooks I have collected over the years because they contain the great old recipes. 
The fat one on the right is a "Fill with your favorite recipes" kind of book.  It is very interesting what recipes I used to use and now I have new ones that are favorites.  I should have written down the year they were written into the book. The information is lost. 
Are you asking yourself ? "Does she have paper stuck to the center of the kitchen cupboard doors?"  Yes, I do.  I am looking to update the kitchen a bit and after a discussion during my sister's visit it crossed my mind that I could just paint the center of the doors.  Late at night I decided to put white paper in the center to see what it would look like.  It brightens up the kitchen which has no windows a lot.  I'm not ready to paint just yet but I am leaving the paper up because it makes such a difference.  Updates will come in later posts.

The book this week is Evening Class by Maeve Binchy. 

A teacher at a school is having a life crisis, he got passed over for a promotion, his wife doesn't seem to know he is alive, and his 2 grown daughters have their own lives.  He gets the opportunity to offer evening classes at the school where he works.  He has always wanted to return to Italy where he spent his honeymoon.  Fortunately, in the community a lady who spent nearly 25 years abroad in that country returns to her roots in Ireland.  She is willing to teach a class in conversational Italian, as well adding a dash of culture and food from the area.

The class is a huge success and we get to know several of the students who are studying Italian with Signora.  Most of their lives cross paths at certain points.  It's been a bit hard to remember all the connections but I have enjoyed the book a lot.

I found these napkins a while back and they contained the colors I wanted to use with my true blue dishes.  In the end, I could not use them as napkins because being 100% cotton a crease had been formed into the center which I found unsightly.  I went on a search for fabric to match and yesterday I found some.  I cut the back in the yellow and placed a strip of the yellow across the crease mark.  It provide an accent for the place mat and gives me a place mat that I can use with my blue dishes. I have 3 napkins so I will make another and maybe some teacup coasters.

This was tea today with Bengal Spice in the cup. 

I'm really happy with how well the colors match. 

Sharing with Jann at Daily Cup with Mrs. Olson who hosts Share Your Cup #243.

Share Your Cup #218 - This Week

This was breakfast this morning.  I laid out my new navy tablecloth with a Battenburg lace table mat.  I set the navy and white Blue Carnation large plate with the white IKEA ARV salad plate on top. I chose apples, rye bread toast, couple slices of old cheddar cheese and chai tea.
I drank my Himalayan Chai from a IKEA 365+ Cobalt Blue mug.  I drink my chai tea with a bit of honey and cream.





The apples are from Mom's tree as she brought some back with her this week.



I put together likely the last bouquet of the year with a few small yellow crysanthemums and some Celosia ‘Dragon's Breath’ in the background in a lovely small white vase.

I've decided to change the containers I use to store my eggs in the fridge.  I buy eggs in card board containers but they are getting so flimsy and soft that there is a danger of cracking eggs.  I acquired a couple of these clear containers which will keep the eggs more secure. Also, I can see at a quick glance how many I have when checking for a recipe.  A win win for me.

I had this book on my night table for 3 weeks and could not finish it.  I'm sure the author is representing the atmosphere of the talent shows accurately but it was a most frustrating reading experience.  About half way through I read the last few pages to see how it turned out but I was done with the insanity for Zack of competing, being far away from Reese and the unwanted attention from Zoey.

Sharing at Share Your Cup #218 hosted by Jann at Daily Cup with Mrs Olson.