Potholders - Flat

This is my standard 8.5 inch flat potholder with a 1 1/8 inch borders which have been stitched to the center 7.5 inch square. 

It has a center loop with top stitching very close to the edge to seal the gap where I turned it over.  I then added another close to the other edge.

To create my center stitching I used my 1 inch border chip board pattern piece and placed it along the edge had my sewing machine foot follow the other edge.

I chose some manly fish fabric for this set of flat 8.5 inch potholders. 

I paired it with an aqua 100% cotton for the back.  They had the 1 1/8 inch border.

Center hanging loop.

I changed up the center stitching and created a quarter circle from paper which I followed with my machine. I love that they intersect at the edges.  I'm glad it did not overlap the main fish too much.

I loved this bright church fabric with silver metallic lines and wanted to maximize it's use so I cut the center square smaller so I could get 3 sets of potholders.  With the wonderful colors in this fabric I will be able to pair it with several different colors.
This time I chose the royal blue but I had to widen the border to accommodate the smaller center. The borders 2 inches wide and I was able to get away with top stitching on the close edge and the far edge also did the center stitching. Excellent.

This fabric as really fabulous so I wanted to see a lot of it so I decided to make the whole in stars.  I paired it with the same royal blue from the previous pair. 

It needed a bit of a focal point on the front so I created a silver rick rack onto a royal blue strip which I stitched on before I assembled the potholder. 

The center stitching was just triangles below the accent strip. 

Less fuss on this set of potholders.

Apron Handy Towels

I put together some hang towels which will work with my aprons. 

My early aprons had a loop where a towel could be pulled through so they would be handy when wearing the apron.

I then decided that right in middle may not be the best so I put buttons on my last couple aprons which works for people right handed or left handed.

The ribbon loop on the towel hangs on the button.

My aprons have buttons on both sides as they are reversible.











I added the 3/8" ribbon loop to towels I purchased.

Recent Photos

It was our first Welcome to my Kitchen since our summer break.

We had a good number in attendance with a few regulars busy elsewhere today.  We had one new retiree who has decided to join our group. 

Maybe I was hungry today but I had wolfed down my toast, fruit and coffee cake before I remembered to take photos!

I was not able to find details about this cup so if you know it leave me a comment.

We had a great time of catching up on our summers, our devotion "Dedicated to Love" was based on Romans 9:1-5.  We had many prayer concerns.

We even had a couple of choruses which was a real blessing.

Our hostess was celebrating a milestone birthday so I made a birthday card for her.  We had several others celebrating September birthdays turning 73-88 years young.

This card is a DSP Split with double sided paper by Authentique - Renew - Blossom featuring aqua and yellow.

I cut at 3.5 inches, flipped the top piece and taped the pieces together with the join covered with ivory grosgrain ribbon.

I punched a large circle from ivory card stock, stamped the sentiment in the center in Baja Breeze. I then added silver and white sequins and small handmade paper flowers around the center.  Added a bright yellow on in the center.  These are held in place with Bling Zots.

I should have made cards for those on our prayer list. Next month.

There was significant frost on my world yesterday morning.  As you can see the Rudibeckias had been frosted and were sparkling.

It was wonderful for photography but I had to keep moving to keep warm.

The camera was cold and so were my fingers despite gloves.

It was good to be out for a walk and be in the fresh air.

Cards to the Gallery

A beautiful piece of decorative paper in blues and purples.  This is alcohol paper designed a while back.

I mounted it to a dusty grey card. 

I used a Martha Stewart butterfly punchie in grape in the top left hand corner.  I used a marker to highlight the body.

I layered the band at the bottom of the card with a please of light blue then a piece of the same decorative paper.

The french greeting is a birthday one.  It was color printed in lavendar and punched with the Stampin Up Artisan Label punch.


I have included a few photo cards as well because I have sold a few based on inventory I did last month.

A beautiful Barn Swallow!

Gorgeous Sunflower!













This is my Sunlit Rose.


This makes a great guy card.  This is a close up of a stainless steel book end that I found at the Antique Mall.


I think this photo of the Bridge at the Japanese Garden would make a great sympathy card.

I'm starting to think November and December so I have included the Red Poppy and this red berries with beautiful leaf would do Christmas.

These are headed to the Gallery Gift Shop today.

Card Making - 3 Styles

When designing cards for this class at Compassion House I chose versatile designs where different paper, card stock and accent would create a different card.

Style 1 - Ripped 4 inch - The designer paper is cut to 4 inches square.  It is ripped and the pieces are positioned to the edges leaving the yellow card showing in between.  I chose a butterfly accent color printed and punched with the Stampin Up Decorative Label.  The colors on this one is Old Olive and So Saffron.  This label is adhere with 3D foam tape.

 Style 2 - DSP Split - I chose warm colored designer for fall cards.  The 4 inch x 5.25 inch piece is cut at 3.5 inches then the 2 pieces are taped back together.

I added a piece of ivory grosgrain ribbon across the join and tape the ends to the back of the layer.  I created an accent of silk flowers starting with a tiny yellow handmade paper one on the gold brad, then the orange one, another yellow, a deep rust one then the final large yellow one.  A hole was made through the designer paper layer then the prongs spread apart on the back.

The layer was then adhered to the front of a deep brown card.

The greeting was printed on tan card stock and it was adhered to the card front with 3D foam tape.  The card works without a greeting as well.

Style 3 -  Square - The designer paper chosen is Stampin Up Autumn Spice.  The card color selected is More Mustard. The designer paper was cut to 4 inches square.  The edges were rubbed with an Early Espresso ink pad.

The buttons are from Stampin Up and matches the card color. I tied a length of Early Espresso thread, knotted and trimmed.

The greeting was color printed in Cajun Craze and clear embossed.  They were cut apart to 1" tall.  The end was flagged with scissors.  It held in place with Zots. Once placed the button was adhered with a large Zot to the left of the words of the greeting.

The Zoo - Pandas

A trip south to see the Giant Pandas at the Calgary Zoo was on my road trip list for this summer.

I managed to get there on the last day of summer weather - Sept 11th. It snowed the next day.

The 4 pandas Er Shun and Da Mao, and her two cubs, Jia Panpan and Jia Yueyue will be staying in Calgary for 5 years.

There was only one who was active during my visit.  Check out the last photo in the mosaic.  Do you think it wants to see anybody?  Don't think so!

I fortunate that kids were back in school and my visit was during the day so the crowd was small.

My niece came with me so I had a great guide to making the most of my limited time there.

It was great and I expect to visit again before they leave.





The Butterfly House was another must.  The species seem to bit limited in this house and I found the same at the Botanic Gardens earlier this summer.

Of course the Blue Morpho is the hit of the house. I managed one with its wings spread. The other is one which had just emerged in the chrysalis house.

This black and orange one on the left is the Hecale Longwing and the one on the right is the Dark Evening Brown.  I was concerned it had lost a lot of wing but its wings are very squarish.

In the Canadian Wilds area I found the Whooping Crane and the Great Grey Owl.

Sharing with Maggie at Normandy Life who hosts Mosaic Monday #101.

Framed Art Canvas - Owl

I created this piece of art of my niece and god daughter who celebrates a birthday this week. 

The canvas was created by another niece who produces this wonderful pour art. Xyla Creations.  I purchased this piece back in May as it had the perfect colors for my god daughter.

I added the black frame. 

I created the tree trunk and branches from ripped black card stock. 

I added the circle moon cut from copper metallic card stock.

I added the brass owl pendant in front of the moon with his feet on the branch. 

I added the sentiment with vellum tucked into the bottom of the art with out being adhered.

I used glue dots to attach all the pieces only to find a day later all the pieces had fallen down.  Attaching stuff to acrylic paint has been a challenge before.  I resorted to tiny black brads but I really did not want to make holes in the wonderful canvas. 

The owl is a piece of jewelry so I gave my god daughter the matching chain in case somewhere along the line she wants to wear it.

I was able to deliver it in person and spend a day with her.  It was a wonderful time.

Lunch out is always a nice thing.

Art Walk Experience

I attended the Art Walk in the Strathearn neighborhood on Sunday.  There were over 300 vendors in the park (check out the map in the mosaic on the right).  As you to can see from the bottom photo the weather was a bit sketchy.  I was fortunate to be there for 1.5 hours with no rain.

There was all kinds of art.  There were quite a few photographers, a few glass artists, a few watercolor artists, some acrylic painters, and more artists producing alternative and on the edge art.

I bought a vase/bottle from a glass artist booth.  The artist is Keith Walker.  The piece I bought was made by a student of his who was sharing his booth.

I absolutely love the yellow and clear glass vase.  I have picked a few new flowers from my row in my friends garden.  I think cosmos flowers are quite frost hardy so I expect that I will have few more pickings.

There was some nice pieces on this table.  I see the blue top with the clear bottom vase would be another favorite.  She had no business card and I did not get her name.  I will have to see what I can do if I decide to pursue another purchase.

This small wooden vessel was very amazing.  The crowds around this booth were very large and the news cameras were there.

The skeins of hand dyed wool were wonderful.

Beautiful colors, great variegated skeins and a few handmade items available for sale.

I am partial to watercolor. Robin Light Watercolors booth has some lovely small paintings. 

Sharing with Maggie at Normandy Life for Mosaic Monday #100.

2018 Open Art Competition & Show

I submitted three photos to the Open Art Competition and today is the reception and award presentations.

Pink Cupcake
11x14 inch frame
8x10 Color Photo


This is a cosmos which I took at the Legislative Grounds. I had not seen these before.

It is a light pink Cupcake Cosmos which features petals that curve up and inward, creating a bowl or chalice look! And as if that weren't enough, most are double or semi-double, with a pinwheel pattern of smaller petals around the frilly yellow center of each bloom.

Love the soft background which is quite dark which highlights the bloom to show off!

This is a Dahlia I took at a park near my place.  It's name is Bishop of Auckland.

It was in a large planter with plants with long dark leaves.

Perfect Petals
14x14 inches
8x8 inch Color photo

This nearly perfectly centered composition may be too predictable.

This photo was taken as part of the 2018 Dogwood Photo Challenge.  I was challenged to imitate a photo of a photographer.

I chose Mike Moats' Leaf macros.  In some, he captures the sky in the water.

Leaf on Still Pond
16x14 inch frame
8x10 inch Color photo

I love how the sky and clouds have been captured in the water.  Love the tension of the water along the edge of the leaf.

Recent Photos

My aunt and I visited the Art Gallery in August.  She is a painter so The James Morrice exhibit was the original draw.  A Canadian painter who spent a lot of time in France and painted in the early 1900s.

I loved the Hubert Hohn photography exhibit of doors of Edmonton homes taken in 1974.  What a great idea.

Samantha Walrod was in residence creating an eight foot collage.  Using paint, paper and other material.  My aunt especially liked this one with the chance to speak to the artist.

The Li Salay exhibit of Metis Artists was filled with many 3D pieces. I really did not connect with this exhibit.

A friend and I went to see this movie on August 23rd. It was wonderful.

How the animals help Christopher rediscover what is important in life.

We have found a theatre with great seats so we have lots of room which makes the experience very nice.

I made several more jars of Chutney this week.

Apple Plum Ginger

Peach Ginger

I tried carrots with the last of the blue plums with ginger.  We will see if that works or not in while when I open the jars.

 

I planted a row of flowers in a friend`s garden this year.  I wanted a few cut flowers for my table this summer.

I planted late so it took a while to actually get any.  I have picked 2 times.  Here`s one of the best I collected.

I am testing out a new background paper.  I love how I got just a few bokeh spots with this handmade paper sheet.

These yellow flowers are called Calendula. They were quite unspectacular when I picked them.

But a couple of days later they just opened up and looked wonderful.  I love them bright against this dark background.

I love the color of these flowers.  The smaller one is more orange than the large yellow ones.  My mom planted these all the time in her garden.

Sharing with Share Your Cup 305 hosted by Jann at Daily Cup with Mrs. Olson.

Gold Butterfly Card

I came across this wonderful butterfly image in my stash.  A layer from a commercial card gathered sometime along the way.

Once trimmed to leave a large border I mounted it to a salmon colored card front. 

Another quick card to put in my card box.

Would do nicely for a sympathy card.

Mosaic Monday - Brass Kaleidoscope

I found a brass and copper kaleidoscope at the thrift store yesterday!  I was over the moon because it was under $5 with the weekly discount.  There were one of the wheels had pieces missing, it was filthy and the pin was bent but that was okay. 

I brought it home and carefully gave the metal it's first polish in years.  It will need more but a little at a time will do the job.
I pulled out my container of glass gems and searched until I was able to replace the 5 missing pieces. 

I carefully used a Q-tip to clean all the glass pieces on the wheels.

The cylinder which holds the mirrors is brass. 
The eye piece, the wheel fitting and the legs are copper and have an incised pattern on them.  The bead edge of the wheels is also copper. 

The wheels contain a variety of glass.  Glass gems, stained glass, iridescent glass, colored glass and textured glass.  The shapes are irregular which enhances the shapes of the final images produced.

It is over 9" inches long including the wheels and front pin.

I need to find it a stand to support the brass cylinder.

It is a perfect retirement gift for me.  I love it!

Sharing with Mosaic Monday #99 hosted by Maggie at Normandy Life.

Exchange Cards - Red Prima Flowers

I made a couple of cards for my card exchange partners this month.

I started with these red shimmery Prima Handmade Paper flowers which I discovered when I was decluttering a stash of supplies.  Brand new boxes just sitting there!

I chose this striped paper to highlight the deep red stripe and mounted it to pea green textured card stock.

I added a length of ivory twill tape across the bottom and the ends taped to the back.  The designer paper was then adhered to the card front.  The accent is a small gold sequin, a red silk, a pink organza and a shimmery red handmade paper all held together with a gold mini brad.  The accent was adhered to the card front with a large Zot.

The card on the right was made with the same supplies but why make them both the same?

This one is portrait orientation.  I adhered the flower accent in the top left corner.  I cut a piece of twill tape, flagged the ends then adhered it to the card front.  The greeting was color printed and cut with the Stampin Up Decorative Label punch.  It was adhered to the card front with 3D foam tape.

Mailing cards today.

Christmas Card Challenge - Sept - Silver Candle

The prompt for the Christmas Card Challenge is Silver Candle.

I chose to use the Tim Holtz Alterations Candlelight Bigz Die.  I cut the larger of the candles from silver non shed glitter paper. I cut the wax drips from white pearl card stock.  I cut the flame from gold non shed glitter card stock. The flame accent is cut from the pearl white card stock.  I assembled this accent with Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive.

I cut the boughs with Impression Obsession Pine Branch thin die from green and pearl white card stock.  The green was adhered to the red card then the candle was adhered over it. Then I added the pearl white and trimmed it to the card edge.

The greeting is grey printed onto a Stampin Up Modern  Label punch to which I added 3 silver rhinestones on the right hand side. It is adhered to the card front with 3D foam tape.