Anniversary Card - 67 years

Mom and Dad celebrate their 67th Wedding Anniversary this week.  Love does endure.

I chose an ivory card base.  I added a layer of Anna Griffin designer paper leaving a small border.

I wrapped a piece of moss green satin ribbon around the designer paper, taped the ends to the back and adhered the layer to the card front.

I created the focal element with 2 Stampin Up Sweetheart punches in off white.  I embossed them then mounted them to the gold scallop oval.  The oval was adhered over the ribbon on the card front with 3D foam tape.

Wishing them many more years of love and happiness.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I captured this shot of the summer hare this morning.   I came loping across the grass into the shrubbery and I caught the movement in the corner of my eye.

It was on high alert but stood still for a bit and I managed several shots.

Love this one because the eye is great, the tree on the right is out of focus but frames it well.  

The photo has a cohesive color scheme in the warm grays and browns.

I finished this book - Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood on the weekend. I found it interesting though disturbing in some ways.  It chronicles the life of a painter artist Elaine Risley who is in Toronto for a retrospective of her work.  

Her early childhood was spent in northern Ontario traveling from place for her father's work as an entomologist.  They settle in Toronto when he gets a more stable job.  Her memories are not good.  Being the odd teen in a group of girls was hard. Clothes, hair, school politics, friendships and boys were all avenues she had to negotiate with rough patches at times.

It was a different kind of read filled with insecurity, lots of questions, angst, and disconnection.  I suppose it is part of adolescence and young womanhood which shapes the woman she became. 

I have been investigating the Asian food aisle at the grocery store for a while.   

I was searching for what I call glass noodles.  I was introduced to these at a potluck in high school where a dish contained them. The contributor was a school teacher of Asian heritage who came to teach at our school for a couple of years.   Loved the food. 

After, several purchases that were disappointments, I found them on my last grocery shopping trip.

I thought they were rice noodles but no so.  They are made with bean starch.

I cooked up a wonderful shrimp stir fry and these were the perfect accompaniment!

 These will be on my regular shopping list.

 

I have been doing some artistic photography work.  I was getting some pieces to enter an art competition.  I will blog the entries in a couple of weeks.

This piece was created with a process called Bottled Light.  I have blogged about it in this post. 

I loved the thread of green going across the composition and some of the complementary colors.

I love the jewel tone colors in this composition. The object I had the light go through was a blown glass ball.

I used another technique called In Camera Motion where you move the camera with a long shutter speed to allow the capture of the patterns of movement.

The lights and darks are captured during the movement. 

This is a piece of dark fabric with bling on the surface in spiral patterns.  By shining the light onto it, the bling reflects the light and produces light areas.  You can see hint of the spirals in the bottom third of the art.

I called this piece The Waves. I really like the patterns I created with my movement.

 It was great fun to be inside as it rained most of Saturday but the earth is grateful and putting out all kinds of green.

The challenge for Flickr Macro Monday is object with Zed in it's name.  I think this challenge will produce a lot of variety of subject matter today.  You can check out my Flickr Photostream (SMDPics) to see the shot I submitted.  On the left is the bezel on my cell phone.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #130 and Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #288 .

I hope you have a great week and Be Safe Be Kind.

Mother's Day Card

I made this card for my Mom.  She is so precious to me.

Her favorite color is blue so I made blue poppies for her card.

I chose a true blue card base.  I added a piece of watercolor designer paper cut to leave a small border.

I cut the Memory Box Row of Poppies die from blue green and grey blue card stock.  I cut the flowers from the grey and glued them onto the green.  I chalked the flowers to add some blue shading to them.

I cut a piece of the blue green card stock the width of the card and ripped the top edge.  Adhered to card front with double sided tape.

Printed the greeting on white card stock, ripped the top edge again, aligned the bottom edges and trimmed to the edge of the card.

Pet Sympathy

I couple I know had their pet dog Hank pass away this week. I just felt I needed to send a card.  He was a good dog.

I found a outline graphic on line which reminds of Hank.  You can find the graphic here.

I printed it on card stock as well as the sentiment.  I chose chalk pastel to color the image and integrate the sentiment. 

I adhered the focal element to the front of a warm teal textured card. I aligned it to the left.

The sentiment was adhered above the image with 3D foam tape after I flagged the ends. Aligned to the right.

Exchange Cards - May

These are my cards for May.  Turquoise, white and silver is the color scheme.

The white card base has a designer paper layer with a plaid pattern.  

I created the focal point with SB Circle Nestablities in 3 sizes.  The large white was embossed with the Cuttlebug Script folder, then the middle circle is turquoise solid card stock then a silver foil layer embossed with the  Cuttlebug Diamond in the Rough folder. I added a white daisy confetti with a blue tiny brad.  

The greeting is color printed and punched with the Stampin Up Modern Label.  It was adhered to the card front with 3D foam tape.

I flipped the designer paper over and used the polka dot side for this card and changed the orientation to landscape.

I cut the squares layers with the Sizzix Square Thinlits in the same colors as the first one. I added a little note brad in the center.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

It was a nice trip to the wetlands at 6:30 am to ensure contact with the least number of people and the most number with wildlife.

I found many birds.  The wetlands are in desperate need of water/rain.  There many areas with no water and therefore no habitat for water fowl.  

This Northern Shoveler male was showing off his colors.  There were several pairs doing some sort of mating behavior.  It is a large duck and unfortunately at this angle you can not appreciate his bill.

Love this shot with an unusual presentation.

 

 

This is another upgrade to the photo studio.  I generally scan my greeting cards for this blog but I had a discussion with my sister about needing a scanner with the new computer. 

That would mean photographing all the cards and it would be nice to have a consistent set up.  

I decided that I would make a large piece of background paper.  This one is 24 inches wide which is the full width.  It measures 36 long so it more than covers the back and floor of the studio.

Love the mottled color scheme which will just fade to out of focus.

Perfect.  Easy set up is a must.

I also wanted a prop.  I tried several objects from around the house and a white vase about 8 inches tall worked really well but it was glossy and the lights showed up in the surface.  I thought I maybe could purchase something but with the way things are with COVID I am not going out except for essentials.  

Could I alter the surface of the vase?  After a bit of research I found this post.  It uses acrylic paint and baking soda. I cut down the proportions for a bit of paint. 

Using an old craft paint brush in case it ruined it and took some craft acrylic paint in Warm White and mixed it up.  It went on quite thick which I was okay with.  You can see the glossy and matte contrast in the second picture. 

I let the first coat dry completely then applied a coat of just the acrylic paint.

I am so impressed with this DIY technique. 

 

 

Here you can see how I have the background and vase in this card photo.  It creates a context for the card but nothing detracts from the card.

Loving it!

 

This is a screen capture of a live stream set up by a wildlife photographer in Denmark named Morten Hilmer. Wildlife in the Forest.

It runs 24/7 and is set up on a stream on his property.  It is powered by solar energy.

As you can see there are pheasants, many other birds, foxes, badgers, deer, and many other creatures who come to the stream.

It is a nice pleasant way to spend a few minutes with soothing sound and seeing nature.  It turns to black and white infrared during the night but you can see the animals clearly.  If you are looking for a you tube channel to give you some relaxing time, please check it out.

The challenge at Flickr Macro Mondays this week was nuts. Metal ones or the edible kind.  This shot is of roasted almonds.  You can check out my Flickr photostream (SMDPics) to see the shot I submitted. 

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #129 and

Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #287.

Have a great week!

Art Project - My Square

My aunt has proposed an art project and requested a fabric art piece from all the women in our extended family.

This is my piece.  It was recommended that 6x6 be the largest it could be so that is what I chose.

Being a photographer I decided to feature a camera on my square.  I did some research on camera quilts and there were a few patterns out there but of course way too big. 

I designed the block on grid paper so I did not get the proportions wrong. Originally, I wanted to create the camera like paper piecing but it quickly became obvious this was too small a scale for that technique.

I chose a printed white on white background fabric.  Based on the grid pattern I cut my camera from black cotton fabric and appliqued it to the background.  I cut a 2" circle from silver lame metallic fabric which my sister contributed.  Thanks!  I cut the black and white circle at the same time with my Spellbinder Nestabilities and the Big Shot machine.  Then I cut the black and white again to reveal the silver behind.  These were appliqued to the front of the camera. 

I found a translucent button for the sensor which was sewn on with silver metallic thread.  I cut silver fabric for the shutter button and the flash.  These were appliqued on with stitching. 

I found a couple of ivory heart buttons and placed those on either side of my word which is a staple for portrait photographers.  I cut the word out with my Stampin Up Little Letters thinlit dies from red and white fabric to which I had ironed Heat and Bond on the back.  I just lined them up and ironed them above the camera.  I then stitched on the heart buttons. I added silver thread light flashes going out from the flash on the camera. 

I lined the square with a piece of flannelette for a bit of padding.  I cut my backing fabric 1" bigger than my 6" front square.  I then pressed the binding to the front and pinned it very carefully.  I then stitched it down with a straight stitch.  

I added my name in permanent marker in the bottom right hand corner.  It will be off in the mail this week.

Christmas Card Challenge - Pencil Crayon on Kraft

I chose pencil crayons on kraft card stock for my challenge in May.  

I printed the main image from the Gentle Peace stamp set onto kraft card stock.  I then spent a pleasant evening coloring them with pencil crayons. Laurentian pencils I found the nicest to use.  I ran the black pencil along the edges to remove the lightest of the edge.

I chose a light blue card base to coordinate with the image as well as a strip of warm green to put behind the Holy Family image. 

I printed the sentiment onto kraft card stock, flagged the ends, ran a black pencil crayon along the edges and 

adhered it with 3D foam tape.

Adding a seasonal insert and an envelope and they are ready for the card box.

This next card I coordinated the card base with the edge of the frame of the stained glass window.  I chose a Pea Green textured card base.

I chose a warm brown strip of card stock to coordinate with Joseph's garment.

Both the main image and sentiment has black pencil crayon edges.

The sentiment is adhered with 3D foam tape.

This card has blue in the rays and a light mustard yellow in the window behind the family.

I chose a blue card base and a piece of coordinating card stock.  I added a bit of texture on the light piece with pencil crayon.

 

 

 

 

 

This card has a warm green card base onto which I rubbed gold pencil crayon to match the gold in the stained glass frame.  

I adhered the main image onto a layer of gold paper and trimmed around leaving a small border.

I cut the ends of the sentiment square this time.

I did a similar technique last year in March 2020.

Sewing Project - Thread Catcher & Mini Pin Cushion

I made a thread catcher bag and a custom fit mini pin cushion for my grand niece.  She is a sewer and she is joining the tradition of the women of our family.  We all have sewing machines and make projects.  Mom and several of her girls quilt. Another makes wedding dresses. Some just do mending and the like.

I chose bright and punchy colors for this bag.  Multicolored plaid print in cotton and a bright green cotton twill for the liner.

You can check this post for the detailed instructions for the Thread Catcher Bag.

I used a scrap of the left over print fabric to make a mini pin cushion which lives at the machine. I placed a piece of cardboard in a piece of plastic packaging to ensure the pins don't damage the sewing machine.  I sewed a sleeve, turned it good side out, placed the card board, added batting to fill then sewed the ends of the elastic into the side seams. 

Voila!

Birthday Card & Gift

A birthday card for my grand niece who is celebrating a teen birthday this week. 

I started with a deep purple card which is her favorite color. I chose a pearl white layer which I embossed with Sizzix Christmas Dots embossing folder.  

I mounted with 3D foam tape the Marianne Design Creatables Lady Charleston Die cut in black card stock.  The greeting is cut from black as well with the Dee's Distinctively die. I received this die cut for a card exchange buddy.

I cut the Poppystamps Craft Die by Memory Box TILDA BUCKLE from black as well and strung a length of pink stitched grosgrain ribbon through it.  I taped the ends to the back of the layer.

This layer was adhered to the front of the card base.

 

She will be receiving my old machine as a gift which allows her to graduate to an adult machine.

Her mother, grandmother and I have shared the expense.  It has been a great machine and I wish her many years of sewing projects on it.

She comes by her love of sewing honestly with most of the women of my family partaking in the activity.

You can see the thread catcher in the bottom right hand corner in the next post.

 

Seniors Week - June 7-13 2021 - Card Donations

I have put together a stack of cards for a local scrapbook store - Scrap and Bean who put out the word that they were accepting donations of cards for seniors. The cards will be distributed to Senior Care Homes in the area. Seniors Week is celebrated June 7-13, 2021.

Can you do something for a senior in your sphere of influence? There are several suggestions for safely celebrating this week.

These cards are upcycling a commercial card into a new life.  It was a large card and has been transformed into 3 cards. 

For the card on the left I trimmed an area of the card to leave a good border around it.  I then punched some slots with the Stampin Up Slot punch and tied a piece of warm blue seam binding between them.  This layer was adhered to a dark purple card base.  I added a SU Modern Label punchie and Word Window greeting in the top right hand corner adhered with 3D foam tape.

For this card and trimmed the card in the same way as above.  This time I wrapped a piece of gold metallic ribbon around the decorative layer and tied a knot and trimmed the ends.  I put together another greeting with the same tools as earlier.  I matched the Modern Label punch to the card color.  Again mounted with 3D foam tape.

This 3rd card I adhered the upcycled layer to the front of a navy blue card base.  I added a Stampin Up Decorative Label punchie greeting with 3D foam tape. 

I will collect from my sister the ones she made before I deliver them.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I found some Blue Squills this morning in a neighborhood front garden.  They only last for such a short time.

They are very small and such a wonderful color.  

It helped my to feel optimistic about spring coming and other flowers coming along.  

Photography has changed for me this spring because our COVID numbers are high. We have a few people resisting the transmission measures in place so I can't go places I did last year.

It means my number of good photos is down and I have to adjust.

 

 

I had an outdoor visit with my sister last week and she brought me a spider from my niece.  It hangs in the bedroom where the African Violet was before it just died.  It is a north window so I think it will do well there for now. Maybe it was over watered.  I would like to try again but this plant gives me some green above my sewing machine which is wonderful. 

The basil plant has it's second leaves so I am optimistic about it's survival for now.

 

 

We had construction at our building all of last week with a few days of water shut down and one day with power shut down.   Makes being at home more of a challenge and going out with COVID numbers is scary also.  Tough spot to be in. 

I believe it continues this week to put the ground back to what it was before the tear up.

It has solved problems so that is always appreciated.

  

I took my camera to a new area the other in hopes that it would have less people around.   It was good and I saw the river from a different point of view.

I captured the bend in the river.  There is still a bit of ice along the banks.  The water is much lower than it should be so there will be drought for our farmers, food growers, and gardeners this year.

 

I have needed a new mattress and pillow for a while but with  COVID had not pursued the purchase.

Ten days or so ago I had completed my on-line research and took the plunge to actually visit the store to see the mattress I was interested in.

It was wonderful because there were no other customers there during  my visit. One salesperson who was masked and sanitized all that was needed.  I did purchase a mattress protector and a new pillow as well.  The delivery was delayed by the construction our front of the building and we managed to get up to the my suite before the power was to be shut down.  Excellent.  The guys were great!  Wrapped the old one in the wrapping of the new one and it is gone.  It took about 10 minutes in all.  

The pillow is humongous but it works very well.  I am happy with my purchase and the service received from the store.  The mattress is 2 inches taller than the old one so now I cannot sit on my bed and have my feet touch the floor.  Makes me think of the Princess and the Pea with mattress stacked very high.

The challenge at Flickr Macro Mondays this week was forks.  This challenge could have been quite boring but we have had some creative shots taken.  You can check my Flickr photostream (SMDPics) to see the shot I submitted.

 I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #128 and 

 Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #286.

 Have a great week!

Birthday Tag

I made a tag for a joint gift for my niece who has a birthday in April.

I started with the QuicKutz Sewing Machine 4x4 thinlit.  The die cuts all the pieces which needed to be assembled.  It meant cutting once for each of the 4 colors - the body of the machine from olive green, feed dog plate, pressure foot and buttons in black, the other adjustment buttons in taupe, the spool of thread in black and red.  

I placed a piece of packing tape on a hard surface and slowly placed the pieces in place sticking them to the tape.  Once all the pieces were in place I used an exacto knife to trim the excess tape from around the outside edges of the die cut.

I then cut the tag with the Tim Holtz Cabinet die one kraft embossed with the SwissDots folder and one ivory.  I used the Crop a dile to make a hole in the top.  I adhered the sewing machine die cut to the tag with 3D foam tape.

I ran a length of red twine through the hole and it's ready to be attached.

The HB diecut was received in a swap so I have no credits.

It is very cute but a lot of work which explains this is the first time I have used it.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I saw Crocuses on my walk this morning.  Nature is saying it is spring time.  I am so glad we did not get the snow that some of the province got yesterday.

I finished this book on Sunday.

A book filled with mysteries years old.

Based in London in 1970's it features a new crime solving unit (Peculiar Crimes Unit) who use non traditional methods to solve crimes.  Detectives John May and Arthur Bryant in third book pursue a murderer with no very little hard evidence to go by.  People are dying every day, its Christmas time and the clues seem to lead in a very unusual conclusion.  

Eventually the method in the madness is revealed and the murders are solved but a family has lost quite a few members.   I enjoyed the book! 

Since the renovations in 2019 I have been on the search for new shades for the lights in the front hall.  Of course, the pandemic has curtailed to a large degree my discretionary shopping.  When my sister called to say could we have a visit outside and they were headed to ReStore I said sure! 

I found shades for the front hall for a very small sum!  The store was not busy and social distancing was maintained.

 

I found ceramic tiles for the base of my photo studio as well. I bought two 12x24 tiles with some texture and a matte finish.  Because of the pattern and the square edges when put together you cannot see the join of the tiles!

The color is neutral and the pattern subtle enough to provide a seamless surface for my photography. The size is manageable weight wise.  I had looked at 24x24 tiles earlier this year but moving one very large tile was not a good idea.

Again, the price was very good!

This my second go round trying to get a basil plant growing.  The other just died.

I see that I have second leaves on this one despite the fact that it has a very short stock. 

I am paying attention to water more this time.  The grow bulb is on very day for 8 hours.

I am hopeful that there may be basil in my cooking this summer.

 

A spring mosaic featuring icy puddles in the morning, my first American Robin of the year and some crocus blooms.

 

The Flickr Macro Monday challenge this week was Circles.  This shot on the right is a few small clear plastic containers backlit with purple and pink gels on my lights.  You can check my photo stream (SMDPics)  to see the shot I submitted.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #127 and
Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #285

Have a great week!

Card - Puffin Birthday

A Puffin is the featured accent on this card.  A maritime bird who lives along the rocky shores.

I found it in my stash of ready to go elements.   Trying to use up what I have.

I trimmed it and then added a burgundy layer.  Found a deep blue card base for it.  It still needed something so along came the strip of yellow for behind the accent.

A greeting from the stash of printed ones. Addition of a bit of black grosgrain ribbon below the greeting.

The Puffin is mounted with 3D foam tape.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

We had an April snow storm on Saturday.

 It started about mid afternoon and  went into the late evening.

Heavy wet snow and you can see the wind was blowing pretty hard as well.

The sun on Sunday melted a lot of it but there was still some around this morning.

It will provide nice slow drink for the earth so that is a good thing.

Check out these beauties!  I found these at the thrift store a couple of weeks ago.   These were sold in Teavana stores.  A teapot and 4 cups and saucers. 

Teavana Yellow Bone China Tea Cups & Saucers - Noble Poppy with Gold Trim.  The set sold for over $100 which explains why I never purchased it.

I was thrilled to find these in perfect condition for under $10.  I have paired them with my French Cobalt Blue glass plates and gold tea spoons.  Perfect!

I have finally culled my frame collection down to what I need.  

I found this beauty during the process.  This was painted by my aunt many years ago.  

Beautiful watercolor and I have missed enjoying it because it was in a box and I did not even remember having it.

It has been framed and put up to be enjoyed.

 

 

Here's my latest choice for snacks.

Yummy yogurt with no sugar added and in just the right size!

Blueberry and Banana.

Perfect when I want a bit of sweetness after my meal.

 

I still make greeting cards and during a conversation with my sister we talked about these new embossing folders by Stampin Up. 

The one she wanted was on clearance so we should order right away or she may miss it.

I chose to purchase a couple of them for myself. 

Loving the 3D Painted Texture one.  I have already used it.

Will try out the scripty one tomorrow. I have too much cardmaking tools as it is but I broke down and bought a couple more.

The challenge at Flickr Macro Mondays this week was pairs.  Here I have photographed a pair of yellow earrings. They look maybe '50s or '60s style.  You can check out what I submitted on my Photostream (SMDPics)

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #126 and with 

Mersad who hosts Through my Lens #284.
 

Have a great week!