Saturday, February 29, 2020

Exchange Cards

I created a piece of watercolor paper using Stampin Up Watercolor Wonder Crayons and white heavy textured card stock.  I used Always Artichoke, Garden Green, Cajun Craze and More Mustard with a #4 brush.

Once dry, I cut it into leaves with the Spell Binder Foliage thinlet set.

I chose a pea green textured card base with a piece of designer paper with red accents. The paper is by Fancy Pants - Christmas Magic - Mince Pie.   I did add a bit of Cajun Craze to the die cut to connect with the dots.

The die cuts were adhered to the card front with Scotch Quick Dry adhesive.

The greeting is a Stampin Up Decorative Label punch in ivory with printed words. I water colored it as well.  It was mounted to the card front with 3D foam tape.
The same pea green textured card base for the card on the right.

On this card I used a different designer paper for which I have no credits.  I ripped the bottom right hand corner then adhered it to the card base.

The large leaf and a couple of small leaves were used in these cards.

The greeting is a Stampin Up Decorative Label punch in ivory with printed words. I water colored it as well.  It was mounted to the card front with 3D foam tape.

These are off to my card exchange buddies.

Christmas Card Challenge - February - Star

My card design for the February Christmas Card Challenge - Star.

I used foil paper with stars on it which was cut to 4.00 x 5.25 inches.

It was cut with the Stampin Up Star Framelits and adhered to the front of a black card.  I chose the next size down and cut foil chipboard and mounted it in the center of the hole I had cut earlier with 3D foam tape.

I color printed a greeting in black on white card stock.   I then punched it out with the Stampin Up Artisan Label.

It was mounted in the bottom right hand corner with 3D foam tape.

I have several ready for the card box.

 

I just couldn't leave those star cut outs on my craft table.

I found some silver/black ribbon which coodinated with the stars.

I chose a red card base.  I added a bit of texture to the card front by piercing lines with my dressmaking tool.

I put a length of ribbon across the bottom of the card and taped the ends to the inside.

I adhered the star matching the flat end to the bottom of the card.

Add the same greeting as the one above with 3D foam tape.

Monday, February 24, 2020

Recent Photos

I went for a walk with my aunt on the weekend and finally got a good photo of the Bohemian Waxwing.  I did not recognize their song but she did as she gets great shot regularly in her neighbourhood.

They were in very tall trees and and the coloring was so close to their feather they were very hard to spot.

I just love their vibrant coloring especially their bring yellow tail.  I can see the light in its eye which was great to capture!


Macro Monday on Flickr this week was Sweet or Savory.

Here I have photographed white sugar with my antique silver sugar spoon.

You can check out my photostream and my final selection.

A visit from my sister and brother in law recently saw the return of my TV tables.  He created a small stand for the tables from the wood of the larger table that used to hold them.  I did not need the table and needed the room it was taking so he offered to re engineer the set.

I am so happy with this smaller foot print!  I will have to declutter some more to make the perfect place for them but it is coming along.

Gaining on the keeping the place tidy!

My small quilt box was overflowing!   I delivered these quilts to the rep for Project Linus yesterday!  Now I have room for more quilting.  I also delivered 3 made by my sister. Red and Blue, Animal Baby Quilt, Baby Boy Quilt

She has been quilting a lot this winter as well.

I will likely not be quilting this summer and focus on photography!  I soon will have to trim down my volunteering so I can feel I have a little more free time.

I made a Memory Book for my Mom from the photos I took at our Reunion this summer.  This was a Christmas gift.

I delivered it to her on the Family Day weekend.

Sharing on Mosaic Monday #68 hosted by Angie at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf.

Through my Lens #229 hosted by Mersad.


Blog Give Away

I am working on a photography show in 2021. 

There are several options regarding subject matter.  Nature Minimalist, Golden Hour, Black and White, Abstract, Reflections.

I am interested in what my followers' opinions would be. Follow the link above and leave a comment with your choice and what you think about the style.


Thanks so much.

Thursday, February 20, 2020

Welcome to my Kitchen - February

We had a great morning with ladies from the Welcome to my Kitchen fellowship group.  It's been a while because we did not meet in December and January was cancelled due to very cold temperatures.

We had 14 ladies attend, a new hostess, wonderful food, great catching up time and prayer time.

We had praise reports and many in need of support and prayer.

Devotions reminded us that God is Always with Us.  He does not forsake us.

Our hostess makes the best tea biscuits!


Tuesday, February 18, 2020

2020 Cardmaking - CH - Class 2

I chose the Angled Rectangle as my layout for my card making session at Compassion House tonight.

The designer paper is cut to 4.00 x 5.25 inches. I layed it on the front of an olive card till I was happy with the layout. I adhered it then trimmed it to the edges of the card.

I used one of the triangles cut from the edges as an accent along with a white silk flower, an aqua handmade paper one and a white sequin all held in place with a tiny blue brad.


I have built in a lot of variety in the kits for this class so not any of the cards are the same.

This is a versatile layout as it works tall or wide.

I chose a teal card for this designer paper. This one has a greeting in the form of a Stampin Up Modern Label greeting in the top right hand corner.  It is adhered with 3D foam tape.

The accent is a dark teal circle with a yellow star die cut on top.  It repeats the pattern in the designer paper. It is also mounted with 3D foam tape.

The inserts in on the inside are blank.



This one started with a brown card to work with the scratch pattern in the designer paper by Bo Bunny - Back to Backs - Gift of Love

I added a Modern Label greeting in the bottom left hand corner.

A Tim Holtz Old Jalopy die cut in the top right hand corner.

Makes a great card for the guys in our lives!

Friday, February 14, 2020

Thank You Cards - Compassion House

I worked on my Thank You cards for Compassion House which I will deliver next week.

These are mainly DSP Split lay outs with a variety of greeting styles.

This one is red and grey designer paper in stripped and geometric. Paper cut to 4.00 x 5.25 inches then cut again at 3.5 inches. The smaller piece turned over and taped back into one layer. 

I added white grosgrain ribbon across the join then adhered to the front of a deep grey card. 

I added a scallop greeting in red and white with grey text.  The greeting is adhered with 3D foam tape.

Some are leftover kits from the class at the house.

Looking forward to my class.

Sunday, February 9, 2020

Sewing Project - Quilt 6 - Green Squares in Tan

I have completed another quilt for donation.  This project morphed from the original materials I had selected.  I chose black for the sashing but decided the fabrics were too dark to have dark sashing. 

Finished Size: 42.50" x 55.25"

Front: Green patterned fabric cut into 10" squares

Backing: Hunter Green Flannelette

Batting: Cotton Sheet



Sashing: Caramel dual texture fabric cut 4 inches wide

Binding: Caramel dual texture fabric cut to 2 5/8 inches wide  You can check out the Fool Proof Quilt Binding video for details.


Thread: Dark Green cotton thread  

Binding stitching: Stitch in the ditch.  I pinned very closely and had perfect capture of the folded edge on the back. Excellent.


Quilting: One quarter inch around each square on the square with green thread keeps the caramel intact and matched well with the green back. I remembered to add the next row of sashing before quilting so I have a good edge to follow.  A quarter inch foot helps a lot! Great investment.


The thread spool was taller than my regular spools and was dancing around on my spindle.  I added a straw on the spindle that fit into the hole of the spool. Perfect solution.

Lessons Learned: 
Measure twice cut once - on the rows of sashing I cut them 42 inches after doing some math (not my strongest skill) thinking that would give me extra but the row of squares was 43" wide when it came to quilting.  I did have enough fabric to re-cut the 5 rows of sashing to 45" to leave me some extra.

It worked out in the end because the too short sashing was turned into the binding.  I did have to add about a foot to have enough.  I was going to use black for binding but since I had what I needed I went ahead with the caramel.

It is getting easier as I improve with each one.

Made several green scraps disappear as well!

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Sewing Project - Quilt Topper Help

I took this set of Pineapple Quilt Squares home on Monday night.  A friend from the group was no sure how to proceed with these and needed help.  These squares were made where the pinks would create the pineapple when assembled like the one below.









I suggested that if the squares were sashed that would bring out the central square.  Yes, it would disrupt the pineapple but so what.  No big deal and it would look pretty.

The first thing to be done was clean up the squares by removing all the threads and bits of fabric.

Then they had to be squared to a consistent size.  I started at 11.25 but found one was smaller at 11.00 so redid the others to match. Now I had nine 11" inch squares.

The blue fabric was cut to 2.5 inches wide.  I cut a 6 to 11" wide and sewed them to the middle row squares top and bottom. Then, I added the another square on top and bottom on the other side of the blue top and bottom. Now I had 3 columns of squares.  I then cut long strips of sashing and sewed that between the columns to complete the square you see at the top. 

I am returning the piece to my friend who will move forward with the final quilt topper.

Monday, February 3, 2020

Recent Photos

I have started using my slow cooker more.  It gives me the freedom to craft or sew uninterrupted by food prep for supper.

This is 1.5 quart size which is perfect for me.  I have made a veggie curry, barley vegetable soup and just root vegetables in broth as a side dish. 

I was at the ReUse Center this week and found this slow cooker recipe book.  It is a great idea to cook once eat twice.  Mostly it proposes cooking the meat the firs time and then making that into another dish the next meal.

I have browsed it and marked several recipes I want to try.  I have added a few ingredients to my grocery list.

Looking forward to enjoying the free time.



I finished this book last week - Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood.  It was a different kind of book from what I have read in the last few years. I thought I should check out the Canadian author.

It focuses on a lone character called Snowman, who finds himself in a bleak situation with only creatures called Crakers to keep him company. The reader learns of his past, as a boy called Jimmy, and of genetic experimentation and pharmaceutical engineering that occurred under the purview of Jimmy's peer, Glenn "Crake".

Mankind has been overwhelmed by a plague, Snowman is struggling to survive in a world where he may be the last human, and mourning the loss of his best friend, Crake, and the beautiful and elusive Oryx whom they both loved.

I am quite okay with following the author into another world.  I was left with questions so I may have to reread it.  Based on review online the story is deeper than I got the first time.  



I was gifted these small Swarovski Crystal candle holders with blue candles.  Well that works for me in the sense of color and size.

They were sold in the 80s.  The logo is right for the time.  The swan logo has been used since 1989.

They go so well with my Blue Nordic dishes.  Of course the light they reflect is wonderful and brilliant.

I have included several images in this mosaic.







You can check out Flickr Macro Monday whose theme this week is Odd One.  This is one of the compositions I took for the challenge this week.  I really enjoy the challenges on Flickr and participate in this one every week.  The group is well moderated and we have many regular contributors which I look forward to seeing each week.

If you check out my photo stream you can see the one I submitted.




I have decided to do a Blog Give Away so check out the question I am asking.  It will run the full month of February and the winners will be selected on Leap Day - February 29th.

I am linking up with Mosaic Monday #65 hosted by Angie at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf.

Saturday, February 1, 2020

Blog Give Away - Photo Show Fodder

I am wanting to do a solo show of my photography in 2021. That means I have to start thinking about it now.  I have reviewed my Flickr photo stream to see what I have been shooting and gain some inspiration there.

I have come up with some styles which I could pursue.  I have included one of my photos which represents the style. 

There should be a narrative which works with the photos selected for the show.  That is proving to be a lot harder for me.   Should I start with the story?

Nature Minimalist
There is lots of nature of which to take photos.  Water drops, blades of grass, isolated flowers, rocks, birds, leaves, butterflies and a bunch of other subjects.

The photos would likely be macros for me but not necessarily.  Maybe I could mix macros and distant shots.  A distance shot may be a single flower in a meadow or single tree in flat landscape.

The story will be the challenge.







 
Golden Hour
The sun sets every day so that provides lots of opportunities.  There will be days which are cloudy or rainy that will not let the sunshine preventing this kind of shot.

This point of view allows for a wide variety of subject matter from nature, buildings, structures, forest, water,  and stack of other subjects.

The light is very appealing.










Black & White
I may have to narrow the subject matter on this one because mixing nature and architecture may not work.

The image needs high contrast to work well in black & white.  Do I shoot in black and white? 

Subject Matter
  • Flowers
  • Landscapes
  • Buildings
  • Structures









Abstract
This style would include a variety of subject matter.  

Reflections, oil on water, macros that are so close as to disguise the original object, shadows, and many others.

I think to story is harder with this style as the subject is not obvious.  

Maybe the story is the mystery.






Reflections
Another wide array of subject matter. 

Reflective surfaces could be water, metal, glass, and mirrors.



Now to the give away!

I have several of my 2020 calendars which I am giving away before the year gets too much longer.

Please leave me a comment below regarding which style you would enjoy in an exhibition of photography.  You can also make a suggestion of our own.


I will choose 5 comments at random on February 29 since it is a leap year!

Looking forward to reading your comments. Anonymous comments will not be considered.