Sylvia's Simple Shots

I went for a really long walk Sunday morning but a bit more about that later.

The fruit trees are all in bloom.  These are the blossoms of a small crab apple tree.  It was full of flowers.

I love the deep rich color of the blossoms.

I found these at a park I normally visit once or twice a year.  It  has a large man made storm water pond and generally supports many waterfowl.  

The trail that surrounds it is 1.7 miles long. It was originally built in 1977 so an upgrade is due.

Unfortunately, with the significant renovations done to the path way which goes around it things will be disrupted most of the summer.

My regular entrance was cut off so I had to walk a ways just to access the water and the start of the grey line in this picture. 

Then I got to the end of the grey line which is where I found this sign. It led me to the neighbourhood to the north.  I should have paid more attention to the map because I spent the next 40 minutes walking on city streets trying to get back to my car. 

The best option would have been to turn around and go back the way I came, at least I would have seen more birds and wildlife.  I have learned my lesson.

These are some of the birds I did find walking along the trail on the edge of the water.

An American White Pelican but only one.  Generally there are a lot of them here.  No Cormorants.  

The House Finch was singing her heart out which did my heart good!

Many Mallard Duck couples were feeding and swimming.

As you can see the Red Neck Grebe was sitting on her nest with her partner very nearby.  In the past I have had a hard time finding nests but I found 2 on Sunday.

This is the book I finished this week.  I can always count on Nicholas Sparks for a family friendly story with heart.  

True Believer is a story about a science journalist, Jeremy Marsh from New York who visits a small town in North Carolina to investigate mysterious ghostly lights in a local cemetery.  The phenomenon brings much needed tourism to the area. Lexie Darnell is the local librarian who has returned to live near family.   She has had her heart broken and is not interested in going down that road again.

Lexie serves as local guide for Jeremy and the sparks fly but Lexie is cautious about getting involved.  Jeremy is head over heels. He works out the mystery but can he convince Lexie his love is true?

It all works out in the end.

We have had some gorgeous warm +20C days in the last week.

It was time to dig out the trusty Keens sandals which came highly recommended by my niece when I bought them.  I can vouch for this brand of sandals.  I have had worn a pair for at least 10 years. 

When I put them on yesterday but the elastic on one of them broke!  With a closer examination there were other issues so they needed to be replaced and quick!  I search on line and found a store in my neighbourhood, called to be sure they had my size and headed out to purchase a new pair. Yellow with black and grey, perfect!  In all of 10 minutes they were mine. They were pricey but worth every penny.
 

I had a challenge this week on Flickr which was letters.  I decided to do a still life and put words out into the universe that are life giving.

I created a small bouquet with dried flowers and grasses.

The letters are by Tim Holtz and I have had them for a long time but lost them for a while and recently rediscovered them.

Love the letters.  Wood blocks at least 1/2 inch deep so they stand on their own.

As you can see a variety of colors.  Love them and I have added them to the photography studio props.

Deleted Blog Posts! 

Did anyone else lose blog posts this week?  I had 14 posts deleted due to possible contravention of Googles Community guidelines.  I later got followup emails saying the posts have been reinstated but they are still gone.

The challenge on Flickr Macro Mondays this week was soap.  This is one of a few shots I took for the challenge.  A lot of potential in this subject matter.  You can check out my Flickr Photostream (SMDPics) to see the shot I submitted.

I am  sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #131 and 

Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #289.

Have a good and safe week!

Thank You Cards

This was an easy one as I cut trimmed the front of a small card and adhered it to the front of a coordinating purple card.

I love the teapots with gold accents on this image.








These pine cones images were left overs from a Christmas stack kit.

This one I added a black layer to a red card then adhered the pine cone square aligned to the left.  I added a greeting with the Stampin Up Itty Bitty Stamp set and cut with the coordinating framelits set. 

 

I chose a black card.  I layered the pine cone onto a layer of white leaving a small border.  I ripped the bottom edge.  I added a length of self adhesive lace in red below the white.   I then added the greeting  which was stamped on a Stampin Up Word Window Punchie.  I added a white tiny brad and added it to a Modern Label punchie. The greeting was adhered to the card front with 3D foam tape.

This is a refurbished card featuring a snowflake punched out with a circle.  It was added to an ivory scallop punchie.

This was layered onto a Tim Holtz label die cut in black.  It was layered onto a printed greeting layer. 

Then added to a coordinated deep rose card.

I delivered 10 cards in all today.

Paris Mixed Media Canvas

I'm preparing some art work for an event in the Christmas season.  I have only done this type of mixed media once before.  Check it out here.
I am working with Gotrick Stretched Canvas 8"x8"and Liquitex Acrylic Paint. I taped the back with painters tape to keep it clean and provide a defined edge.  I mixed this toned down pink with Winsor Newton Permanent Rose acrylic along with some white and black Liquitex.  I painted the canvas with a large brush including the sides and left to dry over night.  The next morning I applied Tim Holtz Textured Paste with a palette knife through a Heidi Swapp Stencil and just pressed some paste around the canvas with the knife. I left it to dry while I took my morning walk.  I had planned on applying some elements by printing some Paris graphics reversed on freezer paper and transferring them to the canvas.  This DID NOT work. You need a solid and hard surface to press onto and of course the canvas is not.  Plan B.  I diecut the Tim Holtz Eiffel Tower in chipboard and a black shadow layer.  I applied 3 coats of Titanium White to the chipboard making sure I got the sides as well.  I adhered the black shadow just offset a bit to the right.  The white was pretty stark so I took a chance that my printing had not dried on the freezer paper.  It printed pretty well onto the painted chipboard with using a brayer to apply even and consistent pressure.  I cut the letters with the Cricut and the Storybook cartridge at 1.5 inches.  Again white letters with black shadows to repeat what I did on the tower.  The tower and the letters were adhered to the canvas with Quick Dry Adhesive.  I have rubbed some of the edges and corners with a bit of black paint. I then spattered the canvas with some black paint using a old toothbrush and a butter knife.  I'm happy with the way it turned out.

Submitting to Mosaic Monday hosted by Judith at Lavender Cottage. 

Christmas Card Challenge - Oct - Angel Vellum Stamping

I chose Angelica from Stampdendous as my stamp.  It happens to be an angel which I stamped with craft ink on vellum then clear embossed it.  I chose to match the ink color and the card color in this case a deep Hunter Green from Stampin Up.  The greeting is from the SU Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.  I cut the backer from aqua card stock with the Tim Holtz Arch Frame which highlights the angel nicely.  I attached the vellum to the backer with 3 tiny brads a star one for the top and 2 round ones for each corner.  This layer was then adhered to the card front with double sided tape.  I find this angel just a bit on the big side for an A2 card so it presents some challenges when designing a card.

All Occasion Stack Class - Large Flowers

I started with large silk flowers in a couple of colors - pink and magenta. I found coordinating designer paper and then matching card stock.  I cut a Tim Holtz Ornamental die cut from it then glued that on the card front.  I chose a satin ribbon which I cut to length to cover across the card and tape both ends to the inside of the card. I set aside the short piece leftover.  I place the largest flower on my card front and made a hole in the card front with a push pin through the centre of the flower.  I then took the 2 small yellow daisy flowers in made holes in their centre with the push pin. I placed the tiny white brad through the small yellow flowers, then the white medium flower then the 2 larger flowers. This accent was then placed on the card front in the hole I made earlier.  Turn the card over and spread the prongs on the inside of the card.  I tied the short end of ribbon I saved earlier onto the ribbon on the card and trimmed the ends.

All Occasion Stack Class - Masculine Embossed

I selected white core card stock for this set of cards.  I embossed the green ones with a Cuttlebug folder from the Give a Hoot Set.  Once embossed I used a sand sponge to sand the color off the high parts to have the white show through.  I wrapped black gross grain ribbon around this layer and taped it to the back.  This layer was then adhered to the card front.  I added white Tim Holtz mover and shaper leaf die cuts above the ribbon.
On the rust colored cards I used the Cuttlebug Diamond Plate folder and once again sanded the card stock.  Be sure to set up a space to catch the dust.  The gears were cut on the Cricut with the Robotz cartridge.  These are held in place with black brads.

Card - Distressed Doily - Ivory Black Gold

I got a great deal on the TH Distressed Doily die so I bought it. I was surprised at the range of prices in the scrapbook stores.
I ran 2 pieces of ivory card stock through the Big Shot with the die.  I then trimmed them even to the doily edge and flipped one of them.  I now had a join in the middle to cover.  I taped the halves together then glued the entire thing to the card front in the landscape (wide) orientation. I chose a gold metallic ribbon to go over the join and taped it to the inside of the card.  I created an accent with a velvet hydrangea, silk flowers and paper flowers.  This is all held in place with a black brad.  I'm very happy with the results.

Christmas Stack Class - Winter Trees

I started with a white card.  I cut a top note shape with the TH Ornamental die from burgundy designer paper.  I cut 2 Sizzix deep green trees, one small and one large.   I color printed the greetings on vellum and embossed them with white powder.  I punched the snowflake with MS punch and applied some glitter glue.

I mounted the top note on the card front.  I then glued the small tree to the card leave space to put the large one next to it later.  The vellum greeting was ripped and mounted on the card and held in place with a tiny white brad and a bit of glue on the right hand side.  I glued the large pine tree to the right of the small on over the vellum greeting.   I added some iridescent glitter glue on the branches of the large tree. I added the large snowflake on the left hand side.   I made a burgundy/dark green and a red/green option.

Card Club - Prima Flowers

We had a good group of ladies out for Card Club last night.  I started with a brown card.  I cut a Tim Holtz Ornamental die cut from designer paper.   I wanted the ribbon to the side so I tack it down to the card with a bit of double sided tape.  I was then able to glue down the die to the card front.  Then I tied the ribbon in a loose square knot.  I placed the small silk flower, then the medium silk flower and then finally the Prima Flower onto the brad.  I made a hole in the DP and card with a push pin then placed the brad through which holds the flowers securely.  Placed the insert and it's done.  I made cards with peach, white and hot pink flowers.

Cards - Embossed Layers

I created these cards for my card exchange. On the left card, I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder just to where the burgundy ribbon is laid. I added my Razzleberry decorative paper then layered my greeting with chalked edges on top.
On the right card, I used the Swiss Dots embossing folder on about 1/3 of the card, then created an accent. The curry layer was embossed with a Tim Holtz embossing folder then I added the same decorative paper and greeting as above.