Sylvia's Simple Shots

It's been snowing and this day the snow was gently falling as I walked around my neighbourhood.

I found this crow in a tree just chilling.

I love how I captured the falling snow and it's large beak.  Unfortunately, the eye is not as sharp as I would have liked.

Nice dreamy shot.

These are the improvements I made to my Tumi Bag while I was at my sisters last week.

The bag is quite floppy and needed some structure.

It has enough pockets for the essentials that I carry.  

In my last purse I had a collection of things like my lip balm, my allergy eye drops, cough drops, and other things that just fell to the bottom of the center pocket.

With wanting to add structure to the bag we headed to the dollar store to see what we could find for organizers. We found these pencil cases. We built a case for them from mat board and duck tape. We added jump rings to the top so I can pull the pocket out easily. 

Now the contents are organized and the bag a solid core.

A sister and her husband came to visit this week.  They are the one who helped with carpet removal in the summer.  They wanted to see the new floor and have a visit.  Their kids were coming back from a ski trip.

I served roast chicken from the grocery store, salad, and fruit and muffins for dessert.

It's been great to have company.

I was gifted these beautiful Jianzhan tea tasting cups from China.  My nephew brought them back for me after I admired one he gave his Mom and Dad at Christmas.

Tea is my thing. Blue and yellow are my colors.  I look forward to using them when I settle in my new place as for now they are packed safely in a box for moving.

A watercolor card I made for my nephew and his wife who gave me the beautiful tea cups.

I chose watercolor paper and painted an abstract with bright yellow at the top running into ultramarine blue at the bottom.  

Once dry and pressed flat I trimmed the piece to leave a medium border and adhered it to the front of a SU Brilliant Blue card base.

I stamped the greeting with dark blue ink.

The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn one of my favorite authors.

Another WWII story about a woman, Mila Pavlichenko, who transforms herself from a bookish Mom of one to a sharp shooter. Based on a true story of a mother who became a soldier, found her place in the world and changed history.

When she reaches her 300th kill she is pulled from the Eastern front and is invited to the United States on a goodwill tour. She is hosted by Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. 

Danger lurks in every corner both on the battlefield and away from the fight. 

Another wonderful book.

Sewing Project - Pencil Case for Sketch Book

Now that the sketchbook is done What does one need with their sketch book? A pencil and eraser at least.

After researching pencil erasers which I could add to a journaling bookmark, I decided to save the expense. STAEDTLER erasers are readily available and low cost.

I decided my sketchbook needed a pencil case.  I started by finding a short zipper black will do. Then fabric to match the cover. Done!

I created a narrow zipper insert with tabs at both ends. Then I just pressed the seams in on the rust back piece and sewed the 2 side seams.  I then chose black elastic and determined how long it needed to be and stitched the ends into the ends of the pencil case.

It slips over the sketch book cover snugly and holds a pencil and eraser and likely a black marker during Inktober 2024. 

Very happy with that.  It is slap dash job and I may refine the construction at a later date.