RISE AND SHINE!

If I was a rooster, I think I would be crowing!  Morning is here - Rise and Shine!

It is so worth getting up early when a person can start their day with a beautiful sunrise!  It is one of the things I love most about living in the country - the sunrises and sunsets are incredible, and I can see them unobstructed by just walking out my door and going to the corner of my property.

These photos were not taken there - these were taken from the back loading dock at the Post-office as I was setting the garbage out early Monday morning   I opened the back door, saw the sunrise, and ran back to my coat pocket for my phone.  I think it's time I started carrying my SLR with me to work every morning, don't you? 

I don't know about you, but seeing something like this in the morning, really charges my batteries.  I can just feel the energy of the morning, from a wonderful sunrise such as this.  

I'm not the only one who feels this way -  As I was walking home that morning, the birds were so noisy, and busy - they too were recharged with this early morning light.

A new morning, a new day, a new beginning each and every day.

Do we even know and acknowledge how lucky we are to be given this new opportunity every morning?   

I think we tend to take it all for granted,  disregard it -  if we even think of it at all.

We need to do better than that.  We need to break our own selfish patterns of doubt and negativity and give each new day a chance to be a better one than the day before.

The new day is a fresh start - lets embrace it!

Have a beautiful day everyone!

ARE WE TURNING A CORNER?

After many weeks of extreme cold weather, the professional weather people are telling us that we are about to turn a corner towards more "seasonal" temperatures, and perhaps maybe even a glimpse or two of the coming of spring.

Dare we be optimistic?

I really want to be, and in a way I am rather hopeful, as the light seems to be coming back into our days with an amazing show of strength.

Even though it has been so cold ( -31 when I shot these photos) - I just had to get outside and try and capture some of this gorgeous light, and in particular, how the light made the new snow look like a beautiful art canvas.

Take a look...

This is a little corner of my yard.  The reflections of the hedge is like a beautiful painting on the snow.

This is a deep ditch that runs along a small highway near town.  The little foot bridge over the ditch is usually the prettiest part of this ditch - but not on this day....

My neighbour's back yard always has some seasonal ornaments - the Canada Geese appeared in fall and now have become part of the canvas of winter.  Look at the colours in that snow - how pretty is that?

The birds love this tree in another neighbour's yard.  It is usually covered with Jay's and Cedar Waxwings, as they feast on the frozen fruit that is still on the tree.

The new snow is so white that if not for the shadow of that fir tree, you have difficulty even seeing the snow. 

I don't know if the weather persons are right about the return of more normal seasonal weather, or not - but I do know, these days ahead are going to be filled with new images for the camera to capture, every day.

Bring it on!

WHATEVER THE WEATHER MAY BE!

WHATEVER THE WEATHER MAY BE

by James Whitcomb Riley

"Whatever the weather may be," says he -  

"Whatever the weather may be,

It's plaze, if ye will, an'  I'll say me say, - 

Supposin' to-day was the winterest day,

Wud the weather be changing because ye cried,

Or the snow be grass were ye crucified?

The best is to make yer own summer," says he,

"Whatever the weather may be," says he - 

"Whatever the weather may be!

"Whatever the weather may be," says he -

"Whatever the weather may be,

It's the songs ye sing, an' the smiles ye wear,

That's a-makin' the sun shine everywhere;

An' the world of gloom is a world of glee,

Wid the bird in the bush, an' the bud in the tree,

An' the fruit on the stim o' the bough," says he,

"Whatever the weather may be,"  says he - 

"Whatever the weather may be!

"Whatever the weather may be,"  says he - 

"Whatever the weather may be,

Ye can bring the Spring, wid its green an' gold,

An' the grass in the grove where the snow lies cold;

An' ye'll warm yer back, wid a smiling face,

As ye sit at yer heart, like an owld fireplace,

An' toast the toes o' yer sowl," says he,

"Whatever the weather may be," says he - 

"Whatever the weather may be!"

***

JUNK JOURNAL IS FINISHED AND REVAMPING MY CHANNEL!

It has been a very long spell of extreme cold weather for a lot of us here in Canada, and indeed around many places in North America.  Along with that our area has had a lot of snow over the past week or so.
I shovelled snow for six days in a row - something that is seldom done here.

I have always said that I love winter, and really - I do love it - but this winter started early when we still had not yet even enjoyed fall, and it has been harsh and nasty, so I am more than ready to see it end.

But, in the end - we don't have control over this thing we call weather, so the only option we have is to enjoy it.

I have been considering doing some vlogging in the future, especially during the summer when I can be taking video outside in the gardens.  To this end, I really needed to smarten up my YouTube channel, so I am working on that now.  I have changed my channel name to "Whatever The Weather May Be".

Two reason for that name -
One - that the title encompasses the way I view life, in a basic kind of way.   That is - no matter what the weather is - my life has meaning, a purpose, and I have things I love to do, and will do.  There is a season for everything in life - and I embrace that!

The second reason for the name change, and maybe the best reason, is because I so love a poem with this title, by Jame Whitcomb Riley.

So I will be including more video as well here on my blog from time to time, starting with one today.

If you read my last few blogs, you will have seen that I decided to try my hand at making a journal... a junk journal, to be precise.  I have finished my first one which is going to Zhanna for her 9th birthday, but I have a hankering to do more, so I think now I will start one for myself - a gardening journal.

I really enjoyed this project, and I was able to utilize a lot of things that I have in my studio.  I see these as a great way to use up things I have on hand, without having to invest in even more crafting supplies.
 
Having said that, most of the materials I used for my journal, were common things that we all have in our homes -  I am not one to buy supplies for a craft just because everyone else is using them.

There are lots of video's on YouTube that walk you through the process of creating the journal, and also creating some of the embellishments for inside the journals.  If you think you might like to give this a try - check out some video's - but really - these are so easy, even a child could do them.

So here is my little video show and tell on my first Junk Journal.  Clearly I need more practice on taking video's - but that too is a learned skill - so bear with me.

Have great weekend everyone - stay safe and warm...



https://youtu.be/cSeL_fGQya4

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU ARE SO COLD YOU CAN'T THINK!

How is everyone doing with this North-American wide cold snap we are all living under?  Even for us here in Canada, it has been extreme.  I was watching a segment on the news yesterday where a climatologist was interviewing a scientist, and she said that as time goes on we can expect more and more such extreme weather events, as the polar vortex is changing, dipping lower and lower for longer periods of time.  Extreme weather in every season will soon be the order of the day, so I guess we'd all better learn how to adapt.

-50's temps and wind chills make it very difficult to be outside.  I have continued to venture out each morning, wrapped in layers of clothes covered with a long down coat to top it all off.  I can honestly say I have not been cold at all.  My coat has a fur hood which cinches in around the face.  The only complaint I have had while being out in the cold mornings, is that my glasses fog up.  So aggravating!

But I guess if that's all I have to complain about, I will shut up. 

Life goes on, business are open, schools are running - but school buses might not be.  People here continue on because we live in a cold climate.  However there are always  the vulnerable who cannot cope.  The homeless, small children, the sick, the elderly, small animals, birds... we must be aware that there are many out there who are at risk  - it's up to us to watch out for them and give them a helping hand when and if we can.

Don't forget to top up your bird feeders, keep your pets indoors.  Wrap your little ones up with lots of layers, mittens, scarves.

Wear wool!  Wool is a natural insulator, it breathes, allows air to circulate through it's fibers.  It is much warmer than any man-made fiber.

Don't go out, if you don't have to. 

And personally  - if you don't have to go out  - craft!

That's what I have been doing when I could get my studio warmed up enough to be up there working.

I have been continuing with my junk journal project.  I changed my mind on the cover and have re-covered it with old jeans.  I have added some jean pockets on the outside for gel pens etc, and I made a totally funky, shabby, blue-jean tassel by unravelling strips of jean fabric. 

I have also made a cute bookmark using a child's poem from an old book of children's poetry by Emily Dickinson - some more envelope pockets, and also some fancy paper clips.  Tomorrow I am going to start work on making the page sections of the book. (signatures they are called).  I think this journal will have 3 signatures of about 15 pages each, so that will be 90 journaling pages in total.  We'll see how this goes - this is my first journal, so perhaps I am thinking way too many pages. 

I will take some pictures this weekend to show you my progress, and then perhaps do a show and tell video once the journal is complete, before I send it off to it's recipient.

So my friends - stay warm, stay busy - be happy.  Spring IS coming...

Till later -

PAPER, SNOW AND HAVING FUN!

I have already thanked my brother Norman for sending us the Alberta clipper we had on the weekend.  Truth be told, it wasn't as bad as the weather forecasters had predicted.  Before the weekend started we were predicted to get from 10-15 cm of snow with lots of wind.  We did get snow, and the wind, but nowhere near that amount, so we lucked out.

It was a great weekend to spend some time learning how to make junk journals.  I watched several tutorials on how to make the journals themselves, and then a bunch more on how to make the embellishments that go inside the journals.

I decided to start a junk journal for a gift to my little soon to be 9 yr old granddaughter - Zhanna.  What girl of her age wouldn't love somewhere to write her thoughts, paste some pictures, store her treasures, create some artwork of her own?

I found an old book and tore the pages out so I could use the cover and the spine.  First I covered the old cover with some fabric - purple - Zhanna loves purple.  I set that aside to dry and started on some embellishments for inside the journal.

Junk Journals have lots of pockets for papers, tabs, pictures etc, some pockets are hidden in envelopes, so that I where I started.

Here are a the envelopes I got done this weekend.  I made all of these using the pages I tore out of the book that I used for the cover.  I will go through them individually so you can see the pockets inside them.

This one is the first one I did.

 This is the front of the envelope., the envelope flips up to reveal the 2 pockets inside. 

I chose this picture for the front of the envelope because of the title of the story from the page in the book, entitled "Christmas Cookery".







When you open the envelope this is the inside with the two pockets...  I added some blank paper to write something for the journal, and a couple of cards with Christmas images on them.

This was the second one I did, and my personal favourite.  Again I used the book pages to make the envelope and the pockets,  The picture of the girl is just a piece of wrapping paper that I mounted on to some card stock and glued to the front of the envelope.  I made the paper flower on the front as well and used my sewing machine to do some fancy zig-zag stitching around the whole piece.  I love the vintage look of this one.

The inside has two pockets, where I added some journaling paper, and a little book I made with with blank pages inside...a  mini-journal.

Here are the two mini-journals I made to pop in pockets here and there.  check the size on the ruler beside them.

 

Here is the third pocket envelope I made.  Again I made the envelope from pages I removed from the book.  I decorated the top with some scrap paper, a piece of lace, a ticket I found in my craft drawer and a handmade flower, consisting of fabric, paper and ribbon.

This is the inside.  I attempted to age the book paper with paint - I'm not sure I like how it turned out, perhaps I need to get some distressing ink to better do this.  However, I promised myself I would not spend a lot of money on special supplies for this project, but instead use what I have in my studio already.  So for now, I will continue the way I am going.

Again the pockets have some pretty paper for journaling on.

This is an open pocket that I made.  It has some templates for drawing animal heads, some tracing paper, and some colourful journaling paper.

These envelope pockets will be glued into the junk journal pages, here and there.  They add some character to the journal, but also some alternative ways to journal, and a few secret places to tuck notes and things.

Today I am going to attempt some corner pockets and some library card-type pockets for the inside of the front and back covers.

Now that the outside cover of the journal is dry, I will also start to create the pages for the inside and think about how I am going to decorate the cover back and front.

I have to tell you, that I absolutely loved doing these projects this weekend.  It's just paper - so if you mess it up you chuck it in the garbage. 

I think these little flip pocket envelopes would make awesome greeting cards, perhaps you could use the pocket for inserting money, or gift cards, itune cards etc.

Great possibilities using recycled materials and much nicer than using store- bought;  made and distributed by some huge corporation that cares not one whit about you!

So time to get the glue out, and start my day!

Please enjoy your day, whatever you are up to.

JUNK JOURNALS AND WIRE SUNCATCHERS!

How can you tell we are smack dab in the middle of winter - besides the obvious?

I can tell, because I am driving myself slightly crazy watching crafting videos and getting so many ideas stacked up in my head that I want to try and make.

I don't need any more projects that are not going to get finished - but having said that - I have completed a few small projects which I will share with you at the end of this post.

Ever hear of a junk journal?

I have always been fascinated with journals and journalling.  Perhaps it's a female thing, but I can see it being something that a lot of girls and women would love to do - if they had a junk journal.

A junk journal - is made from a bunch of different papers, fabrics, anything you can think of really.  It has pages that are all different shapes and sizes, textures  -  it has tabs and pockets and buttons, envelopes - whatever you want it to have.

You can use it for any kind of journalling - for travel, gardening, for recipes, for inspirational material, for music - whatever you want.

They are as busy or as plain as you want to make them, and I am totally in love with them.

I want to make one for gardening.

If I were to make one for gardening, I would use paper from old gardening magazines and maybe some tea-dyed paper, I would use fabric - with flowers on it, I would make my pockets out of pretty seed packets... do you see where I'm going with this?

So - if you are bored with winter and want to make something cute for yourself, or even for a gift - I challenge you to give this a go.  You don't need anything special for supplies just paper, string, a ruler and a pair of scissors, a piece of cardboard from a cereal box, and glue.

Let your junk journal begin!  Here's a great beginner video from Rosa Kelly to get you started.

https://youtu.be/h9Qv-eV4J-s


As promised here are a few projects I finished a week or so ago.  I needed something for my old window now that I have removed the Christmas ornaments that were hanging on it, so I decided to make some wire sun-catchers from things I just had lying around in my studio.

These were so easy to do, and I would have made more to give as gifts, but I ran out of the nice wire...

So I will revisit this again another time...

I made the little tiny angel in the heart above from things I had in my bead box.  Can you see her?

 

the green heart was a pendant given to me by my Mother-in- law years ago.

The fairy and bee where a gift I received from a friend in Ireland this past Christmas.

They look great on my old window -especially when the sun hits them in the evening!