CASual Fridays 137 and a FREEBIE cutting file

365 Photo of the Day

Wow, I can hardly believe I’ve kept up my Photo of the Day for two entire months.  It does cause me to keep my lens in the front of my mind’s eye every day! 

I love buttons.  I have jars of them on display, sorted.  At one time (this will give you a chuckle) I wanted to get a visual of my efforts in doing sit-ups, and I had this (exausting and way cool at the time) idea that every time I’d do 10 sit-ups I’d sew a button on this plain blanket.  Mind you, I was doing several sets of sit-ups a day and eventually the blanket got very very heavy and I got exhausted.  It did look pretty cool though.  I know that blanket is haunting a corner of a closet somewhere. 

“Button your lip” “Cute as a button” “Stay buttoned down” – somehow just saying the word makes me feel warm and secure.

Create

I managed to squeak in another card today – gotta love any challenge that has “casual” in it’s title… I chose to take up the challenge from Casual Friday’s #137 challenge inviting us to:

CFC137: Using spring colors, create a music themed project and keep it Clean And Simple.

So here I go:

 

I’m sorry to say I don’t see any identification on the designer paper I chose – but in my mind these bright colors do fit into a “spring” theme.  This sentiment is from My Favorite Things.  Music backdrop to the sentiment is a cut I created using my Silhouette Designer Edition Software and I’d like to share it with YOU!

 

DOWNLOAD

Technorati Tags: Casual Fridays,Freebie,Mrs Miles Freebies,Barb Derksen

365 Photo of the Day & Fusion Card

 

Today’s Photo

Whenever I see a chandelier or chandelier type item with crystals dangling I get a picture in my mind of my younger brother (he passed away some time ago)  When he was just a little feller he would pull one of those little red wagons around the streets of the small town we lived in.  Everyone knew him, and generally he was headed from our house up to our Grandma’s house with his wagon, and rarely did he return home with it empty.  Most likely he had a ball of dough or some small trinket from Grandma. 

While he walked along he sort of swayed to his own music, which he hummed out loud.  He was way ahead of the times, didn’t need an ipod, just sang himself whatever he knew!  One song he liked to sing and hum to was Charlie Pride’s “The Crystal Chandelier”

Fusion (Bowties and Other Things)

Today’s challenge gave us several choices to go with -

This week you are welcome to be inspired by:

-The Sketch

-The Bowties

-The Colours

-The Patterns in the Bow Ties

-The Woodgrain Bakcground

-A group of other items (not just bowties)

-And so on!

 

I chose the bowtie as I have had some sitting here longing to be used for some time now. Here’s my card:

 

A simple sentiment by Paper Smooches, the sweet bow and lace picked up from a Dollar Store, and embossing thanks to a Darice folder.

Technorati Tags: Paper Smooches,Darice,Embossing Folder,Fusion

CAS(e) this Sketch Challenge 112 card

Happy to make a leeeetle bit of time for my creative side today (in between all the mundane and just plain yuck household chores.   I’ve taken a hankering to this week’s CAS(e) this Sketch Challenge 112

My card wound up looking like so:

outside

inside

I used:

ARGYLE Designer Paper by KI, SHIMMER SHEETZ acid free Mylar by ELIZABETH CRAFTS and a stamp by – (I think) Fiskars

Sweet, simple and there ya have it!  (I used my Silhouette Cameo to trace and cut the sentiment out of the Mylar.

Technorati Tags: CAS(e) this Sketch,Shimmer Sheetz,Mylar,Elizabeth Crafts,Ki,Fiskars,Stamp,Mrs Miles,Greeting Card,Card Challenge

365 Photo of the Day

Happiness

is a perfume

you cannot pour on others

without

getting a few drops

on yourself

365 Photo(s) of the Day

What is it?

Simon Says Monday Challenge & a FREE cutting file!

I just ♥ when a challenge comes along the exact time I’m thinking up a new creation in my head.  This is just what happened when I saw this Monday’s Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and the theme is No Rules.

I decided to step up to the plate with a new cutting design I dreamed up in my head and will also offer it to you today too!

I decided to create this gift box and little gift tags set from the ground up.  I thunk it all up in the night as I fell off to sleep.

After I designed this cut for your Silhouette cutting machine (I have a Cameo) I made a few tweaks and then added these darling little gift tags as well.  This designer paper I chose “Fanciful Be You” by Junkitz is double sided so I added a piece of plain pink copy paper to the inside so the tags can be written in.  If you’re using one sided paper you won’t have to. 

And after the tags were all assembled with bits of twine (you might choose ribbon or sometimes I find crochet cotton is perfect for this as it comes in many colors and is inexpensive. Without further ado, here is the cutting file for you to enjoy.  I hope you’ll send folks here to download this FREEBIE – I do love a little comment ♥ if I must say.  Its like a hug for creating and sharing! 

 

DOWNLOAD

zipped file with previews

Technorati Tags: Simon Says,Simon Says Monday Challenge,Mrs Miles,Mrs Miles Freebies,Silhouette,Silhouette Cameo,FREEBIE,Cutting File,.studio,Gift Box template,FREE template

CASology 135 Card and 365 Photo of the Day

Decided to jump into a challenge card and chose CASology 135.  Today’s theme:

I made this simple greeting:

The Stamp is from Stampin’ Up, the “What Ever” is a mystery. 

I colored these little gals lightly using pencil crayons.  Notice the girl on the left has a modern hairdo – blue tips with black on top.  I used a JellyRoll Star pen to add some glitz to their jewels and decorations on their tee’s.  After all that was finished I coated them with Diamond Glaze (I do see the bubble!)

You may want to check out my SIL Judy’s card too!

365 Photo of the Day

I don’t know who was more surprised today when I went for my walk!  What a dear deer.  I did some of this soaking up the sun today too. 

Technorati Tags: Osoyoos BC,Osoyoos,Deer,CASology,Mrs Miles,Barb Derksen,Barbara Derksen

365 Photo(s) of the Day

You may wonder why I’ve begun with this bleak picture.  Well, it makes me sad.  Each time I walk by I want to cry.  This chopped down brush guards a tiny creek. This tiny creek would feed the brush, the brush in turn would be full of bird song when I’d walk by.  I believe it was cut down to allow more sun to reach the vineyard.  Though the grapes are truly a fair way off.  I’m sickened that someone would value a few grapes over precious natural habitat. 

 

This tiny creek can produce beautiful watercress and catnip abounds.  And directly across the road from where the brush was cruelly cut down (and not even a neat job of it!) there is a pond where the Conservancy is working to try to reestablish a population of local frog species.  I wish the winery would realize being good neighbors and partners with this sort of thing would be good advertising.  Being a good steward is cool! 

Ok, I’ve finished my rant.

 

And why a rusty old penny you ask? 

Why, because this is a rare thing, and will only become rarer now that pennies are not used in Canada.  I have picked up pennies all my life and will miss that.  Strange it will seem irrelevant to our grandchildren.

 

Why this sign?

It just caught my eye, so bold and bright!  Shouting forcefully – SLOW DOWN!  But not everyone does. 

 

Drat!  Why did I forget my “good” camera in the car?  I could only get so close to this eagle before…

 

He swooped off across the glassy lake.

 

As I sort of started with greenery, I will end with it as well.  What a welcome sight pushing up through the ground. 

Hope you enjoyed coming on my walk with me today.

365 Photo of the Day (for Feb 22)

Better late than never, it's said. I wasn't feeling so hot yesterday, spent most of the day in bed other than a drive over to Keremeos in the morning. I tried to fumble my phone out for this photo on the way home but only got this snippet so I'll have to explain what I wanted to show you. 

The black line in the foreground, behind the fence, is a whole lot of tires that this farm uses as fencing for their cattle. There must be several hundred tires used - so clever and at least they don't get tossed in a landfill. I wonder though if they get really hot in our sizzling summers, being black. Also, could they trap mosquito larvae in the spring and foster mosqitoe borne diseases?  Well, that's just me thinking out loud. 

365 Photo(s) of the Day

Flying down the flat freeway in Frisky the Fiat

To taste a tremendous tasty toasty shrimp taco salad 

A snappy serenade to celebrate someone's special something. Involves a silly sizeable sombrero. 

A GIANT shoe

Would it fit YOU?

if it DO 

IT BELONGS TO YOU!!! 

Was a fun day in the USA.

365 Photo of the Day

Emerald Moss

Carpets the orchard floor

Heralding  the good news

Winter is no more!

365 Photo of the day - Chocolate

One Chocolate 

Just one, a dark chocolate over a black cherry ganache. 

The sort of thing you savour in your mind all day until you finally SIT with a steaming hot coffee and enjoy it. 

What is YOUR favourite chocolate?

365 Photo(s) of the Day

This pretty little lady lives in the thrift store.  I went looking with my camera’s eye, playing “I spy”.  Only managed two snaps in there today.  This maudlin gal was tucked underneath a shelf.  She’s only a few inches tall and one could have passed her by.  I’m so glad she’s captured here for you to admire as well.  I’ll whisper a little hello in her ear for you for as long as she stays.

 

 

Even a simple container of forks makes for a photo for thought.  I think of a “Fork in the road”.  I think of untying knots in runners when I was a child.  I indeed was a “knotty child”.  I think of my Grandmother and my Mother in Law pricking the bottoms of pastry shells for blind baking.  I think of spaghetti all twirled up and ready to smutch me with tomato sauce. 

What do you think of?

 

And, just for thought – what a difference (less than) a month can make:

 

February 17 2014

January 22 2014

Technorati Tags: 365 photo of the day,Osoyoos BC,Thrift Store,Barbara Derksen

Family Challenge for Feb 2015–theme “Scrappy Background”

Ah, the gauntlet was tossed out by Nina for a “Scrappy Background” themed card.  Yeahhhhh Yay I truly do love a good challenge with my happy crafty fambily members. 

You can find the inspiration post by Gina K Designs by clicking HERE. If you need to see, that is. It was basically to ‘piece’ bits of paper together to look like a quilt pattern.  This is what I came out with in the end:

 

 

Designer Paper by Craft Smith “Natural Luxury”

Black Card stock

Die Cuts – Memory Box “Pippi Butterfly” and “Isabella Butterfly”

Stamp by Paper Smooches

I hope you’ll stop in to see what Nina, Judy and Sam created for this good theme!

365 Photo(s) of the Day

Ode to an Orchard

Even in this unexpected early spring

Such delight the warmth can bring

An apple shell, sun-baked within

A bit of spring baked in it’s skin.

This wizened fruit

As it ferments inside

Gently cooking just-thawed pulp

Such beauty comes

From back-lit sun

Shining through aged wrinkled skin

A colorful trio

at the base of a tree-oh!

Awakes the child in me

I could not let it be

I simply had to make

Sun baked applesauce for free.

 

There is beauty all around.  I’m often asked where I get my inspiration for photography and I can only suggest that wherever you find yourself be sure to have your camera with you and just look harder.  Stand still and wait a little.  Our eyes never get the opportunity to just explore without our bodies marching them away from things that are often right in front of us. 

Technorati Tags: Okanagan,Orchard,Spring,Osoyoos BC,Mrs Miles,Barb Derksen,Barbara Derksen,spring,apple

365 Photo of the Day

The only things which cried out to be photo-ed today was my Mr's Wonderful Won Ton Soup & my decadent Vanilla Praline Truffle Cheesecake. 

365 Photo(s) of the day

A Fuzzy-Wuzzy! 

It wasn’t moving very much, but even my Mr confirmed that in his esteemed opinion it was alive.  It IS February… makes sense the poor thing is confused to be out and about. 

Our walk was just at the end of the sunlight for the day, the shadows bringing out the blue in the ponds along the way. 

My Mr did NOT want to go my route, but he caved.  Did not help that he had to make a pit-stop along the trail and being its pretty exposed he had to seek privacy.  This meant he had to battle burrs and twigs and such.  He was not impressed. Nawp.  Then he stepped in a bit of dog stuff.  So he could only say this to my question of if there were ANYthing redeeming about our little jaunt on my route and he said the most he could muster that was in any way positive was “I enjoyed the bit of sunshine”

 

Meanwhile I was like all la-la and happy and noticed the coolest stuff.  Like these willows weeping in the whippedy wind.

 

And I coo-ed at this fella and its mate for a little bit while Mr once again waited for me.

 

Having to stop and snap snaps of things I’ve snapped a hunnert times before, you know.  Sigh for Mr, I can see why taking me for a jaunt can be a bit of a trial.

I hope you enjoyed all the bits I captured along the way!

Technorati Tags: Walk,365 photo of the day,Barb Derksen,Barbara Derksen,Mrs Miles,Osoyoos BC