A Blessed New Year to All!

A quick post to wish you all a Happy and Healthy New Year
and
sharing a photograph here from my recent trip to
St Augustine, Florida.
xxo

More About My SoulCollage® Cards

 
In a recent post, I mentioned that I had started making a deck of SoulCollage® cards.  I’m showing some of the cards I’ve made here. The process is easy, fun and fascinating.

I made these cards in an intuitive way without giving thought to what the content might mean. I just went with what pleased me to put together.
The next step is for me to ‘read’ the cards, a process which I haven’t done yet but which I’m looking forward to.

 
I was even inspired to make a fabric pouch to hold my cards. For me to dig out my sewing machine proves how much I value these cards because as much as I like the idea of sewing, it just isn’t something I enjoy doing.

The only projects I will undertake to sew are things where measuring, cutting, straight stitched lines and perfection don’t matter all that much! If I make a mistake, I just keep going.

This site has a good explanation of what SoulCollage® is, if you would like to learn more.  If you already do SoulCollage®, I’d love to hear from you.

A Walk in the Autumn Sunshine

Well, it was sunny when I started out. Then the dark clouds took over the sky.But I walked and took some photographs regardless because I just didn’t feel like going to the gym and getting on the treadmill.

 

Instead of walking to the park, I drove. I shot this photograph through the windshield of my car.

 

This friendly kitty cat greeted me when I parked the car at the park entrance.

I like the way the autumn leafs left on the trees are mirrored in the water.

 

Herea are some feathery stalks blowing in the breeze.

I’m happy that I decided to skip the gym and walk instead. And I have some photographs to show for it.

Hobbies and travel …

One of the hobbies from a few years ago that I had put aside is family history research. Recently, a distant cousin came out of the woodwork and filled in a branch of our family tree that was blank.  It is very satisfying to connect with new family members. 

Another hobby of mine is photography. I’ve been studying up lately on how to make the leap from automatic to manual shooting with my point and shoot camera.

Lately, I’m using heavy plastic bags to hold my files instead of manila folders. I like being able to see what is inside.  The font on the files is 1942 Typewriter – love it.

See the heading in the photo that says Florida?  That’s a huge hint that I’m making a trip there in November. This trip will be one year to the day that I went on my European trip last year to the German Christmas Markets. More about the trip as it nears!

Time to Catch Up !

 
FOR TODAY
Above is a photograph I am sharing. It’s a photograph I shot in Vancouver when I visited there a couple of years ago.

Outside my window...
another beautiful Fall day with streams of golden sunlight and crispy leaves swirling all around.

I am thinking...
of how much I enjoy this season of changing colours and tart Fall apples from the Farmer’s Market.

I am thankful...
for this  template from The Simple Woman’s Day Book that is making it easier for me to give you an update on what is going on with me recently.

In the kitchen...
bubbling bowls of homemade chicken rice soup for dinner.

I am wearing...
a rust coloured cotton shirt and jeans.

I am creating.
..SoulCollage cards that I discovered here.

I am going...
to make tons of these cards!

I am wondering..
.where this will lead me.

I am reading...
a book about Japan – the name escapes me.

I am hoping...
to blog on a more regular basis!

I am looking forward to...
making more SoulCollage cards this evening.

I am hearing
.electric drills and hammering as they build a deck on the house next door.

Around the house...
I am revamping books shelves, letting some books go and reshelving titles into groups by subject.

I am pondering...
whether to sign up for an online photography class.

One of my favorite things...you guessed it - SoulCollage cards.

A few plans for the rest of the week: gettting my hair cut and finalizing what I’ll wear to the wedding we’re going to next weekend.

I’ve got some SoulCollage cards to show you soon!

Oh dear …

How is it possible that I have too much stuff here in my craft room?   
Can you see my able assistant flaked out on the chair? if he wasn’t so cute, I’d give him the boot; I could pile a lot of stuff on that chair if it wasn’t occupied :)

I’m not seriously complaining; I do love my stashes and thrilled that I have my own space to let it all hang out. But I do want to tidy it up.

One more view of the chaos: There is good news – I’m working on two different journals! Have a peek:
One is a visual journal of random events in my life and the other is a Yoga journal from a chakra workshop I am in. They are both coming along nicely.

It’s time for my yoga class then back to face the mess! 
Cheers!

Chicago, Chicago

Remember that song? ..  I made my first trip to Chicago last weekend with 3 of my girlfriends.  We all loved the city!  We had heard so much about the views, architecture, great food, building styles, music and parks. Everything lived up to our expectations and there were no disappointments.

We flew with Porter Airlines which flies from Toronto Island. It’s a much smaller airport than Toronto’s main airport. Look at these cute uniforms worn by the airline personnel.

 
Love the hat and scarf.
Somehow we were the first ones to board the plane! Here we are all looking as pleased as punch!

 
Here are some of my favourite building shots:

Such a mix of eras and styles. But it all works somehow, I guess that’s good city planning.

We all loved Millenium Park – the theme colour in the nature garden was purple. 

  

The historic hotels on the Magnificient Mile had us oohing and aahing. Here is Ann perched on a seat in an elevator in one of the hotels!  Seeing a little couch in an elevator was a first for me.

We missed out on having afternoon tea at The Drake hotel because they were booked up but we’ve got it on our list for next time we visit Chicago.

The Tea Room featured a harp player seated beside a glorious spray of flowers – just beautiful.

Of course, I took hundreds of photos but will try to refrain from posting them all!

Downtown Saturday Night

We don’t go to downtown Toronto for dinner often but we found ourselves at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto a couple of weekends ago.  When we made our way back to the parking lot, the CN Tower rising up directly in front of us with the bright moon competing for attention to the left.

 
Here’s another view -

We had a fun evening and enjoyed the view – the dinner was good too! Here’s what we had for dessert:  Roasted peach melba martini, angel food sponge, vanilla ice cream, raspberry splash – yum!

Another Vintage Clothing Show

 
Yesterday, i made my way to the Gadsden’s Vintage Clothing Show which was held in the Wychwood Barnes in Toronto, a new venue for the show.
The above two photographs were taken in Adeline of Whitby’s booth. I always enjoy her oh-so-feminine mix of clothing and lace items.
I can’t resist a show display especially when the shoes are displayed in a vintage suitcase.
These vibrant button bracelets are handmade by Joanna Syrokomla.
Her colour combinations and button assortments are just lovely.
The bracelets can be found through Ian Drummond of Ian Drummond Collection.
Part of the fun of the show, is people watching and admiring how gorgeous the vintage items look when worn.

From my perspective, the show was a success in the new location. It was my first visit to the Wychwood Barns and I hope to return soon for other shows.

Collecting Cat Parts

This week I came across this photograph from this photographer on Etsy –                        instant love:

Don’t you just want to pet those fuzzy paws? I found them on The Paris Apartment.

My friend, Cynthia, has a few posts on Cynful Musings about the four kittens in her care.

Here’s another post from Cynthia – you gotta watch the Engineer’s Guide to Cats video she posted – it’s worth it.
We already have two cats, I’m trying to resist adding a third one to the mix!

Cruise Travel Journal

As promised, I’m showing pages from my recently completed cruise journal. I made daily notes on the ship but didn’t do up the layouts until I got back home. It’s probably more work to do it this way, but it works for me.  Next trip though, I’ll probably try a different method.

 


--- enjoy!