Finally! It’s Done!

A looonnggg time ago I wrote a post about using my sister’s sewing machine:

Brother

where I hinted what I was making by adding these links that I’d found on pinterest :

Sewing 101: Piping 

&

How to Sew a Ruffle Pillow

I finally completed my pillows!  It took forever and I ripped and sewed and ripped and sewed.  My seam ripper got a lot of use.  There are still some things that I would do different if I were to do it again but I’m satisfied.

The material is different from anything I’ve ever seen. It is satiny feeling on the right side but a flannely (yes I am making up words now) on the inside. While the flannel side makes it much easier to sew it also make it very easy to fray.  The flower in the middle was the most difficult and I would sew the seam with the good sides facing together and then turn it right side out to avoid the fraying fabric look.

I recommend you check out the tutorials from Pink Toes and Power Tools and Design Sponge. They are great. They give a perfect amount of detail and pictures to get the job done correctly.

TEEW

P.S. How do you like my instagram filters? I’m sorry I’m a little obsessed with them at the moment 😉

Instagram photos

I recently downloaded an app that is pretty cool. You might have already heard about it (its not uncommon for me to figure things long after everyone else has) – Instagram! It is an amazing photo app that lets you take photos and add these really neat affects on them. It turns an amateur like me into someone who looks like a pro! I’d love to edit my wedding photos with this thing!
I tried it out by first using a few photos in my camera roll. . .

Paper flower

winter flower

And added some of the cool effects that Instagram has built in:

What do you think?

Then I Walked around my garden and took a few more.

Definitely a cool app!! Forget the cannon! I’m going to try iPhone photography!

TeeW

April Flurries?

I want to take a small break in my Florida musings to show you what it’s like to be in Ontario at the moment. As you know the saying goes “April showers bring May flowers” but around here lately it’s April flurries! We are still holding our breath to see what this will do to the May flowers. Here’s a look at what it’s done to my early spring flowers:

This picture was taken in slippers (that, despite my best efforts, got very wet and cold) and with my iPhone.
I hope your spring isn’t as cold.

TeeW

Giraffe Adventure

Ok, so I never really thought about how cool giraffes were until I got up close and personal with a few of them. I love how you can’t tell that this is an amusement park! It could be out in the wild! hahah I wish!

We were in a big truck and stood in the back. When we got near the giraffes they walked towards us looking for food.  It was quite easy to snap a few.

I can’t get over how graceful they actually are. Their necks and legs are unbelievably long! I know you know that but I still couldn’t get over it.

The eyes were quite pretty too. Close up they remind me of a horse but with different coats. Here’s a close up of a giraffe’s spots:

And a last one to say good-bye:

I know not everyone wants to see a hundred pictures of giraffes but I’m still amazed at how well these turned out! Usually taking pictures of animals is quite difficult for me and since I only have a standard lens on my computer it’s hard to get pictures in the distance. With the giraffes so close up it was amazing to keep snapping. I could have stayed there all day getting the perfect shot!

Hope you enjoyed my giraffe adventure through my pics!

Busch Gardens

We’re finally home! Well we’ve been home for a while but things have been so hectic I haven’t had time to even look at my pictures. This first set of pictures are from the beautiful animals at Busch Gardens. We went on a safari ride (totally worth it!) and I got up close and personal with an animals that you aren’t meant to get up close and personal with. My conscience constantly argues with itself about the zoo thing but I can’t decide which is the white side and which the red. I feel bad for the animals cooped up in cages but it’s such a great chance at education and so many zoos are doing great things for animals who can’t survive in the wilderness. I don’t know. Anyway’s all I do know is I REALLY enjoy taking pictures of animals. Flowers are on the top of the list and animals right under that, granted taking pictures of animals is a LOT more difficult than flowers.

Up close and personal with a flamingo!

The gators - my favourite animal to see in Florida! I held one last time I was there! It was SO cool.

This guy almost bit me!

I never really looked at a flamingo too closely before but after taking a look at these photos- they are beautiful. Their necks are so graceful, their feathers are such a brilliant colour and their eyes and beaks look very exotic.

The Zebra! I can't get over how cool their coat is.

The baby zebra and the mommy

Our Busch Garden’s Safari tour was a success and a lot of fun! The day was SO hot that my husband persuaded me to go on  a few water rides.  This is the feat of the century as I positively loath rides, I prefer my feet planted firmly on the ground – thank you very much! The first one, the white water rapids ride was actually a lot of fun and made me a lot cooler but the log ride was a little bit too high for my liking.

 That’s all for now! Keep a look out for the close-ups I got of the giraffes!

My sister is joining us!

Greetings from sunny Florida!! (yes I’m posting on my vacation)

This is my current view 😀 I think I could get used to posting with the gulf coast out my window.
Come back soon – I plan on posting some pictures of my trip in a few days.

The main reason I’m taking time out of my swimming in the ocean and sitting by the pool is I have some great news to share – my crafty and very talented baker sister has decided to join my blog!! This means more posts and I’m hoping some amazing recipes and pretty great crafts.
My sister is the one I go to when I need help with anything to do with baking or sewing. She makes these gorgeous and unusual quilts. They are unusual because they don’t follow the basic recipe of squares sewn together, rather they are more like appliqués. This results in something more modern and up to date. Since she only makes them for babies I don’t have one 😦 but will work on that problem 😉
She is a very healthy eater (but does have a downfall- chocolate) and makes some AMAZING gluten free recipes. When there is an occasion for a cake, she’s the one who’s commissioned to make it.
I know I’m excited to have her here and to see her amazing creations and hope all of you enjoy her posts too!

Welcome Stephanie!!!!!!!

Mums from my Mom

It was my birthday a few days ago and I got some beautiful flowers from my mother. As soon as I saw the flowers I knew I’d be spending some time behind the lens of my camera sometime very soon. I don’t know what it is but flowers are what inspires me to take out my Cannon. I am still quite a beginner photographer and my usual setting is ‘Auto’ but I’ve been trying to play with using the ‘Manual’ setting.

These following pictures were all taken with my Rebel XSi and a macro lens. The settings – you guessed it ‘Auto’

Here are my favourite of the ones I took of these flowers:

© . . . in training

© . . . in training

© . . . in training

The beginning of new life © . . . in training

Missing the Sunshine

After a few days of wet soggy grey rain where my yard is half snow half brown grass I decided I needed a little sunshine.  I began to think of my garden and what kinds of flowers I’d like to put in it this year.  I hoped that this would help me crawl out from under the deep dark rain cloud.  I also wanted to share some of my garden photos from last year.

©. . . in training

There are about 4 or 5 stalks of these beautiful Delphinium in my back garden. They add a great splash of colour. I will keep these for sure but might move them so they don’t block out the flowers behind them so much.

© . . . in training

I can’t, for the life of me, remember what the name of this flower is. I do remember that it has rust colours leaves near the bottom with these stalks of tiny pink flowers. These flowers adorned many of my tables last summer. They are so delicate and beautiful.  I moved them from the front to the back last year and am hoping that they are going to survive the winter.

© . . . in training

These beautiful bleeding hearts were the only colour in my garden last spring but bloomed beautifully well into June. They grew so big that they drowned out a few of the plants around them. They were gorgeous but I found they weren’t the greatest as cut flowers.

© . . . in training

Ever wanted to see a close up of the leaves of a strawberry flower? These beautiful white flowers were almost as beautiful as the yummy strawberries they produced.

© . . . in training

I know that this strawberry isn’t perfect looking but for some reason this imperfect strawberry reminds my mouth of the delicious sweet taste of home-grown strawberries.

© . . . in training

This succulent looking bud is a gift from our first friend we made when we moved here  – our real estate agent. She so generously gave us a beautiful pot of flowers.  This is one of the New Guinea Impatiens that graced our front porch last summer.

Critter ALERT!

I warn any queasy stomachs that I’m going to post some critters from my garden.

© . . . in training

© . . . in training

There, that brought some sunshine to my day! I can’t wait to post my plans for my garden this year. I’ve taken out a few hostas, lilies, and foxglove (the garden was over-run by them) and plan to put in some poppies, hellebore, Asiatic lilies, gladioli, and dahlias.