A special gift

Today is my mother's birthday! Happy birthday, Mom!

This is a special gift for her - Pictures from an Exhibition... a double take on it: we actually went to a concert last night, and Toronto Symphony Orchestra played 'Pictures from an Exhibition!

The pictures are taken from the Ikebana Exhibition we stumbled upon last weekend, on our Royal Botanical Garden adventures.

Enjoy!

Yepeetie!

Is that even a word? And no, I cannot tell you one part of why I am in such a happy mood, but I am. And I will share with you as soon as I can :)

However, I have many other 'shareable' parts.

For once - I finished and sent my charms for Jennifer's Charm Swap. Here is a picture of what I sent her:

What? You didn't think I would post the actual charms in here?! Hehe... no, you'll have to wait until the 27th of next month (possibly). Yes, a *whole* month! But I believe it will be worth it... more on the story later.

I have pictures from previous packages too!

These are from Lisa's de-stash from last month (I managed to take pictures - yay!). I have never owned lucite before - but I am in proper love :) These will become the Holiday Blog Hop for December 1st - still a while to go (knowing me I will make something the week before!)

BTW - if you've been following Lisa' blog before (Pine Ridge Treasures) , make sure to visit her 'new home': http://gratefulartist.blogspot.ca/. Lisa will from now on write her artistic musing there.

These are the crystals from the same de-stash. Gorgeous, aren't they? Now that I got my sterling chain they will become delicate pieces - sometimes next week, before Thanksgiving (the Canadian one).

Also from de-stash - what do you think about my gorgeous ceramic pieces from Yvonne?! They are the cutest little things I've ever seen! And came just in time for being used on a special project (more on this later, much later)

Shelley (from Tori Sophia) send me a little surprise: on the night of destash she has been way faster for one of Lisa's packages. Which contained this gorgeous butterfly (among other beauties). Shelley graciously offered to send me the butterfly - and I promptly forgot about it until I got this in the mail! It's so delicate and beautiful!! Thanks, Shelley, you're awesome!

Post-de-stash, Heather (from Humblebeads) made some autumn components - and I grabbed this one quickly. My picture doesn't show the proper colouring - it is amazingly rich and it's waiting patiently for me to go through my box of 'To Do next', I need to focus on a few other pieces before I get to it! It'll be gorgeous, I just know it :)

Last, but definitely not least, the surprise 'prize' I got from the CBC Admin day - Lisa had an ad-hoc quick 'challenge' and I was, for once, at the right time and place (on our facebook group)... having just written the blog post the day before I also knew the names of all our admins too! And Lisa recalled my love for blue - now I am the proud owner of new lucite flower petals and little leaves and what not!

Ain't I the luckiest girl ever?! I still have to take pictures of Tanya's packages... you have to see *that* one!

Hope you have enjoyed my new treasures, I sure do - and I hope to make all of them justice in making them into beautiful pieces!

Thursday Tips

Today is not about jewelry, but about cleaning!

I've been reading a 'Real Simple' magazine, in the "reader's ideas" column where they were talking about 'tips for cleaning from your mom' and a few of them I have been using as well. Here is a mixture of tips (some from the magazine, some from my own mom, some my own discoveries), most of them using natural ingredients:

* Vacuum first, then dust - this is one is a counter-intuitive one (how many times we heard the opposite?!), but indeed a true one nonetheless. When we vacuum, the dust gets all stirred into the air, then it settles... on the freshly dusted furniture. Not fun :)

* If your tablecloth gets a fat stain (think the gravy for that Turkey on Thanksgiving day!) pour salt on it. Salt will absorb most of the fat from the stain - and washing it quickly will solve the rest.

* How about those pesky red-wine stains? Pour boiling water on the stain - it removes the colour immediately (no need for bleaching anymore)

* The famous 5-minute game: have the family together, put the timer on and clean as much as possible in just 5 minutes. It works :) Although I could never get everyone in my family to do this together, I play the game by myself a lot!

* To get rid of the smell - fill bowls with white vinegar and place them where the smell is more stubborn. When we cook one of the more traditional dishes (which involves saute onion - always smells bad while you cook, and the smell lingers) I go one step further: on the stove I put a pot with water, white vinegar and some natural spices (cloves, orange peel, cinnamon sticks), bring it to a boil then keep the mixture simmering. The steam does capture the bad smell (through the vinegar) and freshen the air at the same time (the spices). All natural and good on your lungs too.

* Did you burn your pot? Forget the scrubbing powders and all: make a paste out of baking soda and water (and a few drops of lemon juice) and let it sit on the spot. About an hour later you'll be able to scrub away the burnt off the pot.

* For carpet stains: spray a mixture of white vinegar and water, then layer on several paper towels, a plastic bag on top, and some heavy pile of books. Leave for a day (24 hours). It does work, we use the same system :)

* Another use for the white vinegar: for cleaning your windows. Forget about the Windex and all other chemical loaded stuff - make a mixture of white vinegar and water, fill a spray bottle with it and start cleaning. We used news-papers as a 'scrubbing pad', but I could hardly recommend that :) Maybe some used paper, the one that comes in your packages as filler (non-printed). Or the old paper towels work too. As do the actual cleaning cloths.

* Make your own air fresheners: fill a jar with slices of citrus fruits and pour boiling water on top. Vary the mixture by experimenting with various fresh herbs and spices (rosemary, thyme, mint - try everything).

And remember: when they'll grow up your kids will remember how full of love your home was, not how clean! So keep the house clean, but don't over-do-it - your time is precious and should be filled with precious moments :)

What tips can you share?!

Nature walk through the Royal Botanical Gardens

On Sunday we decided to get out of the house and into the nature - and William picked the place: Royal Botanical Gardens. As you know from past posts, we are blessed to live almost right into the gardens (a short bike ride away, a short drive away or a tad longer walk) so Gardens there were.

There were honeybee combs - under the bridge! - to watch. I have never seen them like this, in open space - but there you have it, it's possible!

There were amazing colours to admire! Look at these peppers... or the sun reflection in the pond... or that gorgeous lily fallen into the water!

There were (to the delight of William) frogs to watch... and an almost bloomed lily pad...

There were magnificent trees - and even a gnome under the leaves!

There were the Bird of Paradise, and the cacti, and some other cacti William recognized and he's so happy about... and a place to play with water, of course.

There were HUMMINGBIRDS! Many of them; although the one in the picture is the same one - perched on top of its tree, watching the Black and Blue Sage, to make sure no other hummingbird would come and drink its nectar. I kid you not: they were fighting in mid-air, you could hear their using the long beaks like swords!

There was the child doing what he loves most: talking, studying, being pensive, hiking, climbing and smiling!

There was time for reflection...

... and a quiet hidden invitation for new adventures.

Where does the trail take you?!