In My World: November 2022

Wednesday, November 30, 2022

Journal Prompt ~ Six Words

Six Words

Describe your world today in just six words

It's nice just to enjoy quiet.

Tuesday, November 29, 2022

Book Review ~ Best Kept Secrets by Sandra Brown

"Alexandra Gaither is an attorney who finally has the power to get the justice she needs. 25 years before, her mother had died a scandalous death. Alex believes one of three powerful men murdered her. She will risk everything to uncover their secrets. "

Best Kept Secrets was a good read . . . although the fact that all the men that were in love with her dead mother also have the hots for the heroine/daughter . . . ewwwwwww!!

Journal Prompt ~ Tanka Tuesday

Tanka Tuesday: Adventure

Tanka is a form of poetry similar to haiku. It's short, and the lines don't need to rhyme. The just must have a set number of syllables: 5/7/5/7/7.

Today's tanka prompt is: adventure.

Shark Cage Diving Tours Gansbaai | White Shark Extreme Adventure

Life is a journey

to people places and things

new ancient hidden

around the next corner or

in front of us . . . adventure

Monday, November 28, 2022

Journal Prompt ~ Doing it in Public

Today's Prompt: Doing it in Public

Have you ever fallen asleep in public? On the train on the way home maybe, or laying on the beach perhaps? Do you consider sleeping in public embarrassing, or dangerous, or just relaxing fun?

Once in a while . . . Sometimes there was a break between classes when I was a "mature" student at Western University and I would find a comfy chair to relax in. At one point in time we had to read this horrible boring droning somnolent book about why it wasn't the AXIS soldiers fault that they did bad things during WWII. Not only was the argument lame and stupid (to use technical jargon) but it was just awful writing. I could never get more than 2-3 pages read before I would just nod off. It didn't matter where I was. But if I was in a comfy chair I usually only lasted 1-2 pages before crashing. I was fair game for anyone who wanted to steal my books or purse . . . and oh how I wished they would steal that particular book . . . so I developed a system of wrapping my book bag and purse handles around one ankle and tucking the bags between my legs and the chair. I knew I was going to fall asleep. And I always did.

I never did finish the book but managed to get far enough in to it to write a decent paper.

Saturday, November 26, 2022

Canadian Music ~ Dog Day

Dog Day is a Canadian indie rock band based in Halifax, Nova Scotia currently consisting of husband and wife team Seth Smith and Nancy Urich, joined with Casey Spidle and Meg Yoshida.

Smith began a solo project Hi-Firey; he joined with Urich and began the band as a side project from their main band, The Burdocks. The duo soon changed their name to Dog Day when another husband and wife pair, KC Spidle and Crystal Thili, joined the band. The band released its debut EP, Thank You in 2005, initially on homemade CD-Rs and later in a rerelease on Out of Touch Records. They were subsequently signed to German label Tomlab.

They released their debut full length, Night Group, in 2007 on Tomlab, and followed up with Concentration in 2009 which was mixed and produced by John Agnello at Water Music Recording in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Spidle subsequently left the band following his divorce from Thili, and was temporarily replaced by Rob Shedden. Shedden left the band to focus on Long Long Long, and original members Urich and Smith recorded released a third album as a duo. Deformer was released on their own label, Fundog in 2011.

In late 2013, the duo released a fourth album called Fade Out. It was recorded at their home studio seeing Spidle, Michael Catano and Dale Fahey play as guest musicians. After the release, the duo toured joined with Mark Grundy on bass and Seamus Dalton on drums. The record held the number one position on national college charts for two months. The band went on hiatus after the release of Fade Out.

On July 31, 2018, the band's hiatus ended with the announcement that they would be playing at SappyFest 2018. (Wikipedia)

Friday, November 25, 2022

Journal Prompt ~ Autumn

Today's Prompt: Autumn

This time of year is so different all across North America. Some places are green, some have colorful fall leaves, some are bare and grey.

What's Autumn look like in your neighborhood?

Autumn in Southwestern Ontario is often a mystery.

Some years we are still having mild barbecue weather with everyone running around in shorts.

Sometimes November feels more like April . . . cold and wet.

It can also be bitter cold and snowing.

We just never know, until Autumn arrives, just what we will get.

Thursday, November 24, 2022

Close To My Heart ~ A Gift From Us to You

A Gift From Us to You

Picture your favorite Christmas memories.We’re betting that the majority of these memories are centered around people you love and cherish! This holiday season, we want to help you make some new memories, not just for yourself, but for your friends and loved ones as well! Since gift giving constitutes a large part of many holiday preparations, today, we’re going to show you how to make your mark and show your love in a personal way beyond the things beneath the wrapping paper, boxes, and ribbons.

For a more personal touch on each gift, we recommend creating unique gift tags! A gift tag is one of the first things every gift recipient will notice when they receive their presents, and a hand-made one is just the ticket to add a little bit of extra love to the gifts you give this Christmas. With our From Me to You special, it’s easier than ever to create the personalized gift tags of your dreams, and today, we’re going to get into the ins and outs of how to design and craft a wide range of tags for every holiday gift-giving occasion!

A Gift From Us to You #gifts #holiday #christmas #tags #presents #love #family #friends #frommetoyou #stamping #wrapped #embossing #heatembossing #shimmertrim #allpurposetags #thincuts #diecutting

The From Me to You gift tag offering is built upon a foundation of 12 individual stamps, each expressing their own unique sentiment. These stamps range in theme from a general festive motif and religious overtones, to cozy vibes and more playful options! These stamps are all designed to coordinate with the All-purpose Tags Thin Cuts; all you have to do to create your tags is cut out your preferred shape with the All-purpose Tags Thin Cuts dies, stamp your selected sentiment onto the cut tag, and voila! The tag is done, and ready to attach to a wrapped Christmas present, holiday neighborhood treat, or even a white elephant gift! No matter how they are used, the gift tags you create with the From Me to You stamp sets are sure to be a hit and will make any gift you give this holiday season more personal and memorable!

Because the From Me to You stamp sets are all designed to coordinate with the All-purpose Tags Thin Cuts, it’s a simple matter to select the sentiment and shape combination for your tags. The All-purpose Tags Thin Cuts set includes 11 dies in various shapes and sizes, ranging from ⅝” to 3½”.

This selection of die-cuts offers a wealth of possibility and potential when it comes to the types of tags you can create, and every one makes a gorgeous addition to your holiday offerings for friends and family! (While we worked exclusively with the All-purpose Tags Thin Cuts in the artwork on display today, we have additional sets of gift tags and accessories to create them, including the Tags & Tabs Thin Cuts, and the My Acrylix® Just for You stamp set. For more tag-making fun, be sure to check out these dies and stamps!) Now, back to our fabulous From Me to You stamp sets!

Because the From Me to You stamp sets range over a few different themes, we’ve organized them into 4 different groups to reflect the following themes—jolly, funny, festive, and joyful! Our jolly bundle includes options for a cozy vibe, to more of a sweet tooth sentiment, and cheery wishes.

The funny assortment features a variety of light-hearted jabs, the perfect way to gently tease your friends or family members and bring a smile to their faces!

For anyone looking to convey a more classic Christmas sentiment, the festive collection is the way to go, with options for a little Christmas magic, celebratory merriment, and reminders of how personal your loved ones are to you.

Looking for a way to bring a more spiritual touch to your gift tags? Then the joyful bundle of stamps is for you! This handful of stamps includes phrases like “O Holy Night” and “For Unto Us a Child is Born” to serve as reminders of the foundation of this beautiful and beloved holiday.

All the tags featured in today’s post have the common theme of being created with the All-purpose Tags Thin Cuts and From Me to You stamps, but many include their own unique design elements to really set them apart from other, more simple options. One of our absolute favorites is the inclusion of heat embossed details, as you can see in the examples below.

Heat embossing is an amazing art technique that adds dimension and even shine to your stamped images by applying embossing powder over the top of your stamped image and then melting the powder using a heat tool. Learn more about this technique in this video.

Another stunning detail we love in these tags is the inclusion of multiple layers. By simply cutting a few coordinating tag pieces out of different colors of cardstock and layering them together, these tags deliver a much more polished end result. Notice how the silver glitter paper shapes add to the layered look of this tag–feel free to mix in non-tag shapes cut from other Thin Cuts dies or even with your Cricut or other cutting machine to elevate the look of any tag!

Looking for some simple, yet powerful embellishment? Never count out the impact that a few Clear Sparkles can have! In this example, we’ve colored ours in with a Dark Red TriBlend™ Marker and used them to adorn the interior of the stamped floral shapes. They are the perfect fit!

This inclusion provides a color contrast, but also helps to break up the matte surface of the main tag with a little shine! For other tags, we’ve also turned to Shimmer Trims and White Gel Pens to add subtle detailing to our creations, and it’s evident that even the smallest of embellishments can have a big impact!

However you decorate your tags, and whatever gifts you attach them to, the From Me to You stamps, along with the All-purpose Tags Thin Cuts, are guaranteed to provide you with everything you need to start creating your own one-of-a-kind gift tags for your holiday gifts this year and for many years to come!

Of the tags featured in today’s post, which was your favorite, and whose gift would you attach it to? Leave a comment below and tell us all about it!

Recipes:

Have a Cup of Cheer Tag
CC102217 My Acrylix® Have a Cup of Cheer Stamp Set, X6062 Harbour Cardstock, X6045 Sage Cardstock, X6049 Scarlet Cardstock, X5950 Toffee Cardstock, Z891 VersaMark™ Ink Pad, Z4641 All-purpose Tags Thin Cuts, Z2066 Princess Gold Embossing Powder, Z4220 Anti-static Pouch, Z4252 Heat Tool, Z5038 Die-cutting & Embossing Machine, Ribbon