Oh glorious summer

We are having a glorious hot summer, lazy sun soaked days - weekends just don't last long enough.....sigh!  We have a multitude of hollyhocks in our garden, providing me with hours of fun just trying to capture that perfect picture of a bumble bee in flight. I have come close but not perfect so I will keep trying.

 Lately I have been absolutely hooked on peyote stitch, I am trying to perfect following a graph pattern, as well as creating my own patterns. I may have mentioned that turquoise is one of my favorite colors and lately gold has moved to the top of my list as well. I love this combination of color and it suits this design so well.
I have received lots of compliments on this set....hard to keep out of my daughters' reach!

Long weekends are awesome

Especially, when you add in another day! Last week was July 1st and Canada's birthday, but because July 1st fell on a Tuesday it wasn't actually going to be a long weekend....that is unless you and your beloved take off the Monday in between. Four blissful days of rest and relaxation. We packed a lot into our 4 day weekend, a most enjoyable drive in the country allowing me to hone my photographic skills, we took in a movie and thoroughly enjoyed it, we spent time with family, and time with friends, we shopped along old Whyte Avenue and enjoyed a coffee at our favourite bistro, I sewed a couple of new outfits, and I beaded....and that is just a sample of what we did. I love long long weekends! Moving forward to this weekend it was time to catch up on all we had put off...yard work, house work, etc. etc.

Country Roads Barn

Country Roads Horses

Country Roads Old Barn

 A wonderful friend of mine recently returned from Thailand and blessed me with not only one but many Shiva Eye Shells. He knows I love making jewellery and thought I could create something beautifully wonderful. This is the first piece I made, with more to come. I am working on putting one in a silver bezel and will have to pull out my smithing tools....hmm can't wait! I do love this one and the lamp work beads go so well, it was like they were made for each other. It hangs on a delicate sterling silver chain and the bezel is sterling silver seed beads. Thank you to my friend!

      "On one side of the Shiva eye shell is a beautiful spiral. The exact shape of the spiral is unique from one shell to the next. The color varies from beige to deep green, depending on the sea snail's diet, while the background always remains a milky white.      

The swirl symbolizes an energy force of power and strength. On the reverse side of the spiral is a mesh of colors that resembles an eye, which is where the shell's alternate name derives from.       

The Eye of Shiva  is thought to have the ability to look beyond the obvious. It symbolizes the creation, preservation and destruction of everything, the flow of life, the constant change of the universe, spiritual knowledge and creative visualization"     

Shiva Eye

My Country - Oh Canada!

My Country Blog Hop Reveal

As soon as I saw that Nan Smith was hosting the My Country blog hop I really wanted to join in the fun and talk a bit about where I live.

Today is Canada's birthday.....Happy Birthday Canada,  I had never really thought what it was to be Canadian until I traveled to other countries and realized just how great this country is and how truly lucky I am.   We still have vast amounts of wide open wilderness for exploring,  an abundance of Federal and Provincial Parks for us to enjoy, we are a nation of a diverse melting pot of nationalities, and we have freedom. Alberta is my home province and although I was born in Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan's Tiger Lily

 I am Albertan through and through.

Alberta's Wild Rose

 

 
Everyone has heard of the Canadian Loonie ($1) and of course the Canadian Twoonie ($2) but we also have a quarter, a dime a nickel and ...... a copper penny.  One was always carrying around a weighty purse or pocket full  of the copper pennies and really there isn't much you could get for a penny anymore. Penny banks were exploding and old mason jars were full of them. People were hoarding them...what else did you do with them. As a child I remember rolling rolls and rolls of them for my father; he was a coin collector.....but why all the rolls - what was the purpose? Well recently Canada decided it was time for the penny to retire- think of the copper we are saving! So now what to do with that large collection I have of my own? So we never forget an important part of Canadian history, I have taken them out of my pocket and put them on my ears and around my neck. Enjoy!

My Country Blog Hop Participants

Nan Smith (Canada)                                                                      wirednan.blogspot.ca

1. Ana (Portugal)                                                                             acbeads.blogspot.ca

2.Rita  (Orlando)                                                                     JewelSchoolFriends.com   

                                                                  

3. Dini (The Netherlands)                                                 angazabychanges.blogspot.nl

4. Robin Reed  (Indiana)                                                      willowdragon.blogspot.com

5. Lilik Kristiana   (Indonesia )                                                       pcbylik.blogspot.com

6. Karla Morgan  (Texas)                                                 texaspepperjams.blogspot.com

7. Karen Mitchell (South Australia)                               www.overthemoon-design.com

8. Jayne Capps  (Oklahoma)                                         mamasgottodoodle.blogspot.com

9. Melissa Trudinger  (Australia)                                           beadrecipes.wordpress.com

10. Johana Nunez  (Puerto Rico)                                                        http:artincendi.com

11. Kepi  (Alberta, Canada)                                                     kepirasmussen.blogspot.ca  

12. Deb Fortin  (Ontario)                                                             studiok24.blogspot.ca

13. Divya  (India)                                                                              jewelsofsayuri.com

14. Tammy Adams  (Arizona)                                             paisleylizard.com/blog.html

15. Kay Thomerson  (Texas)                                              kayzkreationz.blogspot.com

16. Bairozan  (Bulgaria)                                                               bairozan.blogspot.ca

17. Carolyn's Creations                                           carolynscreationswa.blogspot.com 

18. Lecia Woessner   (New Orleans)                                    copperroses.blogspot.com

19. Linda A.  (Wash. D.C.                                       FromTheBeadBoard.blogspot.com

20.Inge Van Roos (California)                                               ingetraud.wordpress.com

21. Natalie   (New Zealand)                                        http://www.northshoredays.com

22. Lori Schneider                                                              beadaddicted.blogspot.com

23.Mary Harding (New York)                    maryhardingjewelrybeadblog.blogspot.com

24. Bouchra Rebai (Algeria)                                           bouchrarebai.wordpress.com     

25.Michelle McCarthy  (Florida )                            Fireflydesignstudio.blogspot.com