Your rocky spine

I don't know whether you'd call this a landscape or a seascape.  Regardless, this is one of my favorite photos from my trip around the bay:

It calls to mind the beautiful lyrics of a Great Lake Swimmers song:

[Your Rocky Spine]

I was lost in the lakes
And the shapes that your body makes
That your body makes

And the mountains said I could find you here
They whispered the snow and the leaves in my ear
I traced my finger along your trails
Your body was the map
I was lost in it

Floating over your rocky spine
The glaciers made you and now you're mine

I was moving across your frozen veneer
The sky was dark
But you were clear
Could you feel my footsteps?
And would you shatter, would you shatter?
Would you?

With your soft fingers between my claws
Like purity against resolve
I could tell then and there we were formed from the clay
And came from the rocks for earth to display

They told me to be careful up there
Where the wind blows a venomous rage through your hair
They told me to be careful up there
Where the wind rages through your hair

Wedding Retrospective: favours

Our wedding was almost seven months ago, but it's been on my mind lately.  I've also got several friends who are in the midst of wedding planning lately (exciting!!).  And so, I thought I would continue on with my wedding preparation series. 

This entry is all about the favours we gave to our guests.  Before I get into the assembly/design of the favours, I need to give a HUGE shout-out to my parents.  While I was in school in Newfoundland during the spring preceding the wedding, they made batch after batch of mustard pickles and salsa - the preserves that filled our favour jars.  My only role was in decorating the jars.  And I had help with that from both my mom and Mike's mom.  Our wedding would never have happened without support like that from our family and friends. 

So here is a little jar-decorating tutorial.

The required supplies:

• coordinating fabric
• pinking shears
• raffia (craft straw)
• double-sided tape
• elastic bands
• 2" circle craft punch
• cardstock, printed with message
• paper cutter
• and of course, the preserves!

First step:  cutting fabric squares.  These were about 5" x 5" to fit our standard 125 mL preserve jar lids.  This step was definitely "rate-limiting", so plan ahead and enlist some help in cutting!  I chose pink- and ivory-coloured fabrics to differentiate the two types of preserves.

Next step:  punching out our labels.  I used a 2" craft punch (found at Michael's) for this job.  There are a few different types of craft punch; mine was the type where you could see exactly what you were cutting.  With some punches, you are cutting blind.  That would not have worked for these labels - we had them spaced very closely (to save cardstock) and had little room for error.  I first cut the printed pages of cardstock into strips, then cut each of the circles out with the punch.

A step I don't have a picture of is fitting the fabric around the jar lid.  We did this with elastic bands.  Raffia wasn't enough to hold the fabric in place - the elastic bands made the job a lot easier!

Next step:  raffia bows.  This step was a little annoying but the end effect was exactly what I wanted.

We then affixed the labels to the fabric with double-sided tape:

Here are two of the finished products.  They were a hit at the wedding.  The groom and best man even cracked open their mustard pickles at the reception!

Again, thanks to everyone who helped with the wedding preparations! 

Emergency scarf

Well, the one thing I forgot to bring with me on my trip to Twillingate was a scarf.  Not a good move, considering how cold it was at the beginning of February.  So I managed to find some yarn in the town (Briggs and Little - nice wool, too!) and did some very motivated knitting my first week to produce this:

It is a very basic design; any knitters out there will be able to tell.  I wanted to make it 'unisex' as I planned to give it to Mike once I got back to my abundant scarf collection in St. John's.  He likes it!

Twillingate

Hello all!  I apologize for the lengthy absence.  I am spending the month working in Twillingate, on the North East side of Newfoundland.  I have limited internet access here; this post is taking me forever!

I'm working in both the town of Twillingate, on the Island of Twillingate, and in Summerford, on New World Island.  This is a beautiful part of the province.

I just wanted to give you a quick post to share some of the amazing scenery up here.  There will be more posts to follow, perhaps when I get back to high-speed late next week.  Enjoy the pics!

Just outside the town of Twillingate, in Durrell:

At Crow Head, a short drive from the cottage where I'm staying:

In Back Harbour, just a stone's throw from my little cottage:

Until next time - I'm going dark!