Happy Halloween

It's Halloween!

A day of ghosties and goblins and creepy creatures (and people) of all kinds.

I love Halloween. I don't like to be scared, but I do like trick or treaters and all the decorations. I like the feeling of being a bit apprehensive, but I don't like scary/gory movies or super scary/gory things. You know, chain saw killers and masks...but I do like jack-o-lanterns and black cats and spiders and bats and old cemetaries  and witches. So I guess I am a rated G Halloweener. 

EEEEEK!

So birthday weekend flew by but was fun. Yesterday I seemed to be cooking all day, and then cleaning up, but we had a nice birthday weekend breakfast and a great dinner and then cupcakes for Dave and key lime pie for Katie. But I guess everyone enjoyed their birthday which makes me happy to do it all for them.  Having the snowstorm Saturday night made a lot of extra work, shovelling, snow-blowing, driving Katie to work and then going out to get her...but the snow compacted and melted a bunch yesterday so HOPEFULLY it will all disappear by mid-week. Even though we have school there's still like 160 schools closed down since there's still over 200,000 people without power. BRRRR. Its in the 20's this morning. That means you could get frozen pipes and all that in OCTOBER! Its not even winter yet.

Now that is NOT scary!

So usually for Halloween I something holiday-ish to show you but instead I am going to show you so travel journal pages from the Outer Banks last summer. (I had all my Halloween cards for so many days this month too and  I started a quick little project Friday but the weekend got so busy I didn't get to finish it...quick or not. I

m hoping the spirit stays with me so I can finish it up and then pick up the Halloween stamp bin which is spread out across part of the studio floor.)  I do have snow and birthday pictures but I haven't unloaded them from my camera yet, I will one of these afternoons.

Here's a bright colored fun sign that I mounted on pink paper. I added orange dots and my own hand writing...the dot spots are just some shadow from the window light. On the white edge of the page I added some stamped arrows (Melissa Frances) which I colored and stamped in some sayings.

This is one of my favorite pages. I first used the broken flower stencil from Crafter's Workshop and yellow paint, and then I used the mosiac stencil also from CW woth ablue acrylic paint from Jenny Bowlin. I added the photo, some blue stamped starfish and the saying (both from MSE) and I added some little brownish pearls from Prima and a small tab, stamped with a star, that I die cut.

Here's a journaling page. I make my pages on watercolor paper and sometimes I cover them with paper, but here I left the page blank and first wrote and doodled and colored using black Sharpies and Copics. Then I took some pink Distress Stain and colored the white background but left some white patches to give it that handmake look.

So here's a pink horse page. On the Outer Banks are all these horse statues that are painted in various colors and designs, and here's a pink flying horse, and Dave....The background paper is  from an old book, though it is a pre-made paper (October Afternoon), I didn't make it. The stamps are from Green Pepper Press.

Hope you have spook-tacular day and thanks for visiting!

Birthday #2 For the Weekend...plus...

Here's the birthday girl-20 years old today!!!!! The photo is back from warmer and greener times...before we had a late October nor-easter...I can't believe my baby is going to be 20...no longer a teenager, into a new decade of her life. Wow.

Well the snow seems to have stopped coming down. Dave took a measurement and got 16 inches on our deck! And luckily, we have power since there's like 300,000 people in the state without power. Lets hope it stays on but if not we'll fire up the woodstove and make do. We do have a generator we can run a few things on, so we are not helpless. It is strangely pretty-my oak tress with white on their leaves, the colors tempered with white, but also a little too wintery for late October. Later this week I will put up photos....I don't hate winter, but our northern winters are long enough as it is and I am just not ready for winter to start yet.( Call me a short winter gal- 2 months is about all I like then it needs to go away!It is not even the cold, but I feel stuck with snow. Stuck inside...having to give up my gardens and easy walking...having the extra snow removal work...driving in the snow-we picked up Katie at work last night at 10:30 and the roads were NASTY...but  having a snow day and hanging around inside isn't bad...it just seems it goes on and on and there's SO many days like that) One more month of fall...but you just don't know about the weather in New England. (and I saw on the Weather Channel if was snowing as far south as Washington DC too...wow...this is quite the BIG storm).

So instead of wintery photos, I will show you some beautiful oceany photos from back a few weeks ago on our last trek onto the water for the season. It was a summery day for sure then-well into the 80's and sunny.

terns....

and a fishing boat

part of the fleet (here below) in Portsmouth Harbor

This is kind of an interesting little building on the wharf

The birthday girl a few weeks ago.

Lobster traps on a floating dock

Not so great shot of the current going into Little Bay under the General Sullivan Bridge.

And here's one of the bridges from Portsmouth, NH into Kittery, Maine along the Piscataqua River between Great Bay and the Atlantic.

Ok, that's a lot of photos, but I feel so much better showing them and being reminded they were only a couple of weeks back shows how quickly things can change. So this snow will melt and we'll go back to fall and cool.  BUT, at least it is Sunday and I can stay home and at least we don't have to have a snow day at school already. And at least it should melt since we'll be back in the 50's as the week progresses, which is a GREAT thought to keep in your head. And, it is a good day to go hide in the studio for awhile or to read on the couch all afternoon...and we are having a big birthday dinner later this afternoon before Katie goes back to school...and of course, birthday cake(s) (well cupcakes and pie) for both Dave and Katie!

Thanks for stopping by.

It's Birthday #1 This Weekend

This handsome guy is celebrating his birthday today!!!!!

He's catching up to me...51 years old!!

Love you big guy!

***

Ok, and this weather is TOO confused this year. The other night we had a lovely dusting of snow...but at least the roads stayed only wet and not white. I do remember other Octobers when we'd get a little dusting, and I do remember COLD snaps like this one we are having now. Here's a few photos I snapped yesterday morning.

Flowers on my deck snowed over.

Dave's truck and the leaves STILL on the trees.

Harley and my garden.

My yard. The leaves are actually prettier colors now than they were back when they were suppose to be at peak color. Seems our warm fall has pushed everything back.

And that might be a problem

Because today they are forcasting a nor-easter to come in...starting as heavy wind and rain and changing to snow.

5-10 inches of snow!!!

I never remember a BIG winter storm in October, and I have lived in New England for all 51 years of my life. I've even lived much further north in New England, in North-Central Maine, up into the spruce-fur forests, and we never had a nor-easter in October.

Plus if a lot the leaves come down and mix with the snow.

This morning we need to get out and clean out the yard and I need to bake Dave some cupcakes for his birthday celebration...especially since Katie needs to work tonight and we'll be driving her since the truck has 4 wheel drive and her car doesn't.

Dave gets to have snowstorm on his birthday!

Happy Birthday, this will be one to remember!!!

The Last of my Halloween Cards

Here's the last of my 31+ Hallowen cards. Now here's a card that looks better in photographic form than "live" card...but that's my view. I think the texture of the background really stands out here.

Iused sanded orange cardstock and embosed the Sizzix/Tim Holtz folder on brown leathery paper, which I sanxded a bit more and rubbed orange die over...the whitish parts are the actually worn paper from the sanding. Then I stamped the skeleton on an orange tage with little arrows that I had...I distressed it with white and brown stains/inks and colored in the teeth white. Then I put a white Technique Tuesday ring over it and drew on the black dots and added black Viva dimensional paint. The crow is from the mini movers and shakers Tim Holtz/Sizzix. I stamped the never more on white and cut it out, added that and the black fringe trim. Finally I added the black Viva dots to the corners of the background embossed paper.

Enjoy your art journey today and over the weekend.

I hope you have a bit of spook and a bit of sweet.

Afterall, it is just about Halloween.

10 Things Friday

Didn't I just write this?

***

1- It has gotten raw and COLD. They say only in the 40's this weekend.

BRRRR!
2- Last night on my way home from open house I had to drive through some heavy driving snow. The kind that mesmerizes you so you can easily get confused.  YUK! Luckily the roads were clear and the snow lightened up once I got further inland. But we do have a dusting on the grass and deck. YUK!

3-Party weekend is coming up since it have 2 important birthdays to celebrate this weekend. Then with Halloween on Monday...

I need to make those candy corn cupcakes for Mr. Hubby's birthday.

4-There is only 1 full week (and 2 exam days) left to this quarter. 1/4 of the school year just about finished.

5- I still need to finish my book, Armand the Vampire, by Anne Rice. I am sooo close to the end though.Maybe this weekend. (Because I really want to start reading The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides.)
6- I am taking a personal day today. Loving it! And My friend Ina is in town and I get to see her tonight. And I didn't have to get up at 4:45 today!!!!
7-Last night was the finale of this latest season of Project Runway. Since I am typing this before the show ends Thursday night, I can't say right now who won. I can live with any of them EXCEPT Josh. He's too much of a man diva.
8-I am planning on spending a huge chunk of time in the studio today. I am SOOO excited about that. I want to finish up my birthday cards and maybe scrap  or work on my weird things book. I am so excited to have some me home alone time.
9-I am looking forward to November. It is always a quiet and mellow month after such a HECTIC October. I love October, but I am always ready for the peace and quiet of November BEFORE another busy holiday month-December. November is usually not too wintery too, although since we have a super early accumulating snow (ok, just a baby bit of snow) so early...
10-I am going through an art talent doubter. Sometimes I look back at my blog posted art and say, ugh, what a mess. And sometimes I look and say wow. Sometimes items look better in a photo and sometimes in person. It is a great learning experience. I am really in color lately. I am also kind of a grungy messy styler, and I need to stop being so doubtful that being that is bad. I need to let go of older pieces and move onto new pieces. Lately, I have been LOVING scrap booking. I have playing a lot with stenciling and light bold beachy colors-but pale shades and tones too...trying different styles per page...doing my Outer Banks photos. But I do think I take really good photographs of things. I feel good about that.

So that's it for another 10 things. A good mental stimulation and challenge every week.
Bye-Bye!

Long Day Ahead

8th grade open house is tonight, so I will be late coming home. Not so bad since tomorrow is a personal day for me and I am going to spend it staying warm in my studio-after sleeping in  first!!!!! Quite looking forward to some time for me.
BUT they are saying SNOW today!!! SNOW!!!!!!!
I want to vomit!!!!!!!!
Let's not think abouth that since I slept so poorly last night and now I am dragging.
Instead...

A few more October photos to regale you with.

Can you make out the seal's face? Back from my Sunday afternoon on Cape Cod.

View down the shore at the Marconi Station on the outer arm of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Not sure if this is an estuary or a river. Eastham, MA on the Cape.

These are photos from Dave and my roadtrip a few Sunday's ago when it was gorgeous, sunny and fairly warm. Not like the raw wet day today is...

Thanks for visiting.

Hump Day

Morning all. Well, actually good evening on Tuesday. I just finished an unexpected cleaning job I discovered I had to do when I got home from work, but sometimes that happens. Let's just say it was puppy related, poor baby. 

Anyhow, I am a bit tired of showing Halloween cards so I am taking a little break and then giving you the last of them later...

So today's post is some photos from my Sunday outing to York Beach, Maine with my dog, my hubby and my daughter.

Nubble Light...with the funky cloud.

I didn't write this, but it was fun to find...especially when you're with a Katie.

 Favorite faces.

Cool textures.

A view from a far.

There must have been a rough sea since parts of the beach were covered in washed up seaweed and other things.

Love this texture in the sand!!!

Thanks for visiting.

Color

Good morning-yawn!!!!- or should I say Good afternoon since I am writing this at about 5 p.m. last night after having a piece of apple pie (yummy) and changing my mental direction before heading to the studio. A slight fall chill has seemed to arrived-(it was only 33 yesterday morning when I left for work- my first day in my favorite warm aran sweater I bought in Ireland years ago and that I live in ALL winter.)

Thought I would share some fall colors with you-natures picks.

I snapped all of these with my iPhone on the way to work on various assorted mornings in the last couple of weeks. Not the best photos since they are quick snaps from inside the car, but it has been a great show as I drive...who needs the radio or CD to keep you awake? The bottom 2 of this group were from yesterday morning (10/24) and you can see how it is still pretty dark compared to a few weeks back in the top 2 photos.

I just say WOW!

And here's another morning a week or 2 ago.

All I can say is that there is a reason to be up at that early grrrr....hour and driving off to work...a bit of a treat I'd miss if I had to sleep in.

OK, I need something to make me feel beter about getting up in a chilly house when I'd rather stay snuggled in my nice warm bed.

Thanks for stopping by.

I appreciate your visiting.

Pumpkins

October is a really photogenic month. The leaves, pumpkins, apples, scarecrows....lots of things to take pictures of. I took these back during Columbus weekend when we went apple picking...the farm we go to is one of those picturesque New England farms with awhite clapboard  house that was build about 200 or more years ago. They also sell pumpkins...and I especailly love the reflection in the old truck.

So another week begins. Yesterday we didn't get a lot of sun but we did get Katie and go walk the beach in York, Maine. I love beach walking and I got to do it 2 weeks in a row!!! Plus we discovered a great wood fired pizza place and bakery. Was a good day and a good way to wrap up the weekend. And back to work...

I can't believe we have only 2 weeks left in this quarter at school either. September was a LONG month and October has FLOWN. Pretty soon 1/4 of the school year will be done with.

But who's rushing time?

Thanks for visiting.

Getting down there with my 31 Halloween cards. Just a few more to go.  But we only have about a week until it is Halloween...

So this card is on grey cardstock...which I first lightly stamped some grey bats (Hero Arts) using this great background stamp.  I took a thin black pen and outlined the edges. The ghosts are die cuts with a Sizzix die, cut with white paper and then stamped with a Cherry Pie stamp. I then added some black lacey tape, but it has this cool spooky feel to it. Then I added the ghosts and put outlined the bottom edges in grey Copic. I then added the chipboard letters and some white Viva dots.

Oh yes, forget to mention I tok a Black Sharpie and colored in where the eyes are.

So yesterday I CLEANED a lot. I stamed cleaned all my first floor drapes and I moved furniture and vacced behind it and I cleaned the bathroom. I scrapped for about 3 hours in the later afternoon when I had some fabulous home alone down time and I made an apple pie, plus had a nice little fire in my fireplace last night. Just the kind of day I needed.

And today...I'm sure it will bring some adventures. The plan is to go visit Katie and she and I want to go beach walking.  That means Dave and Harley will walk with us to...but we shall see.

Have a nice day...be back soon with something else to show you.

Cloudy morning

Cloudy morning- great for sleeping in (Love it!! I envy those of you who get to sleep until 7 a.m. daily). I am doing "spring" cleaning this morning...my house needs some TLC to get rid of animal hair and cobwebs and dust along with a few other such things.  Want to freshen up the place since it is getting to that time of year when you're inside so much. I could also go out and rake...maybe...but so many leaves are still on the trees it is not quite worth it yet, except for the exercise. And think tomorrow we are going to get Katie and going walk the beach ( local down on the coast of Maine and not all the way out to the Cape like last week)...Love that too!

So next week we are into the last full week of month...wow-time does fly. I should take some photos of my other projects to show you once we get done with these Halloween cards. Today...no you are not having vision problems...I used grey cardstock and I inked the embossing folder. The trick or treater clowns are all from Oxford Impressions- They come in pairs and are stamped 3 times. I colored them with Copics and Sharpies and attached. Before I attached them I ran a strip of Martha Stewart Halloween papertape with spiders on it first. The saying-I don't know who makes it- but it is a classic and I first inked the paper irregularly and then stamped it and then used a Sizzix die cut to get the rectangle and then ocnce attached I outlined it in black. Whew...that seemed like a lot of words for a fairly basic card.

So hope your Saturday is productive BUT fun too!

Till next post.



Left Overs

I want to show you one of my Halloween cards. This one actually ended up being made from a bunch of pieces I had left from other cards. I started with a blue card and a bat paper die cut . I added some black ribbon into that cute little bow. And I punched out a piece of orange paper into a large circle and using some old Hampton Art stamps I stamped the circular words. Then I attached them and took a left over phrase from an embossed Halloween sheet (Tim Holtz/Sizzix), used black ink to darkened the letters. The pumpkin (Hero Arts) was stamped on orange paper and colored with Copics. The candy corn (Autumn Leaves) was stamped on white paper and colored. I actually made it for one of my other Halloween cards and had it left over.

Lastly, I outlined the bat paper die cut with black so it stands out a bit and added a few Viva dimensional paint dots.

That's it, and I like it considering I just used my left overs. Shows what you can do with a bit of this and a bit of that.

Happy Friday.

10 things Friday

Another Friday...

You know what that means-

It is 10 things Friday.

1- By 6:20 at night it is pretty much dark, a light line on the horizon, but dark. And the temperatures have gone back to normal-warmish days, cooler nights.  Oh it is fall isn't it?

2- I am ok with the cooler temperatures...in fact it is easier to work in this weather, but I am starting to get into hibernation mode with the earlier darkness. You know, come home from work and put on pjs instead of sweats, get tired earlier, want to eat more soul satisfying and hearty foods.

3-Slowly my fall/winter clothes are coming out. It is kind of fun at this point, because you feel like you are getting some new clothes. Wore some cute little unlined boots the other day that came out of the winter clothes stash. Also a pair of cords. I'll be sick of all them by March though.

4-This week I feel like I have been in catch up mode. Too much school work. Too many chores. Not enough play time in the studio. Not enough sleep time. Waking up is so hard in the morning. The stress builds up.  It is getting better though. When I finished a big stack of grading I could feel my whole body relax. NHS letters are all out and that's one less item on my agenda. I hope it stays under control for a bit.

5- I really need a mental catch up weekend. Nothing one the must do or go to on the commitment list. I need to de-stress and feel like I have some time to do nothing. To read. I want to finish my Anne Rice vampire novel this weekend. And maybe go for a walk or two and maybe go see that bird watching comedy with Steve Martin...ok, so this isn't a total do nothing idea in my head but a schedule free one.
6-And I need to cut the threads and made a tassel for the hat I finished knitting  this past weekend while we drove to the Cape-it will then be DONE! I want to look for a beret pattern and knit me a little oo-la-la.
7- And I found a couple of books I want to read. The new book by Jeffrey Eugenides-the Marriage Plot and Alice Hoffman's the Dove Keeper's looks pretty good too. It is  lounge on the couch with a cuppa and read season. Been looking for a book to two to really excite me. Maybe I have found them?
8-Been thinking about baking another apple pie while I still have oodles of apples from our picking session a couple of weeks ago. That would taste so YUMMY! I also found a recipe to make candy corn cupcakes which I think I should try out too.
9-I can't believe today is October 21st. This month is flying-especially compared to September.
10-Art-wise, I am in a bright color mood lately. Like tourquoise, hot pink and bright green. Not really fall colors but am crazy about them right now. Been thinking of ordering a Copic airbrush spray kit too, would love to try to do more bright coloring with stencils.

There you have it for this week. Still amazes me how much I change from week to week. If you haven't tried this, you should...it is really a good way to see yourself get through some tough things and celebrate the good things.
Happy Friday!

2 spooky cards

I think this one of my favorite Halloween cards that I made this fall. Pretty simple too, though this photo really doesn't do it that much justice.

I distressed some grey cardstock and the ripped up some great Martha Stewart spider web tape which I randomly attached. Then I added a strip of spider tape-also by Martha Stewart. Using the Sizzix I diecut the opening in the card and then traced the opening on white paper and cut out the white paper just a tad bit larger than the opening. I will attached that to the inside of the card shortly. I stamped the inchie images (Inkadinkado) on acetate and colored them-don't forget, color the unstamped side. Then I glued them down on  white background paper and attached that from the inside of the card so there was a small over lap-basically, I didn't want any openings between the front and the inside of the card.

Here's another card I made that I like a lot...always trying to use up things I have or try new things. This time I distressed some orange cardstock and attached part of a piece of cut out Prima felt that I had laying around. I used orange Stickles to color in the center image and then glued down 2 little plastic spiders and a white plastic skull. Then I stamped the word Spooky (Tweety Jill). Simple, but not a bad card I think.

So it is Thursday...I am getting caught up and the stress is slowly going away-YAHOO. Hate that brain dead feeling. Dave was away last night and though I love my hubby and want him home, I enjoyed a night to myself...just what the doctor ordered for my mental sanity. Maybe today I will take a trip down to my crafts store after school, or maybe not. That's always a good stress buster good for my sanity trip too, though I shouldn't spend any more cash on craft supplies right now...I just don't really need anything. But then again...how much of my stash do I really need anyhow and how much is there because it makes me so happy and fills my time (when I have it) and breaks the stress of a long day at school...as of late?

Anyhow, thanks for stopping by.

Tomorrow we're back to the 10 things right now list-already!

Repeat Performance

Cape Cod light house.

bird prints

Watching seals and gannets.

Cute little sandpiper.

More Cape Cod photos. Although they don't look like summer, they look more summery than my backyard does right now. I have a lot of leaves lying on the ground and the trees are pretty yellow, or getting bare.

And the heat seems to have vanished and now we have normal temperatures.

Like that much better.

So I am in for a couple of nights without Dave around, he has meetings late. I get to play in my studio later into the evening...like that! -Though I should do MORE school work, am feeling inundated. I don't think it'll happen, I need some recharge time.

And now for another Halloween card!

Wanted a spooky foggy night kind of feel with this card.  The tree is a Tim Holtz Sizzix die cut which I have painted, stained, rubbed Viva metallic paint over, stamped the word BOO onto it...you name it, I probably did it to the tree. I ahdn drew in the ground, used a Martha Stewart punch/stamp combo for the tombstones, stamped the witch with an Inkadinkado stamp and then used an embossing folder and cut out the letters for the words fright (TIm Holtz/Sizzix). Then I used white stain a few times over the whole card trying to create a foggy feel. Foggy nights are a bit spooky I think. Have you ever seen that movie The Fog? The original one from the late 1970's.  I heard the remake was a BOMB. Anyhow, not so sure about the witch-it might have been spookier without her, but she is there and so she stays.

That's my post for today. Probably tomorrow I'll once again be original and show you a few more Cape Cod photos from last Sunday.

Or maybe not?