Last of the Spooks

Happy Halloween everyone.

It's also the end of the October AND the day we change the clocks back. I will be glad for the extra hour of sleep tonight, and a bit more morning daylight for a couple of weeks. But I won't be happy with it getting dark so early in the evening.

This means winter is really on its way-eh?

Sad sad face for me.

So today I have this skeleton for Halloween and I guess also for All saint's Day tomorrow when some cultures celebrate the Day of the Dead.

He's a freehand sketch on a Gelli printed background. I added the glasses and flowers-also sketched in

I decided he worked well without painting in the whole face.

I did stamp part of a Halloween word background on the edges as you can see better here. And I also stamped these fun little skeletons. I used the bat from this set on yesterday's piece.
I also have some tombstones to show you. I took these back in the summer on our boat trip to the Isles Of Shoals/Star Island, back when the days were warm. I have since changed them to black and white and thought they would be perfect for today.

These old stones are so interesting. I love the little stories people used to put on them.

Happy Halloween all!

Frightful Halloween

Friday has arrived again! I've been in a sour mood about work this week and that has made it drag a bit. Just glad it is the weekend and I hope my mood improves-not only because I don't have to work but hopefully I will feel more positive about my profession itself. It might help to start off the new month and finish off the first quarter in a better place.
I think the trigger is that I am sliding into my winter hibernation mode slowly, and with that I am wanting to escape it and go someplace different. One of the reasons I go into this mode is how much I get stuck inside with the shorter days and being at work inside all day, and I really want a  little journey where I can be out and about.
Or maybe speed up time or slow up time and go back to summer!
I think that would be really nice!
Ha-ha!
Anyhow-

I've got a spooky Halloween journal page for you today. 

It started with a Gelli printed background, and then this Stamper's Anonymous image of this walking dead. I stamped this zombie twice-once onto my journal page directly and then onto some white paper. I cut out a few of his parts to make him a bit more of a realistic figure.

Like zombie's are even realistic! Ha!

The screaming girl's face is my own sketch which is then outlined in paint.

I am linking this page to Paint Party Friday. Thanks to Eva and Kristen for hosting  every week, and I recommend you stop by and check out all the great art that gets posted. Especially if you've never been by!

So today is my daughter's 24th birthday! Wahoo!

I can't believe those 24 years have screamed right by. When I delivered her all of the staff at the hospital were dressed up for Halloween.

I am sure she would kill me for showing her in this photo (if she knew that is). For no other reason than she is in her walking/work clothes. We were in the process of cleaning out the garage last weekend so we could use it for cars (especially once the snow starts to fly-oh my!) and not for all the summer stuff that gets pulled out.

She took this selfie on my phone so I thought I would post it.

What a goof ball!
So any big weekend plans? Not really sure what's up around my house. We've still got some fall clean up to do, but I am thinking of that isn't very exciting. Since the hubby has dialysis tonight and the daughter has plans we will celebrate her birthday tomorrow.
And maybe something spontaneous will pop up! (And if it does, it had better be good!)
Have a great day and thanks for stopping by to visit!

Frightful

Here's another page I am linking to Art Journal Journey. This month's theme is architecture and is being hosted by Sheila. You can find her over at her blog Orange Esmeralda.

This is my last post for AJJ this month seeing we are almost at the end and it is almost Halloween too.

(Not that I do anything for Halloween! We live far enough off the road and in the woods so we don't even get trick or treaters.)

This page is another Gothic spooky page with these 2 church windows. I have used this stencil a lot lately, since I found it at the bottom of my stencil pile awhile back. I forget I even owned it.

This piece I made by stenciling in gold metallic paint onto plain paper. Then I sprayed with some grey ink, painted and outlined the windows, and painted the tree branch. The owl is a TH stamped image which I fussy cut. The bats are from this fun little sheet of skeleton stamps (I think maybe Inkadinkado) that I stamped and fussy cut also. The skulls, word and the 31 are plastic sticker from TH.

This page is going into my Halloween journal.

So today is the hubby's birthday!

I took this photo back in July.  (Just me dreaming of warm long days and no work to go for with my summer break going on....)
Last night I baked him something yummy and today after work I will decorate it up to celebrate! And it is not a dialysis night so he should be home!
Mini-party night in my house.
Wahoo!
Enjoy your day!

A Second Look on the Second

Happy Tuesday everyone. I am participating in Elizabeth's Second on the Second.

How about a few Christmas views from the past?

Ghost Images

 I love the ghosts images on this spread in my Halloween journal. I suppose I don't needed to add the cat- it's a little too big for the rest of the images on the page, but I decided just to leave him and not paint over him.

I first painted the page with metallic black paint (Martha Stewart) and then used a stencil and regular acrylic paint to make the forest and the moon. The evergreen trees are a TH die cut. Trees look black at night so I used black paper to cut them from. Then I used white pigmented ink to stamp all the other images.

I think I have owned this white pigment ink pad for at least 10 years, maybe even more like 15. and it still stamps fantastic!

I like how on the right you can see my brush strokes and they look like more trees deeper in the forest. Especially how they would look on a night with a bright full moon.

And I like how the white pigment ink looks ghost like on this black paint.

Feels like I just took out my box of Halloween stamps and papers, and in a few days they'll go back into the closet. Then it will be just about time to pull out the Christmas things- a box of stamps and a box of paper and a third box of ephemera.
Oh my!

OK, maybe I need a holiday purge.
Think I'll change the subject.
How about a few last blooms in my garden.

 Those roses are pretty amazing, even though most of them have gone.

Thanks for stopping by to visit and enjoy your day!

Ciao Baby

 Another journal page today that I am linking to Art Journal Journey. This month's theme is architecture, and the hostess is Sheila.  I know the month is winding down but if you haven't checked out the art over there you really should.

 I added this dapper gentleman and this TH Rome stamp buildings strip. I also added the TH movie ticket image and film  stamped images from one of his other set of stamps. I had this little piece of  actual film in my stash along with the orange slide cover. I thought it framed Mr. Dapper's face so nicely.

The background could have been a disaster, as I tried to clean a stencil over a Gelli printed page. but it ended up working out OK for me.
I also had these little dark blue plastic circles from something or another, and I added them since there are some little dots in the background underneath the black arches.

The leaves are really starting to fall around here.This is the farm house I walked down to on my walks. Usually you can only barely see a bit of the house.

Here's the same view from a slightly different angle just 3 weeks ago.

Well it is almost November! Guess nature is doing what it is suppose to be doing.

Have a great day!

And thanks for stopping by my blog.

New Week

No art today. Since we are rolling into the last week October already, thought I would show you what else I have been up to during the month. 

I haven't done tons of reading, but I wanted to reread this book ever since our visit back in early September to the Isle of Shoals because part of this book is set on one of the islands (not the one we visited) and also in Portsmouth, NH where I work. (see this post if you want to see Isles of Shoals and here's a post from when I played local tourist last summer Portsmouth )

And I've been baking a bit this month too. Sorry for the temptation :)   I made a banana cake and I also made this checkerboard cake with Swiss meringue buttercream (my new obsession- I want some now-YUM!)

 I always wanted to try a checkerboard cake.

 I love how it bakes up in these bulls eye target rings.

And I've started knitting again for the season.

I started another Christmas stocking. I made 3 last year, and I have so much fun picking colors and patterns. This one is going to be all patterns, no Christmas motifs. 

I put up my famous Halloween pumpkins too.

I know they aren't really famous, but they were in a Somerset publication many many years ago. I love them. Every now and again I get a really good idea.

Ha-ha!

Have a wonderful start to your week everyone!

Crooked Cutting

With Halloween coming up at the end of the week I thought I would show you another page from my Halloween journal. This one was made on a Gelli printed paper. Then I cut and inserted it into my journal, though my cutting is VERY uneven.

EEKS!

I love the dark but mottled background. I stamped and added some die cuts, and then doodled and painted the edges. Not exactly anything wildly unique, but I still like the page- except the cutting.

And I've got a few more unusual Boston photos for you today.

I took all of these while walking from the parking garage to the doctors office and then on the way back again last Monday. Like in yesterday's post. ( If you are interested you can check them out here More Traditional Spooky.)

 In the lobby of the building where the doctor's office is.

And a few of you asked what these giants stone balls are. Not quite sure actually, but I think they are architectural design elements. maybe for on or around a building, but they were all lined up along the sidewalk and there was road construction going on right next to it. 

So yesterday when my daughter and I went out shopping to get my husband a birthday gift, we ended up buying things for ourselves instead of him. Oh no! I got 2 pairs of fleece pj bottoms and a brownie pan that is suppose to give you edges all over and no middle part. The hubby  and I are edge lovers. I will let you know since I made a pan of brownies last night (I had to try it out) and I am curious to see how the pan checks out.

 Its another quiet Sunday here in my neck of the woods. Hoping today to have some arty play time since yesterday it didn't happen. Am loving these quiet days to recharge my soul a bit before another crazy work week starts!

Hope you are recharging your soul too.

Thanks for stopping by.