Artful Journey

Yes, tonight's the night when little ghosts and ghoulies hit the streets.. happy halloween And witches stop from a broom ride to hand out candy... my favorite witch And at my favorite neighBOOrhood bistro..somehow the wine disappeared before a picture could be taken...now that is Spirits at work! Tough night to be an m and m.. Luckily they are in the pumpkin witness protection program... Happy Halloween.

A very windy Monday, maybe that will help some of my Halloween mail get carried along... sugar skull I thought I wouldn't have much use for the eclipse stamps after August, but they are great for Halloween. Witches brew, with eyeball of Newt Of course the pumpkin stamps are great...and I am a lover of whimsy, so.. Time to unwrap a Reese's The wind is howling outside my window, and the temperatures are dropping, and trees down. My lilac tree took a hit There is one small section of my lilac tree still standing. Hopefully it will survive. Waiting to see what happens with a few small blooms. Autumn rose And we will see if this skeleton manages to hold on tight.. and hopefully the dragon won't take flight... until after Halloween night! Happy hallow's eve..Happy Monday!

Well, it's autumn in New England, and that means trees... Beautiful, glorious color... Where does that road lead? But first did I mention the weather? This is late October, right? Going back old school, with one of my favorite groups and songs...you make my dreams come true...an outside temperature of 82 degrees! Wow, perfect  dream weather for the extended season of... Apple picking! Another favorite tradition, and we thought we might have been too late, but luckily no, still plenty on the trees for picking, apple cider donuts at the farm stand, and a pumpkin for future carving... That's what I'm talking about! In the meantime, lots of baking...Sunday, Apple Turnovers,  Apple Cinnamon Scones, and on Monday a Apple cobbler... Recipe from King Arthur flour...yum In no time, we may be tired of apples and apple treats, but enjoying them now... Breakfast... and a reminder of some of the Best days ever, apple picking! Once the baking was finishe

in that Halloween frame of mind, some of my envelopes for PTE are ready for the mail If it doesn't get delivered, does it go to the mail graveyard? I thought the eclipse envelopes  went well with the graveyard/black and white theme. After I made these, I thought it seemed a bit morbid to have the names on the headstone, so I added the initials for an Irish blessing at the top...LLTY...Long life to you. I resurrected and repurposed my mixed media piece for a halloween card.. card ready to send... I added a die cut pumpkin and a glittery googly eyed bat, because who doesn't love a glittery, googly eyed bat??? And while I was busy envelope and card creating, the neighbors were hard at work.  dancing when the job is done! As for me, I think I will settle in and have a drink... Pellegrino, for when I am going up market! Cheers and long life to you over at  T stands for...  and bluebeard and Elizabeth's gang!

I love Halloween, for the decorations and making cards, although I must admit I really love, love the candy...if there is ever a time of the year that I love to indulge it's Halloween...but first here's the outgoing mail. Mail me some Art I have participated in the MMSA before...this time, the request was for hand made envelopes to exchange, a first for me! Thanks for the WeR Memory keepers punchboard and you tube, it was easy. Tools and videos can definitely increase likelihood of success... The envelope please...here they are... Since I have been playing around with mixed media, here's one for the Halloween theme over on Try it on Tuesday ... wishing you  Bright Halloween. Mixed media is definitely out of my comfort zone, but fun...this piece has a gelato backround,colored pencils, stencils,  rubber stamping, heat embossing, some leaves I have watercolored and cut out, a Tim Holtz sizzix moon and cat, calligraphy...more is more and more practice required.

Nothing says traditions like a holiday...and in our house Birthdays have always been treated like holidays! We hold firmly to the belief that if there is a day you are ever going to celebrate, it's the day you were born. Luckily for Fi, her birthday is October 8, which coincides with Columbus day this year, extending the Birthday to Birthday weekend. We lined up all kinds of special treats, starting with a Half Marathon on Saturday, if you can call that a treat..followed up with  some other birthday specials, breakfast out at our favorite diner,  presents, bookstore coffee and browse around,  made to order breakfasts and dinners,  chocolate cake (yum!) and a wind down with one of our favorite hobbies on Monday... painting Halloween Vignette Years ago, I painted unfinished wood and sold it at craft fairs. Fi loved to go with me to purchase supplies and attend craft shows looking for ideas.  Although it has been a long time since I have participated in a craft fair, we still hav

After the horrific massacre in Las Vegas, thoughts can be suspended in anguish, frustration, and disbelief. How can this happen, why does this happen? And our hearts go out to the victims and their families, and respect to the first responders and the ordinary citizens that put themselves in harms way to assist the victims. In the face of such tragedy, there is a glimmer of hope in humanity. That morning, on my walk, I took a different route, and visited the grave site of Ross Almeddine, who was killed in the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007. While there, I saw two butterflies on daisies someone had planted at a grave site. butterflies at the cemetery This was the inspiration for this piece, created to honor the victims of this tragedy. There is one of my favorite Maya Angelou quotes, and a quote from Catherine Woodiwiss' article   New Normal - 10 things I've learned about Trauma .  As Catherine says, "there is no getting over it.  There is no back to the o

I've been intrigued and impressed by so much of the mixed media that I have seen since starting blogger.  Yesterday provided an opportunity to pull out some of my art supplies and play...an easy decision on a rainy day with everyone else busy and no distractions.  Try it on Tuesday  has a time challenge going on, so I thought I would join in. I love the theme of time, so the inspiration was easy; putting the pieces together was a little more challenging. Clocks and locks I used a variety of techniques on this page: watercolors distressed with cling film for the backround. blind embossed clocks colored with faber castell gelatos, some locks and keys fussy cut, Tim Holtz clock face and a rubber stamp:     Take Time to Enjoy the Simple things in Life I added my haiku that I handlettered and thermal embossed: Oh, what would I do, if I only had the time, start now, said the clock. Creating the piece was a lot of fun, and I have some ideas for another piece. I have wa