Feelin' Halloweeny!

Lots of things have been happening around here this week! Some good, some not so good... but the best part of the week has been getting ready for Halloween! I thought I would share some of the highlights with you! :) Enjoy!

My son had a blast at the local farmstand picking out pumpkins! He was really trying to get the big ones and pick them up himself... That didn't work too great, so he insisted on pulling them all in the wagon instead. Strong! :) We have yet to carve the pumpkins due to a slight family emergency but things are getting back to normal now, and I wanna eat some toasted pupkin seeds!!


My son was inspecting the decorative gourds.. Trying to figure out just what those things were, actually! They looked so colorful and shiny in that bin! I'll admit, I prompted him to check out the gourds so I could take a photo ;) haha!


My mantel looking spooky :)


My son had his first school Halloween party this week. I made some delicious and super easy treats! I made ghost pops, which are just melted white chocolate chips (which I did in the microwave), about a teaspoon of vegetable oil... Mix it up and spoon out a tablespoon or so onto some waxed paper. I formed it into a "ghost shape" with the spoon, put in two mini chocolate chips for eyes, and a lollipop stick. I added a little extra white chocolate to cover up the stick.. and its done! Let it harden on the waxed paper. I didn't even refrigerate them... just left them set on the counter.
I took this idea from Martha Stewart! Ha! Sometimes her site has the best ideas ;) CHECK IT OUT HERE AND MAKE YOUR OWN!!! :) (super super fast and looks amazing!)


I also finally bought a mini cupcake pan to make treats for the school party... It is awesome, and the little paper cupcake cups are just adorable!! I made these tiny cupcakes, and decorated them with two different types of jimmies, and a candy corn! CUTE!!! (bite sized and yummy!)


My son couldn't decide what to wear to his party at school... We found his pirate costume from last year and he had fun running around in it! I got the hat and mask at Michael's last Halloween. They are just made from flexible foam... I bought them premade, but I'm sure its super easy to make them yourself!

Making Time.

Ever have one of those days where you're just rushing around like a crazy person... Stressed out... Doing five things at once and feeling like nothing is actually getting done?? Hey, me too! All week!

So, in between playing with my son, the usual chores, a million orders, and finding time to take care of my own sanity... eating and sleeping somewhere in there too, I'm sure... I did manage to list a few new items in my shop! I am loving the extra large 3D glue dots lately, and the way they really make the images pop out! I would love to make a ton of different kinds of these cards, but you know... It's on the list. ;)

happy cupcake wishes! (new listing in my Etsy shop)

Colors of the Season...

Have A Sketchy Halloween! ;)

Glimpses of Holiday Cheer...

Here's a preview of some new Christmas cards I've been working on... Funny, at my house all we've been talking about is Halloween, but I sit down at my desk and there's Santa haha! Happy, Merry! ;)

Shine On...

I started playing around with some new holiday designs, and I sketched out these:

They struck me as pretty cute, so I started painting em up! I don't always have colors picked out before I start painting, as I didn't this time... I just kind of sit down and start painting whatever seems right when I put my brush to the paints. These turned out to be pretty pastel, and cutesy. The ornaments reminded me of some old ones that my mom has, which I love. Pastel pinks, mints, and blues... and always with white glitter!

"Too bad I don't have any glitter," I thought... and no, I couldn't just go buy some cause I'm cheap and if I did have some I wouldn't want to use it because its too beautiful, and too expensive!! (Thanks to my mother for that trait!) ;)
I searched through my piles of craft stuff and found some glitter mod podge! "Hooray!" Unfortunately, I hadn't used it in so long it was a chunk of glop. "Boo!" :( I tried it anyway, and it certainly was not turning out the way I had imagined. "Maybe I have another container of it," I hoped.... Back to the pile I went and FOUND THIS:

Cue the angelic singers and the beams of light:


I was shocked! I have no idea where this came from. Did I make some splurge of a purchase when I worked at Michael's? How many years ago was that?? (Told ya if I had it I'd never use it!) I clutched it in my hand like it was made of real diamond dust. It was exactly what I wanted, and still I was afraid to open it and especially afraid to use it on a project that is really just an overblown sketch. What if I waste it!!! It took all of my willpower to just open the vial, but once I started sprinkling it on, I felt free hahaha





To look at me, you probably wouldn't even know I love the sparkle. I don't wear much jewelry and I dress mostly in black, but from somewhere in me comes all these cute little drawings, pink paint, and love of all things patent and shiny! Now the trouble is... I want more. I'm not totally freed from my fear of wasting glitter, but damnit... I'm hooked.

Have a sparkly day! :D

Fall!

I'm gearing up for Halloween, which is a holiday I was never really super excited about as a kid, but now I LOVE it! I love all the costumes, carving pumpkins, and especially the fun decorations! Oh, I'm also a fan of candy corn, those little creme pumpkins, spiced pumpkin seeds, and warm mulled cider! Mmmmm yummy! :)
My son and I took a trip to Boston just the other day, and here are a few photos from our outing... It was a beautiful fall day! Just chilly enough for a sweater, and the leaves in the park were starting to cover the ground. (Which my son had some fun with!) Enjoy!

Museum of Fine Arts - Boston

I went to the MFA on Friday... A short excursion while my son was at school! It was so relaxing to be by myself in the museum (aside from all the college kids and high schoolers on field trips!), and take the time to read the fine print on the different exhibits... To be able to really stop and look at the art. It was SO inspiring and just a great experience. It's been so long since I've been to the museum... That has to change!

Here's a photo I took of an amazing installation in the hallway of the museum. It's by an artist named Jim Lambie and you can CLICK HERE to read all about the artist and what he has to say about his work and the installation! CHECK IT OUT! (An article from the MFA website)

Declutter, Recycle, and Inspire!

For the past few weeks I've really been trying to declutter my life, on all levels, and something I've been finding everywhere in my house are magazines... magazines... magazines!! Piles of them... Some from 2007! Really?? What was I thinking!? What's sad is that a few months ago I went through and put a bunch in the recycling, but I'm still finding them all over the place. I know I kept them because I liked one image, one article, any one thing about them and I couldn't let them go, in case I wanted to refer to those pages later.... haha! Yeah right ;)


SO...I've decided to make an inspiration journal with them. I took about 30 or so of the random mags... Went through page by page (who has this kind of time really...) and pulled out the images that struck a chord with me. Color combinations, images, articles... anything that sparked my interest. I cut them all up and I'm going to put them back together into ONE book that I can open up and will bring me into a world of color and imagery that will hopefully spark my imagination! (And take up less room around here!) :)
Here's a sampling of some of the pages that I'm keeping:




Better Homes and Gardens has a concept that I just love! Every month they focus on a different color set, and dedicate a few pages to just those colors...


I'm going to add this to the many other half-finished projects I have going on around here! Custom orders, regular orders, oil painting, paper mache, craft fairs... Put it on the list!! I'll let you know how this turns out ;)
P.S. DON'T FORGET TO RECYCLE YOUR OLD MAGAZINES!!!