Happy Halloween

Wishing you a "spook-tacular" Day!

Nature's Beauty

It is STILL raining here! And foggy this morning too. Everything is wet and soggy. But isn't it wonderful, that even in such gloomy weather, Mother Nature's colorful palette still shines through. The view from my window is like a fine piece of art.

Where The Wild Things Are

~ Photo courtesy of Cerri Campbell ~

The Wild Things are right here on these cute Monster Treat Bags that Cerri made. Won't your little one be cute carrying a treat bag like these that they made themselves? I think they'll have as much fun making the bag as collecting the candy to put inside it on Halloween. Cerri shows us all how to create one of these over on the Joli Paquet blog today. Have fun!

Nutty Couple!

Isn't this a cute Halloween couple? These nut cups guarded by this dashing masked pair are made by Jenny & Aaron Heid. And guess what? They show you how to make them over on the Joli Paquet Blog! In a few easy steps you'll have containers to hold all your candy treats. Happy crafting!

It's All ABout Me!

Today I am participating in Natasha Burns, It's All About Me Swap & Party.

Sweet Natasha came up with this wonderful twist on all the swaps out there in blogland. She described it like this:

"The idea of this is that you create for fun's sake. You will make something for yourself to keep and enjoy. You will do the project that you've been saying that you will do. You'll try out that new thing that you've been wanting to try out. It will be all about you."

I don't know about you, but I am always so busy making things for swaps or friends or to sell in my Etsy Shop that I very rarely have time to make something special for myself. So I thought this would be a great way to make that happen. I'd be able to use some of that vintage lace, pretty millinery flowers, lovely ribbons and dreamy wallpapers that I've been saving for projects that I send out to other's and use them to make a treasure for myself.

Several weeks ago I signed up for Heather's online class called, A Beautiful Life. (I believe she is keeping this class going thru November, so you still have plenty of time to sign up and make one for yourself!) Heather is so very talented, so of course each lesson was more glorious than the next. I know a lot of you out there took the same class and created the most beautiful journals. Well, as usual I had a ton of things on my to-do list and put the project on the back burner. . . until Natasha came up with her It's All About Me idea and I decided to set aside a day to finish my Beautiful Life Journal just for ME!

So here it is. . . .

Now that you've seen my It's All about Me project, you can check out all the

others right here.

Paper Doll Swap

I signed up for Danielle Muller's Paper Doll Angel Swap and if you're interested, there's still time to sign up here.

Halloween Banner

~ Photo by Cindy Gilstrap ~

It's time to continue the festivities over at Joli Paquet with this adorable Halloween Boo Banner that Cindy made. I love how this project uses items that you probably already have at home. And it's really easy, so you'll be able to whip this up in no time at all!

Signs of Fall

We went to the cottage for the weekend. I spotted many signs of autumn, like the entrance to this bed and breakfast.

Love the white pumpkins. . . they are my favorite.

The pumpkin display (ala Martha Stewart) in this restaurant fireplace was so clever, warm and inviting. (This photo taken with my cell phone doesn't do it justice.) After the pumpkins were carved, a hole was cut in the bottom to fit over individual candles.

These mums in front of our favorite breakfast spot are already starting to fade.

More store front decorations.

This street corner is always beautifully decorated for the different seasons.

Did you notice the flock of "crows" in the tree?

Halloween Inspiration

1. Witch Cupcakes, 2. halloween swap bracelet, 3. Halloween Baskets, 4. Art Erratica's Halloween dangly swap, 5. Halloween Gift Tags, 6. NEW!! Halloween 2009 JUMBO Cupcake Diecut! (Witch Hat), 7. Halloween Houses 016, 8. Halloween Orange Organza Felt Bat 1, 9. halloween pumpkin and ghostie, 10. halloween frankenstein house, 11. Vintage Style Chenille Halloween Ornaments, 12. Vintage-style handmade Halloween elf ans black sisal trees, 13. Halloween / Fall shadow box, 14. Gothic Chic Slipper, 15. Vintage Halloween Book, 16. Halloween Paper dolls for some friends...

As October 31st gets closer and closer, there's lots of Halloween crafting going on. Just look at all these fun projects I found on Flickr - so much inspiration to soak in. And for more Halloween ideas and inspiration, don't forget to check out the Joli Paquet blog.

Southern Living's New Look

Have you seen the new look of Southern Living Magazine? It's undergone a make-over to a brand new modern design. I've always loved Southern Living for it's delicious recipes. But today there's a lot more to love about the magazine.

Like the new feature, Done In A Day, pictured above. In this fast-paced world we live in these days I am really appreciative of projects that I can complete one day or even a few hours.

There's lots of ideas for Halloween entertaining, like the recipe for these easy Owl-Ween Treats that the kids will love.

And don't forget to check out the decorating section for the details of this gorgeous gothic inspired Atlanta home. To find out more about the fabulous new redesign of Southern Living Magazine from the editors themselves click here.

Chic Halloween Treat Bag

Photo Courtesy of Ellen Mueller

Need a new bag to hold all your Halloween treats? Well Ellen from One Ripe Peach has got the directions for making this pretty vintage-style one over at Joli Paquet. It's a far cry from the unimaginative white pillowcase or plastic pumpkin containers that the trick or treaters use around here!

Now I'm off to work on the never-ending studio destash project I started yesterday. I've lots of piles sorted into categories. Now the trick is to find a place to put it all!

Journaling With Friends

I've been working on a journal collaborative with some talented and fun friends I met at ArtFiberfest out in Portland this summer. Cindy, Tammy, Juanita, Linda and I were "neighbors" in the dorm and spent most of time together laughing as we walked around the campus, ate meals together, attended workshops and just hung-out. In fact Tammy's laugh is so infectious I can still hear it now if I close my eyes and reminisce about that weekend! Love those fun memories! We dubbed ourselves the "Naughty Meadow Girls" (for reasons too complicated and crazy to go into here!) and made up a wild story to go along with that title which seemed to get funnier and juicer every time we added to it! It's hard to explain here but as Cindy says, "It's one of those ya had to be there things."
Anyway, we decided to stay in touch and continue our friendship (and silliness) by working on a journal round-robin collaborative together. We each created a journal, completed several pages and then sent it on to the next person to add their artistic touch.
These are a few pages from my journal which is now in Tammy's hands for her to work in. We'll be posting our pages periodically in our Flickr group here if you'd like to follow along with us.

Bewitched!

The fun continues over on the Joli Paquet Blog! Kit sales began yesterday here and here. (Thanks to all of you, my kits have sold out!) Now today is MY turn to post my Bewitching Tutorial for the little witch shown above. I love working with rusty old bits and bobs, but sometimes it's hard to find just the right old piece for a project.  Well, there is a way to make new things look old, rusty and aged and you'll see how by clicking right here.

It's Time!!!

Today is the day the Joli Paquet kits go on sale! My Witchy Shadowbox, complete with glass window, is in my Etsy Shop now HERE.  Ms. Witchy may look spooky, but don't be scared - she's really easy to put together! So hurry and pop on over before they're all gone!!!

B-O-O!

I'm so excited to show you my Joli Paquet kit, which goes on sale tomorrow (10/7) in my Etsy Shop.  This fun little kit includes all the supplies needed to create this glass front Halloween shadowbox. Supplies are limited, so be sure to shop early! All the Joli P girls worked hard to bring you lots of fun and bewitching kits. You can check all of them out along their links right here. Happy Haunting!

Happy Sunday

It's a beautiful Sunday here today. A nice sunny autumn day. My favorite seasons are spring and fall, mostly due to all the colors and the weather of course. I don't like it when it is too hot or too cold. 

I've been working on stuff for Joli Paquet. Kit Previews start tomorrow. Kit sales begin on Wednesday.  And my tutorial is coming up on Thursday. Lots of fun things are coming your way! 

GIveaway!

Hey guess what? We have a fun GIVEAWAY going on over at the Joli Paquet blog, so be sure to check it out.  Kit previews and sales will take place next week.

Welcome October

1. letter O, 2. C, 3. wood type letter T, 4. Sparkley Pumpkins, 5. Amish Country, 6. Ripe