Halloween Book of ACEOs.....

Just posted this little baby on Ebay. It is a book of 8 original Halloween Artist Trading Cards. The book has been created from chipboard covered with decorative papers to give it a vintage feel. This is the inside cover and first page..........
These are the 8 ATCs in the book, not in this order though....

A Halloween Tree and Quilt....

This is a Halloween quilt I hang every year. I made it several years ago. The middle is a panel but the outside 12 by 12 inch blogs I pieced together myself.

Decorating has begun here at home with the Halloween tree. I've made almost ever one of these ornaments over the years with a few purchased ones.

Toodee's Needle Felting Project

So I go down to the studio tonight and there's Toodee with a chunk of wool and the needle felting tool stuck between his teeth. He told me he wanted to try needle felting and ran off to a corner of the table to set to work...... Well about a half an hour later he came back with what he called, "his new Halloween eyeball"! He wore it the whole night and I couldn't get him to take it off!
I made this little Halloween book of 8 original ATCs and right away he grabbed it to read it with his "new eye".

Here is the finished project from the other night. Her name is Zelda and this is her Halloween display complete with tiny frosted bottle brush tree inside of her glittery black bat cave and 2 needle felted jack-o-lanterns. She is available at All Hallows Evening.

I was watching "Ugly Betty" tonight and her dad gave her this little bit of advice, "Life isn't about making the right decisions, it's about dealing with the decisions you've made." Boy, isn't that the truth! It just hit me as a really good quote.

Studio Musings.....

Greetings from the studio! I had an idea tonight for a piece that involved a glittery Christmas ball, decorative papers, wool roving and long needle and a band saw. Hmmmmmm.....what will it be? Check back tomorrow to find out.

Toodee got midevil with the needle felted pumpkin and tried to chew off the stem. I had to threaten him with the big felting needle and he then spit it out and sulked back to his home in the scissors. Hey, just look at the size of that needle, you would have spit out the pumpkin too!

I really like this needle felting thing, however a word to the wise......you must maintain focus while stabbing with the needle....do not and I repeat "DO NOT" look up at the T.V. for even one second or you my friend will have a band-aid in your future!

Bye-Bye Summer.....Helloooooo Fall......

It's coming......... sooner than you think..............
It's here!
The Autumnal Equinox occured today, Monday, September 22, 2008 at 11:44:16 EDT. Bye-bye summer and hello fall! I love fall..... the colors, the smell of leaves, wearing sweaters, pumpkins and apples!

Here is my ATC for today entitled "Bye Bye Summer"!

After school I stopped at one my favorite stores for decorative paper and picked up these wonderful papers. I can't wait to use it. I went in looking for orange decorative paper and found a bunch of it!

This is from the Basic Grey line........ isn't it eye candy?!?! It's simply lucious!

The paper inspired me to seek out orange in my flower garden. I'm not sure of the real name of this flower but my mom and I call it "Arnetta" because my aunt's sister-in-law, named Arnetta gave some seeds or plants to my mom and aunt one time and so the flower has taken on her name. It really spreads and comes in orange and yellow. Would anybody happen to know the name of it?

Taking pictures in the garden brought to mind one of my favorite poems about Autumn by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.....

The Autumn

Go, sit upon the lofty hill,
And turn your eyes around,
Where waving woods and waters wild
Do hymn an autumn sound.
The summer sun is faint on them -
The summer flowers depart -
Sit still - as all transform'd to stone,
Except your musing heart.

Sweet Potato Harvest

Today Gary and I harvested the sweet potatoes from the garden. We grew them in one of our garden boxes which measures 4 feet across by 8 feet long. Just look at all of those beautiful sweet potato vines. This is the first time we grew them. This picture shows how they spread out! Gary has his eyes closed.....happens almost evertime I take a picture of him!

Hi! It's me! Notice the pretty deep green of the leaves. I'm thinking next year I'm going to grow these babies in big pots and use them as an ornamental plant. Plus they didn't attract bugs.

So after about 20 minutes of digging and a broken shovel handle, we were 50lbs heavier.....with sweet taters! They have very long roots.What do I look for in a sweet potato? Size! I want to eat a sweet potato bigger than my foot! (That's a size 8 clog). I think this one would serve a least 4 people. Maybe I'll carve it out and wear it as a shoe!

And as with any garden, you will have your mutants.........this is one of them. Pretty scary looking potato, eh? What does it look like to you? Leave a comment about what you think it looks like and the most original and creative one will win the "Crow Pie" artist trading card below.

I have to find more sweet potato recipes now. I made some for supper.....took off the peel, chunked them and tossed them with canola oil, brown sugar and cinnamon and roasted them. They were quite yummy! It was like eating little chunks of autumn.

Gardening is so much fun and I also find it calming. I'd like to live someplace where I could garden year around. My eggplants did great this year as well as the peppers as evidenced from the picture below.

Studio

Today the top to my studio station was delivered and fitted. My wonderful husband made the base out of quarter sawn oak. The top is a solid surface, nice and smooth. It's going to be wonderful to work on........all 7 feet of it!!! I wanted it a light color so that it will reflect the light because my studio is in the basement.

Now to start to put all my goodies on top of it! That will be the fun part. (Notice all the the little pieces of paper on the floor).

Meet Angus the Pumpkin Guy. He stands about 14 inches tall and is custom order I'm sending out tomorrow to a customer in Oklahoma.

Meet Artie the Crow! He's the best friend of Angus and also is going to Oklahoma. Enjoy the trip boys!

Halloween ATCs

I'm on day 254 of my Artist Trading Card a day for a year. Only 111 more cards to make! I try to mix it up and do a little collage, a little watercolor, a little stamping. Lately I've been making Halloween ATCs. Here are a few.........

Bat Beagle Boy

Notturna

Pumpkin KingThe Pumpkin Carvers

43 more days till Halloween!

A New Christmas Web Store.....

I've developed a new Christmas website for my Christmas folk art. It's called "Jingle All The Way Home" and is open for business! Stop by and check out new goodies being posted daily.

If you stop by and leave a comment at Jingle All The Way Home you will be in a drawing for this angel ornament! It's a half ball with a little angel scene inside.

Spooky Time Jingles Offerings

Hello friends in blogland! It's been awhile since I've posted. I've had a rough few weeks....started a new job.....got a bad ear infection with terrible tinnitus then my mom ends up in the hospital! God, when it rains it pours. My art is my saving grace even though I haven't had much time for it as I'm whipped at the end of the day but even if I get to spend 30 minutes in my studio, I'm thankful for that.


Here is a sneak peek of the Halloween and Christmas offerings due out on Sept. 13th on the Spooky Time Jingles Marketplace website......

Christmas goodies..........................................