Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!
Hope all my friends in blogland had a terrific candy-bar packed Halloween!
This is "Boo" my newest little paperclay leopard doll......

It's Snowing Men......Snowmen that is.....

Since Halloween is almost here it's time to switch to gears. The frosty nights speak of impending flakes......snowflakes that is not your visiting relatives! Tracey at Glitterbug Studios and I decided to challenge each other to make a snowman and do a cross-blog posting.

Let me introduce to you......Mitten. Tracey made this fabulous man with vintage appeal! He's all ready to go out caroling. Isn't he cute? To see more pics of Mitten head on over to Glitterbug Studios. She is becoming quite the Paperclay maven! I love the little "coal" eyes. Mitten measures 15 inches high.

Now, let me introduce you to my little snowguy.......please say "hello" to Sugar. Sugar is made out of cream colored felt. His eyes and mouth are french knots and his nose was embroidered with a straight stitch with DMC floss. I lightly dusted the top of his head and cap with coarse white glitter. He measures 12 inches tall. I was inspired to make Sugar by this glass jar full of yummy Christmas goodies. Isn't it funny how you can get an idea just by looking at a jarful of randomness?

So onward to the pattern. Now remember you can copy and save this pattern for your own use and even make little snowmen to sell, shoot you can even resize it and make little itty bitty ones or giant ones, but please don't sell the pattern because that would be very uncool and bad karma would then come your way in the form of every snowman that you try building this winter looking like a big pile of crap, and I really wouldn't want that for any of my friends in blogland!
So you're asking right about now, "where are the instruction Melissa?" I would never leave you hanging like that! Just to let you you know, I used a sewing machine with Ecru colored thread but you could just as easily hand sew too. You will be sewing on the front of the pieces which means there is no turning of things right side out!

Cut 2 bodies, 4 legs and 4 arms and 2 hats out of felt. Making french knots put on the eyes and mouth and using a straight stitch make a nose using DMC floss. Next cut out 2 little red circles and attach them to the front of the body using french knots. Pin together 2 legs and sew around the outside of them, repeat for the other leg. If you'd like use red DMC floss and a chain stitch to add stripes on his legs. Sew the arms the same way. Pin together the 2 bodies and tuck the two legs into the bottom of the body and stitch right over the legs to hold them on. Continue to stitch around the outside of body about 1/4 of an inch in from the edge and leave about a 2 inch opening on the one side to put the stuffing in (I use Polyfill). Sew the hat and put just a little stuffing in it. Lightly stuff the snowman and hand stitch up the opening. Hand sew the arms on each side. Hand sew the hat on the head at a jaunty angle. Embellish with whatever you want to add on to him!

If you make one of these babies, I'd love to see it! Send me pic and I'll put it in a future blog posting with a link to your blog. Happy Snowman making! This is a great way of making a snowman without getting your hands cold!

Fairy Door Necklaces.....

Again, the falling leaves have inspired me in my newest creations........ fairy door necklaces. The leaves are made of leather and the doors are metal. The coolest thing about the doors (other than them being so stinkin' cute) is that they open! Yes, they open and there's room in there for a picture or little message. The door closes securely with a little magnet in the inside. What would you put inside it?

I love the fibers in this necklace, I was trying to create a "foresty" look.

If you'd like to wear one of these little fairy door necklaces, please visit my jewelry blog:

Honey Girl Studio Jewelry.

Autumn Leaves Jewelry

It is in autumn that I feel very blessed to be living in Western Pennsylvania. The bright blue days of October showcase a jewel-tone parade of falling leaves carelessly floating through the air. The blazing brilliance of colors never ceases to amaze me......

A few weeks ago my mum and I went to a local quilt show and discovered a woman creating these wonderful art quilts. No doubt she was inspired by the showy array of foliage. This is a quilt she was working on.....

This is a finished quilt. She creates them with tiny snippets of fabric which has been backed with Wonder-Under. The machine quilting is random. I think it looks pretty realistic. I'd like to try my hand at one of these someday.

I think Maple trees are my favorite. The colors are just so vibrant.....the reds, yellows and oranges! This is a picture I took this weekend. I was standing in my mom and dad's drive way shooting down toward the little village of Hadley........

Plus, the Maples hold a special place in my heart because the gentle giants surrounded the house I grew up in. This is the house! There were many more Maples around the house but they had to be taken down when they got too old and rotten on the inside.
So as many of you know, I draw a lot of inspiration from nature and this is an excellent time of the year to do so. These are my new pendants I created from leather. This one has a bronze shimmer that is hard to see in this photo. The cascade of shell and stone chips is suppose to mimic falling leaves. The words on the leaf are types of trees.

This leaf has a shimmer of copper, russet and bronze to it. I made it a little steampunkie with the metal gear attached to it.

I really like how this one turned out! The cascade of iridescent pearls in dark egglant, bronze and pale gold really pop on this piece. You can find these necklaces over at Honey Girl Studio Jewelry.

How do leaves inspire you in your artistic pursuits during the autumn season? In other words, what "leafs" you inspired?

Pumpkin Goblin Winner Announced......

And the winner of the Pumpkin Goblin is..........(insert drum roll here).... Dianne C. from
Dianne Rambling On. Congrats Dianne! I hope he doesn't cause too much autumn mischief in your home! Please email me your address and I'll get him sent right out to you this week.
Thanks to all those who left comments and became followers during this giveaway. There will be another give away coming this week so stop back!

Good Weekend/Weekend Goodies

I hope you all had a good weekend, I know I sure did! On Saturday I went to Strongsville, Ohio with my friend Donna to a stamping convention. This is what I bought......

I'm very excited to use the new Tim Holtz rosette die you see above. I watched the guy do the demo and he made it look pretty easy. We had a lot of fun watching the demos and checking out the new goodies. I'd love to be a demo person for Tim Holtz products!

Donna gave me the recipe for this potato soup.....it's super easy and sooooo yummy!

Easy Potato Soup Recipe
In a large pot in 2T of olive oil saute 1/2 of an onion (chopped), 2 stalks of celery (chopped) and 1 large carrot, finey chopped until soft. Add 1 box of chicken stock (about 5 cups) to the pot and 1T of parsley flakes. Next stir in one packet of McCormicks Country Gravy and one bag of Oreida frozen hash browns. Bring to a boil and then turn down to low and simmer for about 20 mintues. I can't get over how delicious it is!

Today I got to play around tonight with Photoshop and make a few digital collages. This collage was created with the following elements: steward boy, Eagle Rock ticket, black and orange ribbon, pumpkins, and orange and white stripe paper in oval frame by Marsha at Tumble Fish Studio at Etsy; white box, corn stalks, metal oval, and books by Lorie at Scrapbook Graphics; black glitter lace by Lisa at Scrapbook Graphics.

I call him "The Pumpkin Steward" as he's the one you call upon to fetch your pumpkin from the field, his tall shiny black boots glistening in the moonlight as he makes his way through the patch with only the aid of a candle in a jar to guide him.

Speaking of pumpkins.......how about this crazy pumpkin that I took a picture of a few weeks ago. It almost looks like it's covered with peanuts! After some sleuthing on the net I found out that it's actually a type of squash called Cucurbita Maxima and I guess they are delicious.

Lastly I'm leaving you a with a picture of Veepers. He's hanging out in the pie safe which is decorated for Halloween and no he does not look happy.....that's because tomorrow is MONDAY and there's a giant spider tickling his toe! Have a bearable Monday! I'd say have a great Monday but we all know there is no such thing.

Got Frost On Your Pumpkin?

A special "Thanks you" to my friend Tracey of Glitterbug Studios for making me this new awesome Halloween banner! Isn't it cool?

Brrrrr, it may possibly frost this weekend here in Northwestern, Pa! The weather in this area around Halloween is a total crap-shoot. The big joke is that you know you're a Western Pennsylvanian if you buy your Halloween costume 2 sizes too big so that you can get your winter coat on underneath it! That saying inspired me to make this 3 by 5 inch collage. The witch is wearing her winter coat because it gets pretty chilly zooming around on a broom. The background was digitally created with elements from Tangie Baxter and the rest of the collage was handcut and glued from my bits and pieces from my own collection. of goodies.


The Autumn Key Pendant winner is Jill at Bucks County Folk Art. Congrats Jill!



Please visit the previous post to enter to win the Pumpkin Goblin!
Remember keep the frost off your pumpkin and stay warm! Smiles :-)

Halloween Give Away!

My friend Tracey over at Glitterbug Studios and I have decided to do a dual giveaway. To celebrate Autumn & Halloween we have worked on two little paperclay and fabric figures. Tracey made a fabulous witch. You can check it out at her blog: www.glitterbugstudios.blogspot.com

Look who I found stalking through my flower garden!!! He's a pumpkin goblin and he's what I'm giving away!

His head has been hand sculpted with rigid wrap and paper clay. Just look at that mischievous look. There's no telling what kind of trouble he's planning to get into.His 12 inch body is painted fabric and his arms and legs are bendable. He sports a felt cap and a skirt of autumn leaves and fibers. He's waving to YOU and saying "come enter the drawing for me!"

I'll draw the winner on October 10th. So to be in the drawing, you need to just leave a comment and if you're not a follower please consider becoming one by signing up on the right. If you have a blog it would be really groovy if you mentioned this give away and a link to it too.

I have no idea what his name is so maybe you can help me out and leave a name suggestion!

Works in Progress, Halloween Decorating and a Give Away!

Hello! Happy first day of Autumn. I love autumn....the colors, the smell of leaves, the cooler weather and the start of decorating! These little guys are part of my autumn celebrations. The head on the left is going to be a pumpkin goblin and the one on the right is going to be a kid dressed up as a leopard! I will choosing one of the them for a giveaway coming up soon so stay tuned!I put up the Halloween tree this past weekend. I made most of the ornaments on the tree, some friends have either given to me or I've bought. I think I like my Halloween tree better than my Christmas tree!

My mom and I made the pumpkin guy topper many, many years ago. We've always crafted together! The little beagle on the bench is the perfect dog.....he doesn't bark, doesn't need to be walked and doesn't move!

A shot of my mantle, shooting from one end to the other.

Not only am I celebrating the glories of the fall season but I'm celebrating the end of my back pain. For almost 4 months I've had a terrible pain in my upper back/shoulder area and have had a lot of pain when breathing. Long story short, finally found a dr. yesterday that found out what it was........

Two dislocated ribs!!!! He popped them back into place and instantly I could breath and the pain was much less in my back!

So to celebrate finally not feeling terrible, I'm offering one of my vintage altered key necklaces!

To be entered in the drawing, just become a follower and leave a comment. If you already are a follower, then just leave a quick comment and give me shout out on your blog with a link to this post. I'll draw the winner on Wed. (Sept. 29th).

The vintage key has been painted orange and wire wrapped with orange wire, embellished with a vintage starburst and 2 danglies of glass beads. The handmade fabric cord measures 18 inches long.

A Day of Crafting!

Hey, I haven't posted in a while, I've had computer problems.....I had two laptops come down with a bad virus to the point that they wouldn't even work. I'm seriously considering getting a Mac!

Today, my good friend Tracey from Glitterbug Studios came to visit me for a day of crafting!

This is the pumpkinman I made........his name is Angus. You can check out Tracey's pumpkinman at her blog. She went with a black/white theme and it's pretty darn cute!

First we started by covering my dining room table with every imaginable art/craft supply from our stashes!

Here's Tracey with the plain muslin dolls we started out with. We bought them at the Pat Catans. They're 12 inches tall and bendable......the dolls not Tracey.

The head started out as a plain old plastic pumpkin, you know the kid you get at the dollar store. I then covered it with Rigid Wrap (I got this idea from the current Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine). It's a roll of fabric covered with plaster that you can cut into strips, dip in water and smooth onto just about any surface. After the rigid wrapped pumpkin dries hard you can add a nose and cheeks with Creative Paperclay.

We took a break to have chocolate mousse........with chocolate sticks.

I took a break to try to create a mummy costume........not really, just kidding!So here is Angus sitting on a wonderful stack of black and orange books with a cute tag and ribbon that Tracey made for me. I think he likes it perched up on that pile of books.

Look at Tracey's pumpkinman.....he's actually a white pumpkin/gourdman. She has a such a creative mind! We're laughing because my husband took the picture and said, "ok, smile you little freaks"! Well, we had a great time and we're already planning on making more and having a giveaway....maybe even as soon as next Saturday so stay tuned!

Mail Art?

Do you know about "Mail Art"? Mail art is art which uses the postal system as a medium. The term mail art can refer to an individual message, the medium through which it is sent, or an artistic genre. It's also known as postal art or as Correspondence/Mail Art.

I'm in a Halloween Envelope mail art swap and this is the front of my "Junkyard Pumpkins" envelope. This past week I've seen a lot of roadside stands with pumpkins for sale so I was inspired by the orange spheres of Halloween joy! The person's address goes onto the face of the middle pumpkin and my return address in the corner in the little pumpkin. I bet the mail carrier gets a kick out of the envelope!

Hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend. It's time to say "Bye summer, I'll see you next year"!

Colorful Shoes?

I have been in love with shoes since I was a teenager. I like unique, colorful shoes. I ran across these Alegria shoes. To say that I love these shoes is an understatement! They are the most comfortable shoes I've ever owned. The bottom sole is thick and the inside is like walking on a memory foam mattress! (No I don't work for Alegria shoes!) I'm saving for a leopard print pair next.

Now these babies are really one of a kind b/c they were painted by me! I'm channeling my inner Elvis when I wear them. I started with a cheap pair of brown oxfords from WalMart....I got them for $5. I painted them with Lumier paints and sprayed them with 5 coats of mat clear coat. I think they'll look awesome with black jeans.

The other day Gary and I were out "ridge-running" when we happened upon a road by this name.......

I'm not so sure I'd like to live on a road called "Hellskitchen".....maybe if you were Chef Ramsey it might be cool.

So we are coming to the end of my favorite August fruit.....peaches! I like the Red Haven the best. These peaches are grilled and topped with a ricotta mixture (recipe below). They are so yummy, all warm and slightly soft with the sweet cinnamon ricotta. Actually it's kind of like eating a peach canolli.

Split the peaches in half, take out the stone. Lay on a hot grill, cut side down and grill for 4 minutes then flip them over and grill for 4 minutes on the other side.

Ricotta Filling:

Wisk together 1/2 cup of skim ricotta, 1 Tbs of sugar and 2 Tbs. of French Vanilla coffee creamer

Take peaches off the grill, fill with ricotta mixture and sprinkle with cinnamon.