Haunted

I am participating in a GC Creative Connection. I heard about this month’s GCCC - Haunted - from Gingersnap Creations. Why not play along? Post a creation to your blog mentioning my post and the Creative Connection post on Gingersnap Creations. Let’s all craft it forward and see how far we can get this connection to go!

Does this look the least bit haunted to you?  I tried and tried and tried to get a decent photo which would show you that there is a golden patina to the windowpane, but had no success with that. You'll have to take my word for it, I'm afraid. I used some really funky vellum which has enbossed spiderweb-type designs all over it.  It came out of a photo album that my father had put my baby photos in well over 50 years ago.

Both women are images by Julia Van Der Werf of Cemerony

I love her work, don't you?

I hope you join us over at Gingersnap Creations.  Tell them I sent you!

I just have to show you this.

I wonder what concert they were planning to attend?

Friday Fill Ins #195

1. Wow, it's _snowing!!_.

2. It's kind of_ beautiful.

3. My favorite way to start a day is _sleeping in, like I did this morning.  Hah!_.

4. I heard a howl_ and he walked in the door holding a pumpkin.

5. I look out my window and see _snow.  Didn't I already say that?_

6. _Scrapbooking_ is what I've been thinking about lately.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _scrapbooking (natch)_, tomorrow my plans include _looking for the snow shovel_ and Sunday, I want to _maybe sleep in again and have nachos for breakfast._!

 

Find lots more FFI here.

Halloween Inchies

Notice the spider on the pumpkin?

I actually TOUCHED it.  I'm so proud of myself. 

I've moved from one apartment to another because I saw a spider.

It's the only thing I don't love about Halloween.

I got an ATC in the mail yesterday and almost had a heart attack when I opened the envelope.

HUGE spider.  Well, as huge as it can be and still fit on an ATC.

Wait until you see what I'm working on now, you won't BELIEVE it.

What are YOU afraid of?

Warrior Women!!

Linda Ledbetter of Studio L3 fame has invited us all to create something to help celebrate Sherry Goodloes' wonderful news that she won't have to endure chemo or radiation!  And it just so happens that today, Kimmie of Digital Whisper has given us the image of the woman's torso is honour of her friend MoMeMa's mother.  MoMeMa's mother has just learned that her cancer has spread to her liver.

My mother was diagnosed with cervical cancer before I was born.  Well, adopted, actually.  That's well over 50 years ago.  Then, when I was a teenager, she encountered breast cancer, had a radical mastectomy and chemo.  Many many years later, she had to deal with skin cancer.

My mom lived until the ripe old age of 90 and she died of causes OTHER THAN cancer.

So she's the proof that cancer can be beaten, even back in the days when it couldn't.

I hope you'll join me in sending some healing love to those women who are brave Warriors in this battle and all those who love them. 

WOYWW 71?

Snoop at more folk's workdesks at What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday?.

Happy birthday Jane!

Who is Jane?  you ask.

Does it really matter?

Click on the pic if you have old eyes like I do.  That'll make it bigger and then if you push your face up right to the monitor, you'll be able to follow the story.

The party girls are by Rian of Freuble.

I hope you'll visit her, she's re-opened her shop and she doesn the most amazing WORK!

And a BIG SHOUT-OUT TO THE CHILIEAN MINERS AS THEY COME UP FROM THE BOWELS OF THE EARTH AND TO THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE FREED THEM  This is as big a deal as the walk on the moon, imo, and I was around for that as well, so I can say that.

EEHAW!!

Boil, Bubble, Toil and Trouble

The Order of the Opus Gluei is in a Halloween mood this week.  this works really well for me as I've been on a Halloween binge.  Not that I'm eating candy.  Nope, just making Halloweeny-type stuff.  We were given this recipe: 3 triangles, a circle, 1 half-circle and some embellishments.

And this is what I concocted:

And for dessert:

All images are by Lisa's Altered Art.

Now go get in a scary frame of mind and join the fun at The Order of the Opus Gluei.

Once each century

Soartful Challenge-Stairway to Heaven

Isn't this spectacular?

It's the image we've been given this week over at

 Soartful Challenges

It's titled "Stairway to the Stars".

And here is my interpretation using this image.  Somewhat less spectacular, but I like it.

And I've decided that's the important thing.  If I like it, it's been a good challenge.

Thaanks to Soartful Challenges for another wonderful inspiration!

CCC Challenge #16

WRINKLE-FREE DISTRESS

Linda Ledbetter

 of Studio L3 fame, has given us another week of her Compendium of Curiosities lusciousness.

The technique, from Mr. H's Compendium, is called "Wrinkle Free Distress".  Now I know and you know, in fact, we all know that Tim has given each of his brilliant technques a name so that we know what to call what we are doing.  But there is more to it than that's my friends.  Yes, indeedy.

When I saw the name of this week's challenge, what came to my (somewhat simple) mind was de-stress, as in not feeling stressed and wrinkle-free as in if I'm not stressed, my skin will have this lovely smooth-as-a-baby's-behind glow.  (Now THAT's an analogy I'd have to question the origin of. What exactly was the person doing when s/he came up with that?)

And THEN, I thought of housework, this week being a week of thinking about housework and not doing housework, but looking at all the housework that needs doing and fretting about not having done the housework.

Hence, wrinkle-free (not) and de-stress-(not especially)

Have I lost you yet?

Maybe this will help explain what I'm trying to say:

I DID get my housework done, it was just the getting there that was so hard.

Check out Linda's blog for an amazing creative talented community of artists.

Compenium of Curiosities

BTW, I DID get my housework done, and my skin isn't looking TOO bad.

Art Creation Friday #90

We've been given the most beautiful background image to work with this week, it was such a pleasure to create with this!  I haven't altered the background in any way, it was just too pretty to do that.  I've simply added the elements:

I can't really tell you much about the elements, cus I'm at work and forgot to get that information.

(SHHHHH, don't tell anyone.)

Now go visit Art Creation Friday and make something of your own with this wonderful work of art!

Friday Fill Ins #194

1. My favorite month is _October_ because _of the fall colours_.

2. Never pass gas into _ a fresh breeze.

3. I love to sniff _other people's cookies_.

4. _Nachos_ is what I like to have as a treat for breakfast.

5. The hobby I enjoy most is _well, duh.  Making art._

6. _Lions and tigers and bears_ oh my!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _seeing a friend_, tomorrow my plans include _maybe going to a busy overpass at night at taking photographs of the traffic_ and Sunday, I want to _stay in my PJ's all day and relax_!

It's so nice to see Janet back, go on over to Friday Fill Ins and say Hi!

Dezinaworld Angel

I'm sure I'm about the only one who doesn't know June of Dezinaworld and the wonderful artwork she does. I'm often the last to know. No matter what it is. But at any rate, I've recently discovered Dezinaworld and I really like the artwork that people submit there.  So I play along when I can.  This week, June has suggested "angels".  So I've come up with something and I really like it, but I suspect she may be more of a fairy than an angel.  I've never met either face-to-face though, so I can't be sure.  The image of the fairy/angel is from google-land.  The background is by Holliewood Studios, the wings are by Lisa's Altered Art, and the cake is by Freubel. The rest of it?  Who knows.  Only the elves who live in my stash could answer that.

I hope you like it.

And if you don't, I'll bet you can relate to it.

Halloween ATC's

I made these for a Swap-Bot swap.

Halloween is the kind of holiday that you can go goth, or freakish, or cute, or childlike, or whatever your haunted little heart desires.  These are what I was feeling like the day I made them.

A little bit silly and a little bit cute. (I should probably re-word that, I haven't been cute for over 50 years.)

These was another day I made something that scared me so bad, I had to delete it.  Did I tell you I have a spider phobia?  Well, one day, I'll tell you a bit more about that.  But not today, I'm getting a bit nervous again.

Have a spooky, but not necessarily scary day today.

Wordless Wednesday

See more Wordless Wednesdays here

Digital Whisper Challenge #20

I should be doing about a million things right now.  This whole evening, in fact.  The vaccuum is in the middle of the living room floor and the Pledge furniture polish is in front of the coffee machine in case I forgot what I was going to do this evening. When I came home I lay down for just a moment and then when I got up I had this silly burst of energy. I was going to clean, honest I was. After supper, I snuck over to see what the new Digital Whisper Challenge is and, well, oops, I told myself I would just try something with the image........

You may or may not know that I LOVE FALL.  LOVE, LOVE LOVE IT.
And I was just trying a little something with this funky leaf and I accidentally kept trying things and well, my submission is done.

I know, I know, TOMORROW I'm not allowed near my puter until I clean the living room.

The background and two creatures who are not the fairy are by Holliewood Studios.  The fairy is from an old Bulova Watch ad and the word art is by Danielle Donaldson.  The rest of the paraphenalia is from my stash.

You know where her wings come from.

I'll put the furniture polish in front of the fridge.  That'll work.

Thanks for stopping by.

Gingersnap Inchies

I love making inchies.  I love receiving inchies in the mail.  I love everything about inchies.  Thus, I have taken part in the Gingersnap CreationsInchies Challenge.

This took quite some time, but I had a great time making it.  Feel free to click on the image to make it bigger.

And go see the other magical work at Gingersnap Creations

Please click on the image to see the details.

NEWS FLASH!

My inchies were chosen by Gingernap Creations as a Gingergem!

I am excited beyond words!!

I have one more post for tonight. Just a little one.

Well not little like the two little witches who showed up earlier this evening. Little as in it's PAST MY BEDTIME AGAIN and I have no one to blame but myself.

Dezinaworld is asking for fall-themed creations and I've just been chomping at the bit (THAT's not a very pleasant visual is it?) to do a scrabook LO with one of the bazillion photos I've been taking over the past while.  This year, the colours have been AMAZING!  I made this for my desktop so I could look at the pretty colours while I am inside.

Here, what do you think?

TADA!  That'll wake you up in the morning.  (maybe I should put it on my bathroom mirrior, not my computer monitor.

Anyways, I am toddling over to Dezinaworld linking this up for her.  she's having some challenge in her lie, so maybe this will help lift her spirits.

Good night, sleep tight.  I was going to say "don't let the bedbugs bite", but since I've heard on the news there is a North American invasion of them, I think I'll leave well enough alone.

You know I love Opus Gluei, right?

Of course you do!  It is the one challenge I NEVER, EVER miss (except once, but I was too sick to come to the puter).  Well, challenge #74 is

Halloween!!

That's it!  Halloween!  How much fun is that?

when I saw what the challenge was for this week, I stopped doing dishes and laundry and housework and immediately rushed to my studio to make something spooky.

OK that's a lie.

I wasn't ACTUALLY doing any of those things,

but I could have been!

in another liftime maybe

Here's what I created:

Where the pic of the two little girls came from is beyond me, it's been on my hard drive waiting for a time like this.  The little witches' heads, hats, the raven (nevermore!), and the word (and number) art are all from Lisa's Altered Art.  with her images, ANYONE can make something wonderful!

Now, you know you've made something Halloween-y.  You know it and I know it.  That's what we do.  You may be keeping it a secret, thinking to yourself, "No one will ever know,", but I say to you,

Stand Up and Be Counted!!

Take a risk and show us your spooky art.  Add it to the other art at The Order of the Opus Gluei.

You'll have fun.  Just like the rest of us do.

I'll see you over there.

OKAY?

OOGEDY-BOOGEDY.

Swapping time!

Wendy of  Bliss Angels is hosting a 12 Days of Christmas ATC Swap and you have to hurry to get in on it!

Here are the reasons:

1.  It will be a BLAST!

2. Your friends will envy you.

3.  I can say from (swapping) experience that Wendy always does the bestest swaps.

4.  The more people who sign up, the less chance there is that I will have to do "French Hens".  I can't remember off the top of my  head how many French Hens there are exactly, but what I DO know is that I have no idea WHAT a French Hen is, having never been overseas.

If you have any compassion at all, you'll hurry over there right now and save my sorry butt.

Bliss Angels

When you get to her blog, you'll immediately know you've done the right thing, when you see how magical it is!

I know it's not even close to Christmas, but you don't want to be sitting in your living room, feeling left out, come December, do you?  Plus, think how organized and self-righteous you'll be able to feel.

I'm watching.

October Dress Up

Here is my October Dress-Up for Margaret's Dress Up 2010.

The base is some fancy-schmancy hand-painted paper I had in my stash and the skirt is some ribbons with spiders on the ends of them.  (It used to be a Halloween hair elastic that I found at the Loonie store.) Add a little bling and there you have it, perfect for any Halloween party you attend.
 
You can see more dresses at Dress Up 2010.

You asked for it.

OK, 'member the "sneak peek" a while ago?

Well, some of you have asked if I am a MIL and the answer is no.  I'm a grandma to a dog, but my daughter is not getting married. (Does that make my grand-dog illegitimate?)  As a matter of fact, when she was born, I think her dad took one look at her and went home to polish his shotgun. The girl, not the dog. lol

ANYWAYS, the weekend that we went down to Waterton Park to take pictures, I took along a wedding gown that I found at a thrift store here in town. It was homemade (no tag with a size) and looked to be from the late 50's/early 60's.  The plan was to take some pics of my daughter wearing it (and maybe even toss her into the lake with it on)

She and I hid under a tree up on top of the hill where the Prince of Wales hotel is and TRIED to get  the gown on her. "Member I said there was no tag?  Well, I think it was maybe a size 2 or possibly even a size 1 1/2.  It did not fit.  But we had driven three hours to get there and SHE WAS GOING TO WEAR IT, WHETHER IT FIT OR NOT. So we pulled and yanked in on over her head and tried to ignore the ripping sound.  We got in on, alright.  But it will never be the same again.

When we came out from under the tree there were a couple of guys on Harleys lookin' at us.

What do you say???????

It was windy.

Very, very windy.

AAK!  RUN!  CATCH IT!

Canada's Next Top Model

Eat your heart out, Tyra Banks

By the time we got to Red Rock Canyon, I had her sleeve in my pocket.

It was a beautiful weekend and there were a lot of tourists around, lots of Europeans.  You should have seen the looks on their faces as we walked by. We got lots of "Congratulations!" too.  Huh?

Who wears runners and a woolly jacket with a wedding dress with 1/2 of the top missing?

The funniest thing was when she emerged from the outhouse.  There were a couple of young Hutterite girls and their mouths were still open as we walked away.

I can fly!

And the piece de resistance:

Look almost like she has a whole dress on, eh?

Oh, and we never did throw her in the lake.

She would have killed me.

Art Creations Friday #89

Once again Art Creations Friday has provided us with a lovely image:

It's so beautiful!

I had some fun with it, and didn't necessarily make something beautiful, just made another peek into the fantasy world in which I actually live.

Hope your Sunday is going as well as mine!

Go visit the other artists at Art Creations Friday

Trees and Sketches and Sketched Trees

The Order of The Opus Gluei gave us a sketch this week and said Go forth and something with it!  So I made a card.

Remember, I hate making cards.  But Christmas is coming and I have a friend or two, so what the heck, I made a card. Here it is:

(If you go and visit The Order of The Opus Gluei, you'll find lots more inspiration for your own forest.

THEN, I looked at it and thought to myself, "Self, there is a tree on there and trees makes me think there is something I should be remembering about trees, now what was that about trees?"

Gingersnap!!!!

(I'll bet you thought I snapped my fingers and had a Eureka moment.  Nope.)

Over yonder at Gingersnap Creations they are suggesting a monthly theme that we can use to come up with some holiday cards.  This month, the theme is "Trees".  See, the reasoning is that if we all play along and make one or two or a few more holidays cards each month, we might just be ready when the time for mailing comes around.  (I have no illusions that I'll be ready for anything, but I'm always up for something fun.)

BUT

after I remembered what is was I was trying to remember about trees as I gazed at my lovely Opus card, I kind of went into a trance and made some more.  Tree-ish cards, that is.

This last one looks better in person (in tree?).

The ribbon says Peace on Earth.

Gingersnap Creations will make you happy.  Go see.  Really.

IN FACT

my hat (woolly touque in fact) is off to both Gingersnap Creations and The Order of The Opus Gluei

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go pick some pine needles out of my hair.

BOO!

It's October!  And for some reason, I'm feling really excited about Halloween!

(Never mind it's 31 days away.)

So I thought I would welcome the month with this brick I painted a few years ago.

Nuff said!