The End of Inktober with a Double Pinch of Scribble Picnic

Inktober comes to an end today.  I have enjoyed doing this daily challenge but I'm looking forward to getting back to using different art supplies again.  I know HWNSNBP is also looking forward to getting some of these art supplies off the dining room table as I've taken advantage and spread my "stuff" out, but now it's time to get things in order for the holidays.  Oh, I can't believe tomorrow will be November already.  

Day 26 - STRETCH

Some neon rubber bands.

Day 27 - THUNDER

Or in this case, Thunderbird.

Day 28 - GIFT

Should be self-explanatory I hope.

Day 29 - DOUBLE

And here is my entry for Scribble Picnic this week which also is DOUBLE (or JOLT).  I recently saw a photo of a castle in France that had the facade painted incorporating these pixellated 3-story skulls in very vibrant colors.  The rest was covered in polka dots.  Very bizarre, yet beautiful.  The windows were eyes.  So since the prompt was DOUBLE I used facing pages for these double skulls.  Fits the season - no?

Day 30 - JOLT (off prompt)

Instead a rendition of some sort of moss that was on a rock bordering one of our plantings. HWNSNBP told me to come outside with my camera to see something which turned out to be mushrooms that were growing in the garden bed on the side of the garage that resembled penises.  This is not the first time that we've had these in the yard, but these appeared to be a different variety. And although I did take a picture of them, my eye was drawn to this moss (or it could be a lichen - not sure) that was growing on the rock.  There were several patches of it and the closer I looked the more interesting it was.  So this is what I have for this date.

Day 31 - SLICE

One of the local bistro's was offering plain pizzas for $5 today as a Halloween special so pizza slice was on my mind.  But I wanted to somehow fit Halloween into this and went with a tangled pumpkin of sorts, which if you notice does have 8 slices like a pizza would, but don't look too closely or you will see the mistake that I made coloring it.

I hope that you enjoyed viewing these Inktober pieces.  I feel a sense of accomplishment having completed the whole month, but like I said at the start, I will be glad to be able to have more choice of the media to use and also to work at my leisure.  There's always so much that I want to do but the drawback is the limited amount of creative time that I have.  I was contemplating another challenge for the beginning of November (a 10-day Square-a-Thon on Instagram) but think I will pass so I can make sure that I'm on track for a more enjoyable December coming up.

Now I will ask you to join me in checking out the other entries at the picnic this week.  You can by clicking here.  The next theme will be FOREST due on November 11th should you like to join in.

Happy Halloween

We sent this light up pumpkin to the little guy in a plastic jar and I'm hoping that the post office didn't confiscate it as a threatening object.  It only lights up when you bounce it.

We dropped this card off for him over the weekend and I can't wait to see pictures of him in his costume this year.

Jingle Belles - Creature Feature Revisited

Got this die recently and it was sitting on my work table almost screaming at me to be used, so I let the voices have their way and thus have another entry for the Jingle Belles creature prompt for this fortnight.  It helped that I had a scrap of Bermuda Bay cardstock in the vicinity and had just gone through some patterned paper and put this plaid aside for possible Christmas card use.  These colors together are one of my favorites.

Yes, I know that baker's twine is not that "hot" anymore, but I like it and I think it works here.  So much so that I made two of these.  (But if you look closely at that second card you will see how misplaced the plaid background is - something I thought I could live with but alas, I think it will be trimmed off the base and remounted properly.)

Dare I ask whether those berries should also be red?  

Okay, so there's more Christmas creature cards over at the Jingle Belles.  I'm going to get there soon and give out some Halloween comments - what about you!

Jingle Belles - Not a Creature Was Stirring

Leave it to Laurel Burch to be able to herd those cats into a Christmas tree.  I've been waiting for a good time to use this stamp from Stampendous and had a lot of fun coloring it for the Jingle Belles challenge this fortnight.  I have a second one stamped and ready for trying alternate colors when I get a chance.  Maybe when I'm watching one of the new Hallmark Christmas movies (which btw began tonight.....and it's not even Halloween yet!).

I'm also going to post this card at Janis' blog - Her Peaceful Garden for the Cat Lover's Hop and squeezing it in just in the nick of time.  

I have a few Laurel Burch cat items that I've gotten through Zulily.  The sets of make-up/jewelry zippered pouches are a pretty way to carry craft supplies too. 

So won't you check out those links above and see what other creatures are Jingling and if you're a cat lover you have to check out all the creative cat entries.   

Inktober 2018 Days 18-25

Day 18 - BOTTLE

My new bottle of pink sea salt.

Day 19 - SCORCHED (off prompt)

Maybe some rainbow butterflies instead.

Day 20 - BREAKABLE

That beak could break a lot of things I'm sure.

Day 21 - DRAIN

Don't get your finger caught in this tangled drain.

Day 22 - EXPENSIVE

I recently saw this beautiful tile floor in an article on the internet.  I believe this would be very expensive.

Day 23 - MUDDY

Inspired by a picture I took of my son's muddy boots. 

Day 24 - CHOP (off prompt)

Instead some tangled chains.

Day 25 - PRICKLY

I think these would be very prickly plants.

More Bird Pin Finds

Skimming through some of my pictures I realized that I had not yet posted these.  I started looking out for water bird pins at flea markets and garage sales back before 2013 when I found the first one at the little flea market they have twice each summer across the street from our condo in Barnegat.  I posted about that one and the second one that I found at a little church festival my friend J and I went to back in 2013 (This post).

Not too long after that, my blogging friend Clare in CA send me another seagull pin that her husband found.  I was thrilled to add it to my collection.  (This post.)  And in June of 2017 at a local church garage sale I found another.  (This post.)

Ever since, whenever I go to a garage sale, rummage sale, or flea market, I keep my eyes open to find additional birds to join the flock.  I've seen a bunch on ebay and etsy but they're a little pricey for what I want to do with them.  

This past August I found this bird pin at that little flea market across the street.  I know this is probably supposed to be a flamingo, which we wouldn't find here in NJ, but at the time I saw it, with just my sunglasses on and most of the paint worn away, it looked like it could have been a heron.  The vendor only wanted a quarter for it and I was glad that I had one in my pocket.  I remember that when I picked this up it was so hot from being out in the sun that it burned my hand.  

Then, a couple of weeks ago, J and I took some time on a Saturday morning to visit a community garage sale and this little gem was found.  The only purchase of the day!

I think with the temperatures that they're predicting for this evening (33º) it's safe to say that fall is here and garage saling and rummaging will come to a halt until next spring.  

Scribble Picnic - BOTTLE

This fortnight Michael has given us the theme of BOTTLE.  It happens that tomorrow's prompt for Inktober is also bottle so again I'm squeezing the two together.  (If you want to see my latest Inktober post click here.)

Who remembers Chianti bottles with dripping candles in Italian restaurants?  I think initially there were only white candles but during the color explosion of the 60's and 70's you could get candles that dripped in many colors.  I was very surprised to see that you can still get these candles on Etsy and Ebay.  I guess I really shouldn't be surprised about that, there's a lot of nostalgic items out there.  

The candle in the bottle looked so lonely there that I added the checkered tablecloth-like background which I kind of regret.  But it will have to do for now.  

So, let's scoot over to Michael MacVean's place on Dotty Hill to check in with the other picnickers.  Won't you join us?  And should you like to give it a try, the theme for 10/30 is JOLT or DOUBLE.

Inktober 2018 Days 4-17

My camera/phone is being a pain in the neck lately.  Or maybe it's my computer.  In any case, when I go to download my photos, it picks and chooses which, if any it's going to transfer to the computer.  The only way I've found around this is to duplicate each photo and then the darn thing imports both.  So there's a lot of duplicating and deleting going on.   

Sorry for this long, photo heavy post.  I'll try to break up the rest of the month in smaller posts.

Day 4 - SPELL 

Hocus Pocus (I'm really liking that font. Need more practice.)

Day 5 - CHICKEN

I saw this garden rooster (in color) for sale on Wayfair.  Too bad they wanted $249 for it!

Day 6 - DROOLING (off prompt) 

 2 colors, 2 shapes, 2 lines

Day 7 - EXHAUSTED

Ball point pens tried to achieve the transparency of the leaves.

Day 8 - STAR

Inspired by the song from Sly and the Family Stone - Everybody is a Star

Day 9 - PRECIOUS (off prompt)

I may go back and watercolor this and the rooster.

Day 10 - FLOWING

This is the wind map of Hurricane Florence showing the directional flow and intensity of the winds.

Day 11 - CRUEL (off prompt)

This was inspired by the needlework art of Vera Shimunia.  

Day 12 - WHALE

This puffin is whale watching from the rocks.

Day 13 - GUARDED (off prompt)

Inspired by the dahlias that HWNSNBP has grown this summer and are now fully in bloom.

Day 14 - CLOCK

My grandparents, who lived downstairs from us when I was a child, had an anniversary clock on top of their TV console which always fascinated me.

Day 15 - WEAK (off prompt)

Don't you just love magenta red trees in the fall!

Day 16 - ANGULAR

This maple leave is very angular I think.

Day 17 - SWOLLEN

This Cianti bottle is swollen with colorful wax reminiscent of Italian restaurant decor of long ago.

One More Pink Christmas for the Cure - Jingle Belles

One of the more recent Unity Kits of the Month contained this lovely ornament and I pictured it in pink so I thought I'd better hurry up and get this card done for the Jingle Belles Pink Christmas Challenge.  

Kudos to Lauren and Stephanie for once again hosting this challenge for such a worthy cause.  Read more about it here.  Jingle Belles definitely ROCK!

Mini Scrap Collages 197-203/365

Get Well for the Little Guy and an Anniversary

Our  little guy had a little procedure recently so I made him a couple of cards.  I just loved this little dinosaur stamp because it reminded me of his costume from Halloween last year.  

This pig stamp is interactive, though it's probably still a little hard for his little hands to figure out. The wings flap when you pull the tab.  (Of course you know I had to have this flying pig!)

His mom sent us this little video of him.  He melts my heart.  (And yes, we're currently grandpa grandpa.)

Shortly after that our son and daughter-in-law celebrated their 6th anniversary.  I played around with some Color Burst powders and used them with this new leaf die that I recently got.  Paired that with the bow die which has longer tails that actually end in snowflakes, but I cut it down and replaced the snowflakes with 6 hearts.  

I did one more card with that leaf but sadly, it was a sympathy card.