Happy Halloween 2020!

This Scare Crow has been in the works for over 25 years.  I had all the makings for it stored in the closet in our den turned storage room and had forgotten all about until we started emptying out that closet and room.  Since it was the right time of year for it, I put it all together.  Ingredients include some old black sweats, a black ski mask, black umbrella fabric, yellow plastic funnel, dowels painted yellow for the legs, yellow rubber gloves for the feet/claws, ping pong balls for the eyes, and a wire hanger to help spread the umbrella wings.  I stuffed it with bags full of plastic bags.  Creepy or cute?  You decide.

Our little ghost and welcome sign.  We don't usually get any trick or treaters on our street - no sidewalks or street lights, and the houses are pretty far apart which keeps them away.

The card made for our oldest grandson (4-years).  I told him that the dinosaur skeletons had been mischievously smashing all the pumpkins.  He thought that was funny.  

We got to see him in his costume on Halloween Eve.  He was an Air Force Fighter Pilot with the handle of Red Horse (his creation).  He was excitedly explaining to us his gloves which turned into mittens.

He and Papa planted the annual Christmas amaryllis bulb.  Hopefully it will bloom by Christmas this year.  Last year it was almost Valentine's Day.

This is the card I made for the littlest (18-months-old).  

He was a little ducky.  And we were so glad to see him on Halloween, if only for a little bit.

We brought him lots of goodies from his older cousin, including this little ride on tractor that we had first given to the older one at about the same age.  This little guy is a daredevil though and wants to climb and stand on everything.  So he has to be well supervised when playing.

And lastly, some K-cup carriers that I put together the last minute for the ladies.  I bought a package of Pumpkin Spice Caramel coffee at The Christmas Tree Shop last week and I love it, but coffee has been causing me some internal discomfort, so I am passing what I didn't use along.

We were away overnight last night and had ice on the steps of the condo this morning and found that we had a killing frost here when we got home late this afternoon so all of the delicate flowers are done for the year.  It looked quite like Halloween with all the dead plants in the back to welcome us.  The mums don't mind the cold weather as much and will be good for a little longer, but tomorrow HWNSNBP will be emptying the planters.  I'll have some last pictures of those flowers to share soon.  

Pink Christmas......For the Cure! - Jingle Belles

 

One more for Pink Christmas ------ just in the nick of time.  With the help of the little gnomes and some cute Christmas house stickers a little pink snowy scene came together.  (It only took me two days to find those gnome dies but I did!!!)

Check out all those beautiful Pink Christmas cards at the Jingle Belles blog.  Remember, Lauren and Stephanie are each making a $2 donation for every Pink Christmas card made to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.  

I'm Dreaming of a Pink Christmas - Jingle Belles

I haven't made a Christmas card in months and I'm sure that'll be my demise very soon, but I couldn't go any longer without taking part in the Jingle Belles Challenges, especially the one this month for Pink Christmas.  There are a few guidelines for this challenge including it must be a new design, it must have a winter theme, and the basic caveat is that it should be mostly PINK.  Why pink?  Well, we're in the midst of Pinktober - Breast Cancer Awareness month and our hostesses, Stephanie and Lauren each pledge $2 for every card that is made to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.  A pretty good cause, don't you think!  So here's my first entry..........

I found that pink background paper in my stash and thought "pink snowballs" (my favorite snack cake by the way) and if you have snowballs, you most likely have snowmen ..... dressed in pink.  With a nice little lime green tree to celebrate.  And with all those snowmen, you might need to do a slimline card to fit them all in.

Those little snowmen were all fussy cut while I was catching up on some PBS shows.  (I highly recommend "Last Tango in Halifax" and "The Durrells of Corfu" if you like Britcoms.  Note:  I always thought it was pronounced COR fu but they, the Brits and the Greeks, pronounce it cor FU...... and that's my contribution for odd knowledge today.)

I have another card in the works which was my original thought and should be done with that later today.  In the meantime, should you want to check out all the pink loveliness please do click on this link to the Jingle Belles blog!

Recent Cards

Rachel asked if I could make her a couple of wedding cards kind of last minute.  They're not attending the weddings, but she still wanted to wish them well.  She didn't give me anything to go on this time like she usually does so I kept it pretty neutral.  White, ivory, and kraft with a little hint of gold.

The gold strip was in the scrap box and I decided to use my gold shimmer paint to give some sparkle to those flower centers.

I was pretty proud of myself for coming up with a mailer for these, although I didn't take a picture.  I used a Cheez-It box turned inside-out.  I took the box apart at the seam and cut off the parts that were the top and the bottom. I then flattened it out so that the piece that was the seam attachment became the flap.  I just used some of my decorative duct tape to tape up the sides and the flap - packing tape was an option.  It was very sturdy as a mailer so those cards did not bend.  I'll take pictures next time.

The next two cards were for anniversaries.  My son and daughter-in-law's and ours.  I had stamped this shell frame earlier this year and finally got around to coloring it about a month ago in preparation.  I almost forgot about it when I was trying to think of a design for their card.  I usually try to do a beach theme for them as they were married on the beach.  And I still have a bunch of Bermuda Bay cardstock from the invitations.  The lovebirds below are similar to the two that I made earlier in September.  

This card was for my mother's birthday.  I got the Concord & 9th Painted dots turnabout stamp earlier this summer and just got around to trying it out.  There are four different shades of blue in the circles and you need a MISTI for this which I'm lucky to have.  Each time you stamp a color you turn the paper a quarter turn and use the next color and turn, and so on and so forth.  The MISTI keeps the stamp in one place on the lid with the paper snug in the corner on the bottom so it's perfectly lined up each time.  I made several of those backgrounds so you may see some more of this in the future.

The next two are currently just card fronts - I have two people in mind for these which will be thank you notes and I'm finishing up something that I'll be sending along with them.  Those dotted backgrounds look kind of like my stamp from up above but they're not stamped.  They're recycled from a tissue box as are the pumpkins.   Sometimes the boxes are so pretty and they just scream to me to be repurposed.  I took out a Hero Arts kit from a few autumns back for the sunflower stamp and pumpkin dies.  I really love the way these came out.

I have some additional tissue boxes saved for some more cards - stay tuned.

Every Seven Days Continuation

 Art from nature - I had this queued up a couple of weeks ago and forgot to post it, so I've brought it up to date.

Week 7 -  Connect

A second entry for Connect

Week 8 - Good Words

Week 9 - Yellow

Week 10 - Light 

I don't have a created work for this, but I am posting a picture taken on our Table 7 crabbing trip of my fishing bobber in the water.  I just loved the way the sun was shining on the water.)

and closer.......

Week 11 - Small

(This is my little flamingo on stage in a giant dahlia.)

Week 12 - Weave

Another less complicated weave using two different grasses.

Week 13 - Square

It doesn't cease to amaze me, when I look at the photos posted from around the world for this challenge, that the seasonal differences are so apparent.  Our trees are disrobing here and in the southern hemisphere I'm seeing the trees just starting to bloom.  And there are so many pictures from people who live near large bodies of water.  Shells, stones, driftwood, sand, etc. are all very prevalent in these nature creations.  I've been dependent on what's been blooming or found on our property for the most part.  I'm hoping that once we get into the colder weather that I can keep up with the themes.  Although, the challenge originator does allow for using natural elements in the home if you can't get out.  So you might be seeing some more like this in the future...........

A bouquet made from apple and cucumber peels.