Mosaic Monday: And all the Fixin's

Yummy food pics found on Flickr: 1. Glazed Roast Turkey with Cranberry Stuffing Recipe, 2. Side - Sauage, Corn Bread And Chestnut Dressing B - WS Thanksgiving, 3. Thanksgiving Close-Up - Mashed Potatos, 4. maple bourbon sweet potatoes, pre-oven, 5. Whisky glazed carrots, 6. Green Bean Salad, 7. Homemade Cranberry Sauce, 8. Thanksgiving salad, 9. corn found laying in a field, 10. Butternut Squash, Barley and Feta Bake, 11. Awesome rolls, 12. Thanksgiving 2008 - Pecan Pie - 003 - 6x9, 13. Thanksgiving Acorn Cookies

Only a week and a half til Thanksgiving. Eeks! But I'm getting together my shopping list for Thanksgiving weekend and the big feast. Obviously there's the turkey, as well as the usual "must-have" dishes. Sandra, my sister-in-law, is always asked to make Broccoli casserole and Sweet Potato casserole. She might actually want to make something different, but I'm sure there would be a major riot if she didn't make those two dishes. Jim, my brother-in-law, usually expects to have Oreo Cheesecake when he comes to visit, so I'll indulge him, but I think I'll make a Pecan Pie too. Oh, and the cranberry sauce...I like the jellied out-the-can type. :-) I usually have a hard enough time grocery shopping for just Denis and I, let alone a group for several days. I'm sure there will be multiple trips to the store for items forgotten, as I am so bad at planning ahead.

Time has snuck up on me again, and here it is getting to the last minute and I'm still trying to get stuff done. I had visions of a beautifully decorated house, all perfect and festive. If they have clean sheets to sleep on, I think I'll be happy. Grr! I definitely underestimate the amount of time to get things done. But I'm sure they won't notice that things don't look like I had hoped they would, and it will be a great visit all the same.

Well, better get back to those lists...

One-Word Wednesday

Thanks!

Mosaic Monday: Bench Monday

From the Fine Folks at Flickr: 1. goodbye, pink.., 2. Bench Monday, Aquarium Edition, 3. bench monday - autumn sunshine, 4. bm #25, 5. Happy Bench Monday, 6. Bench Monday~ L is for Leaves, 7. Bench Monday, 8. Bench Monday 17: Raking the Leaves, 9. sewing machine, 10. behind the moon, beyond the rain, 11. Bench Monday, 12. Bench Monday, 13. . On ya own!, 14. Bench Monday | C'est la vie Edition, 15. YIP 365.140:: Color Your Cloth: Bench Monday Version, 16. bench monday from nyc., 17. blue, 18. bench monday #23, 19. Autumn, 20. Bench Monday Fall Hydrangea Edition, 21. Bench Monday (Chest edition), 22. 365x3.285 • bench monday, family style, 23. 286/365 - she learned that from me..., 24. Bench Monday : : Happy Little Pumpkin Edition, 25. Bench Monday

I thought I would join in the fun for Bench Monday. I mean, when else can you stand on the furniture for art's sake? The rules for Bench Monday are 1) Stand on a bench. 2) Make sure it's Monday. 3) Wear something pretty. Improvisations are okay if you don't have a bench, and extra points are awarded for live props. Looking at the other submissions, mine's pretty lame (bottom right corner), but it is my first shot. I'll have to come up with some more clever compositions for the next time I'm benched.

12 Days of Christmas ATC Swap

UPDATE: Swap is now full. Thanks!

Twelve Days of Christmas ATC Swap

Each artist will create twelve cards based on one of the Twelve Days of Christmas:

1. A partridge in a pear tree (Leslie Patton)
   
2. Two turtledoves (Sophia)
   
3. Three French hens (Hope Malott)
4. Four calling birds (Tammy Sprinkles)
   
5. Five golden rings (Jane Palmer)
6. Six geese a-laying (Angie Blasingame)
   
7. Seven swans a-swimming (Sarah Huckman)
   
8. Eight maids a-milking (Tina Schiefer)
9. Nine ladies dancing (Christine Edwards)
10. Ten lords a-leaping (Stephanie Mealor Corder)
11. Eleven pipers piping (Molly P)
    
12. Twelve drummers drumming (Carol McGarva)

Please let me know your preference of day (your name will go on the list above). This is your interpretation of the day, so be as creative as you like. The choice is yours whether you make all different cards, or an edition of identical cards, but please make them from quality materials. Cards should be 2-1/2 inches by 3-3/12 inches. Please add your name on the back of your beautiful creations, plus contact info and date if you wish. If you would like you can also number your ATCs, as in, 1 of 12, 2 of 12, etc. Send all twelve cards, a self-addressed label, and necessary postage (or SASE). I need to have the cards no later than December 4, so I can swap them out quickly and get them back to you to enjoy during the holidays. Sign-ups will remain open til all days are filled. Email me at flwave {at} gmail {dot} com, if interested

Mosaic Monday: Sepia

1. Veritably Victorian., 2. Verticals: Sepia cherry, 3. Escape, 4. Un nuovo ritorno - Il volo nell'Anima, 5. "Housewife" series 5, 6. an..., 7. Autumn Breeze, 8. Resuming History of Architecture, 9. etrange collage big, 10. Lanterns, 11. On Her Way, 12. curdle, 13. Train Travel ATC for trade, 14. Untitled, 15. connection, 16. Looking at Paris, 17. Where is She?, 18. Questions and answers, 19. Gaviño, el gran abuelo de los toreros mexicanos, 20. let the music play, 21. Vintage Sepia ATC swap #6, 22. Underwood, 23. Paper Moths 1, 24. El amante pintor, 25. Vintage Postcard ~ Lovely Girl

Inspiration for November's A Year of Color: Brown/Sepia

Winter's A-Coming

This morning I woke up to the last bits of a very pretty sunrise, and pretty chilly temps (30˚ F). About 90% of the leaves are off the trees.
These two girls showed up for breakfast eating up the last bits of fruit off the trees and ground.
Now it's time to take down all of the Halloween stuff, set all of the clocks back an hour, and get prepared for the in-laws visit at Thanksgiving. I still have some projects that need to be down outside, and I'm hoping I'll get some reasonably warm, non-rainy, non-windy days to work on them in the next few weeks. And then there's the whole basement that needs to be tackled. I've already gotten together several boxes of stuff to drop off at the thrift store, although I need to go through and get rid of a lot more. It's going to be a busy couple of weeks, and the "honey-do" lists still need to be gotten in order and taken care of before the first snow falls.

One Last Treat

I'm happy it's Halloween, but it also means it's the end of the presents! Do you think I could convince Denis into doing "365 days of Chrissy"? Probably not, since we already have a hard enough time coming up with ideas for birthdays and Christmas. (sigh)

So, on the thirteenth day of Halloween, my swap partner sent to me:
A swirled Whirly Pop, witchie Pez dispenser, and after all of the candy and sweets this month, Glow-in-the-Dark Wicked Watermelon toothpaste. I'm gonna try it tonight, because I'm not sure how it will glow without getting "charged" up first. :-)
I totally have to thank Sandy for such a fun and fabulous Thirteen Days of Halloween. She was such a great partner, and we both really seemed to "get" each other. Harley was a fantastic hostess, and I'm so glad she put together this swap. Guess I'll have to wait for next year for more treats.

Trick 'r Treat Time!

All dressed up with Trick 'r Treat bags in hand, it's finally time to go knocking on some doors. The Trick 'r Treaters that are joining us tonight are:

Jane Edwards, Mamie Jane's
Carol McGarva, Sugar Hill Studio
Cricket Rawlins, A Daily Dose of Chocolate
Debra Abel, It's All Good
Diane Costanza, Ignazio's Mom
Erin Jones, TOTEally Posh
Hope Malott, Hopeful
Jane Palmer, Flickr: aralialane
Jessica Rodarte, Kids Napping, I'm Scrapping
Kathryn Virello, KV Creative Designs
Nancy Van Hoose, Her Art Nest
Jessica Stults, Sunny Tuesday
Tessa Aranda, Happily Lost in Transition
Luz Foster, She Flies With Her Own Wings
Valerie Powery, Yarni Gras!


Thanks to all of the wonderful swappers that joined me for this swap. All of you made for a fun and wickedly good time, and I appreciate all that you did to make it happen. But now for some goodies...

Here are Treats and Trick that I received:
Treat: Hocus Pocus collage with vintage jewels hanger. I wonder what spells she may be conjuring up.
Treat: Swirly Witch tag, and she's obviously ready to party with her polka dot party hat on.
Trick: A bag of Halloween beads, and the real trick here is that I had to make my own ghoulry.

The Treats and Trick that I sent:
Treat: A Witching Hour Tassel
Trick: Potions box
Treat: Glittered candy container with vintage ball bearing game (remember those?)
I also received some sweet treats from the swappers (I said they were a fantastic group):
This incredibly clever Addams' Family CD clock. I totally was admiring a Poe clock like this, and my wish came true. :-)
A vintage postcard garland with the sweetest Ellen Clapsaddle illustrations on them.
Gruesome skull with glowing orange-red glitter eyes, the kind that seem to follow you as you cross the room.A sweet Halloween album for recording the month-long activities, and a glittery spider-crusted box. Mmmm, wonder what's inside?
A "tricks" garland, and isn't that ring a Scream?
This wicked double-sided Boo Banner with batty ladies on the opposite side. I have a couple of pass-through cut outs between the family room and kitchen, so here it can be admired from both sides.
This "Ghoulfriends" skeleton hanging is hysterical! Just a couple of gal pals hanging out on a Saturday night.

Wow, I am one spoiled ghoul with all of the fabulous treats that have been bestowed upon me. Thank you, thank you so much for your kindness and generosity. I really had a great time with this swap, and I hope everyone else did to. Thanks again for making it so fabulous!

The Witching Hour is Near

This past month has been so much fun, although hectic, with all of the festivities happening for one of my favorite holidays, Halloween. It has all been leading up to the big day tomorrow with lots of Tricks and Treats.

During Mrs B's 31 Days of Halloween, there were tons of giveaways each and ever day, and I was fortunate to win this fantastic pendant from Gypsy Mare Studios. Isn't she the coolest? Jennifer hand paints these large dominoes with her fantastic art, and it looks like she's having a blog sale on her remaining Halloween pendants. Although any of her art would be great to have year round.
And as the Witching Hour approaches, on the twelfth day of Halloween, my swap partner sent to me:
This fantastic glittery candle and cool tray to sit it on. Perfect to light my way as I write in my "spell" book from the other day.
Well, I better go get my costume ready for tomorrow.

Witches Night Out

There is shop up in Cedarburg that is one of my all-time favorite places to visit. They have the largest collection of holiday decor (in the state? anywhere?) of Bethany Lowe that I have ever seen, and amazingly they rotate all of the stock from room to room, floor to floor of this Victorian home, depending upon the season. Every time I go in there I discover something new. At the beginning of the month, they had a Witches Night Out. I guess they had one last year, but I hadn't gone, so I really didn't know what to expect. Unfortunately it was a very cold and wet evening, but that did not seem to dampen the spirits of the witches in attendance. A number of them had on their best black capes and fancy hats.
This cool owl hat would be perfect for the Woodland Witch.
Love the colors of the ribbons and feathers on this hat centerpiece.
There was a lot of yummy food and beverages, plus chances to win prizes, like counting the number of pieces of candy in this jar.And the highlight of the evening was the appearance of Bethany Lowe herself. She was signing copies of her Halloween book, or you could have her sign your Bethany Lowe decor pieces as well. I only stayed a short while, but it was still a nice time. In fact I ended up winning a $10 gift certificate, which I promptly put to use last weekend. Perhaps next year I will put on my best cape and hat in attendance.

And as the Witching Hour draws near, on the eleventh day of Halloween, my swap partner sent to me:
A pumpkin carving kit! I hope it works on the faux pumpkins, as that is all I have. I had every intention of carving a real pumpkin this year for Halloween, but with the kids trick 'r treating so early it's kinda thrown me off.
At least Sandy sent along some Pumpkin Seeds too, in case I don't get around to carving that real pumpkin this year.

Quoth the Raevn

This past weekend, my sister flew in to go to RAEvN's Nest Art Retreat with me. It started Thursday night with a reception that allowed you to meet other attendees, trade swaps, doodle with inks in your retreat booklet, take "vintage" photos, eat birthday cake. I got to meet Cricket, who signed up for the Trick 'r Treat swap. She's just as sweet and adorable in "real life" as she is on her blog. Carol and I both participated in the charm swap, and the charms could be either a Halloween, Gypsy, or Raven theme.
Friday's class we took Solar Powered Timepiece with Richard Salley. Not only is it a beautiful pendant, but also a functioning compass and sundial. When closed it appears to be an ordinary etched-copper pendant. The triangle dangling from the bottom will serve as part of the sundial.
Open the cover to reveal the compass and sundial face plate, made of "Faux Bone", a pvc disc. The compass can be removed and the copper triangle put in place to serve as the gnomon (“shadow caster”) for the sundial. We worked through most of the dinner break to finish the pendant. Since we both know that once a project comes home it may be a while, if ever, before it gets completed.
After a quick slice of pizza from up the street, Friday evening we took Laurie Mika's Crown Jewels workshop. The idea was to create Renaissance-looking jewelry using polymer clay. Then using a variety of techniques including painting, rubber stamping, embedding, beading and gold leafing, these blocks of polymer clay were transformed. After a full day of with Richard, I was a bit uninspired and only created a couple of pieces during the 2-1/2 hours. I do like Laurie's style with polymer clay. I dabbled in clay years ago, but haven't been doing much lately. I wouldn't mind trying to make a clay mosaic mirror like she shows in her book. Maybe a good snow day project.
Saturday's class was another project with Richard, a Hinged Copper Locket. The locket is similar to the timepiece pendant from the previous day, so we could work ahead while he demoed the techniques to new people in the class.
The locket center is a rusted washer that we cut a shape out of the center with a jeweler's saw. Three blades and easily an hour later, I had my heart cut out. I think the washer is an interesting centerpiece, but I do not plan on cutting on one again any time soon, or perhaps ever. The photo is of mom and dad on a picnic from when they were dating. Carol's flight wasn't until later in the evening on Sunday, so we got to enjoy a yummy brunch at Pandl's and then some shopping. Overall, a fantastic weekend that went by way too quickly.

Speaking of going by way too quickly...on the tenth day of Halloween, my swap partner gave to me:
A stripey notebook and clips, with glittery pencils, for jotting down all of the ideas I have for next Halloween...and I have a lot after all of the inspiring things I've been seeing around blogland this year.
Aw shucks, only two days more.

Nine Jack-o-Lanterns Grinning

On the Ninth day of Halloween, my swap partner gave to me:
A too cute Trick 'r Treat sign festooned with bright and festive ribbons.
On the Ninth and a Half Day of Halloween (gotta love a half day giftie too!), my swap partner gave to me:
Mmmm, brownies and fun sugary decorations. Sandy had also put in my box as an "extra", a bag of candy corn. We just had an email conversation about brownies, so I'm sure she was just dying knowing what I was soon to unwrap.
Lately it's been candy corn overload at my house. In fact Denis thinks he may need a 12-step program to get "off the corn". One thing I did do with some of my candy corn is bake up a batch of Candy Corn Brownies thanks to a recipe from Miss Sunny Tuesday.
Mmmmm, yummy!