RIP

I'm in mourning for our lone palm tree we had growing in our yard *sniff*. What would a home in California be without a palm tree I mean after all don't all homes in California have palm trees and orange trees!?! (wry grin) We truly did love our palm tree, but it kept loosing its palm fromms whenever it was windy (like yesterday) and they are huge spiky things that fly off. Luckily they didn't hit any one or any cars, but they did hit the power lines several times causing the power to go out yesterday. Finally our power company showed up and said they were going to trim it....fine by us...then they came back and said they were topping it and that meant it would die and be left with a lone stick left in the air....read ugly! OR they would remove it for us at no charge OR we could have it done at our expense. Sadly we had to say good-bye to our palm tree....it just didn't make good sense not to remove it. The palm tree was here when we moved in...not quite as large as it is now but still it towered over our house but right about at the power lines at that time....now it towers way over the power lines. It was a haven for a variety of birds, owls include. Though I'm sure with all the fromms flying off yesterday and the winds they had found new living arraignments. The only condition my husband had was that could they please leave lengths as long as possible so he could make totem poles out of them which he has wanted to do for a long time....we'll see when that happens LOL They worked until 9 pm last night just to get it topped below the power lines and then came back this morning to take it the rest of the way down *sniff*

This is what it looked like this morning after they topped it.	Here they are cutting it little by little.
The mess left	and more mess	These are just the topped pieces they felled last night.

Art Workshop Peeve

For those of you who take workshops and for the rest of you who are thinking about it here's some food for thought. Make sure to find out what level the workshop is geared towards by asking. They don't always tell you in the class details. I recently took a art journaling workshop with a couple of art buds and we were all three disappointed. It became apparent about 5 mins into the workshop that we were well beyond the level of the workshop. It was geared for very beginning budding artists. We made the most of it by using the time to create, but what an expensive play day. We could have done that on our own. We should have asked more questions but we were excited to find a workshop in our neck of the woods and about getting together that we didn't think about asking that important question. If you teach workshops make sure you include what level your workshop is designed for and be ready for several different level artists, so they don't come away disappointed. None of us are experienced art journalers but do have a fair amount of experience under our belts and it was really disappointing to not learn anything new or be inspired. Even if its past info we already know, if presented right it could have re inspired us.

Below are a couple of journal pages

I worked on while I was there.

The flamingo page I still need to finish.

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Crafty Blogger Blurbs

This week's blogger blurbs give you some great last min. Halloween ideas, stop by and check them out.

About Family Crafts Sherri offers several free pumpkin carving patterns for you to download and use!

Cathie Filian Make a warm mug of Chai Tea at home with this traditional recipe from Cathie.

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world At Craftside there is a free cross stitch pattern, a downloadable label and idea for a spooky Halloween decoration and some wild pumpkins, a sneak peek into the new book What is Illustration?, how to sew gathers and ruffles and finally a fun question to be answered to be entered to win a free craft book.

Crafty Princess Diaries Diggity Doggity, the crocheted dog blanket is done!

Farm Girl Roots, City Girl Style Linda revisits a quilt she made a while back.

Mixed Media Artist Do you have a signature style? Cyndi wants to know what it is and wants to help you show it off!

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery Polymer Clay Candy Corn Beads Hot out of the Oven made using a "recipe" from the book The Polymer Clay Cookbook

The Artful Crafter Make a pretty fall triple wreath wall hanging for your own wall or as a housewarming gift. With a little imagination, you can adapt the design for Christmas or just about any other occasion/season.

The Impatient Crafter Madge scares up another fiendishly fabulous mixed media design for Halloween!

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And the winner is...

C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S ! ! !

Goes to Marilyn at Cigarboxbeads for being the winner of my fall giveaway!

Once Marilyn contacts me with her mailing info I'll be popping her fun fall giftee into the mail.

Many thanks to everyone who participated :-)

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Day of the Dead Bottle Cap Earring's Tutorial

Day of the Dead Bottle Cap Earring's Tutorial

I made these funkadelic bottle cap earrings just barely in time for Day of the Dead (Día De Los Muertos). Click HERE for my easy peasy tutorial.

To view my past Dia De Los Muertos projects click HERE

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Full Bloom

Freebie e-card

(Save, and email or print)

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Spooky Halloween Printable Site

Sorry so quiet...in the meantime I've been saving this very cool Halloween site to share with you. It's chockful of printable spooky Halloween projects HERE.

I've also extended the deadline to sign up for my blog fall giveaway so stay tuned.

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Crafty Blogger Blurbs

About Family Crafts Follow these directions and disscover how easy it is to sew a felt tote bag that is perfect for trick-or-treating!

Cathie Filian Check out Cathie's quick video on how to spook up china ball lanterns.

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world Craftside went a little artsy this week with inside peeks into the books; Hope: A Collection of Obama Posters and Prints, The Daily Book of Art, Really Good Packaging Design Explained and 1001 Ideas for Stonework, but there are also tons of great Sizzix die cut applique designs made by the designers at Halloween Swap-o-Rama-Rama.

Crafty Princess Diaries Tammy has a package ready to go out the door for her new jewelry making book.

Cross Stitch at About.com Connie has another inspirational pattern, this time with an abstract flair. The chart is easy - whole cross stitch and a wee bit of back stitch.

Farm Girl Roots, City Girl Style Linda visited a few quilt shops in Toronto and shares her finds.

Mixed Media Artist Cyndi is starting a new quilt...this time featuring pears!

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery Vintage Hankie Scarf made using the tutorial from the Indygo Junction book Hankie Style

The Artful Crafter Eileen shows you how to create a simple but festive Halloween cupcake stand from terracotta pots.

The Impatient Crafter Madge is one degree from Martha! Check out her upcoming appearance at the Grand Opening of Michaels in Manhattan!

Vickie Howell-Craft.Rock.Love This week Vickie launched her new PBS Parents column, Craft Apparent. Check out her first article, a how-to on making utterly adorable baby costumes, starting with just a plain onsie!

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Free Pumpkin Label and Photo Manipulation

I recently came across this cool site from visiting my friend Kris' blog where you can make a photo Rubik's cube using your own image.

Below is the pumpkin label I scanned and used for my Rubik's cube pic above. Feel free to download the label to use in your art.

(Click the image then save to your computer and print)

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Draw Skulls for Day of the Dead

I recently came across a very cool art website that has a great How to Draw Skulls for your Day of the Dead project. For those of you shy on the drawing front I drew a skull for you to download and decorate just click, save and print.

You can view my past

Day of the Dead projects

and tutorials HERE

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Halloween Postcards

(Click image to download and save to send to a friend)

What a nice surprise to have Herm & Ethel (click HERE for past Herm & Ethel Pics) show up yesterday! We figured they weren't going to come for a visit this year since we expected them sooner! As always they love to pop in and surprise us! We plied them with plenty of food and Spirits (as you can see they can use a bit of fattenin' up), while they regaled us with their past year's travel adventures! Once
again they were gracious enough to pose while we snapped a picture of them

They were very impressed with Morgan's pumpkin that weighs over 200lbs! (no he didn't grow this one, but hopes to grow his own gigantic pumpkin next year with the seeds).
(Click image to download and save to send to a friend)

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Crafty Blogger Blurbs

The Artful Crafter If you don’t live in the southwest, you may not even know about this huge football homecoming tradition. Even so, you can still enjoy Eileen’s tongue-in-cheek directions for making the most outrageous Homecoming Mum Corsage ever.

The Crochet Dude Drew has a great free crochet pattern for a creepy-cute Halloween treat bag called "I Want My Mummy!"

Mixed Media Artist Think you know polymer clay? Look what Layl McDill can do with this material!

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery See how I took a pattern from Drew Emborsky's Fun New book "All Washed Up" for a test spin Halloween Style!

About Family Crafts It is never too early or too late to begin planning a Halloween party, and you are sure to find something creative here to help with your planning.

Alexa Westerfield a.k.a. Swelldesigner Win a fun prize pack in honor of Swelldesigner's 24 Halloween Crafts in 24 Hours on October 8th

Cathie Filian Kids will flip for this Halloween Punch and Witches Brew Punch Bowl.

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world Craftside has a bunch of tutorials and ideas for an eco friendly rib bone Halloween decoration, a quarter circle mini journal/Christmas ornament, painting spotted eggs, and how to make mail art while out for a walk.

Crafty Princess Diaries Charity begins at homes, at least that's what Tammy's dogs reminded her about when they caught her making another crochet square.

Cross Stitch at About.com Stitch up some cute little traffic signs, including this warning sign design for your child's play set or to decorate a jacket.

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Halloween Banner Finished

(click to enlarge)

You might recall the Halloween banner swap

I mentioned I was hosting. As promised here is

the completed Halloween banner.

Don't they look awesome all together!

How about trying your hand at making your own?

Make a template or download a template

I posted, trace and cut some flags out.

Then head for the dollar store and

Target to find fun cheap embellishments.

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Faux Pumpkin Pie Recipes

What's better in the fall then pumpkin pie! Since I was too lazy to make crust and roll it out I decided to improvise. I made-up two different recipes. The first recipe I didn't take a picture of but its my favorite out of the two.

Biscuit Pumpkin Pie

• 2 Cans of Refrigerator Biscuits
• 1 C. Pumpkin
• 3 Eggs
• Heavy Cream
• 1/2 C. Sugar
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp Nutmeg
• 1/4 Brown Sugar

Spray pie pan with Pam. Flatten biscuits out with the palm of your hand and arrange in pie dish connecting each biscuit until entire pie pan and sides are covered with biscuit dough (save remaining biscuits). Poke holes with a fork. Bake in the oven for 10 mins. Meanwhile in food processor or blender mix pumpkin, eggs, cream, sugar and spices together. Remove biscuit dough from oven and pour pumpkin mixture over partially baked biscuits. Flatten remaining biscuits with your hand and use a cookie cutter to cut out leaf or flower shapes and arraigned on the top of the pumpkin pie mixture. Sprinkle with brown sugar and bake in 325 degree oven for 1 hour or until fork inserted comes out clean.

**This particular recipe was a bit dry with the biscuit bottom I think it would taste better with a warm sauce to help combat the dryness. Hubby liked it because it was drier I prefer more moisture myself.

Crustless Pumpkin Pie

• 1 Box of Yellow Cake Mix (I think it would be even better using a Spice cake mix)
• 1 Cup of canned pumpkin
• Heavy Cream
• 1 tsp. Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. Nutmeg

Follow the directions on the cake mix box. In place of the milk use the heavy cream. Add pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg (you can also use pumpkin or apple pie seasonings instead). Mix by hand and pour into 13x9 pan sprayed with Pam cooking spray. Bake at 350 until knife inserted comes out clean. Once it cools you can cut it into squares and pick it up with your hand to eat it. It won't rise like a regular cake but will instead become very dense like pumpkin pie. I will definitely be making this again!

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Halloween Spider Embellishment

Here's a quick and cheap Halloween embellishment you can use for cards, art, or decorations.

Its funny how you get an idea in your head and then can't get it out! I had this idea to use spider rings as an embellishment for a Halloween flag I was making so off I was in search of them. I figured I'd find them at the dollar store--Wrong! What the heck....I did finally find them at the party store.

I was going to use white glue but then

decided I'd rather use a clear laminate

adhesive instead just because I didn't

want to wait on the glue to dry and

go transparent. I just brushed

on the adhesive.

Then sprinkled with Martha Stewart's

extra fine black glitter.

I tried this on both black and orange
plastic spider. As you can see the orange
one looks terrible...it looks like one of those hairy tarantula spiders!

(click images to enlarge them)

Here is is on my finished flag. I also

used my bewitch character and the

freebie web background I posted

previously. The spider ribbon

I found at Target in their dollar

bins and just cut it down the middle.

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Fall Giveaway!

All this talk about blog giveaways

made me want to have one too!

So here's the scoop:

1. To enter you must first be a follower and you can add me to your list by clicking on the <---left hand side bar.
2. You must comment on this post. No anonymous comments unless you include your email so I can contact you.
   
3. Mention this giveaway on your blog and get your name entered twice.

Here's what you get:

• An original Halloween/fall themed flag pennant
• colorful skull beads (perfect for Day of the Dead art)
• paper flowers, Pumpkin button
• spool of sheer spider web ribbon
  

I will randomly draw a name

Tuesday Oct 21st, 2009

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Surfin' Giveaways and confessions!

I was surfin' dudes and dudettes (said in my best So Cal surfer accent) and came across some fun giveaways. I love giveaways...don't you? Even more so I love how I find things in a roundabout way...I always feel a bit like Hansel and Gretel needing to leave a trail of bread crumbs to find my way back to the original source.

Tracy Suzanne at cottonpickincute left a nice comment on my blog and that lead me to her blog and from there onto Connies Living beautiful's blog who is celebrating her 700th post with an beautiful hand sewn apron giveaway (I confess I love frilly aprons-even though I only have one-and I'm not a gourmet cook or June Clever I think they bring me back to when I was a kid and loved playing dress up). Then I surfed on to Debra's Common Ground blog who is celebrating her 100th blog post with a giveaway.

Happy Surfing!

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Halloween ATC Freebie

Here's a freebie ATC size background for you to use.

Have some fun and play!

(just double click and save the above web background to use.)

Here's a Halloween ATC I created

using the web background above.

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Crafty Blogger Blurbs

About Family Crafts Find a way to creatively celebrate everyday during the month of October by consulting this list of special days.

Cathie Filian Cathie shows you how to alter kids’ clothing into fun Halloween costumes.

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world At Craftside there are posts on how to have fun with word play and spice up your art, draw a pattern for a full size witch hat and make a tiny one, make a silverware spider and make a gather from a serged edge without a differential feed.

Crafty Princess Diaries No Brainer Crochet Squares - Tammy shows off some of the crochet squares she makes for comfort-ghans.

Cross Stitch at About.com Connie has a free quick-to-stitch pattern that reminds you to "Let Your Light Shine".

Farm Girl Roots, City Girl Style A back pack resurfaces and reminds Linda that she hasn't shared this project on her blog yet!

Mixed Media Artist Cyndi shares the profiles of some spectacular mixed media artists, including our own Aileen Roberts!

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery A Buzzing Beaded Bead Bail using a wonderful tutorial from the book- Seed Bead Fusion by Rachel Nelson-Smith

The Artful Crafter CD Ghosts – what an economical and easy project for Halloween. Let the kids make several to hang from a porch or trees to delight of your Trick or Treaters.

The Crochet Dude Drew has designed a super cute crocheted pink purse for breast cancer awareness month. AND he's giving away some cool pink ribbon appliques too!

The Impatient Crafter Halloween is right around the corner and Madge kicks off the season with a stunningly spooky mixed media necklace and a bonus short story sure to send shivers up your spine!

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