Happy Halloween!!

Hey everyone!!

I can't believe its Halloween already, seriously! Where do the days go? I have been busily working on a fun new project that I will reveal tomorrow and it seems like the spooky holiday of all hallows eve just kind of snuck up on me! When I lived/worked in the city, I really quite enjoyed Halloween. We dressed up every year and I would throw a potluck lunch that would take me all morning to decorate for and, I loved it! It was so fun! For me, Halloween as an adult gives you one day to pretend you are a kid again, you can dress up and be anyone you want to be! But, being out at the farm? Not so much. Its just another day around here, working on the dome, taking care of the chickens, and absolutely not one trick or treater will be coming to my door tonight {insert sad face here}, I miss it. But, because its not like me to sit and mope when I can still have some sort of a holiday to celebrate, I decided to make the most of it!

Tonight my little man will be doing some trick or treating of his own, yup, my Jakey will be dressing up in his oh so favorite costume, Lil Stinker and will be heading over to grandma and grandpas to see if you can stir up a little bone, er, treat ;) Ain't he cute?

And then we will be lighting our pumpkins up out on the deck for all passersby to see. We don't have major traffic on the highway, but anyone who does drive by will be sure to see them!! We spent the night last night watching, "Hocus Pocus" and carving our pumpkins together..so fun! I love how they turned out!

 

And, although we won't have any trick or treaters tonight, I figured we still needed some sweets around the house so I baked up a few holiday cupcakes for all of us and they sure were a hit!!

 

 

and that was our 2012 Halloween (which also, incidentally, marks my very first Halloween on the farm!) Hope you had a fabulously spooky Halloween, wherever you may be!

 

The Tale of Little Red Riding Hood

There once was a little girl who's grandmother was under the weather. She dressed for the chilly Autumn weather and brought a basket of goodies to cheer her granny up. The tale that follows is that of a lone, scary wolf and the enchanted forrest that she wanders thru while amidst danger around every corner..

 

I love photography. Its been a passion of mine for years! Over the last couple of years I have shot a few family sessions for friends and even a wedding for complete strangers who decided to take a chance at a newbie photographer and started me off on this exciting venture of photographing children in all their innocent, childish glory. In fact, I think I'm finally coming in to my own..I know the style I'd like to achieve from all my photo shoots and, while I practice and dream..I have my cute nieces to model for me at my every whim ;)

 

A few weeks ago I came across this idea that I wanted to do a Little Red Riding Hood themed photoshoot with all the beautiful Autumn leaves that have fallen all around us. I found the costume {easy to do in October!} and what follows made my heart sing..

 

 

My lil red riding hood..

 

 

She wanders thru the forrest, peeking around every tree..

 

 

 

 

I'm pretty sure Lil Red has never looked so cute!!

 

 

and it wouldn't be an ending without Lil Red reading Little Red now would it?

 

 

*THE END*

Happy Halloween!!

When witches go riding, and black cats are seen, the moon laughs and whispers, 'tis near Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween everyone!!! What are you all up to today? I am back home to prep for our wedding this Saturday (wow!) and will be enjoying the trick or treaters tonight for sure!!

Although I have been a little too busy to do as much paper crafting as I would like, I did make sure that I had made at least one Halloween card to share for today, and I have to admit, I couldn't be happier with it!

I used Kraft cs from Papertrey Ink for my card base and filled it with papers and embellishments from My Minds Eye & Making Memories, then topped it off with stamps from Waltzing Mouse (witch, cauldron) and Papertrey Ink (sentiment and date)

The baker's twine is from Doodlebug (LOVE it!) and the bloody border punch is Martha Stewart

I couldn't resist adding some sparkle to her "magic" from her finger as well as the poison she's stirring up in her cauldron...just, magical :)

And..something that is rare for me but something that I love when I see it, I even worked inside the card this time!

The inside sentiment is also from Waltzing Mouse. So there is my Halloween project for you today..spooky, isn't it? :)

Whatever your plans are for today, I wish you a very safe and Happy Halloween!!! Happy Crafting Ghoulfriends! Mwahahahahaha...

Still not wrapping my head around...

the fact that its already November!! I keep thinking about Christmas, as it is my favorite time of year and then I feel completely shocked when I realize its only a month away now!! December is going to be amazing! I am so excited!! Is there anything better than a month full of Christmas magic?!?

This weekend Adam and I are taking off on our romantic trip to Niagara Falls, ON..we fly out on Saturday and will come back home on Tuesday..needless to say, I'm just a little excited ;) I have no idea what flights we are on, what time specifically we are leaving or arriving, where we are staying...nothing!! Its all planned by Adam and I am l.o.v.i.n.g it!!

Next thing on the agenda? Christmas lights!! I haven't used them in 3 years and I am soo excited to bring them out of the basement and make them sparkle again in all of their candy cane glory! But before I get too ahead of myself..I thought I would share with you a little of my Halloween weekend!!


I just love being a "good witch" for the holidays!!



Our pumpkins this year that Adam carved!! Aren't they fantastic?



And of course, my favorite trick or treater in the world..my niece Makiya..isn't she adorable?!

Another fantastic Halloween season has come and gone..now its time to put the spider webs away because Christmas is on its way!!! Happy Crafting everyone!!

Happy Halloween!!

Photo Courtesy of Flikr

It's that time of year again! Witches, black cats, pumpkins and more candy than you can imagine!! Have a safe and spooktacular Halloween everyone!!!

Friday Randoms

Happy Friday Everyone!!

We are all dressed up here at my office, nothing like a finance building full of witches, bridezilla's, nurses and superheroes ;) There is nothing like one day a year to be however goofy, silly ot spooky you want to be!! I love it!!!

I'm extremely excited for this weekend, Adam is coming today and we have a full schedule on our hands! Tonight will be dinner out, tomorrow we're off to grandma and grandpa's for a visit, then some shopping, another dinner out, carving pumpkins (the photo above was last years') and then Sunday we have the cutest little trick or treater coming over in the morning, brunch with my family and a full night of handing out candy!! (I just hope I didn't eat too much and still have enough for all the kids!!) I'm kidding!! ..... kind of ;)

The front porch is decorated (finally!), the cauldron is bubbling and the spiders are waiting..I'm curious to see how many trick or treaters I will have as this will be my first Halloween in this home..I'm guessing 40-50..we'll see how well I estimated on Monday!!!

But until then, have a great weekend everyone!!!!!!

The Witch is in..

Halloween is in exactly 4 more days and if it weren't for the freak winter frost we have got going on here..I'd be outside hanging spiders webs this afternoon on my front porch. Fingers are crossed that this happens before Sunday..gotta spook the place up a little, you know? This past weekend out at the farm, Adam and I took a little time out of our day to make my bubbling cauldron of witches brew..it turned out fantastic! Just needs a few little touch ups and I'll be photographing it while placing it on my porch! Its green and filled with bugs and eyeballs..mmm mmm good!

Then, come Monday morning..I'm in full Christmas swing! The Christmas cards have been designed, the lights will go up shortly outside and the hunt for the perfect (faux) Christmas tree will be on! It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!!!

On another note, Adam surprised me Sunday night by telling me he's whisking me away to Niagara Falls next weekend (I love surprises) So we will be taking off next Friday and returning on the following Monday. I am so excited to get away for awhile! This will be our first holiday together before the big one in February..it'll be just perfect for us =)I've always envied people who get up and go away somewhere for the weekend..reading Kelly Purkey's blog sure makes me antsy too..and finally I get to experience that!! And, best news of all is we're wanting to make this a more frequent event in our lives!!

So what do you have left to do before Halloween? Is the candy bought? The decorations up? I can't wait to see everyone's photo's from this weekend!! Happy Crafting everyone!

'Tis Near Halloween..

When witches go riding and black cats are seen, the moon laughs and whispers, "Tis near Halloween". Ah, I love that sentiment..it makes my heart beat just a little faster in anticipation of the ghoulish fun to be had in nearly a week's time! Last night I was out decorating my front porch with all things pertaining to witches (at Halloween I'm obsessed with witches!)when, to my surprise I realized I had inadvertantly locked myself out of the house! Yup, Jakey was inside, the oven was on cooking my supper, rice cooking on the stove..it wasn't good! Quickly I ran behind to my lovely neighbors who graciously let me in to use their phone and once again my dad came to the rescue a mere 10 minutes later!! I'd like to say that will be the last time that happens..but I know myself too well!

But it was fixed in minutes and I got back to prepping for trick or treaters! I hung my witch window cling from Martha Stewart on my front window (she looks so cool at night!) and this weekend, Adam and I will be making a cauldron full of bubbling brew (thanks to BHG!) I'll post my house photos once everything is up and decorated!!

As for myself, I will be dressing up next Friday for the office..as a witch, of course. I have my long black dress, my spider rings, striped stockings, witch shoes and of course, my pointy hat! I think its great to have one day to be whoever you want to be..young or old its never boring on Halloween!!

On another note, I recently found the super fun application of Poladroid..and with that I'll leave you with my latest creation..happy weekend everyone!!

Thursday Randoms

The original title for today's post was "Friday Randoms", yup..nothing worse than thinking its a Friday and realizing its only Thursday!! My crafty mojo is...nowhere to be seen, it's left me high & dry! I have many things on my crafty to do list but something is missing. Hopefully it'll be back in time for all the new PTI goodies I plan on ordering at tonight's release!! ;) Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas over at PTI, have you seen it? My shopping list is ever expanding..I just love this time of year!

This weekend I'm heading back out to the farm, there is so much going on out there! The dome home is steadily coming along, I have photo's on my camera, but again that just hasn't been done yet. Also, its my BF's Birthday this Sunday, he'll be 28!! Also on the list for this weekend is the town's annual Fowl Supper..I'm a little nervous to attend, it will be the first time I meet a lot of people from town and well, its never easy being the new girl..keep your fingers crossed for me please!

Then next week I plan to go in to full Halloween mode. The spider webs will be strewn across my front porch, the witch shoes for my costume will be dug out and the Halloween candy will finally be purchased (every year I purchase bags of candy and eat it all myself before I buy more for the kids..this year I figured I'd take a much healthier approach!) Are you ready for the spookiest time of year yet?!?

Speaking of Halloween..I thought I'd leave you today with this too cute to spook image, courtesy of Flikr



Happy Crafting Everyone!

Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #129

Happy Tuesday Everyone!!

I'm starting off the week (yesterday I was at the farm, so today is my version of a Monday!) with another TE Sketch Challenge! I haven't participated in these challenges in awhile, things keep coming up, but I'm finaly back at it! I love these weekly challenges! They give you a sketch for your imagination to play with and for me, that's half the battle!! This is this week's challenge sketch:



And here is my take on the sketch!



I used PTI Kraft CS for my card base, new MME DP and the stamp set is from PTI as well



My sentiment was stamped in Versamark ink and stamped on to a tag cut out from my Spellbinders tag die



I just love this image..so fun!! I topped off my card with a bow made from True Black ribbon (PTI) and Vintage True Black buttons also from PTI. And that's my project for this week's challenge! If you are interested in playing along, you still have time!! Sketch challenge closes this Friday..so get crafting everyone!!!

Have a great Tuesday and Happy Crafting everyone!!

Boo!

We're getting well into September already and Halloween products are lining the store shelves! I can feel the crispness in the air and my thoughts go to pumpkins & black cats and witches riding brooms! The first day of Fall is still 2 weeks away, but I might start decorating for Fall before that (hey it never hurts to start anything early!) With that comes a few new fun Halloween/Autumn cards that I have up in my Etsy shop..one being this fun one from Crafty Secrets



I just love this image, SO cute & fun!!!



I used a chipboard frame from Tattered Angels and popped out the fonts to create the word "Boo"



I'll be putting up a few more holiday cards in my Etsy shop as the week progresses, but after that all that's really left is decorating my home and convincing myself that no, I do not need to buy a box of 50 Halloween chocolate bars for "the trick or treaters" when really, I know I'll eat them all myself ;)

Spooky

Happy September 1st Everyone!!

There is a definite chill in the air, the Michael's aisles are filled with witchy goodness and I'm in heaven! September to December is the most wonderful time of year to me and this year will be no different! Sorry its been a little quiet on the blog lately, I was away on holidays (harvesting & family reunion) but now I'm back and the holiday cards keep coming out of me!!

Today, I'm showcasing a favorite Halloween card of mine made from Graphic 45 Halloween papers, Crafty Secrets image and some googly eyes that watch over you..



So much to love about this card, its vibrant and vintagey and just a little bit spooky..



This card actually reminds me of a missed photo op that I didn't take 2 October's ago. I was on my way to work, early in the morning, driving down a beautiful street full of yellow and orange fallen leaves and there, sitting on the sidewalk was a beautiful black cat just staring at me in the midst of all this. I thought to myself, "What a perfect shot for Halloween". But I didn't have my camera and I didn't take the photo..and now it's something I'll always regret!!



Have you started any Halloween projects yet? Happy Crafting everyone!!

Paper Crafts Publication

It's here! It's here! Today has been long awaited my friends! For today is the first day the Sept/Oct issue of Paper Crafts magazine comes out and not one but 2 of my cards were selected to be featured in my very first magazine publication!!! When I got the email back in March I literally bawled, I couldn't believe it! I was running around the house, screaming and jumping!! So, let's just say its been a long 6 months for me :)



I'm featuring one of my cards today that you will find in this issue, it is made with kraft, summer sunrise and dark chocolate cs from PTI, dark chocolate ribbon and images from PTI's Spooky Sweets II stamp set



I came up with the design of this card a year and a half ago and was really proud of it! When submission time came I thought I'd just try it out and sure enough, here we are :)



So this is some of the big news I couldn't wait to share with you all..thank you so much to everyone for all their support and a special thank you to all my friends and family reading this who have had to put up with my constant excitement the last 6 months over this special little issue! Take care everyone and happy crafting!

Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween everyone!! Sorry that the blog has been quiet, but its just been one of those weeks, you know? Nevertheless, to make up for my being a bad blogger, I have a LOT to share with you today!! First off some pictures..shall we?

Yesterday was "dress up" day in the office and I couldn't WAIT to dress up as a witch and show off my EBay witch shoes!!

Here's my spoooooky office ;)

And the annual "Boys and Me" photo..(see the shoes? They rock!)

And now for the real show stopper..my niece came trick or treating already this morning in her little bunny outfit..is she not the most adorable 14 month old ever??

I baked her chocolate chip cookies and threw in some cheerio's and gold fish and happily sent her on her way to find more goodies!!

This is her saying goodbye one last time ;)

And it wouldn't be Halloween without a pumpkin shot now would it? Here's the 2009 Petrick Pumpkin!!!

Okay..so now that the photos are out of the way..on to the 2nd last card of Halloween ;)

I used my fun new image and sentiment from Eat Cake Graphics which is a company I just happened to stumble upon a few months ago and am SO glad that I did! Isn't this hilarious?!?!

The sentiment reads, "Halloween Tip #72: Don't drink and fly"!! And its hard to tell but that little potion bottle falling out of her purse reads "Fart 'n Go"..hahaha too cute!

So that has been our Halloween around here..how about you? Have any trick or treaters getting anxious about tonight? I'm hoping to see quite a few cuties on our doorstep but the wind here might wreak havoc on some little ones as its blowing pretty good!!

I'm posting another card here in a minute so make sure to check in again soon! Happy Halloween everyone!!

Trick or Treat..Smell my Feet!

So I thought I would put my Christmas card making to the side for this week and create cards in the fabulously spooky spirit of Halloween.. I have added to my Halloween stamp stash quite a bit this last year and feel horrible that I haven't used them near enough! (I always think I'll send out Halloween cards..but never do!)

Nevertheless.. on to my card!! I picked up this super cute set at Michaels a while back and this image/sentiment was one of my favorites..

I stamped it onto Choice White Cardstock from PTI with True Black ink and then coloured in the stockings with a Prisma from my stash. To glitzy it up a little (gotta love glitter!) I added some dabs of Yellow Stickles onto the star buckles of her shoes..hehehe

I used DP from last years' SU! and then tied my PTI Plum Pudding and True Black ribbons up with a Plum Pudding button and a sentiment from PTI's Spooky Sweets ll set

Last but not least, I stamped some fun little spiderwebs in Fresh Snow on to my Orange DP to give it just a little bit more of the old spook factor ;) Simple and sweet!

Do you make cards for Halloween? Or do you focus more on treat bags and party invites? I think throughout the week I will focus on all kinds of paper goodies for this upcoming weekend and then on Saturday I will be back with photos of our office potluck (I'm going as a witch and am sooo excited to wear my witch shoes!!)...have a good night everyone!

Happy Crafting!