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Not much time to blog this morning but wanted to share these with you before I left -- all created for Scrapmagie with Marina's November Kit. I was so excited to get this amazing kit - it's gorgeous and filled with papers and embellies l loved.
Off to Disney now and a long overdue meeting with a mouse. See you next week!
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I see wonderful things in your future...
Gotta love gypsies. Can't wait to see the gypsy fortuneteller inside the crystal ball in the Haunted Mansion ride at Disney. I recall many gypsy halloween costumes pieced together by my mom with old fringey scarves, bangles and spangles and wide belts. Those were the days when halloween costumes were about resourcefulness and creativity, instead of running to Target as I do! Hope you encounter a resourceful gypsy or two this halloween. Trick or treat is tonight here for us - have a safe and happy halloween!
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Alekha is going to be Hannah Montana (no surprise there among the five year old set!) for trick or treat night and Cinderella for her school party. If I could "really" sew instead of scrapbook sewing, I would make that sweet little ruff collared dress and hat in this postcard for her. But Betsy Ross I'm not.
We had our first *snowfall* today! And all the while it was coming down, I just thought, "It can't be! it's not even halloween yet!" I had to peek ahead at the forecast and we are supposed to have good weather for trick or treat night (Thursday) but this showing today can't possibly bode well for hopes for a mild winter!
I recently saw this book, Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer, featured on the Posie Gets Cozy blog. This book was written for me!! I literally grew up devouring British children's literature - Enid Blyton (especially the Famous Five Books), What Katy Did, Mary Poppins, The Secret Garden, The Wind in the Willows, and many, many more! Here is the synopsis of the book cited from Amazon:
If as a child you devoured Enid Blyton's classics like the Famous Five or Malory Towers, or loved to lose yourself in the adventures of Pippi Longstocking or What Katy Did, then CHERRY CAKE AND GINGER BEER is the book for you. A wonderfully nostalgic cookery book, it will take you straight back to your favourite children's books and show you how to cook the feel-good foods that feature so strongly in them. So, you'll find recipes for Swallows and Amazons Squashed-Fly Biscuits, the Famous Five's Gorgeous Ginger Beer, and Gloriously Sticky Marmalade Roll from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe amongst others. Divided into appropriate sections like Proper Elevenses, Picnic Treats and Lessons in the Kitchen each recipe is introduced with an evocative description of the book that inspired it. Guaranteed to take you straight back to your childhood, the book is an escapist treat for grown-ups and will encourage you to re-visit much-loved classics and share them with the next generation.
I just ordered my copy from Amazon here, and can't wait until it arrives!
Election day is almost here. Bob and I voted early using absentee ballots since we'll be in Disney. Can't wait for the outcome. Whoever you endorse, the important thing is to vote.
And isn't Fall Back this weekend too? Time to start thinking thoughts of burrowing down, snuggling up and staying cozy inside while the weather rages outside. This is the time to use all those scrappy supplies you've been hoarding for years. I have lots of projects planned for winter. Now I just need a clean desk, and TIME.
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Does your schedule look anything like mine? Travel for work Monday and Wednesday; out of town guests staying with us part of the week, a salon appointment mid week, trick or treat Thursday night, a harvest party at Alekha's school Friday, and packing for Disney has to get done sometime between now and Friday! We leave for Disney World Saturday morning for five days, and then I return and fly out the next day to Manhattan Beach to attend the Seven Gypsies Gypsy Caravan Event. A whirlwind two weeks ahead.
I had to use this weekend to finish out some projects for ScrapMagie. I love Marina's taste and style in putting kits together and was honored when she asked me to guest design with her November Kit - the kit is just gorgeous! I'll upload project photos on Friday. The kit will be on sale November 1st.
Here's a peek at a couple of projects:
Oh and here is the promised weekly vintage image. Love this sweet one of a mama and her children. Enjoy and have a great week!
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A congratulatory bouquet goes to Liz in Mo! And here is her winning post; (thanks to everyone else for posting and playing along!)
love your site, it has some tremendous ideas!!!! I am working on a chipboard album with vintage halloween photos. Thanks again for your blog. Liz
Congratulations Liz in Mo!! Please email me your address (email to [email protected]) so that I can send you a scrapologie vintage halloween kit! I used the random number generator at random.org to choose the winner.
Here are your random numbers:
22
Timestamp: 2008-10-19 03:09:26 UTC
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"Open your mouth a little wider when you speak, and always say, "Your Majesty". "
"Speak French when you can't think of the English for a thing. Turn your toes out as you walk. And remember who you are!"
Who can forget this advice on comportment from the Red Queen to Alice? Our lady certainly looks like her Majesty. Proud, regal and queenly in every way. She's missing her crown but exudes nobility none the less. And I'm sure you can take care of the crown -- it'll look fabulous perched on top of her royal head. Enjoy your Saturday and do something a little queenly today!
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Being a Disney lover and especially enthralled with the Pirates of the Caribbean, I love anything related to pirate lore. We have gone a few times to Disney during Halloween and enjoyed all the special Halloween activities at Disney, particularly the Pirates of the Caribbean ride which is just my degree of spooky without being overly scary for Alekha. Wouldn't this be a fabulous Halloween costume? I'm not sure if she is supposed to be a pirate or not, but she certainly looks like a pirate captain with that feather in her hat (should have been a plume!) and that ruffled blouse. With the right pair of boots, she could easily command the high seas!
I have a lot of things to share today -- so let me jump right in here. We'll do the drawing tomorrow but won't post until Saturday. I have family from out of town in for the weekend and we'll be attending the Circleville Pumpkin Fest (a pretty big deal here in Columbus) to watch my nephew play in a band (he has mean drummer skills!) so I won't have a lot of computer time until Sat. night. And I have decided that the prize will be a scrapologie vintage halloween kit (these were sold at full value of $70.00 last October and they are packed with gorgeous halloween goodies for creating some fabulous things!)
I have a project to share -- love these Cosmo Cricket photo boxes with the diecut bracket frame window. There are so many possibilities for these. You can adhere a piece of clear acrylic on the inside and fill up the box with candies for a gift. I am using mine to store Christmas photos from this year, but I want to make another one for Xmas recipe cards -- this would be a great project to do at a Cookie Exchange for example! The patterned paper is Cosmo Cricket's new Oh Joy! Collection. The glittered flourish is from K&Co. The image in the window is a fabulous Marcel Schurman greeting card I cut down to fit in the box - I'll put them in the store before the end of the week in case you want to pick one up and will post the full image this weekend. It's a gorgeous, glittered Christmas card.
Something else I want to share with you that I came across while hopping around blogland... I love this blog. The author writes beautifully. This excerpt in particular, moved me so, and it was a message I really needed to hear today. Hope it helps you to hear it too:
On this day, you read something that moved you and made you realise there were no more fears to fear. No tears to cry. No head to hang in shame. That every time you thought you’d offended someone, it was all just in your head and really, they love you with all their heart and nothing will ever change that. That everyone and everything lives on inside you. That that doesn’t make any of it any less real.
That soft touches will change you and stay with you longer than hard ones.
That being alone means you’re free. That old lovers miss you and new lovers want you and the one you’re with is the one you’re meant to be with. That the tingles running down your arms are angel feathers and they whisper in your ear, constantly, if you choose to hear them. That everything you want to happen, will happen, if you decide you want it enough. That every time you think a sad thought, you can think a happy one instead.
That you control that completely.
That the people who make you laugh are more beautiful than beautiful people. That you laugh more than you cry. That crying is good for you. That the people you hate wish you would stop and you do too.
That your friends are reflections of the best parts of you. That you are more than the sum total of the things you know and how you react to them. That dancing is sometimes more important than listening to the music.
That the most embarrassing, awkward moments of your life are only remembered by you and no one else. That no one judges you when you walk into a room and all they really want to know, is if you’re judging them. That what you make and what you do with your time is more important than you’ll ever fathom and should be treated as such. That the difference between a job and art is passion. That neither defines who you are. That talking to strangers is how you make friends.
That bad days end but a smile can go around the world. That life contradicts itself, constantly. That that’s why it’s worth living.
That the difference between pain and love is time. That love is only as real as you want it to be. That if you feel good, you look good but it doesn’t always work the other way around.
That the sun will rise each day and it’s up to you each day if you match it. That nothing matters up until this point. That what you decide now, in this moment, will change the future. Forever. That rain is beautiful.
And so are you.
Blessed Weekend, friends.
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She's a drama queen. I can tell, the elaborate gown, the forlorn look, the pose at the top of the staircase, the maiden in distress, love's labor lost. She reminds me of my high school years - when mountains were made out of molehills, when I was convinced after my first heartbreak that I would never love again, when I pleaded to my parents that everybody else's parents let them do this or have that. I find humor in it now - and I see a glimpse of it in Alekha every now and then. I think deep down, all of us girls are a bit drama queen at heart.
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Bob and I have gone for the past few years to Baker's Village Garden Center a wonderful little garden center and gift shoppe to pick up our pumpkins and fall decorations. It's literally a visual delight to enter the store. The nursery is amazing, but the little shoppe is even moreso. They have an incredible eye for color and visual merchandising. I could drop a fortune in this store but I did a pretty good job at restraining myself this time around!
Here are some of the autumn displays (and I'm just showing a fraction of what was in the store!)
The faux pumpkins and squashes come in such an incredible assortment of colors. I love the speckled orange gourds.
Lots of greenery, florals, yummy scented candles and gifts....
This is the photo I used for the blog header:
Pumpkins in chartreuse, definitely a scrapologie color fave!!
And here's a peek at one of the many Christmas displays already up (this one was my favorite)
It's really a visual feast for the eyes! I worry about small businesses like this one staying afloat in the current atmosphere. I would be sad and sorry to see them go - there is just no comparison between the experience of shopping here and at Joann's (not that I don't shop at J's, I do, but it's evident how much love and personal attention goes into this business - and that's something I respect, something that you just can't get at a chain).
I am toying with the idea of doing daily or atleast weekly shares of vintage images - I don't want to overcommit so let's say weekly, and if I am able to get more than one in a week, all the better! This one looks like a flapper girl in that elaborate cap. I get so excited when I see images like this from eras past... there is just a beauty and mystery to them that is so alluring. (I admit this one needs a bit of editing - she looks like she has black grit between her teeth, but nonetheless...) I wonder about the woman in the photo - who was she? What were her thoughts and dreams? What was her life like? Even though many of these vintage images were staged, they're still so lovely, black grit and all!
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"No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace, as I have seen in one autumnal face..." (John Donne)
Doesn't she just have so much mystique behind her eyes? Her expression is wistful and yet so soulful! She's truly an autumnal face, even though she is portrayed in pastels. Just had to share her with you (click on the photo to enlarge, right click to save and print) to create your own project with her lovely visage. Enjoy!
And if you missed yesterday's post -- don't forget to leave a comment - there will be a drawing for halloween goodies at the end of the week!
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