Giveaway at Purple Pumpkin

And it's a cute one!


All this can be yours! Just click the pic to be taken to the place you too can enter! ^-^

Etsy Blogger of the Month: Devine Designs Jewelry

Say hello to November's Blogger of the Month...


Her shop is full of handmade artisan jewelry of wire, metal, glass, and gems.  Here are some of my favorites...


You Rock-artisan made polymer clay beads, handmade bead caps and chain necklace set with earrings


Sugilite drop earrings-sterling silver scroll pattern-OOAK


Simple sterling silver hoops-everyday wear
Check out her shop and blog, and see what's there that might be calling to you...  You can even add her on Facebook!

• Devine Designs Jewelry on Etsy
• Devine Designs Jewelry on BlogSpot
• Devine Designs Jewelry on Facebook

BlogCarnival: Inspiration

PatchFirstShop asks us: What item are you working on?? What is your inspiration for this piece??

Ever since our trip to Tennessee (and our stay at the Holiday Inn Express) I've become obsessed with cinnamon buns... also with gingerbread and all other manners of tasty "seasonal" food, and it's been influencing and inspiring my polymer clay creations lately:


Click to see full size!
In fact, I just had to run out and buy more clay because I have an idea for more tasty treats I want to make!  ^-^  I can't wait to show them to you!

Mosaic Monday Bunday

It's time for another round of Mosaic Monday Bunday!  Last time we played our theme was RAINBOW and our winner was Emma!  Yay!  This fabu bookmark is now yours!


Click for full size!
Today's theme is super easy (so no prize); it's all about writing in honor of all the people doing NaNoWriMo!  You go, guys!


Click for full size!
Clockwise from upper left: Richard Scarry "Write it Down' 1 Inch Button Set, Lovable Beasts Rabbit Limited Edition Book Print, bunny at writing desk print, white recycled paper figurine 'the writer'
For other Mosaic Monday posts, click here!

TiLT: Things I Love Thursday

I've not done one of these in a while, but I thought today I would...


♥ Purple skies filled with crows


♥ My new Happy Book!


♥ Frosty Fall Fruit (and alliterations)


♥ This cabin...


♥ This view...


♥ Climbing this mountain (minus the drive up to the parking lot)


♥ Finishing art


♥ Honorable Mentions: Girls with long curly hair; Graham cracker toffee crack; Seashells and rabbits; Starbucks coffee (even black!); Drama-free boyfriends; Holiday Inn Express hot tubs, swimming pools, and Cinnamon Buns; Fall leaves...


Things I Love Thursday is brought to you by Gala Darling...

Thirteen Days of Halloween: WINNER!

Oh yes I am late... But that's just me... ^-^ It's time to choose the winner!


Thank you Random.org! And congratulations to Amy! ^o^

Test

Testing the new twitterfeed doo-hickey...

EDIT: Apparently I picked a bad time to do this. It's not working due to a backup of some sort on twitterfeed. Meh.

FINISHED! Creativity Boot Camp: Day 3, Multilayered

I finally got this painting done. Here is the progression:

Painting of a favorite photo of my dad & me...


Collaged some of the things I associate with my dad...


Painted over the collaged items to blend them in better...


Added details to the portrait part...


More details, some color correction, a few chunky items, and a little glitter for that magical effect! ^-^
(Click for full size on black!)

13/13 Extension

No comments yet on THIS POST; so I'll extend the time to Saturday afternoon at 3pm Eastern for your chance to win this whimsical watercolor postcard! Click here to leave a comment for your chance to win!

13/13

Whoo hoo!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
In honor of the big day, I'm giving out more treats! And since I'll be away from my computer until Thursday, you have until I come back to enter!

Just leave a comment (with a way to reach you) to win one of my fabulous watercolor postcards! And if you want extra chances to win, leave additional comments with links to where you've shared this post: twitter, facebook, your blog...

Remember you have until the end of the day on Thursday, November 4th!

13/12

'Tis the night before Halloween and we are on our way to Tennessee! When I was a little girl and went on trips with my grandparents, my grandmother would always buy me a new box of crayons and some coloring books. Nowadays, you can find lots of pretty coloring pages on the internet to print out, and I've done that for the girls - and myself - many times!

Today, I give you one of my own that you can print and color! I'd love to see your colored versions!


Click for Full Size!

13/11

Earlier this month, we had Halloween cupcakes with pretty little cupcake toppers, and I got the idea that they would look great on all different kinds of things, besides cupcakes! And I thought I'd like to make some of my own...

So today I have treat toppers! Cut these circles out, glue together with a toothpick or craft stick in between, and stick on top of cupcakes, brownies, cheese balls, or any other Halloween treats you might have this weekend...



Click for full size!

13/10

We are getting down to the wire here folks! Just a few more days left! I am so excited! I've finished my costume yesterday, and today I made a CD with some fabulous Halloween party music. Picking great seasonal music was hard though... Here's a list of some of the songs I included:

• Monster Mash by Bobby "Boris" Pickett
• Purple People Eater by Sheb Wooley
• Ghostbusters by Ray Parker Jr.
• Dragula by Rob Zombie
• Witchy Woman by the Eagles
• Thriller by Michael Jackson
• Candy Girl by Smile.dk
• I Want Candy by Bow Wow Wow
• I've Got the Magic in Me by B.o.B.
• Monster by Lady Gaga
• She Wolf by Shakira
• Teeth by Lady Gaga
• Witch Doctor by David Seville (Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.)
• Time Warp, Sweet Transvestite, and Science Fiction Double Feature
• Voo Doo by Godsmack
• Werewolves of London by Warren Zevon
• Every Little Thing She Does is Magic by the Police
• Living Dead Girl by Rob Zombie
• Haunted by Evanescence
• Addams Family theme
• White Wedding by Billy Idol
• Young Forever by Jay-Z
• Underground by David Bowie (from the Labyrinth soundtrack)
• This is Halloween and I Put a Spell on You by Marilyn Manson

What other songs would you play?

13/9

Did you know that Rocky Horror Picture Show has been around for 35 years? I couldn't believe it! Rocky Horror is one of my favorite kooky spooky movies; I was even lucky enough to get to see the Broadway show at the Circle in the Square Theatre back in the early 2000s!

I remember first going to see a midnight showing in the late 80s complete with props! How fun it was to hear everyone yelling and talking back; my favorite part of the show! One year, I even went to a midnight showing dressed in drag! Yes! Like a man dressed as a woman! It was SO MUCH FUN! If you've never seen it in a theater, even if props aren't allowed, check to see if there's a showing in your area! You won't regret it!

However, if you live in a backward town like we do, you can get the DVD, or if you're still not sure about it, this Halloween, Fox Movie Channel is going to be showing it round the clock from 6am! Even Glee did an episode in honor of RHPS which aired yesterday called The Rocky Horror Glee Show!


Tim Curry as Frankenfurter

13/8

Today we were lucky enough to get a break in the rain and decided to head to a cemetery for a spooky photoshoot... We got some great pictures!


Here's a list of places you might want to drag bring your family (or friends!) for a seasonal photoshoot, in or out of their costumes!

• Cemetery
• Pumpkin farm
• Corn maze
• Apple orchard
• Old stone walls
• Scenic park trails
• Hayrides (haunted or not)
• In faded fall gardens
• Haunted houses
• Near a bonfire

(Remember to be respectful, get permission before going on private property, and careful around fires!)

Psst...

If you're looking for the chance to win another great piece of art, head over to Darkling Woods Studio and enter her Halloween giveaway!

13/7

We're past the halfway mark, folks! And today ... well, we've been invaded!


These quirky little alien monsters didn't seem too scary with their purple grins, but those fangs...

I guess they weren't so hard to defeat after all! ^-^ Very tasty indeed!

To make your own, follow these directions:

1. Make red velvet cupcakes from box following directions.
2. Meanwhile combine 2 containers of vanilla frosting, setting aside about 1/4 cup. Add green food coloring until desired color is reached. (We used 1 tsp green and 1/2 tsp yellow paste food coloring.) Add purple food coloring to remaining 1/4 cup of frosting. (We used about 1/2 tsp purple paste food coloring.)
3. When cupcakes are cooled, use a generous dollop of green, and frost to look like fur.
4. Stick pretzel sticks into mini-marshmallows and dot with black decorator gel. Put two on each cupcake as shown. (You might want to do this right before serving to maintain the pretzels' freshness.)
5. Scoop the purple frosting into a sandwich bag and snip the corner. Squeeze out the monster mouths.
6. To make the fangs, flatten and cut mini-marshmallows in to fang shapes.
7. Eat them before they eat you! ^-^

P.S. These were inspired this fabulous cupcake monster magnet, by fellow Queer Team member, SB Designs.

13/6

The Thirteen Days of Halloween continues with one of my favorite topics... FOOD! One of my favorite foods this time of year is CANDY CORN. Ok, wait, let me rephrase... I always THINK that candy corn is one of my favorites, but it never lives up to the ideal in my head. But you must admit, it's visually appealing!


Click for details!
One thing I think we'll be making this upcoming week is Candy Corn Bark. There are lots of recipes out there on the web, but we'll probably be making this version:

Candy Corn Bark
15 Oreos, broken up (the Halloween ones look really cool in this)
1.5 cups pretzels, sticks or thin twists, broken up
1/3 cup raisins or dried cranberries
1.5 pounds of white chocolate (maybe I can talk Jacqueline into doing this half white-half dark)
2 cups candy corn
Halloween sprinkles

1. Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper and on it, spread the Oreos, pretzels, raisins, and about 1.5 cups of candy corn evenly.
2. Melt chocolate in a double boiler, or in the microwave, stirring at 30 seconds intervals until melted. Remove from the heat while there are still a few chunks, and stir until smooth, because white chocolate burns easily.
3. Drizzle the melted white chocolate over the cookie mixture until it is mostly covered and stuck together.
4. Top with remaining candy corn and holiday sprinkles.
5. Let cool until hardened.
6. Break into smaller pieces and store in an air-tight container.

I can not wait to try this! (I'll try to get some pics before it's gone... ) For more candy corn goodies from Etsy, check out this treasury!

13/5

Bet you almost thought I forgot! Well of course not! Just been very busy enjoying the crisp autumn weather! I made a pretty little skull for you to color all yourself!


Just click here to download & print!
Here's some examples we did here at home:


Clockwise from top left: by Esme, Lia, JoAnn, Antonio, and me in the middle! ^_^
Enjoy! And don't forget to stop by tomorrow for more fun!

13/4

Today for fun, I have a free pumpkin printable! Just add your own face!


Click for full size!