Pumpkin Palooza!!!

Holy cow! Pumpkins galore! This is the beginning of the growth of our biggest so far! The pictures are from bloom through day seven and I have day 18 to post yet when I upload from the camera! This pumpkin actually grew while we watched it...it has been amazing!

There is a little story behind the pumpkins I planted this year. A farmer on our road is 96 y/o and he still plants and harvests pumpkins every year to sell with the help of his son. They are FANTASTIC pumpkins...some long and tall(my favorite), some squat and fat, some vanilla and all unique, not the " trucked in" variety that seems to have arrived in most of our southern Ohio markets the past few years. So I realized my sweet farmer may not be with us forever and I began to harvest my seeds from his pumpkins the past two years to carry on these "heritage pumpkins". I have tons of blooms and small tiny starts of pumpkins so I hope I get to have a sweet collection for the porch soon! I cannot believe how the fall and Halloween are creeping up on us so quickly in 2010! Amazing! I am ready for the crisp clear weather though, the sooner the better!

Kind of an experiment!

Yesterday, I was cleaning and needed a break. I plopped down and decided to try my alcohol inks on a manila tag ( I saw this in the Stampers Anonymous Demo at Stampaway USA). I had used them before on metal and even acrylic but I don't know why I skipped the manila tag. So this tag is the product of my first attempt on manila cardstock. It turned out pretty cute I think and it was definitely fun! My 17 y/o thought I was nutz and said I looked like a smurf as my hands were covered in blue ink...but it is okay the ink is nearly washed away today!

As a side note, I want to say "Hi!" to my mother who is sitting in ICU the past 3 days ( she is my design artist and co owner of october pumpkin). She is keeping up with the blog from a wifi connection. Mom is stable and making a fast recovery but it has been a scary experience! If you can, add your prayers to our family's for a swift recovery for Mom! I love you Mom! I love you to Dad, you have been very brave through this! Better days are coming!

New Trillium Set

I made this tag with our new Springtime Flowers set. The stamp I used is the Trillium. It is of course the state flower of Ohio! I liked the greens on the tag they felt so peaceful and cool. Refreshing, since it is very brown and crunchy here in southern Ohio. I used a trusty foamie for INSPIRE and watercolors for coloring my image. A glitter brad from American Crafts accents the card and ribbon from Basic Grey. It was fun to make. I don't know how I find tags so much easier to create...I will sit forever to make a card but if I make a tag it comes together super quick!

One more tag today!

This is another foamie tag! I LOVED the scary Jack...BOO for real!!!

BOO! Working from storage!

Today, I do not know what got into me! I had an urge to dig out my old foamies and play with them! I LOVE their boldness and the way they take to kraft paper! I have so many foamies and many untouched so I challenged myself to unpack a bunch and bring them upstairs to the "studio"(really the kitchen table LOL). Here are a couple tag projects I made and a clay embellishment. I was cleaning in my actual art room and saw the clay in a drawer at nearly 1 am so I got it out and made some easy simple things to use on upcoming Halloween cards and tags. Can I say how easy was that and inexpensive too? So maybe tonight you can feel inspired to drag out some of your older supplies and make something new and fresh! Have fun!

Oh yes, the tiny pumpkins on the BOO tag are of course from october pumpkin! If you want some check out the Ghost Walk set!

Fall is lurking in the air!

I had a great time making this tag and thinking about the arrival of fall soon! I am getting emails about Halloween and Fall paper crafts arriving in my favorite shopping haunts and I am making my wish lists! Surprisingly, I a have a list of "toys" and stamps rather than papers. Usually, I am a paper freak when it comes to the fall, but this time around I guess it will be die cuts and stamps! I hope to use my new stuff with our october pumpkin stamps to give you fresh, fun new ideas! The stamp above is october pumpkin's witch and I embossed her on new paper from DCWV Haunted Stack. The glitter brads are American Crafts and the bats and saying are from Studio G clear stamps. The edge of the tag was done with my Tim Holtz "On the Edge" scallop, it is fun and whimsical. I used a 1 1/2 inch black grosgrain to tie the tag, unfortunately it is not seen in the pic! So break out your tags and make this cute witch for yourself today! It was a very easy tag to make and you can do it too!

A Treasure!

This is my signed copy of A Compendium of Curiosities!

Oh WOW! So COOL!

I had a GREAT, unexpected experience Saturday! I was at the Stamp Away USA Show, shopping and checking out the rubber stamp industry( I am always researching) when I was in a nice booth, Small Studio Productions, looking at Vintage Cabinet cards. At some point I look up and the owner is chatting with a fellow and I think to myself, "Is that Tim Holtz?" . The owner confirmed this when I asked! I thought, " WOW, I didn't know he was doing this show!" So I scoot on down to Stamper's Anonymous and sure enough a demonstration with Tim Holtz is going on. I get a spot with a great view and learn tons of new stuff to try. Tim is so kind , he is signing copies of A Compendium of Curiosities, as he works, for ladies who had purchased a book. Of course , I HAVE to get mine...I love book signings! Mine gets placed in the signing pile that is growing, but I don't know where. The demonstration is so interesting I just hang out and wait... who cares, right? How often do you get a live chance to see Tim Holtz work? Near the closing of the convention, he gets the stack and starts signing. The pile gets to the last book and I am nervous because my book hasn't appeared. He flips open the book and says, "What's this?" and he is turning a white page. He says to a gentleman he works with, " This isn't suppose to have an extra page, the other books don't. Hmmm, we are going to have to do something with this". At this point I am thinking, "What on earth?" . He signs my book and then starts to put a design in the book below the signing!!! Oh my gosh, I felt like I won the lottery! How fun! I took tons of pictures to capture the moment and I just want to say, that made my DAY! Thanks tons, Tim Holtz! Now, I can't open my book to read it though, because I am afraid I will ruin my signing and artwork, LOL!

Ladies and gents , if you ever have a chance to watch a Tim Holtz demo in person, please do! He was so kind and patient with everyone and took plenty of time to show many techniques, it was very fascinating! Thanks Tim Holtz for a great demo!