Harvest!

Ahhhh.... the long awaited day! We harvested our pumpkin yesterday and I was so excited. One would have thought I had grown a 1000 pounder, I was so proud!

So now she sits on the porch awaiting some of the smaller pumpkins, in the patch around our deck ,to finish turning orange. It has been such a thrill to watch the pumpkins grow and even my honey(in the picture) helped after he got over the shock that I had put the seeds down near the deck!

Simple Halloween Tags

I have been in a Halloween mood for about a month! Typically, I start to feel " Halloween in late July! It is crazy, but I am an October baby so I guess that is why I want to "rush" the season! Well, now it is here and it is time to start making some fun crafts and treat bags! I just LOVE to make treat bags! I made these very simple tags for my other Etsy shop www.octoberpumpkintoo.com and you can whip some out too! I used vanilla cardstock from A7 cards to punch my tags ( I can't believe how this was so similar to manila tag paper) and stamped the images from Little Yellow Bicycle stamps from last season. I used my favorite chalk inks for the images. They turned out great and it was such an easy project!

Nearly Done

Here she is...nearly done! I LOVE this pumpkin and I can't wait to take it from the vine. I am trying to be patient though, just a couple more weeks! We have had a lot of fun growing and watching the pumpkins grow this summer. The weather is changing here in Ohio and I think the pumpkins have pretty much stopped growing, so soon I can take them off the vine and move them to the porch! Can't wait!

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!!!