BOO

I hope I didn't scare you but it is Halloween you know.

It`s Halloween! It`s Halloween!

The moon is full and bright

And we shall see what can`t be seen

on any other night:

Skeletons and ghosts and ghouls,

Grinning goblins fighting duels,

Werewolves rising from their tombs,

Witches on their magic brooms.

The skeletons are out tonight,
they march about the street,
With bony bodies, bony heads
and bony hands and feet.
Bony bony bony bones
with nothing in between,
Up and down and all around
they march on Halloween.

Witch witch, where do you fly?

Under the clouds and over the sky.

Witch, witch, what do you eat?

Little black apples from Hurricane Street.

Witch, witch, what do you drink?

Vinegar and good red ink.

Witch, witch, where do you sleep?

Up in the clouds where the pillows are cheap.

All poems taken from http://www.familyfun.ie/halloween-poems/

Happy Fall

For some spooktacular fun, pick a Halloween themes question and answer it. Or if you like answer all three

1) Would you rather go to a Halloween party or trick or treating? I would rather go trick or treating. Parties are too loud and crowded and I'm more comfortable in a small group

2) If you were dared to spend a night in a haunted house would you do it? I would but I doubt that I would sleep

3) You just got back from trick or treating. What's the first thing you eat out of your treat bag? There better be a Reeses peanut butter cup in there 

It's kind of like a train wreck

You don't want to see it but you can't help looking. That's what all the Christmas decorations out in the stores now are like for me. Every time I go in to Walmart, I have to check out the Christmas stuff
 I don't know about anyone else but for me, I prefer a good old fashioned green tree. I don't like the silver, gold or white ones. I go back and forth on whether I like plain white or colored lights. I guess I like both.

I do like some of these signs they have out this year

If I had a big front porch I would like the believe sign

Works for me

Step in to my office

On second thought, that may be a little difficult since my office consists of a milk crate that holds all my stuff

Inside I keep my pens, markers, stapler, coffee cup and assorted other supplies. On top sits my friends. The stuffed donkey, my tealight owl, a couple little dinosaurs and a teeny tiny gorilla. Best work partners I've ever had.

I have another before and after for you too.

Jackolantern magnet before

And after

More before and after

I hope you don't get tired of looking at my before and after pictures. A single photo edit a day is about all I can get myself to do.

Before

After

Looks like I should have cleaned the dust off the pumpkin before I took the picture. Lets just pretend that the dust represents the frost that will be appearing on the pumpkins before too long.

Before and after

Walking around my house the other day I found a few things to snap pictures of. The original pictures, in my opinion, are nothing special but once I do a little playing with them, I like them a whole lot better.

This is sitting on the mantle of my fake fireplace in the living room

Three textures and a quote later it looks like this.

Morning sky

Yesterday for my day off it was a bit cooler. I decided I would get some cleaning done for a change and when I looked outside after the sun started to come up I had to head out to grab a few pictures

Wade had said that it was supposed to be a nice day but when I saw this sky I couldn't help thinking it was going to rain. Only a sprinkle later in the morning and then a heavier rain around 4:00

And while I cleaned someone else lounged.

Today I go to work and someone else will be lounging all day again. Only today he won't have access to the couch.

Fall or not

Yesterday when I left work I was finding it hard to believe that it was actually October 22. The temperature was a warm 77 and the sun was shining. When I got home I took my camera outside in the front yard. The sky was such a beautiful blue that I had to take a picture of the turning leaves.

Even though the tree in my front yard has turned colors and lost most of it's leaves it looks like the rest of the street is holding on to summer

A lonely leaft on my sidewalk

A lonely leaf on my sidewalk, all dressed up.

It's just me

I certainly haven't been too good with blogging lately. I either skip it altogether or I dig to the bottom of the barrel to post something.
I found myself out of material yet again so I turned to that app that does the caricatures again. I know it's been done but I'm doing it again. But with a twist.
I opened up the app, put on my reading glasses, made a funny face and took another picture. This time instead of choosing female I chose male.

Now I have

Me as a she. I love how skinny I am

Me as a he. My male version is also interested in photography.

And finally me as we. Don't you think we make a darling couple? Or is it don't you think I make a darling couple?

Easy peasy pumpkin

Today I have a really quick craft that anyone can do.

All you need is a small jar candle (some shade of orange) You can find these at Walmart for $1. Some black paint and a ribbon or scrap of fabric

All you do is paint a simple jack o lanter face on the side of the jar, tie a ribbon or scrap fabric around the top and you're done.

I used puffy paint and just drew the face on by squeezing the paint right from the bottle. You could also use other kinds of paint and brush it on. These aren't the best looking faces but they'll do. I feel bad for the one on the left, his eyes don't even appear to match.

Words of wisdom

The wise person knows....

...to let sleeping dogs lie

I saw that olw in Joann fabrics the other day. I don't remember how much it was but I do remember that it was way more than I was willing to pay.

Finally

After what feels like weeks, maybe months, of not doing anything creative, I finally broke the dry spell. It wasn't a huge splash back into the crafty pool but a little splash is better than nothing.

I decided that I would make a few more of the small notepad folios that I made a while back. This time though I wanted to add some of my old index card art to the front instead of scrapbook paper. I found a couple I liked and printed them out. After folding the base for the folio I added the decorative cover to the front.

The first one I printed as is from a scanned file I had. The second one I had to scan and then I made some adjustments to it in photoshop elements before printing

The first one printed out larger because I printed right from the scanned file on to a 4 x 6 paper. The second one was original size since I printed from photoshop elements. If you can see the rulers on the top and side of my scor-pal you can tell that these are 3 3/4 x 5 1/2. They're a nice size to stick in a purse.

The one drawback to them is that they are made from cardstock so they aren't going to be real durable. The upside though is that I have a use for those index cards I did and they look pretty.

I haven't done this in a while

Remember way back when awards were circulating throughout the blogging community? They were fun to receive but I got to a point where I would forget to post about them and then feel guilty for not following through.

Just the other day I had one come my way from Joan at My quality day. Joan is a long time blog friend who I met through Entrecard. She's an amazing woman and so far I don't think there's anything she can't do. Not only do I thank her for thinking of me but I thank her for giving me a subject for a blog post. The well has run dry here.

So the award is the Liebster award

"Liebster" is a German word meaning beloved or dearest. It is an online recognition in form of virtual award which started in 2011 passed on by bloggers to fellow bloggers for enjoying and valuing their work. The idea is to recognize the effort and give credit.

So, here are the terms of the award. 

The Liebster Award is received by writing an acceptance post. The rules for accepting the award are straightforward:

Thank the person who nominated you.
Answer the 11 questions you were asked.
Nominate 11 people and ask them 11 questions.
Notify each of the nominees on their blog.

Here are the 11 questions. 

1. What prompted you to begin blogging? 
I started this blog on October 9, 2008. My original thought was to showcase the digital scrapbooking I was making as well as photo editing. My original intentions were to work my way in to designing for digital scrapbooking shops. However I soon discovered that it really wasn't for me. 

2. Which language would you like to learn? 
Well considering the fact that there are days when I have trouble with the english language I probably shouldn't attempt to learn any new ones. I did take spanish in school though so that would most likely be the one I would attempt to learn

3. What was your favorite experience in the past six months? 
I haven't done much of anything in the past 6 months but I suppose doing the craft show in August was a pretty good experience.

4. What one location in the world you would like to visit? 
I don't know that I can just choose one location. How about if I say that I want to visit EVERY location in the world that is warm

5. Do you have pets? 
You already know the answer to this one. I'm owned but one not so well behaved Yorkie Cavalier mix


6. What is the strangest food you have ever eaten?
I don't really know if I've ever eaten anything that would be considered strange. When I was growing up though my dad had me hooked on peanut butter and cucumber sandwiches


7. What is your biggest struggle while writing?
Since I don't consider myself a writer this is hard to answer. I never have been able to write well in my opinion. I've been told though, that I write like I talk. When I write though, I tend to not do so well with punctuation

8. Who would you like to receive a week of training/mentorship from?
I'm fascinated by Tim Holtz products and his work. I would definitely enjoy a week of learning from him

9. What is the first thing you drink in the morning? 
When I was younger I used to get up and start the day off with a pepsi. Then I moved on to orange juice. These days I want my coffee.

10. How many books do you read per month? 
I really have no idea. I'm going to say at least 3 maybe more. I've never really kept track and I do all my reading on a kindle so I don't even have the actual books to count

11. What was your favorite time of year when you were growing up? 
.I always loved all the seasons and to some extent I still do. I love to see the seasons change I just wish that winter didn't last so long



OK so now comes the part where I break the rules. I'm not going to nominate anyone to receive this award. All of you who stop by here and leave me comments on a regular basis are the dearest people I know. If you want it, the award is yours. If not, that's OK too. 

just a moment

Day 2 of my 4 day weekend was not very productive but I did have fun playing around with an app I installed on my tablet. It's called MomentCam and it makes caricatures out of your picture. I don't know how much I'll use this but it kept me occupied for a while.

If you follow me on facebook you already saw this but here's one of the ones I did

Thoughtful gesture

Over a week ago, my neighbor across the street came over and told me she was going to be going away and asked if I would keep an eye on her house. Nothing involved other than paying closer attention to anything odd that might be going on. She also said she was expecting a package and if I saw it could I pick it up until she got back.

She came home late Friday night and yesterday she stopped over with a little thank you gift. I told it really wasn't necessary since I didn't really do anything other look over at her house throughout the week. She insisted that having me, along with 2 other neighbors watching it helped put her mind at ease.

This was the sweet gift she gave me. Love how the bottle is decorated.

1 of 4

Today is day 1 of the 4 days in a row that I have off. Can you see my smile?

I'm keeping this short and just throwing in a random picture from the archives.

I know this one is a new years picture but with the 1 in the wreath I thought it fit my topic

What happened to the celery

I've been meaning to do a post about the celery that I replanted. It's been quite a while so I wanted to show you how much it's grown.

The first one I planted grew a little then stopped. I started a second and that one passed up the first in no time. Finally the first one ended up not making it but the second kept going strong. This isn't the best picture but you can see how big it's gotten

Since today is Friday the 13th I was wondering if anyone is taking extra precautions today to keep the bad luck away?

Even though the calendar says it's October 11th and the trees are dropping their leaves, it doesn't really feel like fall. The weather is a bit too warm for this time of year. Also, while I was out in the yard the other day I noticed a bloom on the forsythia bush. That's not supposed to happen this time of year.

It does look a little like fall on my table though. I've managed to pull a few things out.

I don't have a title

It's hard to come up with a title for a blog post when you have absolutely no idea what you're going to write about. I have a picture though so at least there's that.

The color has faded from the hydrangea blooms but they hang on enjoying every last warm day there is left before the weather turns.

I had another day off where I couldn't get myself to do much of anything. I've been wanting to work on some craft projects. I have at least 4 different ones started. Every time I think I'll work on one I decide I reall am not in the mood for it. I thought maybe it was because my craft room was such a mess so I thought I would work on cleaning that up. I got about a 1/4 of the way through it and decided I really didn't feel like doing that either. This dry spell has to end soon.

As for yesterdays post, yes something is on my mind but it's not the kind of thing that I want to put on my blog. It's not work, medical or anything right here at home. I'll get past it but for now it's weighing heavy.

This is getting to be too much of a woe is me post so I'll leave you with that and be back tomorrow.

Keeping it simple

Rather than turning this post into one giant rant I'm going to keep it simple and just give you Gibbs

I can't be the only one.

I'm sure there must be other people who do the same thing. Or maybe I'm just strange. I can't help looking at the letters on a license plate and coming up with what those letters stand for.

With that in mind, look at my license plate and tell me what you think the letters stand for

Fair entries

The other day when I posted pictures from my animal folder I showed this one and mentioned that I had entered it in our local fair.

I also mentioned that the above picture didn't win anything. Ginny from Let your light shine said she would like to see the ones that did win so here they are.

This one got an honorable mention

And this one got third place. I think in my other post I said second but looking at the ribbon attached to the back of the picture I see it was actually third.

Flowers

Believe it or not, flowers was another folder that had very little in it. You would think that would be loaded with all kinds of pictures.

Neither one of these is really all that impressive but they were the best from what I had to choose from

One thing I noticed in all the folders is that I had a thing for adding frames to pictures.

This particular picture I had done about 6 different edits to the same photo. Of those 6 I liked this one the best. It reminded me of a colored pencil drawing.

From the family folder

Well this blast from the past is certainly helping me with blog material but it hasn't gotten me to get motivated to come up with anything new.

I have several craft projects in various stages of completion but nothing finished and ready to show.

As for my computer woes from yesterday. I plugged my external into the back of the computer and it worked just fine. Then the next time I checked it wasn't showing up so I unplugged it and plugged it back in. I think I'm just destined to have issues with it.

Today the pictures are from the folder marked family.

This is a favorite since it features my biggest hero. Sure wish he was still around.

I can't remember what this type of edit is called but I know it included adding a gradient to it.

This was one of my first attempts at extracting a subject from one picture and putting them in a different background. I didn't do so good with the hair.

Cars

The folder marked cars didn't have a whole lot to choose from. 

This first was a picture of a diecast car that Wade has. I was very tempted to correct the color in the picture and get rid of the blue cast but the whole point of this was to show you what I did back then.

This was using doing the out of bounds edit where it looks like a part of the picture is sticking outside of the picture.  I remember having a bit of difficulty trying to figure this out but it looks like I got it. Not something I did too much of though

So I'm not quite sure what the future of photos will be like on the blog. I had resized the above pictures and had them ready to use for today's post. When I went to retrieve them to write the post my external hard drive wasn't working. It kept telling me that it couldn't detect it or something like that.  I've got a ton of stuff on that thing and I should have known that something would happen to it sooner or later. I also think that there is something wrong with the USB ports on the front of my computer which is where I plug the external in. They have been giving me problems when I try and recharge my fitbit too. Technology is a real pain in the butt sometimes.

From the animals folder

Today I've grabbed a few pictures from the folder marked animals.

This file is dated 2008

This one is also dated 2008. I actually entered this one in the photography department at the fair. The other two photos that I entered won a 2nd place and an honorable mention but this one didn't win anything. I guess the judges weren't cat lovers.  This was the last cat that I had. My boy Pringle

This one says it's from 2006. I thinkg that may have been Duke's first Halloween. What a stylin' boy he was.