Our beloved Pumpkin Fest Parade begins.

This was Blaine's first parade and he made lots of friends.

Pumpkin of the Opera was one of my favorite floats.

This little train bus was too cute. It even has a website mytrain.com, but be warned the website froze up my Firefox.

After the parade, we made Frogmore Stew (which is really not a stew and does not have any frogs in it). I have been wanting to make this since I first saw it in the September issue of Cooking Light. There is nothing better than enjpying peel & eat shrimp & spicy sausage outside by the fire.

Everyone also joined in some pumpkin painting. I chose the Martha Stewart glitter route and made sparkly little ones. They had a nice autumn colored glitter multi-pack at Jo-Ann that worked well.

[ Posted by Beth at 6:28AM ] [ ]

Been thinking about recycling and the big bag of batteries we've been saving, and this little image of a battery guy popped into my head so I had to draw him.

X-mas season means lots of new electronic gifts, which means lots of batteries. There is this program by the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation that makes it easy to recycle rechargeable batteries and cell phones. You just enter your zip code and it gives you a list of drop-off locations. Battery Man says "It's easy!".

[ Posted by Beth at 6:25AM ] [ ]

There is something about peace, nature & solitude that go hand in hand. This painting is acrylic & graphite on canvas. I ordered a dozen or so of these square 6" x 6" canvases from Dick Blick and I hope to fill them all up in the next few weeks ahead and add this one for sale, along with others, in my shop. Hope everyone had a good x-mas and are getting ready for the new year. Peace & Love, -B

[ Posted by Beth at 6:15AM ] [ ]

One of my favorite ways that people decorate their yards is when they hang lights loosely from the branches of their trees. Especially round white lights, or those white light up snowflakes. The red and green balls are also nice because they look like ornaments dangling from the branches.

I was reading an article about how holiday light displays really do not cost as much as some people think. It varies in different parts of the country, but 10 strands of lights adds about $5-$7 to your bill over the course of 30 days. But we all know that many people use well over 10 strands, it is easy to do! We have been using some eco-friendly LED lights. From this article on LED Christmas lights: "One study by the U.S. Department of Energy concluded that if everyone replaced their light strings with LED lights, we would save enough energy to power 200,000 homes a year." That is a good thought.

[ Posted by Beth at 9:32PM ] [ ]

It is official. Glitter is everywhere. It all started when my desk became to small to work at to make my ornaments. So I took everything out of the studio and into the dining room. Ah, a nice big rectangle table for me to spread out at. The nice dining area was quickly covered with paper, glue, rulers, an exacto knife or two, ribbon, paint brushes, tissue paper, bubble mailers, hang tags, string, foam brushes, water jars, paints... and glitter. Lots of glitter. So much glitter in fact, that I began to inhale it and go into coughing fits. That can't be good. And so I apologize to my husband for having to eat his Kung Pao Chicken on top of a glitter covered table.

And I apologize to our fur baby Blaine, who has been wearing glitter on his fur coat for the last week straight. I guess I should not pet him when my hands are covered in glue and sparkles.

[ Posted by Beth at 6:30AM ] [ ]

Just a quick note to let you know that new for this year, I have handmade ornaments in my shop. All transactions are processed safe and secure through Etsy via check, money order or PayPal. If you do not have a PayPal account, you don't need to sign up for one! (But you do need to sign up with Etsy...) When you get to the PayPal screen to pay, instead of logging in or creating a new account, just scroll down and you will see an option to pay with your credit card without registering. I also accept checks if you like the old fashioned way of paying better. I will be adding new items to the store throughout the next week.

Enjoy!

*** USPS Holiday Mailing Deadlines
(to receive your item by Christmas):
Dec. 13 | Parcel Post
Dec. 18 | First Class
Dec. 20 | Priority

[ Posted by Beth at 5:35PM ] [ ]

Encaustic & oil on wood

This past weekend, my husband Chad & I attended an Encaustic Workshop at Wag Gallery with Santa Fe artist Russell Thurston. Russell was a great teacher, and Willa, the gallery owner, was warm and welcoming.

Wikipedia defines encaustic painting as:
"Encaustic painting, also called "hot wax painting", involves using heated beeswax to which colored pigments are added. The liquid/paste is then applied to a surface-usually prepared wood, though also canvas and other materials."

I have been wanting to try this technique for some time now. Looking back on my Design Inspiration interview that I gave last December (a whole year ago!) and saw that I had mentioned wanting to try encaustic. So it was really exciting and fulfilling to finally be there at the gallery learning from someone I admire and respect. Russell gave quick, clear instruction and we were diving into painting within an hour.

During the workshop my husband & I completed a total of 6 paintings. Above was my second attempt at encaustic, and it was also my favorite of the bunch because it felt the most like "me". With this, I made some wax paper stencils for some of the shapes, and also did some scratching with dental tools (reminded me of my old scratchboard days...) and played with oil and mineral spirits.

I have to say, I am hooked! I always knew it was something I'd enjoy, but was scared off by lack of knowledge on the subject. I think encaustic painting is so sexy- the layers, the translucent qualities, the details. It is art that makes you want to get closer and check out every square inch. Two days later, I am still happy and content.

*** Updated to include a pic us at the workshop! Courtesy of Russell Thurston.

[ Posted by Beth at 6:18AM ] [ ]

Morrissey - Aragon Ballroom Chicago November 21, 2006

We were lucky enough to see Morrissey this past week. Chicago was his only U.S. stop so there were people from as far as California who flew out to see him. He played a few songs from his days as lead singer of The Smiths. He opened with Panic (Hang the DJ), but I have to tell you... he does not move quite like that anymore. But what he does have is an excellent stage presence and he has a way of mesmerizing the crowd. Here is an article about the show which shows a picture of him in his charming pink shirt.

I found a setlist via this message board which goes something like this:

Panic
First of the Gang to Die
The Youngest Was the Most Loved
You Have Killed Me
Disappointed
Ganglord
William It Was Really Nothing
Everyday is like Sunday
Dear God Please Help Me
Let Me Kiss You
I've Changed My Plea To Guilty
In the Future When All's Well
Girlfriend in a Coma
Life Is A Pigsty
How Soon Is Now?
Irish Blood, English Heart
I just want to see the boy happy
The National Front Disco
Please Please (encore)

Super fun show, and I know Chad was happy to be there so close to the stage. Parking only cost us 50¢ because we lucked out with a meter spot right around the corner. Can't think of a better way to spend an evening... well maybe if we would have stopped at that Indian restaurant on Broadway before the show. Morrissey and curry. A good combo.

[ Posted by Beth at 12:10PM ] [ ]

Feeling very caffeinated today and my head hurts so no big description for this one. You can make up your own story to go along with the image. Later gators.

[ Posted by Beth at 2:08PM ] [ ]

Here is my contribution to this round's project in which we were to design a candy bar wrapper. Being a lover of anything honey, I thought it would be fun to do something along that line. There is a subtle honeycomb pattern in the background and as part of the wrapper & the typeface used is "Jardine". I think it is a pretty, simple font. Hooray for font love!

One of my favorite postcard designs this month is from Andi Butler with her Mummy Gummies design. How cute is that?! To learn more about Creative Postcard Club, click here.

[ Posted by Beth at 12:15PM ] [ ]

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