I'm hosting a sweet and sinister gathering of ghoulfriends this evening. I thought I'd show you some pictures as I prepare the house.
Each place setting will have a sinister little garden pot. The tombstone is a wonderful pumpkin spice scented soap. The gorgeous witch card to the left is by Angelina of Angelina's Cards.
All together...
Should be a fun evening. Let the Halloween festitivies begin:)
Thanks so much for all your kind words about potty training. It really is amazing how much it alters the life of everyone involved. Lowell did really well. After hearing some heartbreaking stories about autistic kids not being potty trained until well into elementary school we were a wee bit scared. He is really stepping up to the plate and making great strides. Yay! I did take some time out and I went to a really fun estate sale this weekend:) I bought some rustic goodies (above). I fell in love with this weathered and aged house shaped display cabinet. I added the "home" blocks to it. I may use it to display some house themed found objects and art pieces. I'm looking for some small white pumpkins to put candles inside of and place in the metal holder (at left). The wire basket at the right I couldn't love more. Ever since seeing this I can't get enough of the primitive aged metal look.
Went ahead and bought Ali's new book before even looking beyond the cover, because I just knew it would rock. She is just so over-the-top inspiring. This book is absolutely wonderful!! It's full of inspiring projects, tons of eye candy and wonderful ideas about capturing the stories of our lives in a creative way.
Another giant art journal page... It's a gorgeous fall weekend here in Minnesota. We're spending most of our time in the bathroom potty training Lowell. I can think of better ways to spend my weekend, but we gotta Make it Happen:)
Oooh I can tell I'm going to have fun with these pictures. Just getting loosed up. I'm doing these as large 11x14" art journal pages on canvas. I'm working through the book The Way of the Wizard by Deepak Chopra right now and doing a page for each lesson with my fave quote. Fun!
Have a great weekend! 
Bright and early Saturday morning we headed to the hotel where the Creative Bazaar took place. Here was my table set up with fall goodies! I just updated my etsy shop with my fall collection. EVERYTHING is on sale! I will ship all items out next day. This is the last you will see of these items, so get them before they disappear!
The day was spent with many wonderful people. I met amazing artists, bloggers, friends and fans. We all connected so well:) Here is Heidi of Birds of a Feather. Her goodies are as gorgeous as ever! Jess of jetfuel came by to say hello on her birthday. It was so wonderful to chat with her and hear about her creative ideas:)
Mary Ann from Follow your Bliss was such a sweetheart. It was really fun getting to know her and her vintage, whimsical goodies are absolutely wonderful. 
Melissa came by from Yummy Goods and she was such a dear! She stayed for over 4 hours and chatted with us all. She is fabulously creative and super sweet:) Below is Melanie with her gorgeous work. Also LOVED Ursula and Olive's retro goodies galore!
Jess from Junque Revival was fun to meet. She brought the most amazing jewelry. Check out her site! Karen from Simply June was also there with cute, cute stuff!!
After spending the day in Cape Cod absorbing all this creative bliss, my friend Cheryl picked me up and we headed up to Boston. We got very, very lost and finally made it to our hotel late Saturday night. We woke up refreshed and ready to head to Salem!!
Tons of fun Halloween inspiration in this gorgeous New England town.
Photo from Elle magazine Nov. 2007
P.S. Found this wire figure at the thrift store the other day and was absolutely entranced by it. Finding inspiration in more industrial elements lately. 
I haven't bought jewelry forever and had a little spree on thatjewelrygirl etsy shop. She uses vintage materials. They're very affordable and she's having a sale!
The wonderful Jess at jetfuel sent me this amazing screenprinted t-shirt as a thank you gift for the creative blogger party awhile back. It's a gorgeous soft blue with a scoop neck and 3/4 length sleeves. Fits like a glove. Love it!!! She blogged about how she made this very shirt on the day of the party. Here's the post. She also sells more shirts in her etsy shop.
Then after reading this, this and this review and pictures, I broke down and bought one of the most gorgeous decorating and generally artsy books EVER!~ Amy Butler's Midwest Modern.
This book is absolutely delicious.
The very first sentence sets the tone, "I think that in everything we do, in every style of life, there is art to be found. Not just in the studios of talented artists, but in the gardens, homes, relationships, spirits, voices, and fashions of people you see everyday." ~Amy Butler 
This book is like a breath of fresh air. It inspires and delights. 
It makes me want to document my own life in this way. Make my own book about my philosophy of living with pictures and words about what brings me true joy. Go get it!! 
I so rarely actually have a "collection" of work with a common theme. After finally deciding to make some banners with images from a fabulous Dennison crepe paper costume book I have from the 50's, I put together a body of work. I will be bringing it all with me to Cape Cod NEXT WEEKEND for my booth at the Craft Bazaar.
We did the Autism Speaks Cure Autism walk this morning. Between my parents and my hubby and I we raised about $1000. It was really powerful to see 1400 walkers gather together for this cause. The kids were pretty antsy in their strollers (as you see below) so they walked quite a bit of the 3 miles. We were almost at the very end of the pack, but really felt great about our efforts. 
Finally a really great new book called Craft, Inc. by Meg Mateo Ilasco. This is a fabulous how-to book for and by a crafter that turned their hobby into a business. Great tips! 
That's what I've been up to on this rainy Friday. We're doing the Cure Autism walk tomorrow. Have a great weekend!
Wicked swap love is what I'm talkin' about....WOW! I have been astounded by the amazing work coming out of the Sweet and Sinister swap. First off, I wanted to show you what I created with Marilyn's Black Magic pack. Loved all her bits of sinister goodies. Added some of my own, including the oh so cool black widow netting, hanger and vintage brooch and this is what I came up with.
I got this wonderful hostess gift from dear Laura over at Katydid Designs. She has the same thing up on Glitter and Grunge this month, so you can have your very own. It's gorgeous!!
Miss Scrappy Jessi gave me a bundle of goodies, also as a hostess gift for the swap. Like I said, wicked swap love here!! She actually gave me more, but I already started using some of the wonderful ribbons and such that she had packed into this fun package. Thanks so much!
Amy Bauer gave such a big hostess gift that I actually thought it was for her swap partner! Wow, thanks for the amazing black and white goodies. You all sure know how to make a girl feel loved:) So fun to get fabulous mail!!
As if that all wasn't enough, I got this amazing package from my actual partner for the swap, Mizz Halloween herself, Debra of HopHopJingleBoo. If you weren't in the Halloween mood yet, just take a peek at her blog. She's selling at the Ghoultide Gathering this weekend in Michigan. Wish I lived closer!
As Halloween creeps closer this amazing art sure has filled my house with wonderful celebration and inspiration. Thanks for all your sweet comments and all of your energy for the swap. It has really been amazing! Hope you're all getting your packages. It's so fun to see all the goodies over on the flickr site.
I plan to use all some of the glorious new pieces of ephemera that 
Woohoo...here I go! I'll let you know what I come up with:)