Octoberfest Bloghop

*shushes the crickets as she clears away the cobwebs*

Yes, I AM still here. I'm sorry for the long silences between posts, but I just haven't felt the blogging bug biting me >.<  But here I am, as promised, to celebrate my favorite time of year :)

 Due to far too much rain and cold these past few weeks, I was unable to get out and take photos of all the beautiful golds and reds, and sore feet have put a damper on my long walks in search of the colours that still remain... as of today, the golds and reds are already mostly browns and blahs :(  That said, I do have photos to share that I took earlier in the month!

Below are a few shots taken at the biggest fall festival in my area 'PumpkinFest'. These was taken inside one of the big tents, where they were weighing all the giant giant pumpkins and other veggies in hopes of finding a new world record.

 The pumpkins were all so large that they had to be move via slings and forklifts!  The one in this photo weighed well over a thousand pounds :)

I was bitten by the painting bug a few times this month, and an autumn themed painting was always on the list, but until yesterday, it didn't happen. Even now, it's still not finished but I took some pics to share anyhow :)

 To start with, I took red, burnt orange, and antique golden yellow, and just drizzled it in zigzagging lines across the canvas, then took a sponge and dabbed them all together.

 Then once it all dried, I took a skinny sponge brush, and added in brown and a soft powdery blue. This about three quarters done now, and completely sponged at this point. Next I'll take the paint brush in and do some detail work, so whenever I get that done, I'll share it again :)


I had several necklaces and bracelets planned and in the works, all with an autumn theme to share with you, however none of them managed to get completed. They're all laid out on bead boards, or still in sketches :(  I do however have some earrings to show you :)

 Some leaf headpins made by Shelley of Tori Sophia, paired with antique copper wire, and black and bronze tone Swarovski crystals.

 Another set of headpins from Tori Sophia , this time layered over some light jade leaves, with antique copper and green swarovski.

 A pair of charms that the photo really doesn't do justice too. Also from Tori Sophia, and with antique copper, I added some sari silk bits to the back of them. I did have some golds and browns with them, but the bluey green just popped better.

 And of course, what is October without skull jewelry? I made four pairs of skull earrings, but I seemed to have misplaced both the earrings and the photos of them, so here are two of them lol
Above are red swarovski crystals with red skulls - the bigger ones are magnesite, but the smaller ones are from Michaels and the label says reconstituted turquoise...O.o look the same to me, but then they could be... I never bothered to look them up ;)
Below are more of the tiny Michaels skulls, paired with some silver skull charms and links.

And to finish this off, I'll share with you my own, much altered recipe, for pumpkin raisin muffins. I use rice flour in place of regular flour, but changed it back to 'normal' for this post. If you want to use the rice flour as well, just add a quarter cup cornstarch as well.

1/3 cup veggie oil
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup brown sugar ( not packed)
1 1/2 cup canned pumpkin ( NOT pie filling! I use E.D. Smith's Pure Pumpkin, or when they're in season, I get a couple small pie pumpkins and make my own puree)
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice ( you can make your own by using equal parts ginger, cinnamon, & nutmeg)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Combine all these into a bowl and mix until smooth. Then mix in 1 cup flour, and 3/4 cup oat bran . Once the flour and bran are all mixed in, add 1 cup raisins that have been soaked to plumpness :)

Fill lightly greased muffin pans until 3/4 full, then bake at 350'F for 23-25 minutes.
I use the extra large muffin pans ( texas size, apparently) so they take longer.


There you go :) Some giant veggies, some leaf and skull earrings, and some yummy muffins, which I should warn you, are rather addicting.

Carry on throughout the hop and enjoy what everyone else has to share :) I'll see if I can't have another post up in time for Halloween :D

 Click here for the OctoberFest Blog Hop Participants List

Apologies, Bribes, & Family inspired fun!



And so I have finally managed to get around to blogging... past my self imposed deadline, but hey... I'm blogging ;)

One of the main issues behind my lack of appearance here has already been mentioned in previous posts, and that is my grandmother. After a very long, painful, and debilitating illness, she's passed on and found rest. She was in an excellent facility, surrounded by family, and passed peacefully. No one could ask for more.

Eleanor Anderson

 The photo above has quickly become everyone's favorite picture of her. I'm thinking it was probably mid to late nineteen seventies. No later then the early eighties. And I just now realized, that I have that headband she's wearing... it was one of the items I claimed from a box of miscellaneous a little while ago. Wow... okay, that makes it even more awesome and it's totally going into my memorial display I plan on making :D


Any how, as I was saying, a great deal has happened in the past month and it's contributed to my funk in getting things finished. My living room floor still has a large sheet of paper taking up the middle of it, acting as a backdrop for modpodging my baskets and some pendant experiments... I'm hoping to get the baskets finished today, or at least the smaller ones... if so, there'll be pics of them right here....



... if there's no pic right there, then I didn't get them done ;)

My brain has returned to its chaotic attempts to multi task things that really shouldn't be multi tasked... at least not by me. In addition to my making messes with glue, paper, and various base materials, I'm also working on my BSBP creations. While I am not done, I have managed to better my usual efforts on this round by having BOTH main ingredients, the focal and the clasp, already in use and mostly finished :) I'm also working on about three other soup pieces at the same time, which has reduced my desk space to zilch... not even enough room to set my coffee cup down... so I'm on the couch with the laptop instead ;)

 Oh and in addition to everything else, I'm dealing with a wee bit of guilt. I NEVER spend this much money on something unless I really really need it.... and I didn't really really need this... wanted, yes, and needed, but not really really needed.. ;) ,  so despite the cost and the resulting frustrations over learning the ins and outs of a new system without giving in and killing it, I'm really glad I bought it. And not just for the luxury of being able to write or connect anywhere ( ie - in comfort :D ).

Okay, back to the BSBP chat for a second. The reveal is coming up rather quickly... kinda shocked me how much time has already come and gone! I have pushed myself to go outside of my box even more with this round then in past soups, so of course, that has slowed me down a bit as well, but in a good way :) Can't show you the pieces yet, of course, but as I've mentioned before, I tried some extremely basic chainmaille, although I'm starting to consider the idea of trying more after this. I even ordered some more jump rings to replenish my meager stash. Also some mixed-media with a bezel clasp and some modpodge dimensional magic ( I didn't want to break open the resin and risk messing it up >.< lol It's been too long since I've played with it for me to confident enough to risk it on such an important piece ;))

I've also been finding myself rather missing making beaded chain, so I think I'll be making more of that soon, too... you know, in between all of the other various crafty bits I'm doing or thinking or doing, plus my poor neglected writing.. and my painting. Although I seem to have passed it on to my brother who after taking up dabbling in song writing a couple years ago, has now started painting, and he's rather good. He has even dabbled into mixed media! This is awesome to me since, he's really not a 'crafty' person in that way... his painting used to be limited to customizing dinkycars, and the other creative type work he's done since he was a teenager has been ripping various electronics apart and putting them back together again... or trying to ;) Or taking photos and playing with the apps to change them. See, it's never to late to get your art on, people! :D



'Crazy won't wash off' ~by David Steffen



'Medicated People' ~by David Steffen

As far as I know, he has no blog or website ( I know he used to, but haven't heard about a replacement yet lol ) but he is on FB  -  david.steffen.142   Not sure whether he'd accept friends, or if you can leave comments on his page, but you can still drop him a message and let him know what you think  of his work. I'm sure he'd be tickled :)

You know... I think since I DID say that I would keep up with blogging, and had set a deadline for myself that I missed... twice in a row I think, extenuating circumstances aside, I think I should do a little something to make up for that breach.

Anyone interested in a little giveaway? I think I should more interesting for everyone and make you all work for your entries :) Since it IS Easter, which religious intonations aside, is a day for Family, lets get the families involved this time :D hehehe

Share, either via a link in the comments below, or in your own blog post which you can then link to the comments below , an artistic achievement by a relative :) No matter how big or small, professional or non, and no matter the artistic medium involved... even if it's the newest drawing by your toddler... in lipstick all over your wall... ;) And yes, pets and really close friends are considered family in my book too :)

And yes, pets can be artistically minded too... if you've never seen it, then you haven't met the right pets ;)


Upload a photo of the artwork in question and share the link .. make sure wherever you have the picture, the settings are set for 'public' so we can all see it :)

Sharing the picture here on my blog will get you one entry .. writing your own blog post featuring this artistic endeavor , and then sharing the link to the post here... will get you two entries :)

What are you trying to win? Hmm... how about a little assortment?
Some cat's eye chips, a random selection from my Czech glass flowers and leaves collection.  Let's toss in a pair of polymer clay frogs, fish, and pudgy pink cats all made by Marlene Cupo. A couple lampwork orphans from Gail of Oregon Handmade. A little clap bird from Starry Road Studio. A bracelet bar from Firefly Design.   And, not pictured since I haven't made it yet, but a length of beaded chain in a 'mystery combo' .. mystery because it will all depend on what I grab when I decide to make it lol

Sorry for the crappy photos here... first time uploading pics form my camera on this thing and I have no clue about the editing programs on it yet lol I'll try to fixe them later ;)

so there you have it... rules above :D

Happy Easter :)