The Dead Bird

To refresh your memory,

last year I painted and embellished a pumpkin

for my sister's birthday.

As I was shopping for items for this gift,

I saw a raven.

My thought process was to put it on top of the pumpkin.

Changed my mind - but I couldn't get it out of my mind.

 

As Halloween approached, I saw the raven at a deep discount

and bought it immediately.

I figured I would do something with it for her birthday the following year.

 

I didn't know what I was going to do with the raven

but after "shopping" in my stash, I came up with this.

I know.  I know.  Lot of pictures - but I wanted to show every angle.

I just wish the raven showed up better.

 

You see, I used many of the same/similar colors

so that she could display them together.

 

When I finished making this, I showed The Runner.

He didn't say anything at first, which is very unusual.

Finally he said, "What are you going to do with this?"

My reply was, "I'm sending it to my sister for her birthday."

His immediate comeback was, "You're going to send her a dead bird?"

 

After explaining that's a raven - you know, Halloween-ish
and it's to go with last year's pumpkin,

he "got it" ... but still didn't "get it" as far as I could see.

 

It sat on the counter for several of days before mailing.

After about the third day,

he told me it was growing on him and that he liked it.

Whether he liked it or was just trying to make me feel good,

I'm not sure.

 

But the important thing is that she liked it.

Happy birthday, Dodie.

 





Happy Thanksgiving - a little at a time!

Here's half of the cards I created for this holiday.  The other half can be seen tomorrow so don't go far!

The first one out the gate is this old man fattening up the turkeys.  Oh, those poor turkeys - they think it's their Thanksgiving dinner!  Little do they know, right?

Next up is a Hearty Thanksgiving Greeting.  This young lady sure has her arms full with these pumpkins!

Grateful.  No other word needed on this day of thanksgiving.

This sweet little girl is wishing somebody some Thanksgiving Wishes to go along with that delicious looking pumpkin pie (my favorite, by the way!)

This one just might be my favorite so far.  How lovely is this young pilgrim standing in the snow?

I'm always afraid of getting in a rut and creating the same way all the time.  I have my favorite from this group of five.  What's yours?  What is it that speaks to you?  By knowing this, it allows me to reach my audience rather than just myself.

Thanks for looking now don't forget to come back tomorrow to see the rest.

Trick or Treat ...

Halloween is not my favorite holiday, therefore, I didn't have very many spooky papers or embellishments in my stash.  But, I was able to work around it - without going to the store! - and it ended up being a real "treat" for me to create these cards.

This card was designed for a woman.  The hand was copied onto a manila folder - where it came from, I have no idea.  Initially, I lightly inked it with a black ink pad but it just didn't look right so I added green and literally polished the nails a bright orange.  NOW I like it!

The envelope was from a make-and-take project somewhere along the way.  I covered the back with paper to match the card and left the other side black and added a little piece of orange paper for the address.

This next card was also designed for a woman and I decided to go with the witch theme.  Again, the embossed paper was from a long-ago make-and-take project that was just sitting in a drawer.  Wish you could see the envelope in person.  That flourish looks like black patent leather.

Yessiree, one more witch card for a woman.  Oh, that rubber spider.  YIKKES.  I could barely touch it!  The spider web: again, something from a make-and-take ... wish I could remember where.  I really enjoyed making this one.  Because it's the "witching hour" I went with the clock faces.  Did you notice the spiders on the white flower?

When I was finished with these three cards and had them lined up next to each other, I wished I would have used the same image as in the first card above (the four witches) just to see how I could have mixed it all up.  The image would be the same, but everything else different.  Next time.

This card was made for a two-year old little girl.  Can't be scary for the little ones so I found this darling little child standing in a pumpkin.  How sweet is that?  The envelope, you ask?  I made this about 18 years ago from an old calendar.  See?  Nothing goes to waste.  I can't tell you how many times I nearly threw it away.  So glad I didn't.

A three-year old little girl is going to receive this card.  Just LOOK at the eyes on this little child.  This card was a little challenging for me because of the paper I chose - brown, black and beige.  Not exactly Halloween, but the pumpkins spoke to me.

Question, readers ... which one of these cards is your favorite?  I don't want to sway your decision but mine is the first one.

Happy Halloween to all!

Happy birthday to you ...

Today is my only sibling's birthday!  I won't tell you her age, but you can feel free to go ahead and give her a birthday shout-out.

Here's what I sent her to help celebrate not only her birthday but the fast-approaching season of Autumn.  Best part is that she can display it for years to come.  Not wanting to go with the traditional orange pumpkin, here's what I came up with.

I also made this heart wreath, which she can display year round.

If you know anything about me, you know that I am extremely organized and know where everything is at any given moment.  Well DANG ... somewhere around here is a letter that I wrote to my mother when she was still in the hospital after delivering my sister.  It's so sweet - written by an eight-year old who was oh-so excited to have a new sister.

Happy birthday, Dodie!!!!!