Polka Dotted Pumpkins

I can't believe tomorrow is the first day of October! Where does the time go?

I've mentioned these pumpkins before in a post about my photo collages, but they deserve a better look. I got the idea from my sister Marilyn...who I made the collage for.  Using a plunger style apple corer like the one below...you take plugs from each pumpkin and trade them.  I think they're pretty clever.

There is a glimpse of the pumpkins in Marilyn's photo collage.  

I love the colors of fall!

Joyful Puttering...

Collecting...Creating...Connecting!

When Becky was visiting we had a long list of things we wanted to do but it was impossible to check everything off. (We really need to live next door to one another.)  One thing we didn't get to was sorting through my boxes and baskets of snippets. It may be hard to believe...but that's fun for some of us. These snippets include punched squares, collage scraps, watercolor and doodles experiments, cutouts from cards and catalogs, and about a thousand other little bits of this and that.

The idea of packaging together bits and pieces from my vast collection of art stuff has been rattling around in my head for a VERY long time.  These packages might include special papers, buttons, ribbons, fabric, card stock, punched squares and shapes, yarns and strings, felt, beads....I could go on and on.  I have been collecting my whole life!

This crazy hodgepodge of stuff is not exactly what I had in mind, but it's the perfect by-product of my time with Becky.

After she left I started going through some of my snippets...made a "quickie" logo...and packaged some "Joyful Puttering" for Becky.

Keep an eye out...it went out in the mail this morning.

Hodgepodge

What a great word...I love the synonyms.

I think it's a good word for our words and images journal!

This is the backside. You can see it includes a variety of fun stuff...including this tiny little blackwork piece and an old postcard that was in my grandmother's collection. Becky can use the snippets for card making, collaging, journaling...or whatever.


I think I'm on to something.  Thanks for talking it through with me Becky!

It's time!

Let There Be Light!

200 match boxes ready for the store.  I got into a groove so decided to get a head start on the Christmas order...Netflix really helped!

A Splash of Color

Castor bean plant...York Beach Maine.

When Becky was here we visited my dear friends Linda and David at their beach house in York and got a tour of their incredible gardens. I couldn't believe this castor bean plant that must have been 10 feet tall...and there was more than one.

And don't you just love that beautiful blue sky!

Back In Business....

My matches for sale at Folly 101.

....the match business, that is.

After a recent stop in Folly 101 Astrid asked me if I would be interested in making matches again....and I said yes.

When I first started making them years and years ago Diamond brand matches came in sturdy little boxes with a nice white frame around the logo....and they were available everywhere. At first I liked using images from Christmas cards and other interesting papers and cards.

Astrid preferred simple patterns in dots and stripes for the store and it was fun finding coordinating scrapbook papers to put on each side.

Then it seemed like the Diamond Match company was onto us....they changed their logo. The new logo slightly wrapped around the edge of the box...and I lost that nice white border making it nearly impossible to cover.

I searched online and found simple white boxes from a party favor company....but they only had a strike plate on one side.  So I adapted my technique and got back to work.

Now after taking a few years off...I'm back in business.  I'm working on fall and primary colors and will also start gearing up for Christmas.  

I cut my papers just a hair smaller than the match box....I still like that little white border.

I wrap the paper making creases where it will fold around the box....I like a sharp edge...and it makes it adhere better.

Then I coat the box with a thin layer of medium using a foam brush and place the paper making sure to smooth down all the sides and edges. 

I place the matches under a cutting board for just a bit....so the medium has a chance to set.

I generally put a little bit of medium in a wide mouth container....the mouth of the jar it comes in is awkwardly small to keep dipping into.

Then they just keep piling up. 50 done....50 more to go for this order. There is something oddly relaxing about making them. 

Fall Puttering

We had a dinner party last night so it was the perfect opportunity to spruce things up a bit and get out a few fall and Halloween things.  I have a couple of spots that I like to decorate seasonally...like the window sill over my kitchen sink. It was fun puttering a little bit around the house.

I like small little wreaths between the windows over my sink....so I often buy the floral rings that go around candles.  This is two of those wired together to make it more full.  It's just the right size and makes a nice pop of fall! The little green twig you see on the left is an air plant that my friend Becky gave me a few years ago.  I always tuck it in whatever I have hanging here.

I also love this little corner of the counter...and these two little trick or treaters make me smile.  

 

My sister Angie made this collage of my boys in some of their Halloween costumes. The images are layered in a shadow box...so it's dimensional. I think it's adorable!

And finally....this collage done by my sister Marilyn always sits on my table during the Halloween season.  It was the first art trades we ever did. We each had the same set of black stickers and a corrugated block....which you can read about here.  She incorporated the faces of my family on the bats.  I don't have a picture of the one I did for her....but it was not nearly as good as this one!  

Happy Fall! Happy Halloween!

Rain Lilies

I have admired the "rain lilies" on my sister LaVonn's steps for years. They are sweet little little pink flowers from bulbs that bloom all summer and come back every year. She just puts the pots inside for the winter and brings them out in the spring. This spring she sent me bulbs of my own.

I planted them right away and placed them in the sunniest spot on my back patio in Lexington.  I was so excited that within a few weeks I had four blooms...even before the foliage.

Then nothing for the rest of the summer.  The foliage was lovely...but no blooms.

Then just the other day....I found a nice surprise...another bloom! Just in time for fall...I can't wait to see what they do next year.

Guest Nest

This summer I painted over the yellow in my guest room in Maine....but I do like the yellow in my guest room in Lexington. Just before Becky's arrival I snapped a few pictures to share some of the art and the cozy little space. There's just barely enough room to walk around the bed...it's like a little nest.

I acquired this sweet little lamp from my friend Linda...and some little treasures from my friend Jane. I love other people's hand-me-downs!

A spring flower cross stitch I did back in 2004 hangs above an old desk that my mother had.  When I was in high school I asked her if I refinished it if I could have it...she said yes.  It's one of my favorite pieces.

Meryl,  a good friend from Maine, did this lovely peony using colored pencil.  A real treasure!                                                                                
                                                           

I did this little cross stitch a while back....it's called "dresser drawers."  Each little row has a bead as the drawer pull.  I think it's very sweet.  I have always loved the poem Warning... by Jenny Joseph.



And this lovely little watercolor by my friend Lynn
fits right in.

                                                                   

A Splash of Color

This year we planted the tall purple verbena along the rock wall at church.  It has done well and is a nice splash of color...and it's still going strong!