According to my calendar, fall is officially here in the Sierra foothills--I finally had to put on socks to warm my feet in bed. A light quilt is still all I need for now, but when its time to bring out the heavy winter quilt, I get the signal from the dogs. The colder it gets, the closer they push, pinning me in one position so that I can’t turn over without causing a major shuffle of 10, sometimes 14 legs (and my two arms). So with the signal of winter according to the dogs and the “laying on” of the heavy quilt, they share more of “their” bed with me.
Well my lone maple tree is turning the most beautiful colors and will soon start dropping its leaves in earnest and for a short time the ground underneath will be covered in a sea of gold. Until then, every time I crest our road, I’m greeted with its glowing colors over the roof of our house. The oaks are also slowly dropping their leaves and every once in a while I hear a reminder of “fall”-- when an acorn goes ping on my car parked underneath.
I cut the last bunch of my roses and brought them inside for a last 
blast of summer. I’m going to cut some hips on another rose bush to add to a project I’m working on. I’ve been in an artistic slump. Just been trying (and not very successfully) to finish a few things that have been hanging around. I did do a few Halloween tags that sold on my etsy, and a few other misc. Halloween related stuff. I think it’s too late to list them, so I’ll just hold them for next year, makes me that much farther ahead, right?
I’m usually never on time with making holiday decorations/crafts, but this time I’ve actually already made a few Halloween items to sell in my etsy store. I usually start too late and then the items end up in a box in storage for next year, but then I forget I have them and … Such is the cycle of my life, “a day late and a dollar short” as my Dad always says.
I’ve been on a kick making tags, which I’ve never really done to any extent before. Below is one that I made from a photo I have. OMG are they a homely couple, such a sourpuss face on the older one. They are not related to me (bought on ebay)!!
Seems like when I get an idea in my head I have to search all over to find the elements I'm looking for. Take for instance the crow tags below. I knew I wanted crows, but I only had one pic of a crow. 
I wanted to use several different views, so I had to search all through my books to find images, then I had to scan them, then print them (finding I'm almost out of black printer ink in the mean time!). Is it that way for you? Do you find your elements first and then put the idea together? It just seems that I spend alot of time looking for just the right element to add. Am I too picky? Just seems like it takes me so long to get something done. Even when the ideas are flowing, it just seems that a simple project like a few tags takes me several days to complete. And it never fails, right when I'm in the "zone", I get interrupted! Kids to pick up from school, dogs need to be let out, dogs to be let in (most of my day is spent doing this). ARGH!
This is a small painting (5x7) I just finished. I haven’t done any real painting since high school many, many years ago, lol! I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. I’ve never been good at drawing people that look real. But I’ve never tried to draw a figure that has a primitive look that seems so popular. Since this was my first attempt I didn’t want to waste one of my canvases so I used 140 lb cold press watercolor paper. I painted gesso on first, and then when almost dry, I set it under a heavy book to get it to lay flat. It worked pretty well with the acrylic paints, but did want to curl some, so I pressed it flat overnight a few times. I put it in a thrifted frame that was already painted a dark brown (looks almost black) and I’m keeping it for now, he he.
I think I might have a few more Halloween ideas somewhere in my mind, so back to the crafting table!
