Happy Halloween!

here's my card. the stamp is Memory Box and the sentiment is from Purple Onion Designs

anticipation

i love that carly simon song.... anyway
Last nite we were "ghosted". the doorbell rang, the dh answered to find a cute little tin bucket decorated for halloween, filled with candy and stickers and a little poem and a picture of a ghost. We were instructed, via the poem, to copy the poem and the ghost two times then post the ghost on our door - so no one else would ghost us. Then we leave a little something for another 2 neighbors - of course after dark - making sure not to be seen - ringing the bell and running. Very cute. the one who was most excited by the whole prospect - the biggest kid in the house - DH. He couldn't wait. My part - i got the goodies. No problem there - totally my department. After we ate our dinner, DH and DD (a teenager whom I normally wouldn't expect to get into this - but alas, she is her fathers daughter..) set out into the night to deliver their goodies. They were so excited when they returned - got both houses - good neighbor friends of ours with kids. Because of the way their windows are situated - and lights being on in the house - they even saw the little boy bringing the basket into the family room - all big smiles and excitement. Ain't Halloween the best?
we're anticipating tomorrow nite. Big time. i was thinking earlier how i buy the candy. It would be smart to pick stuff i don't like - but i couldnt' bring myself to give out lousy candy.
And there is that anticipation factor.
I anticipate some leftovers...
Anticipation... is making me wait (for my twix, milky ways, butterfingers, pb cups, snickers........)

card for a good old friend

i've been playing around with all kinds of stuff the last few days. Making my ATC's for a swap, the aforementioned Halloween cards, playing with kitchen cleaning products on cardstock (more on that soon) and attempting to get something going with my christmas cards. today i finally decided nothing was happening with christmas cards - so forget it for now and move on. so i did. i made this card for a friend of mine from college. She recently lost her husband. Pretty devastating to say the least - not something we'd expect at our age. Anyway I've been trying to send her a card just about every week to 10 days just so she knows i'm thinking about her. When this kind of thing happens the initial response is to crowd around the person for the first few weeks and then the crowd thins. The person is at the point where they need people more - when the reality of it all starts sinking in. Since i can't be around for her in person - she doesn't live next door- i figured keeping her mailbox busy is something i can do. And i know she appreciates it which makes me feel pretty good.
Anyway gotta run...

good e-vening

the last few days i've been busy making Halloween cards. some for family, some for friends. I just kept making them til i'd had enough (well enough stamping and embossing til the point i said to myself - tracy you won't wanna finish these - mat, attach to card backs, stamp the inside - if you don't stop now- hence some friends will probably get cards for thanksgiving or fall or even christmas at this rate - its more about the saying - hi - i'm thinking of you - than making sure i get one to every single person for halloween. i make myself crazy. but i digress)
Amidst this stamping and embossing i'd been emailing back and forth with my oldest child who is away at college. this child - well he is a character. an original if there ever was one. And of late he has a greeting - which he uses when answering the phone, sending emails, or talking to you in person. Whether it be in the morning, the afternoon, the middle of the night or in the evening - he greets you with a "good evening". Like i said he is a bit of character. You cannot help but laugh.
So i was stamping... and i decided he needed his own special Halloween card.

now its not much of a "card" - i was going more for a-muse-ment. I know when he opens it he will laugh. And that, of course, is the point. I used Purple Onion Designs "lizziebelle" alpha stamps (oh... what a surprise.... ) colored them in with a zig marker and put a shadow on them using another zig pen. i'll have to post the other halloween cards on tuesday - Halloween - when i'm sure the recipients have gotten them.

Every Grampa was once a little boy

One last thing for today - i wasn't gonna post it but heck.. why not
its a layout using that Signature Suite line from My Minds Eye. Pictures are of my Dad as a little boy. The most wonderful thing, i think, about having these pictures of my father is that you can see the face of my son in one, my nephew in another and my brother in another still. It is really quite amazing. Daddy (and my brother) would be so happy to know it - the living reminders of them.

Books to read, Books to make

Okay so i've been absent lately. I'll bring a note from my Mom soon.
What have i been doing? Working, Mom-ing, Wife-ing
Today i am home as I'm teaching a class this evening. Its a Christmas Planner. Yegods. Christmas you say? Well if you're a planning type person, this would be just the ticket. (And if you're not - well its can be viewed as another reminder of your lack or organization or an excuse to make something cute :-))
I don't have the actual class sample here to scan for you - I do, however, have 2 versions i made to show my students. The class will be making the planners using composition books - covered in Basic Grey Fusion papers:
specifically Mesmerize http://www.basicgrey.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=36&products_id=314
and Chartreuse http://www.basicgrey.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=36&products_id=324
then add some ribbon, some faux Dymo label letters and you get the picture in general.
I made two - one for each of my sisters (who love Christmas as much as i do).

this one is for my older sister. I used Wild Asparagus papers cardstock stamped with Purple Onion designs Paisley stamps (its hard to see - I versamarked them). The alphas, tabs, and holly and berries are made using Quickutz (the font is Zoe).



This one is for my younger sister. I used papers by Doodlebug. The tabs, tree and alphas are all by Quickuts (font is CK Handprint).

Oh and i modpodged over the entire cover. Each tabbed page uses the same line of papers and cardstock and features a pocket.






Now books to read.
a few i've read recently i've been meaning to share:
Miss American Pie by Margaret Sartor
Very interesting book - its the diaries of the author from the time she was about 12. I suppose i found it interesting because she is approximately the same age as me - although she lived a very different life. But its like a time capsule - brings me back to the same era.

After This by Alice McDermott
A novel about an Irish-Catholic Amercian family living on Long Island - the husband/wife and their 4 children. It spans the 40's thru the early 70's - and the effects really of 2 wars on their lives (WWII and Vietnam). It is like nothing i've ever read. I'm a big "scanner" when i read. I know i don't read every word - but with this book - you must read every word. And it is incredible writing. The story skips back and forth - time wise. One minute you are reading the present - and the next moment the author drops a little bomb about what happens in the future. It is really something to read.

Well enough now. I've got a few things to do before i go to work in a little while.

Happy Birthday Dear

(the aforementioned card - stamps by Purple Onion Designs)
I hope its a wonderful day Annie! Don't forget to wear your crown :-)

i'm getting ahead of myself

and i actually made a card for my sisters birthday - and its not for another week! scarey i know. its been on my brain since i saw that pig. the same pig i used on the card below.
When i saw the pig it reminded me of Green Acres. Remember that show? if you don't check this out
http://www.tvland.com/shows/greenacres/
well my sisters and I loved it. We were particularly fond of Arnold Ziffel. (how could you not love Arnold?) Anyway there was one episode someone was selling greeting cards - i can't recall who - probably was Mr. Haney. Anywho - EVERY card started out with the same phrase - with the recicipient reference changed to suit. Example: Happy Birthday O'Sister O'Mine; Happy Birthday O' Uncle O'Mine; Happy Anniversary O'Wife O'Mine... (the inside of the card would alwyas say "I hope this card finds you well and fine") get the idea? Well, it was hilarious and this has been a running gag for my sisters and me ever since. Hence the following. Having the pig - well it just reinforces the green acres thing for my sister - i know it will make her laugh and, of course, that is the whole point.
The stamps are Purple Onion Designs and I MCPT'd the background and used a pen to draw in the border line.
I have another birthday card to post but I need to wait til the recipient has seen it :-)

a little card

for a dear friend - hope it was a happy one miss B

i've been gone all weekend - so i'm catching up. things have been busy between, work, home, blah blah. hoping to write again soon.

oh the card - the alphas are Purple Onion (natch), the hat was stamped using Michelle Ward stamps, and the paper is MME and Basic Grey and the pig - courtesy of the washington post (an ad i cut out)

talk to you soon