Ghouls Just Want to Have Fun (and candy)!

I've never made Halloween cards before. My Halloween festivities are usually limited to performing quality control on several bags of chocolates before the big day. I need to ensure that the 1 or 2 trick or treaters who come to our house have safe candy.

We've been studying Bernie Berlin's ATC Workshop book at NGS and I made some inked paper towel backgrounds that seemed right for something spooky. On this card, I used some of the paper towel inked with dye inks for the background and a great skeleton image from The Vintage Moth . I added a stamped mannequin dress and a yarn belt. Even a skeleton ghoul needs a fancy bag and some red toenail polish!

The pumpkins are ones I mentioned before, featured on Jenny Doh's blog. I used some cheap plastic pumpkins from Michael's so they wouldn't go all squishy. I mixed some gesso with while paint to make sure it would stick to the plastic. The little one on the left has some dots made with black acrylic paint and a pencil eraser stamp. I used a paper punch to punch little circles from a dictionary page. The one on the right has a sewing pattern glued to the bottom, and a free-form scallop trim of adhesive backed-fabric. A bit of rick-rack and some measuring tape complete the sewing theme. These were so much fun to make and they are so darn cute.

This one's a bit busy, but I love this stamp from River City Rubberworks. I edged the background with the top braches of a tree stamp.

These ghouls needed some legs and a bit of bling.

The ghoul stamp was in the dollar bin at Michael's - it had little pumpkins on the edges, but I liked it better without them. Ever since my good friend Shiela (yes, that's how she spells it) told me about trimming rubber stamps, I took it one step further and have been hacking off pieces of them I don't like.

Happy Halloween!

Please Don't Call Me Young Lady - I'm Neither!

Image available here

OK, so here comes a rant. What's up with the terms of endearment retailers throw around?

I was at Starbucks today and the young, male barista called me "dear". Good lord - he wasn't old enough to call anyone "dear", and I don't think I'm old enough to be called "dear".

Then there's the dreaded "Ma'am". Why is it that "Sir" has a better connotation - respect and power, while "Ma'am" just seems a nicer way to say "I think you're an old lady, but they won't let me say that".

But, the worst of all? "Young lady" - usually the greeting of a smarmy, balding and/or overweight middle-aged man thinking he's being cute by announcing that you're not a young lady at all. Or, to be fair, some clueless older guy who actually thinks a grown woman likes being called something diminishing. Even a young girl knows that when someone calls her "young lady" it shows that she isn't to be taken seriously. Rather, it's wink-wink, we know you're just a silly little girl.

How do these guys get the memo ? First, I admit I've never had this conversation with my sons or The Captain, , so I'm starting there. Then, I'm going to try and say to the next guy who calls me "young lady" something like ," I know you're trying to be polite, but really, grown women don't like the 'young lady' thing". My daughters would add, "Just so you know"!

So, what do I want to be called? I couldn't think of anything. (Well, I do sort of like "Madam", but that's not without some baggage). I decided that what I really want is to be called is nothing - no dear, no miss, no ma'am, and no young lady. When you ask if I need something, just STOP right there. No need to tack on some label that is either vaguely or overtly condescending.

Unless, of course, you're from the South and can pull off calling everyone "darlin' "!!

These are Some Fancy Pumpkins!

Aren't these just lovely? The stems are real gourd stems, sewn into these soft velvet pumpkins. You can find them here , also in two other luscious colors. I just discovered this site and love, love, love everything on it!

And, how about these fun embellished pumpkins by Jenny Doh:

She has instructions on her blog - a little paint, some stamping, glue on some paper and embellishments and the little orange pumpkin goes all glam. I may try this on some of those fake pumpkins from Michael's - the kind that won't go all squishy on all this fun art work.

And something sweet from Dean and Deluca:

I just love me some Dean and Deluca!! Whenever we to to New York, D&D is always on my agenda.

"Autumn - the year's last loveliest smile" - fall appreciation continues.

Thrift Store Finds of the Week

Brocante (flea market) in Paris.

Second hand shopping is so much fun. I've been shopping at second hand stores - thrift/consignment/yard sales for years. I love hunting for treasures, wondering about the story behind some of the items I see, and snagging a good bargain in the process. Second -hand shopping is retail therapy with a bonus - it's good for the environment- all that stuff we accumulate gets passed on instead of ending up in a land fill somewhere.

My strategies for thrift store and yard sale shopping are pretty simple:

• Always keep a list of things you're looking for.
  



• Never assume that you'll find what you're looking for on the day you want it.
  But if you do find something you love, buy it as it most surely will be gone when you go back to get it. (I'm still in mourning over a leather -topped table I waffled over and lost).



• Look at the whole store, even if you're really just hoping to find some plates. That's how you find a treasure you didn't know you needed.
  


• Think "what else could I use this for " ?
  


• When looking at clothes, I see people going hangar-by-hangar - yikes, what a waste of time. I walk slowly down the aisle, looking only at fabric - if it looks like great fabric, I check it out. Otherwise, keep walking.


• Look over your selections carefully - for men's shirts, always check the cuffs for wear. Nothing worse than getting your treasure home and finding the real reason it was at the thrift store!
  


• Do a sweep of your favorite stores every week.
  


• Hit the yard sales in the swankiest neighborhoods.

Here are my "Finds of the Week":

A rug for The Captain's library.

How fantastic is this - NWT Chicos jeans and a Coldwater Creek embellished white shirt for under $20.00. Turns out white shirts are a trend for 2010 !
A shell planter. I have plans for this -stay tuned!

Holmes, Booth and Haydens silver nut picks from the late 1800s that will have a new life as lobster picks.

And, these fun espresso cups with with silver holders and saucers.

I don't usually find this much stuff in one week, but there was this amazing estate sale......