Brave Bird and Some Halloween Stuff

Last week, both cats were sitting on the bench when this bird (woodland thrush?  brown thrasher?) landed in front of them--I mean almost touching their noses.  Too stunned to move the cats stared until I jumped up and scared him away.  He flew to the fence and stayed there while I came within a foot and took his picture; he stayed for several minutes before flying away.  Never looked at all nervous about me (or the cats).  

A few minutes after the bird flew, Edgrr decided to check it out.

Last week's outgoing mail:

Fred is one of my favorite monster eccentrics.  

A couple of years ago, a friend gave me some dried gourds.

I had so much fun using them!

I've made a couple of Halloween paper cones using Dollar Store skeletons,

that I used a banner for several years.

After being cut loose, they found new homes in the cones.

 Creepy little critters.

I've about spent my creative energy, but I don't want that to happen.

What do you do to encourage the creative buzz, when you feel depleted of ideas?

October :)

Oooh!  Cooler today!  Today's high is supposed to be 82--downright fall weather for here.  Still no fall color in the trees, but it felt good to be outside, drinking my coffee, and planning my day this morning.   

I ordered myself a new Kindle which should arrive today.  My current Kindle is acting weird and fear of being without anything to read was causing anxiety.  Most of my books now are ebooks from NetGalley--so I need a reliable reader.

Outgoing Mail

  Chrissy sent me the postcard below to send on to someone else.

I sent it to Suzie in New Orleans.  

The grands will get actual letters instead of postcards this week.

Each letter contains a little banner with pumpkins, ghosts, and a bat.

I always try to get a cat on B.E.'s mail.  And there is my new Snail Mail stamp.

On Mila's, I used a small fabric piece with El FanFarron (braggart, showoff) 
from a 2012 fabric collection, but I've cut so many of these Loteria card pieces
 that at some point I cut off the designer's name.

The skeleton and washi tape on Max's are from Tim Holtz collections.
And I love the vintage postage stamps.

I ordered the custom Snail Mail rubber stamp on the 3 envelopes above  from The Stampin Place.  The turn around was very quick, the quality is excellent, and the stamp makes me happy.  

From Ghosties and Ghoulies and Long-legged Beasties...

I found a small Halloween tree for $5 at Target!  I've wanted one for a while, but they were all pretty expensive, so I couldn't believe my luck when I found this one.  It isn't very big and was probably a left-over from last year, but it works for me!  

I've been hanging tags on it.

 And putting rosettes on some of the tags.

 Fee made the little wagon when the kids were little, and I fill it up with Halloween stuff.   

A little boo-kay

 Each year, I add to my little eccentrics.

This year, I haven't made any new clay figures.  Yet.

 tiny witch

tiny pumpkin man

Fee has been gone all weekend so Saturday was a pajama day, and I played upstairs for hours at a time.  Every surface in my studio is covered, including the ironing board.  

More gaudy Halloween stuff waiting to come down and find a place.  They only get out once a year, and they make the most of it.  

October! At last!

I've been busy with autumn and Halloween snail mail and crafty projects for the last week.  We also took another quick trip to Blue Moon Gardens in Texas on Saturday and bought Fire Bush Lime Zest, some ornamental peppers, some Henry Duelberg salvia, and a butterfly bush.  I've started clearing out a place to plant them and some lettuce.  

The owners of the nursery are getting ready for the Scarecrow event in late October, but they already have a few scarecrows busily tending the garden.

 My Favorite

There are several more scarecrows in progress on the porch where they work on them, and they will be popping up all over as the month progresses.  I wish I could see them all in the garden, but I don't imagine we will be making another trip over there any time soon.

Outgoing Mail

to my daughter, Erin

to Anna (my first Halloween Mail)

Then some postcards to the grands.

to Bryce Eleanor

to Mila

to Max

I've been making some rosettes, too.  They are easy, but a bit tedious because I have a tendency to miss the mark on the scoring and have to be careful not to skip a space.  Two ideas in mind about how to use them, but not sure yet.

Now that October is here, it is time to begin moving my Halloween decorations downstairs. 

Reading:  Finished the latest book in Sherry Thomas' Lady Sherlock series.  The Hollow of Fear provided another engaging adventure, but the series that benefits from starting with the first book. 





From my review of the first book:

A Study in Scarlet Women.  Charlotte Holmes is brilliant.  She is also a fallen woman.  Deliberately so--although things did not turn out as she planned.  

When her father reneged on his promise to pay for her education, Charlotte decides that losing her reputation would put her out of the marriage market and carefully chooses a man to aid her in her quest.  Her plan to keep this quiet and use it to pressure her parents goes awry, the scandal is public knowledge immediately.  Oops.

Charlotte is intelligent, observant, and logical.  However, her life has been limited to the safe and secure strictures of society, and she is unprepared for the difficulties she is about to face as a social pariah with no practical skills.

There are a number of things that bothered me about both books, but for some reason the characters kept me absorbed.  Charlotte is never the typical heroine (she seems to fall somewhere on the Asperger's scale).  Mrs. Watson charmed me.  The two form the consulting detective business and solve some murders.  And I had fun.  :)

 I've thoroughly enjoyed this series of a gender-flipped Sherlock Holmes.  

Snail Mail

Incoming 

postcard from Hannah

 long, lovely letter from Anna

 Anna sent several pictures of her surroundings.

I particularly love this one of daffodils in the orchard.

 I love the postmark and dragon stamp on Chrissy's (Postmark 1206) envelope.

And I'm loving the stationery with a place for weather and date!

The postcard is from Chrissy's ABC's of Letter Writing.  :)

Her goal is "for more people to get more mail"  and

the postcard is for me to send to someone else.

It is even stamped!

You can visit her shop here.

Outgoing

postcard to my niece in Texas

to Annie (Scribbling Glue)

While rummaging around 

for autumn related things, 

I found a bunch of leaves I'd dried.

They have lost their color, but this year's trees

are just now beginning to "think fall" so I used a couple.

So, yeah, light and color are missing from this leaf.

  

Postcard to Hannah, with one of my embroidered leaves from two years ago.

I can't count the ways I messed up on this one, but 

it is going out anyway.  

I'm gearing up for Halloween Snail Mail now.

School's In