Autumn Splendor

Well I'm tearing through the Chai tea and spicy Yankee Candles. The annual trip to Apple Hill, our regional cluster of apple farms, has been made. And the comfort foods are flying off the stove. Cioppino, chicken noodle soup, penne bolognese, and a couple of McDonalds slip-ups to be sure. But tis the season to craft. It is the time of year when I feel most inspired. Maybe it just seems natural to want to go along with all the natural beauty that is flourishing everywhere.

I wanted to create something that would capture the essence of how I feel at this time of year so I created the following piece:

The page utilizes the Graphic 45 Steampunk Debutant papers, Prima Strawberry Kisses-Berry Splash paper, French Manor Cartridge, and Gypsy Font Cartridge. The gold vine is from Prima and can be found at Michaels. The edges of the page are distressed with Tim Holtz distress ink in Frayed Burlap and Broken China. The page is also sprayed with Tattered Angels gold pearl spray. I accented various elements on the page with Distress Stickles in Antique Linen and Broken China.

I am still working on my Disney Album and have created the following pages with a dash of Halloween spirit:

I utilized my Gypsy and Cricut to cut these images from glitter paper and adhered with 3-D Zots.

The images on this page were cut using the October 31st cricut cartridge and the paper is from the Basic Grey Eerie collection.

Now I have a confession. Many would agree that scrapping and paper crafting can be just as bad and expensive as any other drug addiction. I have recently led my mother and sister astray and have gotten them hooked and spending. I almost feel bad. Anyhoo, take a peek at the gorgeous Autumn/Halloween display they did:

Note the cute banner cut using the Cricut and the black cat on the pumpkin from the Pumpkin Carvings cartridge.

Part of their downfall experience included a day-crop to support breast cancer research. Many of you are familiar with the extremely talented and inspiring Monique Griffith of Monkey Doodle Cricut and are aware that she is fighting like a champ in her own battle with breast cancer. Well an amazing group of women along with Monique's bff and Bling Queen, Wendy Pope Lawrence, put on a fantastic crop to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research. The day was inspiring in so many ways! Check out the new addicts cropping away:

Thank you Monique for being so amazing and showing women everywhere how to be brave and strong!

Another very special highlight of October was the wedding of my dear Aunt and Uncle. It was a beautiful wedding at the lake where my mom, aunt and uncle grew up and it was uniquely them. The bride wore three gorgeous gowns starting with a traditional white dress, then an amazing Chinese dress, then a hot and spicy red satin number that showed all the right moves on the dance floor. The food was great (my new auntie is an amazing professional chef who has worked in the best kitchens in San Francisco). And the music was fantastic. My dad even sang a song for their first dance:

I am so lucky to have these two!

Me Like Make Pretty

Lately I've been really interested in exploring beauty and makeup in particular. As a crafter, I like making things pretty, and if I can help myself then all the better. Back in high school I would rock out bright green glittered eyes to school, crimp my hair, and round in out with a sparkly pair of jeweled earrings that would hit my shoulders. Extravagant yes, but I kind of miss it. So I have been picking out fun bits and pieces here and there and this week I bought something that I've never had the gall to try. BRIGHT RED LIPSTICK!!!
I got my hands on the limited addition Moulin Rouge lipstick from Make Up Forever:

It is so beautiful, pigmented and rich. I am pairing it with a simple black lined eye and a sparkly black beret!

In contrast to bright red lips, I also played around with dramatic blue eye makeup. My pick is the new Tarina Tarantino Starchild Odyssey palette available at Sephora.com.

The colors are so unique and bright! My favorite has to be the darker purple on the right. When applied to the skin it appears almost holographic. Also the dark blue is very rich and is solid shimmer which makes it very easy to apply and it also doubles as an eyeliner. Here is the look I came up with:

I used the purples all over the lid and above the crease, the dark blue on the outer corner and as an eyeliner and the bright silver in the inner corner and along my bottom lashes. I had people checking it out all day because it was so bright and the colors are so interesting.

I always encourage people to explore with makeup because it is an inherent part  of being feminine to appreciate feeling pretty. In fact I believe that it is a trait programed straight into us for the betterment of the universe and mankind in general. Thanks God. And I hope that women can become supportive of each other in our pursuits of beauty, whether through makeup, gardening, interior design, painting, crafting, etc. and start appreciating and complimenting each other rather than writing it off as vanity or silliness. Because the world can be very ugly and a little light-heartedness never hurts!

I've been taking it easy in the crafting department this month. I've had three major family birthdays, my darling friend came to visit from Seattle, and we took a family trip to Disneyland. So I haven't had the mindset to nurture my crafting creativity. But I did get an awesome birthday card for my Grandpa who loves Mexico. What a treat to have found these awesome Dio de los Muertos skulls on the new Rock Princess Cartridge:

I cut each skull at 3 1/2" and mounted them on pop dots against plain black card stock.

I have been building up my crafting stock though. In terms of cartridges I acquired the following:

• 
  
  Rock Princess
• 
  
  Country Life
• 
  
  October 31st
• 
  
  Toy Story
• 
  
  Happy Hauntings
• 
  
  Winter Frolic
• 
  
  Straight From the Nest

Some of the newer products that have been on my radar for fall are the new Prima release including crystals, flowers, stamps and papers. I purchased the Graphic 45 Halloween in Wonderland paper pad along with the Steampunk Debutant pad. I also landed some Tim Holtz Texture fades to use with the cuttlebug mentioned in my previous post. Now Fall is by far my favorite season and I really get amped up for drinking tea, lighting candles, and cranking out a good project. I'm thinking that making sure I'm well stocked now will help when I really get going next month.

So to round off the month of August we took our fourth and final trip to Disneyland since we purchased annual passes last September. We got some pretty sweet hotel deals and were able to stay at the Grand Californian Hotel that is centrally located in the park. In addition, my friend, her husband, and their two little boys came with us along with my wonderful Grandpa. We had so much fun! I was also able to capture some footage of the new World of color show:

It was very awe inspiring. The affects they were able to create with water, color, and light were unlike anything I've ever seen. And I also got to ride one of my favorite roller coasters ever, Screamin!


So lots of fun stuff to play around with and share coming soon! And if you're feeling fine then go slap on some red lips and blue eyes!