Happy Columbus Day!

Hello Everyone,
These October days seem to be flying by way to fast; here it is October 12th, already. Like my handsome Spanish Conquistador friend above, I would like to wish you all a safe and Happy Columbus Day.
Christoper Columbus was an Italian Navigator, who with funds and 3 Ships provided him by King Ferdinand & Queen Isabella of Spain, set out to find a western ocean route to Asia. He left from Palos, Spain in the Flag ship Santa Maria on August 3, 1492. Problems with the Nina & Pinta necessitated a one month delay on the Canary Island. He set sail again on September 3rd, sailing until a sailor aboard the Pinta sighted land on Oct. 12.
Columbus and a crew of 90 men disembarked their ships and ventured onto what they believed would be Asia, but was in fact the Bahamian island of Guanahan. Disappointed to not have achieved his goal and yet totally in awe that he discovered a continent that had yet to be discovered by Europeans.
He may have missed his mark for trading with Asia, but Europeans were more than thrilled with the exotic array of food items he brought back with him:

sting beans
kidney beans
lima beans
chocolate
corn/maize
potatoes
tomatoes
&
tobacco

These are Columbus's true legacy; for were would Italian cooking be without the tomatoe, the the Irish without the potaoe, or Swiss without chocolate. Think about it. And more important, where would we be without all of these?


Hugs,
Penny

I only craft on days that end in y

Hello everyone,
It rained again on Friday - so I spent most of the day playing with Organza. Previously I had found this great blog and Reese's experiments into the world of organza flowers. I was filled with a desire to try it, but just never seemed to made time for it. With the upcoming Halloween Party I wanted to make something chic to decorate my birdcage and remembered these - so I gathered my organza round me and set to work making a few flowers that I deemed spookily chic. When those turned out so well I decided they would make great package toppers for Christmas & Birthdays (and boy do we have a lot of those coming up in the next couple months) so yesterday I got seriously busy and filled my jar with an array of gorgeous flowers. (It also helped that I happened to have lots of organza left over from making Renaissance Headpieces so the out of pocket cost was nill.) Making these are kind of like eating a potatoe chip - you just cant make one.

These are the little beauties that are on my birdcage.

A sneak peak at my completed birdcage.

Well, Sir Knight is already dressed and ready to go shopping, so I best bring this to a close and get myself ready to go with him. It is cold but not raining so I don't mind heading out today.

I hope you all have a great weekend.

Hugs,
Penny

I managed to get a little crafting time in!

Hello everyone,
Its been cold and raining for the last two days - what better incentive is there to stay in the craft room in front of my heater? None. So that is what I did.
I had not participated in a challenge over at "Mind Wide Open" in over two months and my muse was kicking me in the posterior to get myself back in gear. So above you see the picture Gail gave us for the challenge.
Oh! my, I said to my muse - it's green - so very green (and I really don't like green) and it has a bee not a person - I don't think I can do this. Sure you can she said - just think about it a bit - then get busy it has to be in by midnight tomorrow. Yea sure!, I said; you got all the talent and all I got is a brain full of fog, right now. Think, she whispered till her voice faded out completely; and she left me siting at my computer without a clue.
Well I knew she would never give me a moments rest if I didn't think on this, so there I sat - I had never done a challenge that had something other than a person (usually pretty girls) so what, could I do with this. I knew I was not a fan of all that green so the first thing I did was bring that picture into my photo software and soften that vast expanse of green. I played around and played around till I finally got a picture I could look at without cringing.
With that printed I sat sat my desk and played with my ephemera till I found a few pieces that seemed to work with the piece . I painted a terra cotta background and then cut it into the shape of a hexagon -the shape of the honeycombs. Then using a pallet that included wheat or maize and brown with the green and terra cotta I came up with this


Well. What do you think?

Since Gail gave no word prompt with this picture - I made my own - "Flight."
The idea being that the bumblebee according to aerodynamics because of his size in relation to the size of his wings should not be able to fly - but no one ever told him - so he flys anyway.

A lesson to myself maybe that I need not concern myself with what others say of me or my projects, and just do what is in my heart.

So today I sent my project off to Gail - tomorrow she will post all the participants and the voting will start. If you have a few minutes why not drop over and visit Gail's Blog tomorrow. And cast a vote for your favorite piece. Mind Wide Open - visit it tomorrow.

Hope you all are tucked in and warm; enjoying the pleasures of autumn.

Hugs,
Penny

Cool October Nights and Good Reading

Hello Everyone,

The cool crisp air of autumn is filled with excitement, as we ready the house for Halloween and for our Party we will be doing with all the friends of Fanciful Twist.

What better time of the year to delight in tales of the macabre and I have a few I intend to read - some for the first time and some others for the pleasure of meeting up with old friends or is that fiends. Mystery writer may come and go but my all time favorite to curl up with - hands down - is the Father of the Macabre Edgar Allen Poe. "The Great American Ghost Stories" book by Hans Holtzer is also a very good read. In my college days I was able to gather information about the great Hans Holtzer. One of the other college's in our town of three colleges was said to have an ill fated haunted room and we all clamored for information as to whether or not he would debunk the ghost story once and for all or authenticate it as a real sighting.

Tales of haunted houses are always interesting - but when October comes around - well - they seem so appropriate. Who hasn't wanted to take one of those trips around to all the locations in your own town or county. I know, when I still lived in Chicago, the midnight halloween tours of the haunted cemetaries was always fun even if I never ever saw a ghost for myself.

For the Little tykes - the Bunnicula serries by James Howe - Is great. Yes there are a few scary parts in it but Howie and Chester and Bunnicula, always overcome evil and save the day for the unsuspecting Monroe Family. Yes bunnicula is a Vampire rabbit and he sucks the juice out of all the vegitables in the neighborhood but he is so cute and cuddly who can blame him.


Well, I'v rested my feet long enough I best get back to the business of decorating.

Thank you so much for coming by to visit. Do feel free to come again soon. Please.

Hugs,
Penny

Hello October - A Party in the works

Good morning everyone,

How are you this morning?

October has arrived and to us she has brought cold air and plenty of rain. Riding on the shirttails ( or maybe i should say broomstick) of this cool crisp fall day she brings the promise of some wonderful autumn activities.

I want to invite you all to come and join us - as I joined in on Vanessa's Party over at "Fanciful Twist". We have already started to decorate the party room and plan on making all the goodies this weekend. So do come back to visit and maybe we can sit a spell and watch the Halloween magic unfold around us.

Hugs,
Penny