happy halloween!

Some spooky photos today courtesy of my hubby Roger... he managed to capture some pretty cool shots the other night while the moon was out and the sky was actually clear. Happy Halloween and have a Spooktacular weekend! 

spill the guts

So after much digging around the internet, I stumbled upon a Bobby Flay recipe for roasted pumpkin seeds... but alas, I didn't have the right chili powders in my pantry, so the recipe took a turn... and we ended up improvising a bit... ok, a lot. We took the washed seeds from three fabulously carved pumpkins (yes, I am going to too my own horn here), a tablespoon of olive oil, chili powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt, and a dash of worcestershire sauce - no measurements, just sort of eyeballed. Into the oven at 275 deg F  for 1 hour and taa-daa... yummy pumpkin seeds! Off to munch on some more!

spooky reads

Ok, so as you may have guessed from the amount of Halloween posts that I have been uploading, we are a bit of Halloween fanatics. So, yes... more spooky goodness today to share with you. One of the things Roger and I love to collect are vintage children's Halloween books (I am using vintage loosely here, since the books are from the 60s - 8os). Our future children are going to have such a kick-ass library.... er, hopefully they'll like Halloween too! But for now, we will be the big kids hoarding the collection. We seem to find a couple every year when we are in second hand books shops... and it has snowballed a bit over the years... above are some of our faves! Do you have a fave Halloween childhood favorite?

knives out

We got our knives out and went head to head with the pumpkins... mwahahahaha (that is my evil menacing laugh, btw). We went pretty traditional this year and stuck with the good 'ol classic jack-o-lantern faces... well, with a few twists here and there (I had to add ears and eyelashes on mine). Mmmm... the pumpkin-y smell still lingers. Tonight we'll be roasting the seeds.. still trying to find the right recipe... so if any one has any suggestions, do share!

welcome great pumpkin

We have been decorating our place with hints of Halloween-ness this past weekend. One of our fave things to put out on display, and which has become an annual tradition for us is our set of Peanuts figurines (note that they are figurines, and not "toys"... husbands get really touchy about that, FYI). I couldn't fit them all into the frame here, but you can see Chuck with his pal Lucy, Snoopy, Linus, Sally and Schroeder... and a sliver of the little red headed girl on the edge there. I can't wait until the special airs on TV! Maybe this year the Great Pumpkin will rise!

winner winner winner

Thanks to everyone who entered the October giveaway... over 90 entries, wow! I changed things up a little today, and instead of drawing the name from the golden trophy cup - I drew it out of one of my fave bowls (yes, I have a favorite bowl, weird, I know).... but this one is a Barbamama bowl! (remember the Barbapapas?) Ok, you're tapping your foot, waiting to know who won, right, and are just bearing with me rambling on about the awesome Barbapapas....

The winner of the lovely wooden mini card set is.... JollyJennifer! And her response to who she would send a lovely note to?: "I would send one to my good friend who is going to be across the globe in Russia for the next 1.5 years!" That is a long flight for one of these little birdy cards! Congratulations! 

Didn't win today?... don't worry, there is another giveaway coming up in November... so stay tuned!

photo tag overdue

Ok... not sure where the time went... and this is so long overdue! I was tagged by The Lost Earring ages ago with this cute little game.... I am so bad at these things.

The rules of this photo tag game:

1. Open your first photo folder. 2. Scroll to the 10th photo. 3. Post the photo on your blog and tell the story behind it.

Ok... so this photo is not of anyone I know... it is of total strangers and is dated from 2004 taken while walking through Stanley Park one day. Anyhoo, in this park there is a site with numerous totem poles that are always surrounded by gaggles of tourists. We decided to join the massive tour groups, blend in and snap lots of pics of everyone... it was quite silly. Now I have half a dozen photos of strangers in front of totem poles. I wonder if the girl in this photo will see this?

halloween ghost train

The other night Roger and I ventured to Stanley Park, here in Vancouver, for our yearly ride on the Halloween Ghost Train, a small train that takes you through the dark forest with Halloween-y scenes and actors along the way. It's not as scary as it sounds, since it is catered to families... when we went it was mostly big kids over 20, and mostly couples. The theme this year is Legends of the Underworld... spooky! Unfortunately, it was really dark during the ride, so we don't have any pics... but we did manage to get pics of the Haunted Barnyard around the corner (the train ticket price includes admission to the petting zoo/barnyard which had some elaborate displays). If you can, check it out... it's quite fun!

ps. Thanks to Brandi for featuring the Hob Snobs booth design on her blog Craft + Show Designs and thanks to Jodi for featuring a Cabin + Cub collage on her blog The Creative Jar.

i love you collage girls

Ah yes... time again for me to share with you another installment of odd keyword searches people have typed into Google to end up at this site (remember these and these?). And yes, for those who are curious... various forms of "collage girls" are still yet appearing in a steady stream... (if you want "college girls", please learn to spell). Here are 8 random searches (and my 2 cents) that have popped up on the list recently (and with an old 90s collage for visual accompaniment): *please note that I kept their original spellings intact

1. baby chipmunks for sale

ok, I am not selling baby chipmunks... who is? these critters are cute, but they are meant to be in the wild, not pets?... they will gnaw your face off when you sleep (ok, i am exaggerating... but i do think they would prefer to stay with their moms and chipmunky families in a tree)

2. blubbery guys

huh? and eww?

3. designing a writing cabin for a smoker

who knew this would be so difficult? build cabin. supply pen, paper and ash tray.

4. funny ways to stop on roller skates

a guaranteed funny way is to fall on your face... that always gets a lot of laughs, followed by skidding on your knees, or landing on your rump. Bonus funny points if you can involuntarily do the splits, followed by one of the mentioned stops... and the longer distance it takes you to stop, the better.

5. i love you collage girls

awwww, a fan! wow... thanks... i do like making collages. hey, wait a minute... you are one of those poor spellers, aren't you!

6. rebel deer drawings

so are these drawings done by the actual bad-assed deer themselves, or maybe they are drawings by confederates who like deer, or maybe they are drawings of deer by angst-ridden teenagers?.... so many possibilities! i want to see these!

7. why don't i have pine cones this year

because your tree does not love you... sorry to break it to you.

8. guy shot out of cabin in to pool

that sounds amazing... when you find the link, please let us all know!

finally flickr!

After much sitting on the fence, I finally decided to open a Flickr account. One of the main reasons is to make an easy gallery archive of all my collages for my own sanity... but also, make an easy way for anyone who wants to order a specific print to see them all in one place..... seeing as how lots of my collages can be described as "the one with the funny girl and bird on that wood background"... I think this will make it a wee bit easier. Check out my new Flickr gallery here! 

ps. don't forget to enter my October giveaway! 

seedy goodness

One of my fave flowers of fall are giant sunflowers... there was one that was growing in front of our condo building, but it has since mysteriously keeled over... (curse the person who killed it!) These ones are from a local farm we visited. My fave thing about these flowers?... eating roasted sunflower seeds... they are so addictive, I could plop myself on the couch and eat them like a bird for hours on end. I am getting peckish just thinking of them right now.

ps. don't forget to enter my October giveaway! It's not sunflower seeds, but still some pretty cute cards. ;)

october giveaway! - win a wooden mini card set!

What time is it? It's giveaway time.... awwww... yeah. And what is the lovely prize today, you ask? A lovely set of gocco printed wooden bird mini cards! The set includes three mini cards and three matching envelopes perfect for sharing your love notes, secret admirer messages, good wishes, careless whispers or classroom secrets.

Enter to win by posting a comment telling me who you would send one of these cute little birdies to.... perhaps a spouse, a friend, your pet, a long lost high school sweet heart? I'll make a random draw from the fabulous trophy cup on Monday, October 26th. Please remember to include some contact info (etsy shop, blog, website, or e.mail address) and please only one entry per person. Good luck and be sure to check back next Monday to see if you won!

collage: girl and balloons

Hooray for the weekend, it's finally here! It feels like a good balloon day today... something to cheer me up from this grey and gloomy weather we are having... bleh. Hope everyone has a fun and great weekend!

ps. Be sure to check back on Monday.... it will be the first day to my October giveaway!!! 

cute fuzzy donkeys

Hmmm... fuzzy cute donkeys seem to love being in front of the camera... such little hams aren't they? I want to head back to that pumpkin patch, just so I can see these fellows again.

ps. my October giveaway is coming up on Monday!!! Be sure to check back to enter!!!

pumpkin picking

After two sad failed attempts of trying to grow our own pumpkin plant this past summer (yes, they just shriveled up and died before they even got to the pumpkin stage), we brought ourselves some closure by heading to the local pumpkin patch this past weekend. With said dead pumpkin plants now out of mind, we ventured out into the field to find three healthy contenders for our yearly carving rituals. They are sitting on our balcony now, not knowing what lies ahead.. mwahahahaha (that is my attempt at a sinister laugh). Hmmm... actually, I think this is the laugh that my Martha Stewart Magazine makes when I try to attempt to get fancy with my carving ideas after looking at the beautiful ones on its glossy pages.... hmmm.

one of a kind update

Ok... my brain is finally less frazzled and recovering from the hectic One of a Kind Show. I just wanted to show you some more shots of how our booth turned out... since I realized, I only posted some teaser pics last week. So the good news is... our booth (the Hob Snobs Craft Collective -- it is a bit hard to see the logo on the wall in this pic) won best booth design!! Awwww... yeah! We were super excited and surprised at being picked out of the 200+ other booths! Woohoo! And we managed to decorate on a tight budget as well.... um... carpet courtesy of craigslist, some furniture from our own houses, and an inexpensive feature wall color and custom wall lettering really did the trick! There we are in our booth looking a bit tired on day 4 (me on the left, Jeannette from The Beautiful Project in the middle, and Sasha from Track and Field Designs on the right). Thanks to everyone who came to visit us.... we were running on caffeine those four days, so hopefully our zombie mannerisms didn't scare you.

Also thanks to Jan for featuring our booth on her blog Poppytalk, Miranda from Hudsonny for featuring us as well, and Lesley from Smidgebox posting about us too! Thanks ladies!

i am still full

I hope everyone had a great Canadian Thanksgiving yesterday! After all our stress, prep and worry, the whole dinner (our first traditional Thanksgiving dinner that we have made as a couple)went really well. The brined turkey turned out really yummy and juicy, the potatoes fluffy and creamy. and the cranberry sauce sweet and tangy. Of course, the one thing we forgot in all our rush was to make salad dressing... sigh, so lucky, my mother-in-law had some in the fridge. I am still stuffed from yesterday!

happy thanksgiving!

It is Thanksgivng here in Canada today... gobble gobble! So I hope everyone up here is having a relaxing holiday! The big One of a Kind show is finally over, so I can breathe a big sigh of relief and relax... well sort of... we are making the big dinner tonight... eep! Our turkey is brining, the stuffing is prepped and I have the cranberry sauce all made.... but we are still prepping all the other things for dinner later tonight (this is the first time we have ever made a turkey, so I will keep you posted on how it goes.... I am a wee bit nervous.... I just want this darn bird to be juicy!). Happy Thanksgiving!

one of a kind!

So I have been really bad about posting this week (sorry!) because of this big One of a Kind Show that I am participating in is more intense than I thought! (I am running on caffeine now as I write this). Even with the three of us working the booth in shifts together (I am sharing with Track and Field Designs and The Beautiful Project as part of the Hob Snobs Craft Collective), these long days are quite wearing and my time management this week has gone out the window. I am in awe of artists who do these large shows several times a year and make it looks so easy.... how do you do it?... my house is in a total mess and craft chaos! Anyhoo, just though I'd share some detail pics of our booth... I will take more of the whole booth together this weekend.. but for now, here is a little taste! Come visit us this weekend if you can!

prep time

It has been utter production madness these past weeks. We are busy setting up for the big One of a Kind Show this week... so things are a bit stressful. This is the first large show I am doing... so the nerves are high!...Eeep! Come visit me this Thursday, October 8th - Sunday, October 11th, at the One of a Kind Show and Sale in Vancouver at the Vancouver Convention Centre! I will be there with Track and Field Designs and The Beautiful Project as part of the Hob Snobs Craft Collective(Booth #G18). Hope to see you there!

may i have the envelope please...

Thanks to everyone who entered my September giveaway... over 80 entries! Hooray! Ok, ok.... get to the winner already and cut the intro short... I hear ya.

The random draw was made from the lucky trophy cup this morning by my husband Roger.... and the winner of a 5 x 7 print of their choice is: Altered Beauty (blog: Altered Beauty) who says, "Picking a favorite is pretty much impossible! I love them all! They either remind me of myself or my husband. I think my three faves are the Birds at the Circus, Girl with Umbrella and the Boy with Fox. AMAZING. I would love for any of these to hang in my living room." Well, looks like you will have to narrow it down to one, Altered Beauty... Congratulations! (I am clapping harder than Vanna White here).

For those of you who did not win... don't fret... there is another giveaway coming up sometime in October! So stay tuned!

they say its your birthday...

Hooray! Today is my birthday! (wow, did I just cheer for myself out loud?... uh, yes i did!) Not sure what the hubby has planned for today... he is keeping it all very hush hush.... but I hope there is some cake somewhere in the plans (Roger, if you are reading this, please get cake). Hope everyone has a great weekend! :)

ps. don't forget to enter my giveaway here!

forest fun

I love walking in the woods... the fresh air, the smell of trees, the birds chirping... ahhh, makes me want to sing to all the forest creatures like Snow White did (but I will spare you, since I haven't had time to warm up... memememe). These are some pics from the walks we took while on Vancouver Island - at Pacific Rim Provincial Park and Cathedral Grove MacMillan Provincal Park in case you're wondering. And not to worry... the bear was spotted from our car while we were on the drive back... he was just walking on the side of the road.. maybe he was hitchhiking?

ps. don't forget to enter my giveaway here!