No Trick-or-Treating?

Sandy 

has shown up like a wicked witch and 

cancelled Halloween

for all the kiddoes around these parts.

I can hear her now going mwa-haa-haa-haa

as she heads off toward Canada.

But what she doesn't know is the festivities will take place

on Saturday. . .  kind of like Christmas coming 

to Whoville no matter the Grinch's evil plans.

I haven't bought a speck of candy, 

so I've got time to head out and stock up.

I never buy it early because I will just eat up

way more than my share lol.

I am so sorry for all the people who have been devasted by

the storm. I hope you, dear reader, are not one of them.

I'm sending good healing thoughts and wishes out to everyone,

but I know what's needed is something a bit more useful in
the physical sense. I hope all that and more is available.

A lot more to deal with than a postponed holiday:

Good Day, and a Happy Halloween!

Invent the Future

Inspiration Avenue

and a new challenge this fall from Artists in Blogland:

Fall Fearless and Fly

Headline Prompt: Inventing the Future

Color Prompt: Warm colors (reds, oranges, pinks, yellows)

Quote Prompt:
“The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.”

~ Abraham Lincoln

I combined the headline and the quote to come up with a phrase I liked.

“One day at a time invents the future.”

It's so true. Especially when you look back and think of all 

those “one days” that brought you to where you are now. 

A slight change on one of those days could have altered everything.

Go check out Fall Fearless and Fly.

There are lots of entries already for this 2-week challenge.

I don't often enter two challenges with one painting.

And I never enter Inspiration Avenue's weekly challenge

on the first day. I'm just not organized or quick enough. 

Especially when it is my own theme.

For some reason, I usually find my own challenges hardest.

But. This week I chose

  O R A N G E  

as the theme, an easy one for me since I use orange a lot.

It might be my favorite color. If I had one :)

I'm hoping it's an easy one for everyone.

So go check out Inspiration Avenue too!

There's plenty of time to enter the Orange challenge over there.


A new challenge I just discovered directly due to the Orange theme:

Mandarin Orange Monday

Wishing you a super creative week!

  O R A N G E  

Not the noun, the adjective.

Pop on over to Inspiration Avenue to play along!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

Eek. Have I finally lost what’s left of my mind?

I promised to draw the winner of my Fairies’ Tea giveaway on October 1,

and the day has come and gone. Many, many apologies! Ugh.

(This brings up an interesting challenge I just discovered, more on that below.)

But first, 

the winner of this fabulous bracelet 

(created by Sharon of Plumrose Lane),

is Denise, 

of Denise's Delights in Her Coffeeberry Cottage!

Congratulations, Denise!!

chosen by Random Number Generator.

Denise, email me your address (academyhill124@aol.com). 

I'll also leave a comment on your blog :)

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

So, back to the challenge I've just discovered.

I make lists for everything, mostly to-do lists, although

too bad I didn't put "draw name for giveaway" on one of them.

For list makers and non-list makers alike,

here's a creative challenge from Aimee at Artsyville called  

List It Tuesday

Each week has a different theme . . .

this week is "creative things you can do in 15 minutes or less".

Aimee is a master of turning words into art.

Lists can be just words, part words part pictures, anything goes.

I think it's a fun and creative exercise.

Give it a try!

I'm *penciling it in on my newest list* . . .

Enjoy the weekend!

What's for Dinner?

Yesterday found me doing something in the kitchen I never thought I would.

I was packaging up cuts of venison (yes deer meat!) to put in

fridge and freezer. And to actually prepare sometime soon.

I had to quickly Google how to cook deer meat.

Deer meat is something so foreign in this house 

(and the house I grew up in), I don't even know what it tastes like.

The aforementioned deer was hunted and shot

(with a bow and arrow!) by this angelic looking child:

Sorry, that's misleading. 

Of course he is now 22 years old, not a child anymore.

Still mostly angelic, except when he is staring down a deer.

I'm just trying to figure out how this cutie-pie could kill a deer.

There have been no hunters in my family that I am aware of, ever.

His father doesn't hunt, and also has no hunters in his family.

Yet somehow our son has been bitten by the Outdoorsman Bug.

He spends all his meager income at Gander Mountain and Cabela's.

It started with an obsession with fishing.

(the poor kid, no one in either family fishes either.) 

He has pursued and learned all this with like-minded friends. 

What his friends don't know, he learns by Googling.

I've spent many late nights packaging up fish fillets that he's brought home.

But somehow, I just wasn't ready for the deer meat.

I know all the pros and cons of hunting. After moving to western Pennsylvania,

where hunting comes second only to Steelers football, I came to the conclusion

that if people hunt responsibly, follow the laws, and do not waste what they kill,

well, I could live with it. After all, there are many many deer in Pennsylvania  ~

starving to death during the winter from a scarcity of food is a far worse death.

And. I'm not a vegetarian. I know a visit to a slaughterhouse would

quickly have me transferring my sympathy to the cattle.
And feeling like a hypocrite if I condemned deer hunting.

But I just thought it would always be one of those abstract ideas,

like you could say in conversation: “I suppose hunting is alright

as long as one hunts responsibly.” And then move on to the next subject.

I never thought deer would be on the menu at home!

Well. I'm off to find a recipe for Venison Stew.

I figure that's a good thing to start with.

 What do you think about hunting?

Happy Dance

Look-ee!

The mail-lady, Susie, has been good to me for the past few days.
How did she know I was tired of bills, junk, and political crapola in my mail box?

I actually won something!! Something way cool!
I entered Angelia's Art Journals drawing during The Fairies' Tea for these
beautiful joss papers (above), and I won! I had only a vague sense of
what joss papers are. You can read about them here.
They will be a great addition to mixed media art.
Thank you Angelia!

My friend Kim, of IMGIRL, sent me some lovely prezzies just because!
Her gorgeous tags are always amazing and here is one all wrapped up:

And unwrapped:

It's as much fun opening the package as looking at the tag within.

As if that wasn't plenty enough, she sent me some lovely tea.
The little pyramid packages are beautiful, and I know I will do something
with them when the tea is all gone.
Don't they just say "holiday ornament"?
It's tempting to want to embellish these, but they are so pure
as they are, it's a shame to alter them...

Thank you, Kim!

And.
To top off the mail goodies, I received Priti.Lisa's art journal yesterday.
It's the final journal in our Round Robin before I receive my own journal back
with 7 gorgeous pieces of art inside! It's so cool to look through the last journal
because 7 pages have been completed and I loved seeing all of them.
At the beginning of the Round Robin (in April?), it was a bit intimidating to
start a page in the nearly blank books. Then it became a little easier with each month.
Now, somehow, with this book nearly completed
and only waiting for MY page, it's back to being intimidating again.
Lisa, I know you will LOVE this journal when you get it back!

Have a lovely week!