Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! A special thanks for your friendship and also for leaving comments -- so very much appreciated.

Today is the perfect occasion to thank two lovely ladies for the goodies they recently sent my way. Theresa from Faerie Moon Creations certainly knows how to celebrate Halloween in style. I was the lucky winner of her Witchy Halloween Wristlets Giveaway. The wristlets are just wonderful and have already helped to keep my wrists warm quite a few times.

Theresa sent them in a sweet Fright Night bag along with a tiny broom and black feather.

A tiny black bird was watching over the treasures. He looked just great sitting in my Halloween tree.

I was thrilled to see that Theresa had included candy corn. I had never had the chance to try candy corn before. What can I say? I love it!

Those of you who know Theresa are surely aware that she is a talented artist. I was delighted to see that she included a bookmark showing one of her paintings. I have already put it to good use.

On top of the Fright Night bag I discovered a tiny ornament of a bird in a cage.

Just as the little black bird, it looked fabulous on my Halloween tree.

The goodies were stored in a paper bag with an October 31 seal -- just wonderful! Thanks for all these goodies, Theresa -- I love all and everything!

A couple of days later I found a surprise in my mailbox. Gigi from Sunshine, Lollipops & Butterflies had sent an envelope with two sweet cards. Both of them are now on display in my study.

She also included a few bits and pieces which make a mixed media artist's heart go pitter patter.

Back in March, Gigi showed some of her St. Patrick's Day ATCs on her blog. She offered an extra card for one lucky (not necessarily Irish) person, and lucky me was chosen. So now I was in for a green treat -- this sweet St. Patrick's Day ATC.

Gigi also included a great tag with lots of dimensional elements.

Finally, she also sent a Mardi Gras ATC which -- along with the St. Patrick's Day ATC and Phoenix tag -- now has a place of honor in my study. Thanks Gigi for that lovely surprise letter!

And now -- enjoy Turkey Day!

Halloween

What?! Halloween is already over again?

 

Shortly before Halloween we had the first snow of the season.

White fluffy snow which had fortunately melted until Halloween.

Then it was finally time to light the candles.

I found a special treat in the mailbox right on Halloween -- these sweet toffee earrings! Jackie from Kydo Jewellery who designs jewelry together with her daughter Lara had kindly offered the earrings as prize in a giveaway. I was so excited to be the lucky winner -- and the earrings even arrived in time for Halloween. What perfect timing -- thanks Jackie!

Then it was time for carving my two pumpkins.

One smiling, one growling.

I also baked these cookies.

A treat for the brave.

Roasted pumpkin seeds.

Yours truly with her new purple witch hat.

I hope you had magical Halloween!

Brown And Lots Of Cuteness

For Color Your World's November challenge -- the color brown -- I offer you outmost cuteness. A couple of weeks ago a friend took care of her acquaintance's dog Gina, a beauty with white and light brown fur.

While we were taking Gina for a walk, a thunderstorm was suddenly coming up. We quickly went home to take Gina into the house, as the dog is afraid of thunder. Gina took refuge between fence and hedge.

A neighbor's cat, Yoshi, watched from beyond the fence.

He was very curious, trying to figure out why Gina was hiding.

And here's what Yoshi was seeing.

Of course, Gina was taken safely inside right after taking these pictures. Anyway, these are the most brownish photos I have taken in the last few weeks. Most probably, they are also the cutest.

Paris Card

Gail from Mind Wide Open has a new challenge for November. I really like the image of an elegant lady with the Eiffel Tower in the background, but the colors were a bit too pale for the card I had in mind. Thus I first digitally altered the original image.

I printed the picture and found the perfect background to bring it alive -- a soft yellow paper with flowers and butterflies.

I cut out additional butterflies and mounted them on the background for a dimensional look.

I also added gemstones to add some glamor to the black butterflies.

The word Paris got a little gemstone of its own. You can also see the pink and blue accents on the paper which I added with chalking inks.

I really like how the card turned out. I rarely have time to venture into card making, but thanks to Gail's great challenge I had great fun doing just that! For more Paris art, be sure to visit Mind Wide Open. You can even vote for your favorite creation.

Brewery, craft fair & bakery

On October 14, I visited the brewery and bakery in Aying once again. If you want to see more photos, be sure to visit my former blog posts here (2008), here (2010), and here (2011).

It's always a highlight to walk around the brewery.

It's hot and loud in there.

Pretty brown beer bottles.

From a balcony, you have a good overview over the brewery hall.

There was also a craft fair that Sunday. The doll booth drew a lot of girls.

Spices for sale.

Inside a hall, there were plenty of crafts to be admired and bought.

Pretty patchwork stuff.

Brushes.

Traditional Bavarian dresses.

Beautiful fall trees.

What splendid colors!

The bakery.

Handmade bread.

The variety of bread is amazing.

A delicious cake with red and black currants.