December Days..

 (pinterest)

How was your November?

Ours was alright..other than having a bit of unpleasantness at the beginning,

it turned out better than I thought it would.

To me, November is a time to take a breath, take down the Halloween decorations

and start getting the Christmas stuff ready to go.

I like Thanksgiving and we definitely celebrate it..but we give thanks every day,

in fact, Helena and I have a gratitude journal we write in every night before bed.

 We have to write down three things we are grateful for, no matter how trying our day was..

(pinterest)

 But. my favorite time of the year..(okay, second favorite :) is here already!

I. LOVE. December.

The weather cools down, there's baking to do, cozy sweaters to wear..

and..

My birthday is this month!

that means

 I'm going to have a birthday or... un-birthday give-away soon!

(pinterest)

 

It's been cold here and it's made everything seem more festive.

I'm very excited!!

The cooler weather often inspires me to create, much like a stormy day does..

These are new little goodies I made. They are the start of a fairytale banner

I'm going to hang in the little reading nook I have for Helena.

This is Queen of the Sweets...

my version of the witch from Hansel & Gretel...

and .

Dumpty Sumptuous, haha..

I swear this name was what the phone autocorrected

 'Humpty Dumpty' to a few years ago...

When I got this doll out to paint the other day, I had to think hard about his real name  

because I've been calling him dumpty sumptuous for a long while now.

I gave him wings, just in case he has a great fall, 

So this time he can just fly away if he feels like.

 

I started another piece to this banner last night, which I will post soon.

The cute little doll head and "humpty" are Lisa Kettell Design products.

I also used Beacon glue (3in1) to attach everything to the card-stock. 

Well, I have not forgotten the wonderfully enchanting post that Magaly created

not long ago...

I have a winner for the 'Spring Witch' painting...

It's Holly's Horrorland! 

shoot me an email so I can get the details for your painting.

I'll be back with more crafts and glitter in a day or so..

We both caught a little chest congestion/cold 

so I'm a bit behind on posts.

But we're on the mend and ready for this amazing month!!

I hope you have a magical day.

 

November moves in...

Hi!
time has run away from me lately, but

We have done SO much!!

We made our visit to the Arizona State Fair.

There were gigantic corn dogs, milk shakes, huge french fries 

and for the first time ever, I had some

Funnel cake!!!

I'm sad to say I loved it!!

We had a great time in the silly haunted house...

I had to take a picture of this..he looks too much like Pennywise not too.

we got on the Ferris wheel

Actually won a huge stuffed animal,

Helena's new stuffed toy..

Socko

We went to the zoo
It was so much fun..the crowds were terrifying, but it was worth it.
 Here's Helena the zombie hunter and her cousin the zombie.
(they wanted to be serious for this picture)

 Great Pumpkin night was awesome as usual...
He brought toys and candy for Helena..
sweet smelling goodies for me.

 We also went to a home haunt on the 30th..
It's called Terror Nights
It was So much fun!
actually scarier than some of the "professional" haunts Ive been to in the passed few years.

Dia de los muertos has always been a huge deal for me..

especially now that both of my parents are gone.

I set up our family altar in a new space this year.

Now that I moved away from negativity 

I dream of my mom and dad on a regular basis..

I had many dreams of them the passed few nights.

while at the great pumpkin festival at the botanical gardens a couple of weeks ago,
I was able to visit the amazing exhibit they had set up for this special occasion.
It's is gorgeous!!

.

Now that we have entered November

I'd like to slow down just a tiny bit.

Thank you to everyone that stopped by and joined in on HH !

I appreciate it so much.

Oh! I have a painting to give away too!

that will be in my next post so stay tuned, lol!

I hope you are doing well and staying cozy.

I'll be back very soon.

Now, does anyone know where I can get funnel cake in Tempe?

Haunted Humpday..the end?

And here we are at the end..

How did it go by so fast?

We have not been to the howl-o-ween zoo event yet, that's opening this weekend

But Fear Farm was a good experience..I'm still alive, haha!

While I don't have photos from that night, I do have a couple from the 

Great Pumpkin Festival held at our beautiful botanical gardens.

 The morning started out cool but quickly heated it up.

Guess who wants a goat now??

Oh, we finally watched Light's Out.

it was spooky and I think

it's a good Halloween movie to own.

We made hot dogs, popcorn and set out movie theater candy, 

then we turned out

all the lights and huddled up on the floor with blankets.

It was especially scary when, at a dramatic part of the film

This not so adorable cross eyed lump pushed a pan off of the counter..

I instantly aged 10 years!!

I've creating art all summer.

It's been an especially helpful activity for both of us this year, 

especially me.

It calms me down.

 I made a couple of these Lydia Deetz dolls..

This vintage style cat...

And this little jester

Friday I took Helena to the public library and we ended up shopping at the store of discarded books.

It was FANTASTIC!

We left with so many books for us both!

it was all under 4 dollars!!!

afterwards we stopped by a thrift store and found this guy!

He's a good size and was only $2

 

 

This was 2.99 at Walgreens..

how creepy is that werewolf behind it?

I have one last short story to share in front of the fire 

come close and listen......

What are your thoughts on ghosts?

My mom had so many stories about them..

I unfortunately cannot remember them all..

There was one that she thought about and retold

from time to time though..

When my mom and dad were newly married 

they moved into a neighborhood that was very close to their families...

Her brother lived across the street..his sister and her husband lived down the block,

I think you get the picture.

my mom had an elderly aunt that was ill and couldn't walk correctly,

every time she walked she would drag her foot.

It was a very distinct sound.

When she became so ill she was was bed ridden, she told my mom..

"when I die, I'm going to come back and say goodbye to you, just you wait"

She passed away not long after...

My mom, of course, felt terrible..

That night, when it grew dark

my mom said she was sitting at the kitchen table when she heard the sliding door open.

She said she did not turn to look at her visitor..

the dragging of someones  foot was loud enough to let her knew who it was.

I hope you enjoyed this years Haunted Humpday..

It really went by too quickly.

Thank you to everyone that participated and left comments,

You are awesome!!

I'll be back very soon.

Witches in fiction 2016: Kindness

I began this painting a while ago, but didn't finish until very recently.

This is called 

'Spring Witch'

The flowers floating from her make me think about how we need to scatter kindness.

Although my favorite season is Autumn

I feel like we all need to keep Spring in our hearts and surrounding us.

Have you ever helped a stray?

Planted flowers or brought food to a shelter?

To me that is magic...kindness is magic.

It keeps your soul nourished.

We need to sow these seeds of Spring..emotions of love and care,

in order to help, not only the planet but each other.

A special thank you going out to the wickedly clever and beautiful Magaly.

Leave a comment and you get a chance to win a smaller painting of this witch

made to your specifications:)