Once upon a December

Guess what?

it's birthday eve for me....!

I get so ridiculously excited for the day..

and this means it's probably 

YOUR un-birthday!

which also means you should get a present.

I'm going to have a giveaway and you can win

some silly stuff to celebrate your (not-birthday) day too.
just leave a comment.

I have many plans..
I'm going to wake up and let the day unfold..
I'll have Stephen King DVDs playing
hot coffee brewing
and childish excitement coursing through me.
(and frosting...lot's of frosting)

 This year has been one of the most challenging I have been through in a long time.

But It has also been the most magical... 

There is beauty and love in everything..everywhere..

we just have to look.

It's not always easy to find...

but it's there.

Let's recap..

my dad passed away near the eve of 2014..

In July

My daughter (and niece)

moved away to attend college in another city. 

In November

one of my closest friends betrayed me and left my little girl and me alone, to fend for ourselves.

In June of this year

I had a medical emergency that required surgery and an extended hospital stay.

We've lost pets...our home..other family members

and while all of this sounds terrible..

I have to come to truly appreciate this wild, wonderful, surprising life of mine.

I have friends that I never imagined having.

amazing, inspiring, beautiful friends.
 There is magic, it does exist.

I hear it when I'm watching Helena sleep and she starts giggling from a silly dream.

I see it when the moon rises and it's beauty takes my breath away.

I feel it when I read words that make my heart skip a beat.
Look for it and you will find it!

Tomorrow is a celebration for me..for my girls..
but every day should be one..even if it's itty bitty.
The more you celebrate the more you're given to celebrate.

So go, be happy, find magic, inspire others!
and love, love, love!

see you soon!

Let Us Fly...

 “Fly without wings;
Dream with open eyes;
See in darkness.”

Three Muses Challenge this week is 

'Flying'

                                                                     This is my creation.

Giving Thanks

 How was your Thanksgiving?

We had the best time!

I didn't have to cook this year..

and it's been many years since that has happened.

I was more than grateful for that.

We spent the day watching movies and eating things we rarely have anymore...

Like cookies and chocolate:) 

We also spent a lot of time baking ...that's always fun.

Helena loved it!

She baked her first cake.

I made a few cookies:)

Krampus and Cthulhu.

As you can see we really got into the decorating.

Can you see Nosferatu? 

He was a snowman cookie that got a makeover...:)

It was silly and fun

 turning regular shapes into creepy creeps.

Remember this little demon girl?

Well,  I had the opportunity to purchase another incredible creation from the

extremely talented, 

                                                                       Johnny Oxen.

 This one is called "A Fragmented Loop"

I love it's drippy feet!

 Not only did he send the painting..He send a few other goodies as well.

& look at the box he sent it in!

It's covered in his amazing artwork too!

 My wall is looking better and better..

It really inspires me!!

You know how it is when you just look at a painting and it 

makes you happy?

That's how this affects me.

I couldn't throw out the box with his drawings on it, 

so I cut them up and displayed them.

 My collection is growing..and this is only the beginning. 

I hope you get a chance to visit his Instagram.

His work is awesome.

This is very exciting...

At the end of October I applied to be on the 

Canvas Corp creative crew

and I got chosen!

I'm elated over this!

There are so many talented artists to work with...It's such an honor.

This coming year will be filled with many new art projects.

 

This post may seem to be all over the place

what with the cookies and the artwork...

But I really think that

finding magic and beauty in everything has made magic and beauty appear everywhere.
The more I look, the more I find.

I have much to be grateful for.

I found a quote I really like that sums this all up. 

 “If we do not feel grateful for what we already have,
 what makes us think we’d be happy with more?” —

Have a great week...I'll see you very soon!

post Halloween post:)

Hi!

Wow, is it really the middle of November??

That just flew by!

I meant to post our Halloween photos much sooner..
so much has been happening lately.

Well, I'll show'em to you anyway:) there isn't that many.

you probably know we celebrate Great Pumpkin night on the 30th...

I've done this for almost twenty years..

We have good food, lot's of treats, scary movies and music..

then at midnight on the 31st the Great Pumpkin leaves toys and candy by the front door.

This night is like Christmas Eve for us.
 Helena carved her first pumpkin by herself!

This year I made our dinner using some recipes I found on line,
I made feet loaf..which looked absolutely disgusting,
giant fingers...just bread sticks with almond nails
 pulverized ghosts..(mashed potatoes)
& goblin guts...which were carrots and peas...
(I didn't know what else to call them, haha)
Did I take pictures??
 NO of course not! I completely forgot:-/
I do have some dessert photos,, which were pretty simple..
We didn't want too many since a huge load of candy was on it's way..

 

Last year The Great Pumpkin brought me goodies.

This year was no exception.

 I received the best jewelry I could ever get in my life...ever!

I love Hellboy so this ring is perfect for me.

I also got this awesome tote bag I admired at Barnes & Noble a couple of weeks ago...

And this!...this was JUST recommended to me by an amazing person... 

and somehow the Great Pumpkin knew!

It was absolutely the best!

We had an incredibly fun night.
After the gifts and candy,
 we went for a drive...
no exorcism sounds this time though...haha

Halloween 

was bright and cloudless...not my favorite, but it was cool out there.

Helena was transformed into Jordy Verrill.

Here she is on her way to watch the Goosebumps movie.

She insisted that we go as Stephen King characters...
So I was a random vampire...(Salem's Lot?)
This is a picture she took of us at the end of the day.
minus her mold, uni-brow and my blood stained mouth.
We had a great time...

I am sorry it took so long to post this.
The days have really just slipped away here.
I have a winner for the Bride of Frankenstein canvas though.
Holly, from Gypsy Spirit Rising!!

 

 

Now we can get to the rest of the holidays. 

Which I am looking forward to..

We're practically out of November and you know what December brings right??

Yes..my birthday!!!

Speaking of birthdays though..today is a very special day..

It is the birthday of a wonderful person!

Lisa Kettell!!!

 

 

If you get a chance head over to her blog or Instagram and say hello.

 

Okay, I will be back here really soon.

Have a great day!

Haunted Humpday, The End

Welcome to our last Haunted Humpday of the season!

This month has really raced by.

I even missed last week's H.H.

I was distracted and it came and went:)

Do you have big plans for the weekend?

I love that Halloween is on a Saturday!

We have lot's to do this week..

I'm finishing up Helena's costume,

She's going to be Jordy Verrill.

I'm actually working on making a 'meteor' for her to carry.

we'll see how it ends up...

I'm excited about it.

We watch scary movies quite a bit here,

but now that we are in the home stretch for Halloween

we watch one every chance we get..

Last night we watched

The trilogy of terror

It's an old TV movie from 1975.

If you've not seen it

it's three really creepy tales.

Theyre all pretty good but the last one

"Prey"

stands out.

It's about a woman that buys her boyfriend a wooden Zuni fetish doll

called 'He who kills'

 of course the dolls comes to life 

and tries to live up to it's name.

It might look a bit silly but it really scared me when I was a child.

We also watched 

'I am legend'

(which is about the world taken over by vampires)

Another goody from the incomparable

Richard Matheson 

and by the way, if you get a 
chance, read the novel, it's fantastic!

So have you decided what amazing treats you will be serving up

at your Halloween dinner this year?

I found more ideas on Pinterest:

Do you ever do anything stupid, like really really stupid..just to try and get spooked?
I do..
Not long ago, I had the brilliant idea to go out driving early in the morning...like 2:30 am early..
there are many many rural areas around this city...
There's one place that has old burned ruins..it's interesting and creepy..
a perfect place to get that Halloween spirit going.
Anyhow, we set off then put music on from various exorcism movies that have come out..
Well whatever thread we were listening to not only had the music on, but there were also
audio recordings from actual exorcisms.
After listening to a couple of seconds of this infernal screeching
I asked what the Hell we were listening to..
Once we found out what the real source was
we became hyper aware of our surroundings..
full moon...sky..fields.. haystacks...Satan probably watching us from behind the haystacks..
Sooooo we turned the car around to get our asses back home ASAP!
It was quiet for a few minutes
but then a bird flew out towards the car!
The scream that we all emitted put all those possessed people to shame...
needless to say, we wont be doing that again:)

Let's huddle together one last time this season..
The air is chilly and the tart scent of caramel apples is floating on the breeze around us...

I'd like to tell you about a dream I had a while ago...

I was visiting my cousin at the old ranch they lived in
when I was a child...
There were many apple and pecan orchards surrounding
the house and outbuildings,
Of course, in my dream everything was strange and unfamiliar,
the house was larger and it seemed dilapidated.
The paint was peeling off the walls and the doors didn't quite seem to fit the frames.
As we wandered around the property
we noticed the darkness creeping in very quickly...
My cousin suddenly panicked
grabbed my hand
and began pulling me toward the house.
Once inside
she slammed the door to the room we were in
and locked it with a hook and eye.
The door itself seemed too narrow and short for the frame.
I looked at her to ask her what was going on and she told me that as soon as the sun set,
a terrible evil began to roam the halls.
then she got on her knees and began praying loudly.
I tried asking again what the heck was wrong with her but
she continued praying and began gesturing for me to kneel too.
All of a sudden
the door began pulsing and a loud pounding could be heard throughout the house.
I saw a pair of bright yellow eyes looking in through the space between the door and the frame.
It's lips were cracked and the long black tongue in it's mouth appeared forked.
Very quickly, I began praying..
The demon that was outside the door began laughing maniacally
then it too, began to pray with me in a terrible mocking singsong.

 
Come back soon..
I'll have a few pictures to post from our actual Halloween adventures..
Plus I have a Bride of Frankenstein canvas to give away!!

Have a wonderful
safe
magical
Halloween!