Happy Halloween!

I do realize that Halloween is just about over. I've had trouble with the ole computer today, so I figured better late than never. Ya know?

Earlier tonight I was getting ready to dress my girls in their evening attire. One finally decided to be a princess & the other a puppy. Scott & I took them to a Harvest Party they were invited to at their preschool. I predicted massive candy & chaos. I was right. We hit the event towards the end of the evening & so the volunteers at the game stations were heaving large handfuls of candy into the kids' sacks just to get rid of it.

I remember every Halloween after trick-or-treating, my mom would put my brother, sister & my plastic pumpkins on top of the fridge & give us a couple pieces of candy throughout the day until eventually, after weeks of picking at the goodies inside, the pumpkin full of stale candy was forgotten about. I now put my kids candy filled vessels on top of the fridge. But I do something else with their hoards of chocolate & sweets. I sneak some for myself. And I just recently found out that my mom did the SAME THING with my candy stash as a kid. (How COULD she???) I'm all about traditions & so I guess I carry on the legacy of the candy snatcher.

I thought I'd post a picture from a past Halloween "back in the day" when I lived in Luling, Louisiana. HAHA! Can you say TOTALLY 80's??? I love it! My older sister helped me get all punked out. I'm striking a pose with a neighbor boy, Gerald Rome, who is also rockin' it. I was about 10 or 11, so the year was about 1985 or 1986. Don't you love the teased out hair, the fish net fingerless gloves, the fluorescent colors, the handkerchiefs tied around my ankles, & the springy slinky-like bracelets?

Ok, that's all for now. I'm about to go on a super secret mission for a Kit-Kat bar.

**And a quick P.S.! My Christmas Cupcake Notecard Sets are for sale in the shop now!

Announcing...This year's "WhiMSy love" Christmas Card!

Well, I had GREAT success at Kinko's today. That place is super cool. I'm always intimidated by that place, so I never go. But, my blog friend Laura suggested Kinko's as a solution to my at-home scanner problems. I walked inside the store & a very friendly sales associate-Elena-greeted me right away. (Phew!) You can use their computers for 30cents a minute. (Who knew?) Elena helped me scan my colored pencil drawings & burn them onto a CD. It took about 15 minutes. I quickly came home & printed a batch out & NOW I have my Christmas cards!! WOO-HOO! I'm sooooooo excited! I'm very happy with how they came out! And tomorrow they'll be for sale in the shop!

And after my Christmas card success, I munched on a tasty treat that my sweet mother made today. Every year she makes pink applesauce. It's made with those little red hot candies. When I ate it, it was still warm from the pot! And the house smelled delicious as well. Yummmmmmmm.......

I Think I Got it Right This Time!

So, those of you who guessed my "mystery" picture a few posts ago were correct---it was a garland! I just listed the Sweet & Shabby Christmas Garland in the shop today! It was very hard to photograph. I had all these visions of taking the perfect picture with the beautiful garland draped on a tree, but that just didn't happen. Hopefully people will get the idea even without a full-length tree shot.

But, my blog friends can at least see my attempt at taking a full tree picture. HAHA! Look at how I just pushed the pumpkin decorations back, plopped the tree on the table & took a picture! (Crazy doll head girl is even looking on!) You can't even see the garland very well.

AND, I completed a cupcake ornament today & I am VERY happy with it! YAY! No more ugly cupcakes! It is simple & sweet. I realized in my original prototype that I love pink & tulle & old buttons & pom-pom trim, BUT it doesn't necessarily look good ALL together. So, I simplified it, kept my vintage buttons & happened to stumble upon some BEAUTIFUL vintage soft yellow crocheted (?? or knitted??) trim in my stash. And that is my next question: I don't knit, crochet, etc. So, would this trim be considered crocheted? Does anyone know? I don't know the difference. The description in my shop says the trim is "crocheted", but I am not certain & wanted to make sure.

I am working on lots more cupcakes, but was TOOOOO excited to wait & list until I had a handful already made. So, this lonely sweet cupcake ornament is in the shop & more of his friends are on the way! Chocolate cupcake anyone??? MMMmmmmm.........

Ugly Ornaments. I'm Ashamed.

I just don't think my crafty time in the car went so well on my weekend getaway. Look what I made. I am ashamed. I really am. (Did I mention I was sick all weekend too? That MUST have contributed....right?) I thought they were cute at first. And now I know they are rather not so cute. I'm SO not attached to them & I am willing to get rid of them. I like the basic concept of what I was going for. But somewhere something went wrong. (The first one is a cupcake. Can you tell? It's like a 7 year old with WAY too much make-up on. And why would a 7 year old be wearing make-up anyway? That's how I feel when I look at that ornament. Poor cupcake. What have I done to you?) I need to rethink my designs.

How about an "Ornaments-Gone-Horribly-Wrong" SWAP? Joking. But, I think it'd be fun to have a trade. Anyone have an "ornament-gone-wrong" prototype they'd be willing to trade? Come on! It'd be kinda fun! The first two people that would like to trade a "not so pretty" ornament, let me know by leaving a comment! And don't go quickly makin' some nasty ugly thing just so you can have my gaudy cupcake or sad snowman ornament. It has to be one of those ornaments you've already made that just doesn't settle right with you, that you've set aside & makes your stomach turn in that sad sorta crafty & irreparable kinda way. YAY! Ugly for ugly!

Oh, I'm still working on another little cupcake & here's my work in progress. I'm taking it slow. And simple. And no more crafty car trips for me! I just want to create a couple of really sweet Christmas ornaments for the shop this year & I want them to be CUTE, but time is ticking...I'll let you know how it goes...

Carving Craftiness

Last night the girls were able to carve their pumpkins after their field trips to the pumpkin patch with their preschool classes. I know, I know--boring family stuff. But, I had to show off their craftiness. I cut out Zoey's pumpkin face after she designed it with a marker. Scott helped Pazely come up with a face--she wanted it to be scary. Pazely decided she liked Zoey's teeth better & so we may perform pumpkin reconstructive surgery before too long.

There will be no YOWZA! this Sunday as the fam will be taking a trip to Spokane this weekend. The girls are so excited about staying in a hotel. Weeeee! And I'm hoping we stumble upon some fun family Halloween stuff in the city. I always look forward to car trips & bringing along a bunch of crafty stuff to do along the way. I always pack my creative goodies & love to create while passing time away on road trips. Weeeeee! I'm hoping to have some ornaments finished so I can show them off at the beginning of next week.

Happy Weekend my blog friends!!!!!

Alvin & the Chipmunks & Other Stuff...

I heard a song on the radio yesterday & it totally took me back to a long lost memory. I think it's kinda cool when that happens. My memory is from 7th grade. The song? "Jesse's Girl" by Rick Springfield. The only thing is, the version I remember in my 7th grade memory was sung by Alvin & The Chipmunks. Two friends-Ann & Michelle- & I dressed up & performed this song at our school talent show. Guess who the dorky skinny chipmunk with nerd glasses was? Yep, I was Simon. I wore a blue turtle neck & everything. I even played the air guitar on one of my other chipmunk friends legs. Totally awesome. We came in 6th place. There were only 6 performers. But we had fun & I rocked it hard. Like a chipmunk.

I think the reason the whole chipmunk memory came about is because I was thinking about Halloween & the whole dressing up bit. My girls keep changing their minds about what they want to be. So, Pazely is going to be part puppy, part ballerina, part bat. And Zoey wants to be half butterfly, half princess. Is this normal? I wonder.

Ok, onto crafty stuff... I'm trying to get my tushy groovin' into some Christmas craftiness. I know I am late in the game. I am working on a colored pencil drawing that I created as a Christmas card this year for the shop. I'm just having trouble printing them/scanning them/getting them to look super duper on notecards. Next week I'm heading to Kinko's to see if they can be of any help.

I'm also working on a couple styles of ornaments for the shop. I hope to finish this weekend & get them listed next week, along with other festive decor. Can you guess what the picture is? I'll reveal later. It's going in the shop too.

YOWZA! It's My Favorite Things......HALLOWEEN!

This is my first edition of "My Favorite Things" on Sundays. I thought I'd show you my latest favorite Halloween finds. Enjoy!

The picture is extremely tiny, but I thought these cookies were adorable! They are ghosts made from Nutter Butters. I LOVE Nutter Butters! Click HERE for the recipe.

I found this card on Etsy & loved the vintage-ness. It's created by Nikki McFerren Arts & Crafts from Portland, OR.

I love vintage pin-ups & I thought this I.D. holder from Sweetheart Sinner Creations was a very sexy Halloween treat!

This really cute spider craft made from egg cartons is super easy to make with your kidlets! Click HERE for the directions!

This Halloween Cha Cha Charm Bracelet from Better Bead It! Designs is a crazy concoction of all things Halloween-y.

This Happy Halloween print is too cute from Sarah Jane! Pirate Jack takes his little sister out for a night of spooky fun on her first Halloween.

Enter a Contest! Quick!

Beck over at Little Daisy Chains is having a contest that ends at midnight tonight! Pick your favorite hair accessories from her shop & you'll be entered in a drawing! There will be 3 winners!

So, click HERE to read the rules!

Then, click HERE to check out her hair flair!

Then, post your favorite choice in the Etsy forum or CLICK HERE to vote & wait until the clock strikes midnight to see if you won!!

YAY for contests!

My Latest Shrinky Dink Project

Last weekend I madly searched the internet for shrinky dink projects. And, look what I learned how to make! They are sewing pins topped with the sweetest itty bitty shrinky dink decorations! I don't have a cute pincushion to poke 'em into, so I might just have to make one of those too.

The first one I made was the very tiny light pink cupcake. I like that size best. I also outlined some in black pencil before baking. I actually like the ones that are NOT outlined--the dark pink & turquoise cupcakes & the chocolate chip cookie. Do you see that tiniest piece of cheesecake? There's also a piece of candy in there somewhere. I can't wait to make more tonight!

I was also taking pics around my house the other day & had to show this piece that I got as a gift last Christmas. It is one of my favorite pieces because Mr. WhiMSy love surprised me with it. It holds a lot of my crafty stuff. And I think the doll head on top is funny. But, I guess it could be considered creepy. I was vacuuming my house one day & the head was on the floor & I just popped it up there to get it out of the way & it's never come down.

My beloved button collection. I sorted them all by color. I get such a high doing mundane things like that. HAHA!





I don't know why, but I have a strange attraction to salt & pepper shakers & interesting little bottles. I actually make little bouquets from buttons & use these as the "vases". I'll have to show those one day.

I distressed these letters & they lean above the window which sits right next to the dining table. I love my silly valance thingie made from torn strips of fabric tied to a rope. I have longer "curtain" versions of these hanging in my living room & bathroom.

The original lampshade on this lamp was a modern/oriental thingie. Not my style. So I covered it with a little girls "petticoat" that I cut up & sewed to fit. And the movie poster in the background is one that my mom gave my dad -I'm just "borrowing" it 'cause they're not using it. It's about 7' x 7' & is from 1916!!

Random Goodness

I am proud to announce the arrival of Shrinky Dink goodies at WhiMSy love! I listed this ice cream cone pendant yesterday & all week I'll be adding more fun shrinky stuff.

I was outside yesterday with my girls & I thought I'd play around with some leaf photography. I held the leaf up to the sun & then took a picture. The leaf looks like it's glowing. And those colors are simply yummy.

And I was SUPER busy this weekend kickin' out my cupcake memo pad project. I went a little crazy. I made 6 dozen of those little babies! They're made in 6 different styles. And I've decided to offer them as freebies at WhiMSy love for November AND December, "while supplies last."

Another thing I've decided to do is this: I thought it would be fun to offer an option to purchase the freebies I give out. Like, if a customer receives one of these adorable memo pads & decides she'd love to purchase several as stocking stuffers, she COULD! I know this is not a NEW idea, but it's a new idea for me. And I'm gonna try to mix up the freebies I give out & leave a note in my Etsy shop each month so people can see what that months freebie is. Maybe give a sneak peek at the next months freebie too.

And I have to show you what I got my BFF for her birthday. It was so much fun peeking at the "hearted" items in her Etsy shop, Little Daisy Chains, to see what I could find as a gift. Her hubby just got her a sewing machine & she is an extreme novice sewer (is that a word?). I found the most adorable sewing set created by Jenn at Jenn Maruska Design! I thought it'd be the perfect way to christen her sewing machine. And, not only is it fun to support a fellow Etsy peep (& by the way, aren't Jenn's product photos amazing?) but Jenn's a Washingtonian too. Score! Oh, & DOUBLE score because the gift actually arrived to Beck ON her birthday!! Triple Score: She LOVED it! Happy Birthday Beck!!! Love you tons!

P.S.--You may have noticed I added a music playlist to my blog. I've been wanting to do this for a while & so I finally did it! Yay for tunes!

YOWZA! It's the Sunday Featured Artist...Mr. WhiMSy love!

I do realize it's late on a Sunday afternoon, but I thought I'd get back into this whole "YOWZA!" feature. And I've decided that on Sundays I'll have either a featured artist OR "YOWZA! It's the Sunday Featured Favorites!", which will be a selection of my current favorite things. (Yes, this new addition is an excuse for the days when I'm too forgetful at recruiting cool artists each week!)

But now, let's get to the good stuff- this Sunday's featured artist!! It's my hubby!! Mr. WhiMSy love (thanks Laura for the name!) & I spent some quality time a couple nights ago hanging out &......making shrinky dinks!! Are you jealous?? It was the coolest thing EVERS!

And, he surprised me with his cupcake art. I mean, how sexy are those crafty man-hands? I know, I'm a cornball. The cupcake just tops it all, ya know? We had a blast! I highly recommend a romantic night of shrinky dink fun to anyone! I made his cupcake into a charm & I told him he should totally make one for both of our girls as Christmas presents.

So, yeah, Mr. WhiMSy love is the featured artist today. He has really gotten into my crafty world recently & I love it! And, of course I had to interview this week's featured artist....

-Where were you born, where are you from, where did you grow up, & where are you living now?

I was born in Phoenix & grew up in Phoenix & Scottsdale. I live in Washington now.

-When did you realize there was a bit of craftiness in you?

When I was 5 years old & I got in trouble for drawing on my 1 year old brother's head with markers.

-What's your favorite color?

Blue & green & white.

-What do you like to do for fun?

Hang out with Mrs. WhiMSy love, the kidgits (his word, not mine), & work out at the gym.

-How much can you bench press?

355 pounds

-So, what's your take on this whole "cupcake" thing?

The frosting's always good. The crumbs suck.

-Do you ever get jealous of Mrs. WhiMSy love's passion for all things crafty?

Only when her shrinky dinks turn out better than mine.

-What's your favorite hot yummy drink?

Apple cider

-Where do you get your inspiration from?

Spending time with Nikki. By being involved in crafts, it means I get extra time with Nikki.

-What's your favorite item in WhiMSy love?

The forks. (Some of you might just have a fork easel or two that have been "man-handled", as Mr. WhiMSy love has been helping out a bit!)

-Is there anything else you want to add?

One day people might buy my shrinky dinks too.

Thanks Scott! I look forward to seeing your crafty projects in the future!

Oh, & let me leave a link for you to check out if you are confused as to what Shrinky Dinks are! I'm so addicted. Love 'em!!

HOLY Shrinky-dink!

Look what I made yesterday!! The girls & I had some spare minutes in our day & I thought we could have a bit-o shrinky dink fun!!

Zoey made an adorable ice cream cone & a butterfly. I punched holes in them because she wants to make them into earrings for her aunt for Christmas. I know they're mismatched, but she doesn't care. And I'm cool with that. Pazely just scribbled & I shrunk it up for some sort of coolness of a project later on. I couldn't find it though when my shrinky dink photo shoot came around. I made a cupcake & punched a hole for something....a pendant maybe? But THEN, I had an idea to make this ring!! The only thing I don't like so much is that you can see a bit of the ring/glue combo through the cupcake..

Once the ring is on it doesn't show so much. I love it though!! Shrinky-dink rings & accessories coming soon to "WhiMSy love"!! Oh, & don't you love the manicure given to me by my 5 year old?

Nik's Crafty Space

I know I've photographed my art studio before--in fact, I think I gave you a full-on view of my messy space quite a few months ago. I'm so excited at showing you my dry-eraseboard! (boring, I know...just smile & pretend you're interested.) I thought I'd give you a close-up look at some other organizational items in my studio that have helped me in the past to stay SOMEWHAT organized. I'm needing more help, but these little babies have helped to carry me this far...

YAY! My new pink whiteboard! It's a nice large size for my tiny wee studio-- 3' x 4'.

This is a really cute box I have hanging on the wall. I painted it up in a nice deep salmon color, added a cute vintage knob & added a really pretty shabby rose detail to the top. The tiny drawer is even lined in a really cute shabby paper! This box much holds all my packing supplies & things: tape, labels, biz cards, freebies, etc. It's pretty much empty now because all those things I just mentioned are scattered somewhere in "WhiMSy love" world. It'll get better. I'll get there. I promise.

I have always seen these wall hanging hook things at antique stores. I really don't know what they are for, but I stumbled upon one at a garage sale last year. They are hung REALLY high so curious little peoples will not get hurt. I hang my pretty hangers on them--awaiting a new home from someone special.

I got this 2' x 3' bulletin board at a thrift store for just a buck or two. I covered it in some material, painted the border a distressed white, & glued a bajillion vintage buttons all around. I use it as my "inspiration" board--tacking up bits & pieces of things & stuff that I love. I've made the tacks from vintage buttons as well. In fact, I sell similar tacks at WhiMSy love!

I found this shelf at another thrift shop. I painted it my favorite color of vintage green. It sits on top of my studio desk. And, the picture sucks, but I lined the back of each shelf with pages of a vintage book---the book is about filing & organizing! This shelf is great for all those little items I use frequently & might need in an immediate instance.

I saved my favorite organizing doo-dad for the end. I'm sure it's not a new idea, but I had never seen it before. I am ALWAYS seeing those vintage record holder stand thingies at thrift stores. So, I bought a couple & now I use them to organize & store my magazines. I am a magazine junkie, if you didn't know that. The thicker mags don't work for this, but I also have a vintage pattern holder that sits on the floor & I house some mags there too.



And guess what I found yesterday? I was at Rite-Aid getting some cough meds for the wee ones & I stumbled upon some different colors of dry erase markers!! I think the colors are a bit odd.

BUT, I did a google search & look what I found!!! I'm in dry erase marker heaven. 16 colored markers? Are you kidding me? I definitely had to order them. There's even a "pink" one! I mean, come on!--if that's not a sure sign to buy them, then I don't know what is...

Apple Crisp-a-licious

Well, the apple crisp went over OK at my mommy's group this morning. There wasn't a whole lot of time to do it, so the rush just kinda ruined the fun of it. But, here's my yummy apple crisp anyway! Between my cinnamon rolls baking this morning & the apple crisp in the oven this afternoon, my house smelled WONDERFUL!!!!

And, here's the recipe--as I did get a request from a certain British blog buddy. (**waves to Kara!**) I didn't have orange juice to add to the apples, so I added about 1/4 CUP of apple juice instead. BUT, when it was all baked up, the apple crisp was FULL of juicy liquids on the bottom. Too much, in my opinion. So, next time I wouldn't even add any juice.

I did a LOT of math when gathering all the ingredients. The bulk bin at the grocery store made for tremendous savings!!

At the meeting I had all the ingredients separated into different boxes for each table, including: cutting boards, knives & measuring cups/spoons. Once cut up, the apples were placed in a large freezer-type bag & the yummy crumbly topping was kept in a small ziploc bag. The moms each went home with their 2 baggies PLUS the recipe card. They could choose to toss it in a pan & bake it when they got home, or store it in the freezer for future baking.

Tonight the hubby & I are going to hang my new large dry-erase board. It's taken me so long to put the dang thing up because I wanted to paint it. And guess what color it is? PINK! 'Fairytale Pink' to be exact. I love spray paint. And like I've said in a previous post, I'm hoping this is just the beginning to my organization hassles. It is important to me to make even the mundane things in my art studio (file cabinet/bulletin board/dry erase board/shelving/etc) be exciting & interesting & artsy as well. I'll have to take pics of some of those "mundane" things for you in a later post.

And this is weird, but I'm gonna google around to find some cool colored dry-erase/white board markers. Do you think they make 'em in colors other than drab red/green/blue & black? I sure hope so. I'll let you know what I find.

Fun Freebies for November!

So, here are my cute little memo books. These were experiements that turned out quite well & so now I need to go get stacks more memo books. I always include a freebie in every order at WhiMSy love & I thought I'd mix it up a bit & offer these 3" x 5" memo pads for all orders in November. They were so fun to make too!

And I'm so excited about tomorrow----I'm making apple crisp! That has to be one of my favorite desserts--right below Jell-o brand cheesecake mix in a box. I love to eat apple crisp when it's just warm from the oven. Yummmm....Tomorrow is my once a month mommy's group & I've gathered all the supplies for 30 women to make apple crisp!! It was so fun buying all that flour & brown sugar & butter & yummy spices & stuff. I looked like I was gonna get my serious bake on, with my cart full of baking goodness!! We're mixing the apple filling part in gallon ziplock bags & the topping in quart ziplock bags. The ladies can then take it home & toss it in a pan to bake immediatley or freeze it for when they're ready to bake later. Cool idea huh? I'm opting for the immediate baking choice when I get home.

I'm re-doing those fall cards I showed you a few days ago. I thought of a better idea & it's not too late to re-design them. Just minor surgery.

The fabric for my first ever apron project is in the wash as I write. I'm thinking to head to JoAnn's for some coordinating fabric for the ties, waistband & pocket. Then, there's also the many embellishment to drool over. I'll be sure to post my work-in-progress. Oh! And Amy Karol (the author of "Bend-the-rules Sewing) is having a book signing in Portland sometime soon. Wish I could go! Portland is oh-so close...& yet so far.

Ok, this post is so random & kinda lame-o. So, I'll jazz it up a bit. I'll show you a pic of me & my man. We haven't had a picture together for years. Isn't that sad? I'm surprising him on Thursday with a date & one of the things we're doing is going to a photo booth for some awesome make-out shots. HAHA! No, we'll keep it PG..................13.