Crisp Mornings and Balmy Afternoons

I just realized that I have not updated my blog in quite awhile and thought I should post a bit of an update this morning before I begin my day.

Well, Daily...

I am here

Office Space

I started a new job last week.  I really enjoy the people I have met so far.  I am excited for this new adventure in my life and I feel my days will be more fulfilling. 

I have been decorating a  little here and there for Fall.  I do not decorate like I used to when all the boys were home, but we still sprinkle the house with Fall things and a little tidbit of the spooks.

Candy Jar and My Favorite Fall Socks!

Fall Decor on my Country French Bakers Rack

My New Scary Halloween Mask

Pumpkin Turkey

Bat Pumpkin

Black Pumpkin Faces

 This is all for this morning. 

 I will try to be better at keeping up with my blog. 

If you are wondering...

MY NEW NUMBER IS

190

Fall is one of my favorite seasons...

Yesterday was sunny and chilly but an overall gorgeous Fall day. After church we headed to the highest point in Bowling Green to Jackson's Orchard. We got there 30 minutes before they opened and parking was easy. They were ready for business. The pumpkins were huge and the prices just knocked me over they were so low. We started in the fun area where they had a huge slide and petting zoo for children. However, I was happy to see all the little animals. They are just adorable I tell ya. We were lucky as there were no lines for the huge slides and Bri got to experience the fun at least 6 times. She loved the fun. The goats and the llama's were my favorite. They loved being hand fed and it seemed the goats were not getting the attention they desired and I found them very excited to get a little love from us. They had little piggies, wiloughby, zebra, and a miniature looking Brahma bull looking animal. He sure loved to be fed and petted. After our love of "playing," I finally convinced Bri that we needed to check out the goodies in the barn and look for treats. Our intention of course was to satisfy her in order for us to do some Fall shopping. Mind you, my husband is with 3 females and we were totally soaking it all in. They really need an area with a TV and benches for all the men in order for them to remain happy. At least this is my theory. Brian does not get into the shopping and gawking as I do. Brianna had some attitude because all she could think about was the fun area which by now, had several hundred people standing in lines to slide. The inside of the barn smelled wonderful and they had free tastings of the different apples. I think my new favorite apple is the Arkansas Black Apple. Thick skinned and juicy sweet. These particular apples will last through Christmas. I learned a great deal about the process of cleaning the apple and of course...there were yummies everywhere! One of my favorite items were these fabulous baskets that you could wet them and mold them into the rounded shape you desired. We managed to leave the orchard with sweet potato's, apples, strawberry preserves, chocolate covered pretzels, fried apple pies, pumpkin bread, spaghetti squash, and we washed down a warm fried apple pie ala mode with a diet coke. The harvest was wonderful and the drive spectacular. As I stated, we arrived early and by the time we left the line of cars was all the way down the mountain and people everywhere. So, I can safely say that arriving early paid off well. As for prices, WOW! A pumpkin that we would have paid easily $25.00 for in Georgia was only $6.00. How crazy is that?! I told the cashier they needed to load up and head South with their harvest. Of course, they had pony rides, hay rides to the patch itself, and people were having birthday parties for little ones. It is quite the experience. I took 109 photos and I will share just a few with you here. Enjoy!
I love this Halloween Gourd

These baskets are simply delighful!
I love his eyelashes!
Fall is simply Fabulous FUN!
Like I said, I have mounds of photos but I just did not want to bore ya...I will scrap them!

A Chilly Fall Day...

It's a chilly, rainy, wet, soaked, and downright yucky day here in Bowling Green, KY. We have lots planned though. A football game to attend to and then we are heading to Double Dogs to watch the Georgia Bulldogs play today. We cannot get the game. However, if we want to spend $135.00 plus taxes then we can watch it on PPV. What the heck is with that?! So, we will go watch it where it will be played locally. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving for our Canadian neighbors and although we celebrate Thanksgiving at different times and for a different reason, they pretty much have the same dinner that we do here in the "lower 48." So, Happy Thanksgiving Canada! We have purchased 15 mums and we will get them in the ground this morning. They are gorgeous. We got them from a mum farm here and they are huge! We only paid $3.00 for each mum and if we were to buy them in the Atlanta area they would be about $18.00 each. So, it is a "find" for sure. I will be sure to take photos once we put them in the ground and post here. The leaves are starting to show their colors here as well. I give it a week and we will be in full color of Fall. Lots of hardwoods here and not many pines, so it proves to be beautiful for sure.

I will leave you today with a few cards I have made. They are simple but I sure do love the paper and I wanted the patterned paper to be the main design itself. I just could not cover it up! I will also post 3 little Halloween cards that I threw together to use some of my leftover goodies as well.I

The Dogwood Berry...sign of Fall

Our little Dogwood Tree leaves have been turning hues of red.
The berries are all over the tree. I know this is a sign of Fall.
So, I simply wanted to share on this HUMP DAY!
Autumn is only a few days away...are you ready?

Bountiful Blessings

I have been busy with decorating and cleaning the house for the Autumn Season. So, it triggers me to also create within the seasonal theme. I have created 4 simple (blank inside) cards and just listed them in my Etsy store, My Creative Itch. I have created over 50 cards within the past several days and these seem to be my favorite.
The others are very detailed and sometimes...it is the "simple" that means the most to someone when you give it with love.

(click on photo to enlarge)

Well, I must really get on with my Autumn preparations.
Have a great Thursday and I hope I have inspired you to create something, "simple."

The Apple Season

You gotta love great apples! There is so much one can make with an apple. A simple and sweet fruit with so many culinary possibilities. Last year we went to a farm that was close to our house and the apples in this cart were for the air gun. Yes, an air gun. Brian and Brianna shot apples out of the air gun into targets out in the field. The apples were actually pretty good, too. I love the Apple Festival in Elijay, Ga. It was the tradition of "us" girls to take the day and leave early and have breakfast on the square and begin our antique shopping and Christmas House gathering. The coolness of the morning where we have to wear sweaters and by mid-day it is much warmer and we shed them. We visit our vehicles intermittently throughout the day filling up the backseats and trunks with our personal finds and a few Christmas gifts as well. The aroma of apples, cinnamon, and hot apple cider fill just about every single store we enter and there is the background noise of the University of Georgia Bulldogs on a television set behind the counter or in front of a love seat, strategically placed so that husbands and boyfriends can take a load off and sit a spell. In their arms is always a bag or two. The square has benches all around the sidewalk areas and those too are filled with testosterone bodies that need that break and somehow bonding with the same as they sit and wait, patiently. The cobblestone sidewalks filled with Fall shoes hurrying about and whispers of "look what I found!" Giggles from ladies that are truly in their Fall element of finding that "one of a kind," even though the store keeper will bring out another item that is the same as soon as the patron leaves the store. It is a day that lives in my memory. These days when we packed our cars full and headed home. On the journey back down from the mountain we always had to stop at the Apple Barn. Purchasing homemade apple pies, apple cider, apple bread, cinnamon bread, rolls, apple sweets, and gathering those yummy sweat potato yams for our holiday cooking that would soon be upon us. Grinning from ear to ear and a red wagon full of our goodies, we sit one by one in the car as the other props our finds in our laps as we have filled every compartment in our car from the days treasure gathering. It is a ride back home that we treasure and cannot wait to show our families the goodies that we have found and only in our little minds we think that "no-one" has the same thing. Our children quickly find the apple goodies and we grab our husbands to help bring in our gifts so that we can stash them away for holiday wrapping. It is late, our feet are tired, our legs like jello, but we are home safe and all is happy in our hearts. This is what festival time is all about. Early rise, good food, conversation, shopping, and savoring the aromas that trigger our senses. Yes, it is always a great tradition to just simply "hang with the girls."

This is a memory I treasure, I will miss it this year...

SPOOKED!

Oh yeah! I had a great mail day yesterday. I received the My Mind's Eye Collections of SPOOKED, and NIGHT LIGHT! With the two Christmas Collections I also received BE MERRY and SNOWED IN!

Okay, I am in heaven with mucho product to just let go and create. How fun!

Well, I created a tag with some scraps from the Cosmo Cricket Collection. So, here you go!

Just playing...

I am all about the fall and decorating for the Harvest Season and with that comes some Halloween decorations. I love the smell of spiced candles and the warmth that the colors of the season brings to our home. So, this week I have been playing around with some of my Making Memories Spellbound goodies. I altered this cigar box and will display it somewhere when it is time to break out the orange and black for Halloween.

This box can have candy in it or nothing at all. But I decided to put a picture of myself and put the word..."BOO!" So, when you open it...you see me!

However, I will spare you the inside picture. It is just a picture of me from last Halloween with a green face and a witch hat. I love fun fun themes. I guess I am still a kid at heart.

Creating daily allows me to not only release stress but get excited about Fall Festivals and the pumpkin patch picking. I cannot wait to line my deck with colorful mums and daisy mums that bring so much fun as one comes to our front door for their goody on all Hallows Eve.

I mean, it is ALL ABOUT THE CANDY, right?