Sweet November, Welcome to Autumn

Hello there. Thanks for dropping by! This week will be something completely new for me! Jessica from Scrumdillydilly and I wanted to share a few crafty posts about our favorite season, and at the end of the week, Saturday, we will both be hosting a giveaway. Join me tomorrow night here and fall into something pretty with us!!

Something tells me that this will be a very Sweet November!

What is it about Autumn that makes it so irresistible? Is it the cool crisp air that renews our creative souls and awakens the dreamer in all of us? The golden leaves that lightly dance from the branches of an old oak tree? Or maybe it's the sense of nostalgia, memories from our childhood of magical Fall traditions?

For me, it's a little bit of everything. Although I never jumped into a pile of maple leaves or rode on a hay-wagon as a child, I did,however, visit my fair share of pumpkin patches and trips up to Apple Hill. My grandparents always made the Autumn season special for us girls. I suppose, I see Fall as a new beginning, a season that let's everything start over as something new and exciting again.

Want to hear my favorite song? If you close your eyes, you can almost envision walking along a Maple lined path. The wind rustling threw the trees limbs, and leaves scattered along the ground like confetti.

There's a small part of me, that... experiences some disappointment with living in an area that lacks clearly defined seasons, but as I looked around my home here in the high desert, I started to realize that I had prepared for the season in small, less obvious ways. (I haven't carved out any family traditions yet, but those are sure to come later on when the kids are a little older... and able to travel.) I did gather a small pile of tablecloths and blankets to take on crisp afternoon picnics in the park. My home smells like cinnamon, thanks to a pot of apple cider with cinnamon sticks and crab-apples that simmers on the stove. There's a vintage wire basket full of miniature white pumpkins sitting on the counter of my kitchen. I guess Autumn really is all around us, even here in the desert.

I also made 2 color combinations for this season!! I always decorate my home with the traditional warm Fall colors, but over the years, I've really enjoyed mixing in a few whimsical colors like limes and frosty pink. It keeps my traditional home new and bright!

sunflower - burnt pumpkin - olive green - walnut

frost pink - cranberry - cream - citron

So how do you welcome Autumn? Do you have fun Fall traditions that you participate in every year? Or maybe you're more like me and just appreciate the new season with friends and family. However we welcome Autumn, it's truly a season worth celebrating!!

Halloween- Part 2 & the Sushi costume

cute costumes everywhere!

A whole family of buzzy little bees... who were a bit busy to stay still for these photos. :) Today consisted of neighbors coming and going from the house, and preparations for tomorrows big night. fun. fun.

and I'm so totally in love with having a little dog to dress up, and she really likes her costume too. more fun.

The long awaited photos of the Sushi Costume!!! A California roll in the front & a Spicy Tuna roll in the back. Poor little Shavonne today, she wasn't feeling terribly well, so we took some quick photos and I sent her home to rest. Hopefully she'll be ready for tomorrow, Alaina has their whole trick-or-treating route already mapped out!!

I made the costume with 2 pieces of poster board, and 2 circles cut from thicker cardboard. I glued the 2 poster boards together, and sewed the circles just inside of the poster boards. The crab piece is a white towel with red felt sewn along the edge. Actually, all of the pieces are made from felt. (Love felt- easy to work with & inexpensive!!) The rice is packing peanuts, and the little sesame seeds are felt stuffed with batting.

The headband is probably my favorite part of the costume!! I decided to use 2 colors of pink tulle for the ginger. For the wasabi, I sewed a small circle of raw lime-green silk and filled it with batting. By leaving the edges out, it made this cute little puff of wasabi. I suppose I could have used the sushi grass from a tray of sushi.... but I just cut and sewed the grass from felt instead. I emptied a packet of soy sauce, and then everything got sewn onto fabric, and later glued to a head band. It sounds complex, but I think I only spend an hour or two making it. :)

and to think.. this is how her costume started!!

a couple more photos from around the home. I'm still rearranging things and finding new stuff!

I have a super-duper big day tomorrow, off to bed for some beauty rest and then up early to carve pumpkins!! good-night!

Halloween- Part 1

We're almost ready!! I have most of the house decorated as well as the outside. There are only a few things left... like a final costume fitting, Alaina & Chase and the little dog are going to be honey bees this year. I also have to take photos of our neighbor's costume tomorrow. Her sushi costume could not be any cuter!! There are still ghosts to hang from the trees and pumpkins to carve... almost finished!!

Here's a few photos from around the house... I'll be back tomorrow with those sushi photos every one's been waiting for. :) Happy almost Halloween!

Hopefully you're not like me and waited until the last possible second to finish preparing for Halloween! I'm going to be a very busy bee this weekend! :)

a perfect match

I have something exciting to share today! I'm teaming up with Jessica from Scrumdillydilly!!



Together we'll be having a little blog-hop party for an entire week. Come join us for a week of Autumn inspired posts and projects!

the first project

of October... actually it's from last month, but I just photographed it today! A very cute friend of mine sent me a large package of vintage handkerchief's this summer. (I'm not sure why I love something so much, that has most likely been used to wipe someone's nose.... but I do! I've been collecting them for years!!) Unfortunately, they have sat in the same place for the past few months, while I tried to think of some way to use them.



After my surgery, I really wanted to make something, but didn't have alot of energy. So, I thought maybe using one the handkerchiefs to create a messy-journal with a layered sewn cover would be something simple and yet still creative enough for me.
- and that's exactly how I made this journal!!

I started by layering different fabrics together and sewing them along the front cover. The actual cover for this book is a handkerchief folded in half. I gathered a bunch of papers, ledger, graph, atlas pages, music sheets, comic book pages, and score sheets and sewed them into place.





This whole book took me about 30 min. to put together. (and that's only because I wasn't walking around the house very fast to find all of the paper that I wanted to use.) The next time you're at a thrift or antique store, look for a pretty handkerchief to create a messy little art-journal!!

I'm ready,

to come back. I think I'm ready to be inspired again, ready to create and ready to dream.

*Thank you all so much for the well wishes!*

My surgery went well and the recovery is going well. My margins were clear, which is exactly what we wanted! I do need to go in for follow up treatments starting this month, but like I told Peter, it doesn't matter. I'm perfectly ready to do whatever I need to, in order to be healthy again. I'm just ready to be a normal healthy mommy again!

It's been 4 weeks today. I've had alot of breakdowns, which as I've been told, is most likely due to my 'sleeping ovaries'. The overall fatigue and hormonal fluxes kind of wear me out, but again it's normal given how big of a surgery this was. I've tried so many things to lift my spirits! I've listened to the Hawaiian music I loved so much while I lived over there. I had Peter rearrange some of the furniture for me. I tried making a few things...... and... nothing.

So last Saturday afternoon, while I sat on the couch resting, for the second or third time that day, the phone rang. I picked it up and I heard a familiar little voice on the other end.
"Hi Tara." our little next door neighbor
"Hi sweetie, what are you doing?"
"You know when you said I should be sushi for Halloween? Well, I'm wondering if you can help me make my costume?"
"Sure, give me an hour and come on over."

I got up, grabbed a piece of paper, and just like that, the ideas started flowing and I was excited to be making something again! I think that's one of the great things about kids. Nap times and hormone issues don't matter to them. Who knew that a sushi costume would be my saving grace!!



I can't wait to show everyone the finished costumed!! I've made all of the sesame seeds, the front part of the costume (imitation crab meat, cucumbers, avocado and rice) the seaweed is all glued and sewn into place, and I made a little headband with sushi grass, ginger and wasabi. I want to do one more 'fitting' before I finish the costume and then I'll be taking lots of photos!

just waiting...

That has certainly been the theme this summer! I'm waiting to go to the hospital this morning, just another 45 minutes and we'll be on our way. I just wanted to drop in and say that I wasn't able to catch up on emails. :( I was so proud of myself for finishing all of my actual deadlines last week, and but inbox is quite another story.

So, if you're waiting for an email from me, I hopefully will be getting back to you with the next 2 weeks. (I have some considerable amount of time to rest and not do to much after today. :))

Here goes nothing, wish me luck! The first set of path reports will be back before I wake up from the anesthesia, and I have my fingers crossed!

ps. If you haven't made an apt. for your annual gyne exam, and are over-due... what are you waiting for? *gentle hint followed by a small push to your phone* :)

Monday Road Trip

Tomorrow is my big day. I've been a bit anxious about this surgery and trying to prepare emotionally has been my biggest obstacle. So to try and ease my stress level slightly, Peter and I decided to take advantage of having people here to babysit for us, (the grandparents) and head North to Sedona. I'm sure most of you know my love for Sedona!! :)

This was also the perfect opportunity to take my favorite vintage camera along with us. (This is one of my most asked questions, these photos are not photoshopped. They are true TTV photos. I use my digital Nikon to shoot through the view finder of the Anscoflex.) I'll admit I do look rather silly taking these photos, and I only had 3 people come up to me to ask what I was doing yesterday, but the end results are well worth it!

















We had breakfast at Tlaquepaque, and because it was a holiday yesterday the center was empty, perfect for taking lots of photos! Peter and I spent some time at our favorite fishing hole, and then went hiking through an area called Slide Rock. Sedona is also reffered to as "red rock country," and the rocks really are a beautiful shade a terra cotta. All in all, a very nice and relaxing day spent with my sweety sweetheart and exactly the escape I needed! Hope you enjoyed the photos from our little day-trip yesterday!

it's a wrap

I, Tara Anderson, am officially caught up with all current deadlines! Huge sigh of relief!! This is the best feeling, knowing that everything that needed to happen is finished, and I have a week now to prepare. I have to disappear for awhile in order to really accomplish anything as I'm easily distracted by..... ohhh what's that!

See what I mean? :)

This weekend, I shot almost 600 photos, wrapped up some of the biggest projects I've ever done and started a to-do list for this week. Here's a peek into what my weekend was all about. I do wish I could share more, but not until Christmas.



So celebrating a mini-Christmas of sorts was alot of fun this past week, but I have to get my head out of the clouds!! We're still going strong in the midst of summer and if we're lucky enough we may have a wishful Autumn in just a couple of months. I say wishful, because here in the desert there is no Autumn season, so you have to get creative and make believe that it's Fall outside! I will say though, that Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes are definitely helping add to that wishful Fall-ish feeling. :)

That leads me to my question of the night. What is your favorite part of the Fall season? Is it a certain color combination? Or, maybe a pumpkin and nutmeg spice candle? Oak trees turning colors? Is there something new you've discovered about the season that you're head over heels about? I would love to know!!!

Elles Studio ~ winner!

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47 Timestamp: 2010-08-21

Polly McMillan Raymond said...
Ohhhh super cute and colorful, just my style for scrappin' and crafting! I saw the photo in my contacts at Flickr and I'm happy I'ved discovered your beautiful blog - I will start following. :)

18.8.10

Yay Polly!! send your contact info to me, rosas07@msn.com, and a little happy package will be on it's way soon!

What are you doing this weekend? Any picnic plans? Day road-trips? Or are you like me, and have plans to clean your home all day? :) I have a loooong list of emails I need to return.... somedays it feels like I will never catch up with emails. A little at a time, that's my motto.



Oh and because it's Saturday, I thought I'd share this little project I did for my
Etsy shop. I made some little scrap kits, inspired by my Saturday Colo Combo posts. I'll add them to the shop this evening. :) How I love paint sample colors!! I only made 6 kits, 2 for each color combination. :)




Tomorrow, I am locking myself in my room and finishing deadlines. No computer, no phone calls, and hopefully no distractions or interruptions. Just scrapbooking and creating!

That's about it for me, happy Saturday and have a lovely weekend!