my how time flies!

I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving! Where did November go? And for that matter, what happened to September and October? This fall has been hectic! Between family visits, friends' weddings and job stress, I can honestly say I didn't pick the very best time to start a new blog. I just haven't felt particularly motivated to post things. BUT, I have been reading other blogs and storing up ideas and projects I'd like to work on over the cold Minnesota winter, which may arrive at any moment. So, dear readers, please stick with me as I make it through my barren patch, I promise to post more soon. Thanks for being with me on this new adventure.

even Cinderella had to wait for her pumpkin

I finally got around to faux mercury glassing the pumpkin. I have to say that, not only does it look beautiful, it's stupidly easy! I found another great blog that had even better directions for using the leaf: Get Your Martha On The instructions have great photos that are simple to follow.

I used copper leaf instead of silver, so it's a little different, but here's how mine turned out: (it's really tough to photograph, but in person it's beautiful)
A word to the wise: if you've never used leaf before, it's hard to explain just how thin it is and how important a room without air movement is. It floats even without a breeze. It's also super important to keep your hands clean of the size or the leaf will stick to you and not the project.

Would I do it again?
Yep. I think it really resembles the real thing and if I had something else in the house to leaf, I'd already be working on it.

In honor of October 31st

I give you a handful of headstone photos I took recently.
Over the years, I've made a few faux grave stones for our yard and I always find that the real thing is the best inspiration in terms of shape, font and weathering. I'm particularly fond of 19th Century stones, I always feel that somehow by taking a picture and a moment to read the headstone that the person it belongs to is not forgotten even if they no longer have family to tend the plot. I have more photos from this and another cemetery on my flickr

the bridesmaids wore green

As it turned out, it was a good thing I was having second thoughts about copper leafing my way to a mercury glass pumpkin. My friend ended up borrowing said glass pumpkin for her wedding, which took place yesterday. She filled it, along with an identical one she already owned with trail mix. Add in some glass leaf plates for homemade mints and chocolates and it looked rather festive.

Having served as Personal Attendant, I'm more than a little exhausted today! I designed all the printed "stuff", invitations, place cards, programs, table names, and was basicly in charge of making sure everything stayed on time during the day, which was rather a feat, since I'd accidently left my watch at home and didn't have any pockets, but other than one small crisis, with an ink-filled security tag on the Mother of the Bride's jacket, the day was wonderful.

Having been unexpectedly upgraded at the hotel didn't hurt either.

Here's the invitations:

I know, they don't look very autumnal, but the colors come from the drum and bugle corp that both the bride and groom march with. The bridesmaids even wore green Alfred Angelo gowns:
I haven't had a chance to start editing my photos, but here's a couple, including the green custom Converse All-Stars that the Bride rocked for a few of the photos:

I'm in love with...

mercury glass.

I love the mercury glass pumpkins I keep seeing as I look for glam halloween decor. Like these:



Thing is, they are spendy & even if I did have the money to buy one, most places that had them are sold out. I've noticed that there are a bunch of blogs where people have used chrome paint to diy their own mercury glass, but frankly, it looks like glass sprayed with chrome paint. I also found Chez Fifi blog showing the steps of using silver leaf for a mercury glass-like look. This I love. I'm thinking of taking my clear glass pumpkin that came from target many years ago and using some copper leaf, making my own take on the mercury glass pumpkin. More like these:



My only concern is that I just painted one of my terracotta pumpkins a really deep rich copper and I don't want the two to look too similar.

hmmmm....