BFF Open House Link Party

Happy Friday and official start of Fall Eve all!  I think we can all agree "Mother Nature, the world has had enough of you for a while". 

Thinking of the people in Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Caribbean who all got hit this week, along w/ FL , Houston and everyone recovering from recent weeks.

Let's take our minds off things with some pretties OK? 

I love tiered things. Height always seems to bring depth. This DIY Modern Farmhouse Tiered Tray  from Diane at An Extraordinary Day is so perfect! 

If this mantel doesn't scream Fall, complete with the perfect F A L L letters, I don't know what does. See it all at Vintage Paint and More

Would you guess that these birch candles are faux? Check out Chas' Crazy Creations to see how! 

Now, let's see what everyone's been up to this week!

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

These Boots Aren't Made For Walking: Funky Witch Boot Printable

My nightly doodling continues and so does my obsession with the Recolor App. I decided to try my hand at a Witch Boot so I drew the outline, then filled it in with random doodles and colored in Recolor. The steps to do that are easy. 

I use my iPhone so these steps are based on that. 

• Take a picture of your image using your phone
• Open the Recolor App
• In the upper right hand corner you'll see "Import"
• Click, and then you can choose where you want to import from ( eg. Camera Roll). 
• Use the options to clean up your image if you like
• I've been using "Despeckle" which whitens and brightens your image. 

Then proceed to color your image! There are free options and pay options. I love the colors in the pay options but haven't purchased any yet. 

After I was done coloring my image I pulled it into PicMonkey and then added some additional graphics from my collection and voila! 

I duplicated the boot and flipped the image to make a pair, added a coordinating Witch Hat, Sentiment, and Frame  which  are all  from Designbundles.net Crafter's Delight Bundle. 

Image is free for you to use. It's sized to 8x10. If you do, I would love to see what you do w/ it!

BFF Open House Link Party

Happy Mid September Friday Eve all! Hoping that those who've been impacted by Harvey and Irma are recovering. Fall is almost officially here and there were lots of great ideas shared last week so let's take a look. 

I was just reading in the paper today that here in the PNW we have a great crop of Fall pears so this recipe from 3Winks Design is well timed and looks amazing! 

Nothing says Fall like Pumpkins and these fabric ones from Vintage Paint and More are perfect for any room. 

Halloween will be here before we know it and this Easy Tulle Wreath from Foxy's Domestic Side is just the thing to get you in the haunted mood! 

The first time my parents took me to a "grown up" restaurant as a kid, I fell in lifelong love with chocolate mousse. This recipe from Marilyn's Treats looks like just the way to end a special meal. Or an ordinary meal. Or in place of a meal. 

Now, let's see what you've been up to this week! 

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

Peacock Feather Anniversary Card and Envelope Art

Hard to believe that my oldest (as in number of years we've been friends...since 7th grade) is celebrating her 30th Anniversary! They got engaged before I left for a study abroad program in college and got married shortly after I came back the following year so I missed a lot of the wedding planning. I don't have pics but let me tell you, she was DIY before DIY was what it is now. 

She made her wedding dress, our bridesmaids dresses, the groom's tux, her mom's dress... basically EVERYTHING. Each of us bridesmaids wore a different jewel tone color and they used peacock feathers in the bouquets. 

I wanted to capture elements of day in their Anniversary card. 

I found a peacock feather design in the Silhouette online store that I downloaded and cut from gold adhesive foil. 

I dreaded weeding these because I hate weeding. Love vinyl. Hate weeding. Did I mention how I hate weeding? Fortunately these weren't as bad as I feared. 

I layered these on different colors of cardstock and trimmed. 

Layered onto coordinating papers as shown using foam dots, and then finished with self adhesive rhinestones. 

I also wanted the envelope to be special. One of the reasons I started playing with hand lettering is because I wanted to make the envelopes as special as I hope the cards are . 

I did a simple laurel wreath and mixed faux calligraphy and printed lettering styles. Fortunately the Post Office didn't get snippy with me and it arrived just fine! 

Equally exciting is that this time next year, my friends will be recovering from their daughter who's getting married 2 days prior to their 31st Anniversary. Cannot wait to see what she does for her daughter's wedding!

Digitized Doodles

Everything old is new again as the saying goes. A few years ago I became obsessed with Zen Tangling. I don't know that what I like to do fits the official Zen Tangle definition. Like most things I do, I adapt it to fit what feels right to me so I have not mastered "official" tangles and I tend to like to mix things up and be very organic about the process.

At some point I stopped doing it for a while but in the process of practicing my hand lettering, I've picked it up again. Sometimes combining it w/ lettering and sometimes on its own.  As with my lettering, I thought about what to do w/ all of this ( still haven't totally figured that out) and started playing w/ different digital options.

For this version, I scanned the image in to my computer and played around with it in PicMonkey adding different transparent layers. 

One thing I like about this option is I can keep the original black and white image once scanned in and explore different options while not losing the original work. 

I also discovered an app for my iPhone called "Recolor" ( it's FREE!!). It comes pre-loaded with lots of images you can color or, and this is what I was really after, you can import your own images into it from your photos and play around. 

Using this same image I played around and did this which completely changes the look and feel of the same image! 

You can color everything or just portions and you can color the background or leave it blank. 

For this one, I also applied a colored pencil filter : 

So many possibilities. But I still haven't figured out what I'm going to do w/ all this stuff lol !

BFF Open House Link Party

Happy Friday Eve once again. Sadly once again it's a week where we're watching awful devastation from nature. To those in the path of Irma, Jose, still recovering from Harvey, dealing with fires in the West, be safe and smart! No material things ( not even craft supplies) are worth it! 

Let's take a break and see what everyone's been up to as we gear up for Fall. 

What better way to prepare for Fall than with a new wreath? Leslie from Playdates to Parties has got you covered with a roundup of ideas. 

If you're still enjoying some outdoor weather but transitioning to Fall, check out this idea from My Thrift Store Addiction. Coffee and cupcakes? Yes please! 

Fall is the start of candle season to me. Sure they are year round but those cooler and darker earlier months are perfect for a cozy glow from candlelight. Chas' Crazy Creations has a wonderful way to display a Fall Candle. The secret's in the corn! 

And for this week's chocolate feature, what's better than a frosted chocolate cupcake? A frosted chocolate cupcake with a BROWNIE inside! From Sugar, Spice, and Family Life. 

Now on to this week's party! Thanks for being here. 

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

Fighting Words: Do Not Mention Pumpkin Spice ( Printable)

Believe me, I know this will be unpopular. I love Fall. Everything, well to be truthful, ALMOST everything about it. The one thing I don't love about Fall? PUMPKIN SPICE. There I said it! Fighting words I know.

Sorry Pumpkin Spice because I know that you are loved and I have nothing but love for the Pumpkin Spice lovers (some, to my own perplexion, in my own family). I just do not share your passion. And by do not share I mean I loathe it. It was bad enough when it was just lattes. But now it's EVERYTHING! 

Pumpkin Spice beer. Pumpkin Spice savory foods. Soups, pastas, etc. Pumpkin Spice cookies / cakes / donuts / chocolates / breads. Let's put it this way, I love chocolate with the equal and opposite loathing I have for Pumpkin Spice and since I'm known ( hello blog name) for the chocolate thing, well you get the picture. 

OK Carol. We get it. Why are you screaming about this? Can't we PS lovers just go on with our PS obsession and smother the world with PS in peace? Are we actively doing something TO you? No, and I hold no one's love of the stuff against them. (Mostly. Just kidding. Maybe a teensy tiny bit. OK no, really. ) 

But I can't possibly be the ONLY one who doesn't love the stuff. So I made a printable for me in my lonely  dislike of PS,  but also  in the off chance that there are others of you out there who feel similarly; probably more rationally, but similarly.