Halloween!

Good morning!

It is finally Halloween Day! This evening, my neighbor-
hood will be full of little witches, princesses, ghosts and goblins, and a million other frightful, wonderful children -- out to gather their treats.

The younger children are great to watch. Around age 4 to 5, they approach you almost with hesitation, but moms and dads encourage them on. Not until you put some candy in their pumpkin or bag, does a smile light up their face and you can almost hear their delight. "I like this. I like this a lot!"

My first creation is my festive Halloween Smiley. He is all ready for Halloween!

My second creation is a little
"Maxine-type" witch.

I tubed a coffee cup I have, which I am fond of. The little witch was mostly air-brushed and pushed into shape.

Tonight, my husband is on his way to his aunt's funeral. His mom and his brother both called early this morning. Our home phone has been disconnected for awhile as my husband sent his phone payment to the wrong address. So, they didn't reach him sooner, although Fred did have my husband's cell phone number.

We don't use our home phone much, and frankly, I wasn't even aware that it had been disconnected. That tells you how much I use it. Nada!

Due to the fact that it's such short notice, and we are so busy at work, I will stay home. It is the last day of the month, and we regionals are waiting for the last 3 days of work to come in so we can close. The system we use had not been loaded as of yesterday evening, so when it finally is, the techs will have 4 days to enter, assuming we get the rest of the workload today.

So today, and this evening, will be busy.

I stopped on my way home last night to buy candy. Three big bags and three smaller ones and $29 dollars lighter.

Make it a really good day today. I will be back ... tomorrow! Happy Halloween, everyone!

Trick Or Treat Bandit

Good morning!

Because tomorrow is Halloween, and I haven't done a lot of halloween pictures this week, I thought I'd do a second post. Featuring the big holiday of tomorrow!

This is a little something I played with this morning. Kids are all anticipating the festive tradition of going out to gather treats. I believe that it's the dressing up, too, that makes it so exciting!

I also think of my dad today. If he were still alive, this day, today, would be his birthday. It's easy to remember because he always said, "I was almost a SPOOK!"

Tomorrow, there will be an additional 2 creations to post. They will also be halloween creations.

Have a really great Tuesday.

And now, I must go make my lunch for today. Back tomorrow!

Little Bear Stationary

Good morning!

Yesterday, I drew the little bear from the basket in my bathroom. Today, I thought I'd tube him.

And here he is ... in Just Another Day In Paradise.

He's a little beanie-type bear.

Cameras come in so handy when you want to tube something.

Today is Tuesday, and I need to stop on my way home to pick up Halloween candy for tomorrow night. Halloween is tomorrow evening. It's going to be a cold celebration.

We get a fair amount of children. I can't wait to see them.

Have a good Tuesday.

Back tomorrow!

Bear Monday

Good morning,

This little bear is a bear that I have in my bathroom basket. I posed him to do an airbrush painting, and then inner beveled the layers. He look like a charm for a charm bracelet.

We are looking at the last few days of October this week. We are down to the busiest holidays season of the year. Holidays -- Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

I've bought two items for Christmas so far. But, actually, at work, I just bought 4 other items, and I'm thinking of using those for Christmas gifts as well.

Oh snap! is a term my granddaughter uses to express anger or disappointment. Oh snap! is how I'm feeling this morning.

Well. Time for a little attitude adjustment. Put a smile on and count my blessings. It's how I try to get my attitude back in line with reality. I may feel tired, and want to to just curl up and stay in bed, but unfortunately, that won't be the plan for today. The world goes on.

It is about time for me to take a full week off. It's been awhile. I need a recharge! And it will be something to look forward to.

Make today a good Monday. Back tomorrow.

Magical Butterfly Girl

Good morning,

I made this yesterday to post, but then got so darn busy, I didn't have time to come back. So, here she is today.

Taylor is here, but spent most of yesterday hanging out with her mom and Danny. She had a very good time.

They dropped her off here later in the day as they had a gathering to attend.

This was a fun little exercise that started with the wings.

Have a great Sunday! See you tomorrow.

Halloween Colors For Friday

Good morning!

It's that time of week again where we all can breathe a sigh of relief: FRIDAY!

You can almost feel the week wind down at work. It's a time where everyone is a little more relaxed as they think about heading home and into the weekend. People talk more.

And so I did this little creation with all my favorite Halloween colors.

I was admiring the trees on break yesterday. All those beautiful colors of nature are so vibrant right now. The reds, yellows, oranges, mixed in with the greens that are still left, and even some browns.

Now is a great time to make a fall wreath for your front door. A nice wire hanger shaped into an O, and wrapped with those plastic bags you get your groceries in for a base. Just keep wrapping a bunch around until you the fullness you want. And then pick up some of those colorful leaves and using a glue gun, attach them to the bags. Some colorful artificial flowers here and there, little pumpkins or gourds: ohhh! It could be beautiful! (Maybe even a few hand-made ghosts hanging out in the center of it all.)

Celebrate a little today! Make it fun!

Back tomorrow.

Happy Snowman

Good morning,

No, no ... it is NOT Christmas yet. But it's coming. I thought I'd do this little snowman now though as people might be looking ahead for graphics they might want for the holiday season.

I was going to put some kind of message on it, but thought I'd leave it blank, so you can copy it, if you wish, and use it. Totally free.

Any message would be good. From "My Favorite Time of Year" to "Happy Holidays". You decide.

Yesterday, Columbus experienced almost a 24-hour rain. We had more rain in a day than all month, which is not that hard really.

Driving to work was a real challenge as large puddles ran across the freeway. Hitting those at 65 mph really feels weird -- and scarey.

It is still wet out this morning, and I've heard a little rain here and there. Very light. But, I'm hoping it done now.

Have a great Wednesday! Back tomorrow.

Textured Flowers

Good morning,

This creation is an "extra". One created that wasn't featured for any special day, but one that I could use for an "off" day.

I was playing with airbrushing, and came up with this flower. I wanted a shiny middle and this middle looks almost like a thumb tac. I liked it.

To make the airbrushing look more textured, I just sharpened it. Creates a lovely effect.

Today is a rainy day. At the moment, I don't hear all the little rain drops, so maybe it's clearing up. That would be very nice.

Have a great Tuesday. Check back with me tomorrow!

Eve Spelled Backward

Good morning,

I started this creation with "hair playing". I created one strand and did an inner bevel on it several times. The strand was drawn free-hand, with my Wacom Grahire Pen.

I choose a head and neck from my collection of pre-made tubes for cartoons. The back hair was added behind the head. I merged several strands together, shaping it the way I wanted it to flow. Then the front left was created. I then mirrored the front left to the front right.

The top hair is the same, but I reduced it's length, and tilted it sideways right and left, and finally the bangs. The brows were made from the same hair strand.

After adding all the hair, I spray painted the back hair in the center to make it a little darker.

When I do the eyes, I make them very, very large on my canvas to get the detail and shadowing the way I want. After one is made, I reduce it to fit my face, and then duplicate and mirror it. The eye hi-lites are the last things I added to this creation.

The saying is one I came up with.

And yes! That is an apple at the bottom right. My husband saw that and said, "Wow! Someone took a huge bite out of it!" Sheepishly grinning, I said, "Yep." It should've been a smaller bite, I agree, but after eating the whole apple, I did not feel like starting a second apple.

I read a little in my Reader's Digest this morning, and I thought this was amusingly true: "Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for, in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it."

And then a few articles before that in LET"S GO AIRPOOLING, they show you an example of the new Jetson-style air car: price $95,000 - $145,000! That's as much as my house!!! I'm sticking to my "paid-off, eleven year-old car", which still runs like a top and still looks great!

Have a good Monday. Back tomorrow.

Wide Awake Bat

Good morning,

I guess all the excitement about Halloween is keeping this one little bat up. You have to admit that he isn't featured much the rest of the year.

We get bats at work. About 6 weeks ago, I came outside on break to find a small little bat hanging on one of the walls where some of congregate. And then again, just last week, there was another one.

This one must have been diving for a bug, and ran into the building. It was on the ground, unconscious.

One of the workers picked it up, using her coat, and put it in a tiny cage. She likes to take them to a habitat that is close by. I guess they like to check them out, and then release them.

It was a beautiful day yesterday. While Taylor waited for her other grandparents to pick her up yesterday, she rode her scooter up and down the long sidewalk of our street. I stood outside and watched her. It was breezy, but still warm. I told her we are looking at the lays days of our warm weather. We will probably see it change drastically on Halloween.

In Columbus, we don't have long springs or summer. If it's a rainy spring, it feels long, but it's not. But we often go quickly from spring to hot weather, and in fall, from mild to cold very quickly. But I love Columbus. It's a great place to live.

Have a really terrfic Sunday.

Back tomorrow.

Dress Up Your Notes With Stationary

Good morning,

Writing on stationary is fun! I love making different ones. And this one was no different.

We are 11 days away from Halloween! It's hard to believe that this year is quickly coming to a close.

Some interesting websites for the holiday:

If you've ever wanted to spot a REAL ghost, where would you go? I read in my women's magazine that you can find one in a directory at www.hauntedhouses.com. Hmmmm!

And for those that don't want the real deal, but just some of the spooky events for Halloween, try www.hauntedhouse.com. This time it is without the "s", but you can find a spooky haunted house, ghostly hay rides, and fun corn mazes at local farms and amusement parks for about $10-$20/person.

I read a tidbit of info also. For those of you that remember West Side Story (hands up?), the roll of Tony was played by Richard Beymer. But did you know who was originally choosen, but his agent talked him out of it? ELVIS!

And during this week in 1990, Kevin Costner debuted in Dances With Wolves! This is a movie that was long, but it was fantastic. I remember making my children, who were teenagers at that time, sit through it when we watched the movie at home. My oldest did not want to see it at all, but at the end, was so glad he watched it.

Taylor came yesterday evening and is currently sleeping in my bed. Papaw slept on the couch -- ouch! We bought the new release of Transformers yesterday to watch. Taylor had been saying she wanted to see it. Her mom had seen it at the movie theater (she thought it was too slow and didn't recommend it). Taylor and I both had seen the commercials for it and had decided we thought it looked good! We wanted to see it.

So last night, we did. At first, Taylor lost interest. That was fine, but after about 30 minutes, she wandered back in and got caught up in it. We really enjoyed it. "That was good, mamaw!" she said. I agreed. I loved it! (Usually, if my daughter doesn't enjoy a movie, I do. We just have different tastes when it comes to movies!)

Have a really great day. Taylor is going with her other grandparents to the Circleville Pumpkin Festival at 3 p.m., and then home with them. I'd love to go to the event myself, but I hate crowds.

My daughter is currently going to a wedding with her boyfriend in his hometown of Cincinnati, which is where I grew up from 6 to 16. I went to Mt. Healthy High School. They will be staying with his parents.

It is ironic that she is attending a wedding today, since today -- October 20th -- was to be HER wedding day. At the beginning of this year, she was still engaged to her sweetheart of 3 years, but by spring, they both had decided it was NOT to be. They had most of the wedding plans done, and were in the process of building a home, which he ended up selling. Life surely takes a lot of twists and turns!

See you tomorrow.

Hey Mr. Scarecrow

Good morning,

Another tube of another scarecrow for Halloween. I have a wrought-iron, 3-tiered plant stand off my kitchen, and this little guy sits on it along side plants and unlit candles.

He's adorable, so I tubed him.

It is raining in Columbus this morning.

Sammy, my cat, just came in. He was wet! He knows the drill, and enjoys it. Off to the bathroom to get towel-dried. He just purrs and purrs. He loves all that attention.

Our craft fair at work went well yesterday. I went around and looked at all the items offered. I bought two stuffed animals made by my co-worker, Mel. One is a big pig -- for my grandson, Judah. The other is a large ragdoll, for the sister he is expecting in January. Taylor aleady has 2 different-sized ragdolls that Mel made.

And the greatest thing about today: it's Friday. So have a really good one.

I'll be back tomorrow.

Halloween Table Centerpiece

Good morning,

This is my table centerpiece which I tubed. A cute little scarecrow with a pumpkin, which I picked up at Walmart, a slim glass vase with flowers, and a kalei which I couldn't resist.

There is also a white, swirled glass pitcher, which I picked up at a thrift store. Sometimes, I fill it with flowers for a lone centerpiece.

There are so many things you can use your camera for, and then take that picture, and tube it for your creations.

My next major purchase will be a new camera, as the one I currently own is no longer operating as well as I'd like.

Today, at work, there is a craft fair. People of many talents will be showing and selling their crafts. My co-worker/friend, Mel, will be selling her stuffed animals. I'm hoping she may have some of her dolls this time, too.

In the past, she has made bears from a dad's old robe. I have a coat that belonged to my father, which I've asked her about making into bears.

Mel is very creative! She does beautiful work.

Yesterday was a great day at work. Mainly because of NOT being on the phones. Our system was down so we could not take customer calls. We had our "slam" day for daily work for 10/12, which I am still working on. The work for 10/15 is also sitting on my desk, waiting to be attacked next. It is small and won't take much time. I just need to finish both up today.

I am hoping to get to my email box again also. Each morning, I take a little of my early morning time to weed it out. I finally found 2 emails from headquarters that I couldn't find previously, and took care of their requests. The email is always so loaded, and I find it quite a task to stay up with it.

My own filter at home puts a lot of spam in the "spamkiller" which is great. Unfortunately, it also puts about 5 email subscriptions I read regularly in there, so I must go weed it out every morning as well. I've added them to my "friendly" list, and I constantly mark them as NOT SPAM, but the filter continues to put them in the spamkiller folder. Oh well. Technology!

Have a really great Thursday. See you Friday!

Kitty Kitty

Good Morning!

And it is Wednesday. Ooohs and aaahs all around.

I'm taking a fair amount of pictures of the kitties that are coming to my house to be fed. This is one. My granddaughter is also enthralled with the kitties as well as picture-taking.

When she came for a little visit on Monday night, she added a picture to my collection I shall NOT forget. It was a picture of some weeds in our yard. Her reason? "To make sure papaw doesn't forget to cut them down."

Out of the kitties, we have 3 or 4 that stay pretty much in our yard, hiding, or just lazing on our deck. They run if we open the deck door to put food out, or just step out a minute, but are quite comfortable peering through the windowed-door into our home to see if we are here. While we've never made any attempt to touch or harm them, they are wary of us, and yet, curious about us at the same time. It is amusing at times.

So my creation today features one of these kitties. I believe this one is from the original batch that Sweetie (our wild mama cat) had. He/she started off looking stripped, but the main part of her body is now kind of a "mottled" pattern. She has the more full, bushy tail that her mama has, and is quite pretty.

We have a newer kitty (from another wild female cat) that has kind of a white-sheen all over her body. It's like the pattern hasn't quite set, and doesn't know yet, what it will be. This particular kitty is still small, and especially wonderful to watch. It, along with a new little black kitty is particularly fond of peering through the door window at us.

In this creation, I used a kalei around the kitty's head, and then some color behind that I did some special effects to. I liked the colors and outcome.

My husband and I registered our cell phones with Verizon's "do not call/share" list on Monday night. Protection for 5 years! I will be registering my home phone in the late spring of next year, as that 5 year protection will be up. I could do it this year, but I'd lose one year left on my protection, so I'll wait. That way, I'll be protected at home till 2013.

I, for one, would like to see companies put their customers first, even if it meant they wouldn't make the profit from "selling or sharing" our information. What happened to companies that decided their bottom line is more important than the people who BUY their services? I would think that if a company started up that cared only about their customers first and foremost, people would flock to their doors to make them their providers. I know I would. There is just so much greed in this world.

I am not against selling your services to people, but c'mon. Sell your services, but don't turn around and try to use those that fuel your income to make more income off of them! What a 2-faced approach. (And I don't think making your customers take action to stop from being used is acceptable either--although I take the action. Why should we have to "opt out"?)

Another thing I hate is buying something with my credit card, and then having them upsell by giving me FREE things (for one month or a set time period), and then automatically billing my credit card once the time frame is over. I no longer buy anything where I have to call to stop anything freely given.

Enough. I've said my piece for today.

Hope it's a great hump day for you ... and for me! Have a great day.

Back tomorrow.

Tay-0la!

Good Morning!

This morning's creation is based on looking at new costumes for Halloween. There are some pretty fantastic ones out there this year.

I was thinking how cute a kid would look dressed up as a box of crayons. I didn't want to use the standard yellow and green box, so I came up with this pink version, because Taylor's favorite color is pink!

I had a picture of her I took several weeks ago in my living room. She was doing a little curtsy here.

The black kitty is one of the kittens that belonged to Sweetie. I snapped a picture of it on my deck one evening. He/she fits right in for Halloween.

On another note, today is National Boss' Day. At work, we are honoring our bosses with "snacks".

I am taking in potato skins. They are currently baking in the oven to melt the cheddar cheese on top. I have scallions, chives, sour cream, spicy tomatoes, and bacon bits to take in to top them off. We will have tiny weiners in barbecue sauce, chips and dips, and cheese and crackers.

Hope you have a fantastic Tuesday.

Back tomorrow.

Ghost in a Flickering Pumpkin Gif

Good morning!

Again ... my apologies to those that can't view this gif. It's really cute.

This pumpkin belongs to Taylor. Several weeks back, she and her dad's family took a school trip to the pumpkin patch where she was lucky enough to select her own pumpkin.

Her mom elected NOT to take it home because, "You know what to do with it. I don't. You two can at least do the pumpkin seed thing."

And, after Halloween, we will.

The pumpkin is not actually carved. I just took a picture of it to do this creation.

The pumpkin seed thing is a ritual I had with my own children. Every year, I made home-made pumpkin pies from pumpkins. Of course, there were all those seeds. So, we scooped them out, washed them, rid them of their strings, and put them on a cookie pan. I sprinkled them with salt, popped them in the oven, and viola! Tasty pumpkin seeds to snack on. They are wonderful! I eat the shells as well as the seed inside. Marvelous!

My father, when alive, would eat my pumpkin pie, if he happened to be at our house on Thanksgiving. He does NOT like pumpkin pie, but said mine was delicious. Quite a compliment from my dad, and a big accomplishment for me. They were yummy!

I was reading an article on msn today about spray cleaners raising the risk of asthma to users. Once a week is enough, but the risk doubles if used 4 times a week. I know that more and more people today have asthma. When I grew up, only a very few had that condition.

While I do like a neat, tidy house (my office does not qualify), I am not a nut about everything being clean, clean! I've always said that a little dirt doesn't hurt anybody. In fact, I think a little is good, and I've always said so. I learned it from my step-mom. It builds antibodies!

And over this last year, my suspicions have been confirmed. I've read that from time to time in articles. To me, it's just common sense. I feel we must take a middle-of-the-road stance on certain issues like this. Leaning too far one direction or the other makes no sense.

I hope you all have a great Monday -- even if you're heading back to the office.

I'll be back tomorrow.

Fall gif

Good morning,

I can't believe it! I FORGOT to post yesterday. I had made this gif during the week, and it was ready to go, but just forgot. Hmmm.

Maybe it's because I was working on a 16-frame Christmas gif coming up soon. I finished it up this morning, and it's perfect. It has a red box in it to put a picture, creation, bling, or message. It will be another animation that I will paste into the first animation.

I just haven't decided what it will be yet.

This was a fun little gif using this kalei. For those that can't view the gif, I apologize. I know some companies filter out gifs. Why? I'm not quite sure.

I will post another creation in just a few minutes -- for Monday.

Hope your Sunday was terrific! Back shortly!

From Summer to Cold

Good Saturday Morning!

The creation this morning is to acknowledge that we may have a short fall this year.

People at work are all asking "Hey! What happened to fall?"

They were donning their jackets this week, and then musing that they needed to dig out a heavier coat, as it's cold. Frankly, I'm enjoying it.

The creation shows that you can still see some flowers outside. But, how much longer before they're gone?

Listening to the radio on the way in yesterday, they were saying that "some areas may see LIGHT frost on the ground".

In this creation, there is a house in the background. A walkway leading up to a front porch. I did some special effects on it, but it's there. I wanted the little fence with the remaining flowers of the season to be the main attraction.

Next Tuesday is Bosses Day. We are bringing in snacks to honor the occasion. Do you do anything special for your boss?

Have a great Saturday, and I will be back tomorrow.

Simple Kalei

Good morning,

A simple kalei for a simple creation. Some days need a little simplicity.

Yesterday was a jacket day. The skies were dark and gray all day. It looked like rain, but it's not expected until today.

The funeral yesterday was really lovely. It was joyful. One of celebration of life and passing into something much better. I am so glad I went.

Have a great Thursday.

Back tomorrow.

Owl be seeing you

Good morning,

Another day, another creation, another kalei-art. That's what this is.

It all started with the v-shape of the eyes and the sides of the face. Somehow, that looked like an owl to me, so this is where I began.

I played with inner bevels and textures, trying this and that until I found what I liked. My daughter told me he looks evil. I just think owls usually have kind of a "spooky look", which is perfect for the month of October.

Last week, we set a new record (1-degree above) for heat, but this week, we are heading into fall. Much cooler temperatures, and they are saying that the summer is now behind us. I'm ready!

My prayers go out to a fellow co-worker whose mother passed away last Friday. Her funeral is today at 1:30 pm. I remember how hard it is to lose a parent. My father's death was a hard time to get through. You don't want to tell them that time will ease your loss, but it does happen. The first year is the hardest, but each year, it does get better. Eventually, time allows just your favorite memories to live in their absence.

I talked with my son yesterday. I wanted to "wish him a happy birthday". He had taken the day off, and was relaxing at home when I reached him. His girlfriend, Kathy, is going through her first annual grieving for the loss of her brother last year. Her parents will be in to visit and remember him together.

When my dad died on January 31st -- many, many years ago now -- I went through this annual grieving period. I was thoroughly amazed to realize that on the fifth annual passage of his life, I had completely missed it. At first, I was horrified. And then I realized, time had finally done it's job. I had been allowed to move on.

After losing a parent, I dread the loss of either my spouse, or any of my children or grandchildren. Those that are closest to you, and in your life everyday, are going to be the biggest obstacles. I don't like to even think of these things, so I do my best NOT to.

In my journey to better health, I donned a pair of sunglasses on my drive home from work yesterday. While I personally don't get many headaches, but used to get "exercise-induced migraines", I read something that made me think.

Due to all the air-conditioning everywhere now, it's those sudden changes in temperature that can bring them on. The article I read suggested the sunglasses, as well as wearing a coverup, such as a jacket or sweater, even in the summer. I've always worn an over garment since I knew you could be "burning up" outside and "freezing" inside.

I knew my own migraines were a result of exercising, getting all hot and sweaty, and then cooling down too fast. I was a gold-certified aerobics instructor back then, and during cooldown, we used to turn on a fan, as my students all wanted it on at that point. And that's when my migraine would begin until I learned what was happening, and stayed out of the draft.

I used to jog with a student during the week, and even then, I carried a hat to donn my sweaty head to keep any drafts from causing this headache. It helped immensely, so when I read this article, I was NOT surprised.

And my eyes just get so funny in the sun. After a while, I feel like I can't see at all. All that "bright sunlight striking the retina of the eye!" That article made me more conscious of protecting them.

So ends another post and creation for today. May God's peace and tranquility be with you all today, wherever and whatever you may be facing.

See you tomorrow.

Thank You Girl

Good morning!

My creation this morning is my Thank You Girl. She was inspired out of the kalei behind her. Can you see her hair is made from the flowers behind her?

This was really a fun little creation! I love the colors!

It's back to work this morning. I would be looking at a four-day work week, but we have a mandatory Saturday coming up, so it will be a regular work week because of it. Except we won't be on the phones. And that is good.

I slept in this morning! I'm usually up very early. Around 1:30 a.m. But this morning, I added about 2 hours, so I must have needed it. But adding extra sleeping time makes me feel "groggy". Almost like I'm in slow motion. Ugh!

On my diet journey, I am learning how to make my meals healthier and more efficient. I've always liked the South Beach Diet myself. A lot of good information there. And recipes.

I love oatmeal for breakfast. I make the "old-fashioned" brand, which really doesn't take very long. Since I am lactose-intolerant, I don't use milk very often. But I love yogurt! So I put low-fat vanilla yogurt all over my oatmeal. I add fruit; either pineapple, blueberries, or peaches, some cinnamon and a sprinkle of sliced almonds. I mix it up together, and eat. It taste almost like a dessert instead of a healthy meal! Try it! It's really good.

I hope you all have a terrific Tuesday.

See you tomorrow!

I smell a rat!

Good morning!

It is Monday, October 8th! A wonderful, wonderful day for two reasons!

First, it is my oldest son's birthday. Happy birthday, Christian! He is 36 years old this year.

And second: It is Columbus Day; therefore, I have the day off!

Fantastic!

This is another picture of the wild mama cat, Sweetie, who comes to my door to be fed. I took the picture, and tubed it.

Being that it's almost Halloween, I felt a mouse dressed for "Trick or Treat" would be amusing. Hence, the cartoon.

I drew out some sketches of what I wanted my mouse to look like first, and then used them as my guide to do the mouse in psp. I used the air brush to paint and shade, and the warp brush to shape and move into place. The mouse is actually a much bigger tube, but I shrunk it for this creation.

I think my computer problems are over. At least, I hope so. My husband worked on it yesterday, and it appears to be functioning again normally. Thank you, darlin'!

We had a wonderful Sunday. My daughter brought her beau over. He's handsome, and very personable. It was delightful to meet him.

I am on a new mission today. One of health and weight-control through nutritional know-how! I am always reading, and I just hate the fact that I can't remember "what is good for what"! So, I've started a databased book to put down these nuggets and introduce them into my life.

I am already a healthy eater. But now ... I will be even better. If you're interested in such things, feel free to post something to my chat box. Share tips on what you know.

A University of Illinois study found that eating a simple combination of broccoli and tomatoes together provides such fantastic teamwork together that it stops the growth of abnormal cells. Since I love salads, this would make a super, simple one! While I'm not worried about cancer in my life, I certainly don't mind eating things that will help prevent it either.

I hope you all have a wonderful day. Be healthy!

Back tomorrow.

Sweet Halloween Scarecrow

Good Morning,

A picture of a little girl, all dressed up for Halloween.

I saw this picture in a magazine several weeks ago, and decided to try my hand at doing a drawing of her. I started it, but never finished it. I then ran across it last week, and began working on her again.

Today is Sunday. I currently have 3 pictures and blog posts, none of which have published.

While I am now able to get my images into Blogger, I am still unable to publish.

The trials and errors of internet publishing.

My granddaughter is here this morning. Yesterday, we bought her a Halloween costume. She is a Princess. While I voted for a much fancier costume with a hooped skirt (and it had the hoop), and was very fancy, she chose a rather plain Princess costume with a pointed hat. The hat had nothing to make it stand up though.

I fashioned a cone out of cardboard, and inserted it into the hat. Unfortunately, she does not want to wear the chin strap to keep it on, so it keeps falling off.

Her mom brought her by yesterday, and she's spending the night. As far as I know, she has yet to sleep.

I woke up at 12:30 am to find her wide awake in her bed. She told me she was hungry, so I warmed up the spaghetti I made last night. I have informed her that once she eats, she could use a little sleep.

I made my dinner yesterday for this afternoon. I am meeting my daughter's new beau, Danny, around noon.

Garlic chicken over pasta, mashed potatoes (sweet potatoes for those that prefer), and a nice big salad. Taylor and I will bake cookies this morning for our dessert.

I decided to make ranch dressing, but unfortunately grabbed the Miracle Whip instead of the mayo. It tastes really different. Since my husband only eats Miracle Whip (the one I grew up on), and I eat mayo now, it can get confusing at times. So, this morning, I will do a new batch.

I am probably working next Saturday. It seems we have a "mandatory" Saturday to move some files. If I work then, I will probably schedule next Monday off.

Hoping this posts! Have a great day!

One frame from my gif

Well, Good Morning!

I was trying to post my gif, but am happy that I was able to post any item.

In addition to the gif, I was going to post this frame anyway, as I realize there are some people in companies where they might NOT be able to see the gif.

This is another picture of the wild mama cat that comes around my house. I call her Sweetie.

A kalei was placed around her.

This was originally for Saturday, so while I appear to be able to post, I will go on and put up the one for Sunday.

Due to the problems I've been having with my computer, these few posts are out of order.

Have a great day!

Continued Problems with Images

Good morning,

Just a note to say that this blog is still active. My husband has been working on my computer. I am, again, having problems posting my images.

I'll be back again, once this is resolved.

I'm Up Again

Hello, hello!!!

I am able to post images in BlogSpot again! Yeah!

After posting this morning, I said I would be back shortly. Unfortunately, I was unable to return.

Both BlogSpot and Photobucket were not letting me upload images. I thought there was a problem with BlogSpot at first. But when Photobucket gave me the same problem, after posting one item from there, I knew it had to be on my end.

Maybe Wide Open West was working on their equipment. Whatever, everything appears to be back to normal.

This creation is mine for today. The kitty is a picture I took of the many kitties living around my house. It is a precious looking kitten, but very wild. It comes here for food and water, and that's about it.

I have a had a restful day off today. I'm working in my psp, and I've created some new items to post in the days ahead.

But tonight! My husband and I are going to dinner out! So off I'm running now -- to get ready!

Have a great evening! Back in the a.m.

Posting Images through Photobucket

Good morning,

Hmmm. Blogger was working fine on Wednesday. And then yesterday, I couldn't get it to post my image. I knew I had internet connection. I knew it was a jpg and not too large. I knew I had not misspelled the address. It just wouldn't work the way it used to.

And now it's back to double spacing and doing crazy things like it did in the beginning. I used to have to go into the edit html and work from there to get the spacing correct.

And then all of sudden, it worked correctly in the compose EVERY TIME for a long time. And now it's back to doing it's crazy stuff.

The only way to post my images right now is through Photobucket, which I did this morning. I don't know if Blogger is just adding so many new features now, that it's messing up everything else or what.

I took Adsense off my blog. It was no benefit to me. And I've been reading here and there that Adsense can no longer be posted next to an image, and since this site is mainly an image site, bye-bye Adsense.

I will trying posting the regular way again tomorrow, since it takes about 24 hours for Adsense to kick-in when first posting it. Maybe it's the same way when you remove it.

This was the image for yesterday. It's just a composition or summary of some of the images posted over the last several days.

Back in a moment with a new post.

Image is not posting for now

Good morning,

Just a short post today. I have tried uploading various images, but Blogspot must be having a problem. I've checked the images for any problems, and I see none. They are jpgs as always, and not large.

I am connected to the internet (been surfing some sites), so it must be a problem here at BlogSpot.

I will try again later.

Have a great Thursday.

Unusual Cow

Good Morning,

A kalei'd cow is unusual. But when I saw this kalei, this is how I saw it.

My daily work for the month is done and out to the tech's. Our first day of work came in for October, and it is finished and waiting to put out as soon as we roll over for the month.

Today, I will be able to tackle some things that have been sitting on my desk for over a week and clean that up.

The weekend will be here before we know it. And a little time off.

Have a great Wednesday. Back tomorrow.

Fun Stationary

Good morning!

I just love stationary! I like deep colors, and again, this stationary offers that.

It also lets me make use of kaleis I've created.

The zigzag border was made from one little kalei that I pasted together as a group. The sun is a kalei. The tree-like flower is a kalei as well as it's stalk. The border below is one kalei that I duplicated and mirrored to make one patch, and then duplicated 2 more times for the three across the bottom.

Using kaleis this way kind of gives it a scrapable look.

It is a lot of fun to choose the kaleis and create with them. As the creation evolves, it fills me with excitement.

As for work, Monday was much like last week's Monday. The phones were busy, and we were short 2 people. I finished a huge pile of daily business even though the systems were sluggish. I am ready to finish the last two days of last month so we can close.

I am looking forward to Friday when I will begin my 4-day weekend. I will work very hard to be done by Thursday, so I can enjoy this time off.

Have a really great Tuesday. Back ... tomorrow.

Monday Morning Blues

Hello!

And ... it's another week ... and another Monday! Hopefully, a good Monday morning. Many have the Monday morning blues, and then "call off" from work. I hope today is nothing like last Monday.

A kalei graphic for today. I love the colors!

I have my creations all lined up for this week! That makes posting simple.

Taylor and her mom left here last night about 7. I made spaghetti for dinner, which is Taylor's favorite. I love it, too. I don't make pasta often.

I am only working four days this week. I'm taking Friday off, and I have Monday (Columbus Day) off.

This week will be the week we bust our bums getting the rest of the month's work ready for the techs. I have a ton on my desk to finish up, and one more day to come in.

The day I'm working on now is horrendous! We always get slammed twice a month: around the 15th, and then one day at the end of the month. Plus I have a stack of customer requests waiting in a nice little stack on my desk to attack once I have the work out to the techs.

On Sunday, I will meet my daughter's new guy: Danny. They been seeing each other for about 5-6 months, and been exclusive for the last 2, I believe.

Taylor will go to church with them on Sunday morning to meet his church family. Afterwards, they are coming here for a noon dinner. Then the three will head to Dan's place to meet all his friends. Everyone is anxious to meet Taylor.

I hope everyone has a good, productive Monday (especially me)!

I will return tomorrow.