Deadly Candy 4 Halloween?

Watch this video! Check your children's candy stash after trick-or-treating!

UNDECIDED VOTERS

If you are still undecided on who to vote on Tuesday ask yourself: Which party has been screaming terrorist, socialist, Marxist, murder him and kill him… and which party has been talking about hope and unity?

Other giveaways

Here are some wonderful giveaways on other blogs you might be interested in.
Pumpkin tassel with black fringe and checked ribbon AND a blessing book.


Random Drawings for Pam Warden Prints.

Palin's 'going rogue!'

I admit it. I am a registered Republican who hasn't voted her party since Bush 41. I almost returned to the fold when I voted for John McCain in the 2000 presidential primaries, but when he folded like a cheap suit under Bush's smear campaign I lost faith in the Republicans and in McCain himself.

Since I'd been a Hillary supporter from Day One you'd think I'd be thrilled to see another strong woman in the race. But after reading about Palin’s latest antics I'm more fearful than ever of a Republican win. Especially when several McCain advisers have suggested to CNN that they have become increasingly frustrated with what one aide described as Palin "going rogue."

McCain sources say Palin has gone off-message several times, and they privately wonder whether the incidents were deliberate. "She's no longer playing for 2008; she's playing 2012," Democratic pollster Peter Hart said.

A second McCain source says she appears to be looking out for herself more than the McCain campaign. "She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone," said this McCain adviser. "She does not have relationships of trust with any of us…also, she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party.”

I was never a Bush supporter because of his attacks on McCain back in ’00. I also have never been supportive of any man I can out think. McCain almost had my vote until he selected Palin as his running mate. It makes me question HIS thinking AND his judgment in the fundamentals.

And the winners are:

My son, Evan, picked arbitrary numbers for each of the three sets of ACEOs and I matched them up to the blog postings. This was done at 10:02 this morning but just got the time to announce the winners to the public.
Giveaway #1 - Shirley Avelis
Giveaway #2 - Tricia Everetts
Giveaway #3 - Deb Jones
Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to everyone who participated in this giveaway. Stay tuned to this blog as I'm going to make this a monthly event!

Unbelievable Craftsmanship!!

This is the most unbelievable bit of sewing craftsmanship I have EVER seen. I just had to post it for all to see. Check it out and wish me luck. I'd love to win it!
Maybe she'll win one of my Halloween giveaway ACEOs.

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

WORST Best Man Ever, no really EVER

You NEED to watch this YouTube video if you want a good laugh. Laughter IS the BEST medicine!

For Lorrie

Just for you Lorrie girl! Be safe on your way to Maine and if you happen to see any of these little guys, bring back a couple of them for me, ok? Otherwise we'll have to go visit Caribou Barbie!
BTW...they'll follow your mouse pointer around in circles if you want them to...just put the pointer on the picture and move it around...lol...they look as drunk as some of the kids coming out of Paul's!!

Soup Network

Just started a new ning.com network. Soup, bread, dessert recipes will be shared so hop on board and share your favorites!
click on the icon below and go directly to this great new group.

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First recipe posted was for English Toffee. My sister has been making it for over three decades and it is decadent!!

FREE HALLOWEEN GIVEAWAY

I left the last post up for four days without adding a new posting. Thought it would make it easier for folks to find this free giveaway. Apparently no one is really interested in owning some of my original art OR no one is really reading my blog OR they actually have a life and don't have time to leave a comment :)

That being said there really isn't anything new to report about my life other than that I've finally gotten the prelim sketches done for my Nov. 14th gallery show. I'm loving the funky little paintings I'm doing. Hopefully I won't have a lot left over but if I do they'll go on Etsy or maybe eBay. eBay is getting awfully expensive and if I do a mailing I could probably reach more folks than if I just put up a listing.

*sigh* I guess I'm just feeling sorry for myself tonight. I have a tummy ache and I haven't had a decent night's sleep in about 10 days soooooooo...I'm gonna stop whining now and go put up one last tweet to see if I can get anyone interested in the giveaway. I've got only 8 comments and some of them are duplicates. Night all, tomorrow is another day and I expect to feel a bit chipper than I do now. Hugs, Me

FREE, FREE, FREE!!! HALLOWEEN GIVEAWAY

Posted below are three sets of Halloween ACEOs that I'm giving away FREE. At 10 am, Saturday, Oct. 25th I will randomly pick one person from the comments left under each posting as the winner and will get them in the mail before noon that day so you can enjoy them for Halloween.

The way to enter the giveaway is simple. Below the post that contains the set you love the most, leave me a comment. That puts you in the running to win that set. And if you'd like it, and I WOULD LOVE IT, add yourself as a follower of this blog and I will in turn link to you so that we can create a network together. The followers section is the second section down on the right of this page.
I've got LOTS of followers of my art and this invite is going out to them as well. So linking to me can only bring you MORE traffic. With 980+ freedback on eBay I've got a goodly amount of people who LOVE my work and that, my friends, is a very good thing!

Happy Halloween y'all. Now go post to one of the blog postings below.
Hugs from Jersey!

FREE ~ HALLOWEEN GIVEAWAY #3

I've decided to have THREE free giveaways for Halloween on my Blog. From now until Sat. Oct. 25th post a comment on the posting that contains the set you like best and I'll randomly pick a name from the postees. Also, if you add yourself as a follower of this blog I'll return the favor and link to your blog. Thus, we'll create a 'web' of links that will help us all network. So get ready to comment.

This is number three of three sets of ORIGINAL Halloween ACEO from the_wild_gypsy, Carolyn, a Jersey Girl. If you want to see other pieces you can purchase click on My eBay or My Etsy to the right of these posts. Good Luck and Happy Halloween!!

FREE ~ HALLOWEEN GIVEAWAY #2

I've decided to have THREE free giveaways for Halloween on my Blog. From now until Sat. Oct. 25th post a comment on the posting that contains the set you like best and I'll randomly pick a name from the postees. Also, if you add yourself as a follower of this blog I'll return the favor and link to your blog. Thus, we'll create a 'web' of links that will help us all network. So get ready to comment.

This is number two of three sets of ORIGINAL Halloween ACEO from the_wild_gypsy, Carolyn, a Jersey Girl. If you want to see other pieces you can purchase click on My eBay or My Etsy to the right of these posts. Good Luck and Happy Halloween!!

FREE ~ HALLOWEEN GIVEAWAY #1

I've decided to have THREE free giveaways for Halloween on my Blog. From now until Sat. Oct. 25th post a comment on the posting that contains the set you like best and I'll randomly pick a name from the postees. Also, if you add yourself as a follower of this blog I'll return the favor and link to your blog. Thus, we'll create a 'web' of links that will help us all network. So get ready to comment.

This is number one of three sets of ORIGINAL Halloween ACEO from the_wild_gypsy, Carolyn, a Jersey Girl. If you want to see other pieces you can purchase click on My eBay or My Etsy to the right of these posts. Good Luck and Happy Halloween!!

FREE ~ HALLOWEEN GIVEAWAY

I've decided to give away some ORIGINAL Halloween ACEOs. I don't think they'll bring in much money on eBay since it's slower than molasses and as far as Etsy goes, sales are slower than cement there! So my dear friends I'll be sorting through my pieces tonight and tomorrow will post the pieces that will be up for grabs.

All you'll have to do is comment on the post containing the set that you like and I'll randomly pick a winner by the 26th and send them out for you to enjoy by Halloween. Stay tuned for details.

RETURNS

I've got a bunch of returns to make to ACMoore and Michaels. And it all started when one of my Avon customer's bras didn't fit. Is there never a simple story in my life! Anyway a dear friend who fell in love with a particular bra asked if she bought two and they didn't fit could she return them. Absolutely. Because Avon guarantees everything they sell. So she ordered these gorgeous PINK Bali bras and racked up a 45.00 bill.

OK...since I'd had such a great campaign with Avon I decided to buy some cake decorating items from my favorite craft stores. One thing lead to another and I dipped into my 'profits' in my Avon account. When my friend tried on the bras they fit beautifully but were thin enough that her nipples showed through! She called up almost in tears because she loves pink, loves the bras but at 58 isn't interested in people staring at her chest...and she's a public speaker so guaranteed they would be staring and whispering! BTW...she's a GORGEOUS sized 10 redhead so the men would obviously be real keen on her new 'look'.

No problem to return them BUT I have to pay Avon tonight and she needs that 45.00 back and since I'd already spent my profits I figured I better find a way to come up with the money. So I started looking at my craft purchases over the last week and that lead to looking at the ones I made a couple of weeks ago that are still in their packages.......and........I thought...what the heck, I'll return everything and figure out a way to make do without all of this extra stuff!

Actually I'm kinda proud of myself. It's usually difficult for me to part with ANYTHING but especially things that were part of a 'dream' project. So I just have to change the direction of the 'dream' and I'll be fine. :( In the meantime I've got money coming back so I can refund her and have enough to pay for the Christmas gifts I purchased for the family on 'time' from Avon. I think this is why I didn't make it as an Avon lady 30 years ago...way too much temptation to spend, spend, spend! Off to finally eat breakfast, ttyl

Rental Jersey Shore

Here's the latest on the home front. Sis is back home and is back to being the Designated Daughter. It's so hard on her but without a car it's difficult for me to give her any time off. I need to be dropped off at Mom's house so I can use her car to drive her around. Between keeping bread on the table with my art and finding new ways to get about in this new economy I don't have a lot of free time. Not to say that my sister does either but TG she's willing to do more than her part with Mom.

DD, this time Dear Daughter, is so excited about her scores on the civil service test. She scored a 90 or an 89.862 and I told her to round up to the nearest whole number to which her reply was...I really don't want to lie...did I do a good job or what? Anyway, she's networked with a lot of her friends and one of them is a cop at Fort Monmouth, a government facility scheduled for closure in 2011 (to save us money and it's costing millions to close it down!!, your government dollars at work!!) but they're still hiring civilian cops as well as forensic detectives and her dream since high school has been to work in forensics. Yes, my dear friends, my DD would like to be "Bones" of Fox network fame. She did a mentorship for a year with the Monmouth County prosecutor's office and going out for pizza after a particularly grizzly and gruesome scene is apparently not stomach turning for her. As an artist all I can say is icky, icky ach!!!
As a traditionalist I would prefer that she date her friend's best friend...A 30 something Irishman who drives a rolls royce and lives in a community that has "Estates" as part of its title. I don't think she's opposed to the idea but after her heartbreaking relationship with 'the only man I ever loved' she's not willing to date anyone seriously. My DH is opposed to anyone she dates as well but as I told him, if Jesus himself were to come knocking, DH would say "he's only a carpenter"!

Anyway we'll see where that leads but at the moment she's on the hunt for a roommate, preferably a male who enjoys decorating and shopping as much as she does. She can't keep up with the rent and if she doesn't get caught up, the eviction notice goes out on 12.31.08 and then she'll be homeless. So if you know anyone who lives in the Jersey Shore area and is looking to share an 8 room house for $700 a month, you've got my number :)

On the crafting front, I spent all yesterday working on my petite fours and I think I've almost got it. I've figured out how to make them look really edible...finally..
I'll post later today if I finish them up. The blogging has been rather long today but I always do this when I'm putting off doing something that I know is going to be labor intensive. But it's almost noon EDT and since I slept the night through I really do need to use this energy for something other than catching y'all up on my life.

Off to play with the faux food, folks. Hugs to all of you for a creative day. I'll twitter this posting so you can catch up. Remember, too that I'd like to get a creative swap of craft supplies going so check my ultimate recycle post below.

LAUGHTER is the best medicine

I had to share this website. I laughed so hard I could barely breathe. We all need a dose of laughter daily. Enjoy!


BTW...check Etsy today. I've got two new prints up for sale. A bargain at just $6.50 and if you mention this blog post I'll ship anything you want for FREE.

HALLOWEEN SPOOKS

Imagine my surprise when I went to my eBay and found a bunch of ACEOs had sold last evening. Here's a few of my favorites.

Back from Hiatus

God Bless my sister!!! She's been away since Thursday night on vacation with her DH. That left me as DD or Designated Daughter to our 85 yro Mom. Mom's a kick but a handful at the same time and I TG all the time for my DS, Dear Sister, who takes the brunt of the hauling about since she has a car. Mom has a car as well but because of the arthritis in her right knee we don't like her driving any farther than around her local area. Thusly I became the Designated Driving Daughter for the weekend. It wasn't bad but was time consuming and now I'm off to play today with my faux food toys.
Hopefully I'll finally have something finished that I want to show off later today. Have a productive day everyone...that's what I'm wishing for myself as well. Just wish I'd gotten more than four hours sleep! :o

BTW...here is a new piece I did yesterday. She's from the Dipsy Diva series!

ULTIMATE RECYCLE

From tiny acorns, giant oaks grow and my idea for starting a how-to is beginning to evolve into the Go Green-Ultimate Recycle project. There are those of you out there who really don't have the money to purchase craft supplies to start living your dream. In the spirit of going green and recycling all of the extras I've collected and hoarded over the years, I'm inviting anyone with a NEED to post what they are looking for in the comment section below.

If I find it in my studio I'll be happy to send it along to you. And if you've got something that you'd like to move forward, just post it in the comments below as well. Most of us have more than we'll ever use...I know I do so I'll be more than happy to pass it along. Great way to clean house and a better way to go green and recycle!

How-To

How to live life to the fullest. That sounds like a good blog posting for today. I am finding myself renewed tho' still exhausted. I'll have the results tomorrow of the gazillion blood tests that my primary ordered on Tuesday. Barring any bad results that need attention, I'll be starting some special how-to dos on this blog.

My Dad always said that anyone who had an idea but wouldn't share it, had only one really good idea. I think he may be right about that and in the spirit of how he lived his life (he would have been 86, yesterday)I want to start posting articles about how to do all sorts of things.

I've been so blessed much of my life, but never really stopped to enjoy those blessings. Now I want to share my ideas and the how-tos that I've learned over the last, dare I say it...60 years! I'm also opening up this blog to all of you who may have wanted to know how to do something but could never find the correct instructions for doing it. If I know, I'll post it. If I don't know, I'll reach out to someone who I think might know. That way, this will be a blog with a purpose. Not just a posting of every passing day.

So if you want to know something, or if you know something you want to share, PLEASE post your comments. I think that together we might make a difference, even if only a small one, in someone's life!

God loves YOU, and so do I!

BLESSINGS and Pink Ribbons!!!

I recently added someone new to my life. A buyer of my art who shared her dream of one day being able to paint herself. When I responded to her I said in part... "I've learned since breast cancer that tomorrow is never a promise and today is the day to make dreams come true...so go for it and enjoy"!

She has read my blog and my about me page and my world pages on eBay. By reading them she said that she could see how even through adversity one can find happiness. And she's going to start painting! And that my friends is the greatest blessing of all. Being a light in the darkness of someone's life and giving hope when one is feeling hopeless.

Perhaps this month I'll share my story of breast cancer. Since October is the official Pink Ribbons month it may be time to do just that. For now I'm off to bed with a prayer that tonight I'll get the sleep I've been longing for. God Bless!

Faux Cupcakes and CATS!!!

Here's the stuff of which legends will be made:


I got the papers, doilies and ballerinas at the 1.00 Power Store. What used to be the 99 cent store until they decided that they needed to make more money and started charging up to 12.99 for what used to sell for a buck. *Sigh* fortunately or unfortunately, the cost of chocolate is still only $1.25 for a BIG bag of Dove or Hershey's Dark Chocolate Truffles. Ouch! My thighs are growing just thinking about it!

Oh and look who snuck in here to see what was going on with Mommy...my favorite furry baby boy, Sebastian.


Anyhoo..I'm planning on trying to make a few faux today. Then I want to photograph them in a vignette setting and we'll see where that goes. I'm still trying to firm up an answer to the question my DH asked days ago. I'm getting closer but still no definitive answer at this time. What will the wild gypsy still be doing in five years??? Stay tuned!

NYCupcake Run - Dulce de Leche Cupcake - Sweet Revenge

NYCupcake Run - Dulce de Leche Cupcake - Sweet Revenge
Originally uploaded by mkecupcakequeen

OMG. Now I'm having a sugar fit. I need, Need, NEED to taste this and quick...slurp, Slurp, SLURP...I'm drooling all over the keyboard. Dulce de Leche is actually more delicious than chocolate to me and that comes from a dedicated chocoholic!!

NYCupcake Run - Dark Chocolate Cupcake - Baked, Brooklyn

NYCupcake Run - Dark Chocolate Cupcake - Baked, Brooklyn
Originally uploaded by mkecupcakequeen

See, this is the kind of stuff I've had to put up with all day. I'm such a chocoholic it's been almost painful, have you ever seen anything more delicious looking...maybe I just need a chocolate fix :)

CUPCAKES!

Who knew cupcakes were so popular? I started out looking for instructions on how to make faux cupcakes and spent at least a half day looking at the most delicious looking faux foods as well as CUPCAKES.

Seems that while I was busy painting ACEOs the world has gone cupcake crazy. I never saw such a long list of bakeries specializing in the tiny little cakes I remember from my childhood. Let me correct this...these cupcakes were the kind that I dreamed about when I was a child. Gorgeous, artistic little cakes that have made my mouth water even tho' I knew that half the ones I was looking at were probably made out of some product found at Home Depot!!

I uploaded five new Halloween ACEOs I've painted over the last two days. You can see my initial paintings in one of my postings below and then today I painted two pastel colored ghosties. Here are Lonnie and Lou, the latest postings to eBay and starting at just 99 cents each. Am I crazy...guess so but I've got to generate some interest in my work. After all, didn't DH tell me to start a 5 year plan. Maybe I should just do cupcakes :)




OK...so it's time to head off to settle down for the evening. Think I'll dig out some cupcake recipes. Nighty Nite from Jersey.