Hello October

Hello, October. I'm looking forward to football, comfort food and beautiful foliage.
I'm doing a photo challenge for the month of October with some friends. We have a big list of inspiration prompts to use as guidelines.


This is my take on Something Orange.

I stopped in the middle of prepping for supper to take photos. Butternut squash is my absolute favorite vegetable. And that's saying something because I love veggies. I picked this up at the Farmer's Market at City Hall from Noquochoke Orchards in Westport MA. They also sell a variety of apples and gorgeous dahlias. That's a whole lotta happy in one farm stand!

Today, I'm making the Barefoot Contessa's roasted squash. I'll toss the peeled and cubed squash with some olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme from my herb garden. Roast at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes, stirring once or twice for even roasting.

We'll have it with pulled pork sandwiches and harvest spice beer from John Harvard's Brew House. This is one of my favorite fall beers. Then we'll watch the Patriots take on the Oakland Raiders.

World Cardmaking Day Blog Hop

Did you know that October 1 is World Cardmaking Day? Will you be getting your craft on today?
The holidays are right around the corner so I want to share a Christmas card..

Supplies Used:

cardstock: Bazzill (blue) and Paper Source (beet)

patterned paper: Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses Powdered Sugar

stamp: Wreath for All Seasons, Papertrey Ink

inks: Close to My Heart

I used a sketch from Jen Del Muro. This would be an easy card to mass produce for holiday cards. Four simple components that can be cut and stamped in batches and then assembled. I used a non-traditional color scheme for a lighter, airy feel to a Christmas card.

I support Operation Write Home and their mission to supply troops with blank handmade cards they can send home to their loved ones. There's something special about spending time making cards knowing it will help our soldiers keep in touch with their family and friends. My best friend's little sister served a tour of duty in Iraq four years ago. I remember how much we loved getting a note from her. She was so great at sending thank you notes for care packages. Back then she was "adopted" by a group of Red Hat Ladies who sent her blank cards for writing home. When I learned about Operation Write Home last year, I knew I wanted to pay forward the kindness of those ladies. 

Heather will be deploying to Afghanistan next month. Making cards is one small way I can support her and all our soldiers. 

The deadline for sending Christmas cards to Operation Write Home is October 31. But they are always looking for birthday, love and thank you cards. 

Thanks for hopping by today! 

SOWA Farmers Market

The SOWA Farmers Market is held in Boston every Sunday from May to October. There are lots of local farmers, vendors and artisans selling their wares along with - my new obsession - food trucks! We had a great day just poking around the different tables and enjoying the warm spring weather. I hope we can back there before they shut down later this month. 

I cut the title with my Sillhouette from brown cardstock. The photo frames are from Designer Digitals. These are my new favorite way to get a lot of photos onto a page. Paula Gilarde does this a lot and she inspired me to try using photo frames at a crop a few years ago. The patterned paper and journaling spots are Jillibean Soup. I used a metal wavy ruler from Creative Memories to make the torn border.

Supplies Used:

patterned paper: Jillibean Soup Cup of Yak, Meatballs and Brown Rice

journaling spots: Jillibean Soup

other: Creative Memories wavy ruler, Kaiser red pearls

Crop for a Cure - November 5, 2011

Please join us on Saturday, November 5, 20011 to Crop for a Cure.

This all-day scrapbooking event raises money for the Stars and Stripes Relay for Life team.

Your $35 donation includes lunch, snacks, beverages and a welcome gift.
Plenty of space for scrapbooking, stamping or general crafting.
Raffles and chair massages will also be available.

Spread the word! Bring a friend!

Elves Wanted

This layout just makes me smile. The photos are a collection of Christmas cards of some of my favorite kidlets. I always save the photo cards and the handmade cards every year. So if you sent me one, it's safely tucked away.

To make this layout, I trimmed the four cards to fit onto a 9x9 square layout. That's the size of my Christmas album. I started with a base of Basic Grey patterned paper and Die Cuts With a View lime green cardstock.

The Paper Thrills Challenge #16 was to use stickers as your background. The catch? No alphabets allowed.
I dug deep into my stash for these 7 Gypsies 97% Complete Christmas stickers. I bought a ton when they first came out and still have a few sheets. I took the word strips and layered them on a strip of red cardstock. One larger quote sticker was also backed with cardstock and popped it up with foam squares.

It's not too soon to start thinking about Christmas. Pulling out my holiday stash made me want to start working on Christmas cards soon. Have you started thinking about Christmas yet?