a quiet escape

 I really love the soft quiet of November. After all the excitement of October and Halloween I like to escape for a little bit. This is the time it finally starts to look like autumn here and even if the stores are already in full Christmas mode I stay away from it until it's actually December.

 

 

I get into a very cottage mood after I put away all my ghosts and ghouls. I imagine just escaping to a cottage in the woods, brewing up soups and potions and catching up on all of my favorite witchy reads.

 

 

I would love to magically make my house look like this adorable cottage.

 

 

And I absolutely love this amazing digi by FictionChick from Deviant Art.

 

 

How could I forget this one?

Edward and Bella's cottage featured in the upcoming Breaking Dawn 2.

 

 

A few years ago we went camping in Big Sur, off the Pacific coast and we stopped by Deetjen's Big Sur Inn. November is my favorite time to go camping in the woods.

 

 

Deetjen's is a cluster of rustic inns tucked away among giant California redwoods. The decor is simple, cozy and reflects the inn's Norwegian heritage. You can easily imagine stumbling across an enchanting witch's cottage in the Black Forest.

 

 

For me it's the ultimate cottage in the woods. We went in November and they still had all their fall decorations out with just the right touch of kitties and pointy hats that made it feel like a fairy tale. It's one of my favorite places in the world.

 

Now if I can't get to a cottage in the woods my next best escape would be a sweet little vintage camper. Any of these would make a perfect gypsy wagon.

 

 

 

 

I can imagine enjoying a quite cup of hot chocolate here, just listening to the waves and waiting to see the moon come up.

 

What do you do in November? Do you jump right into Christmas or let autumn linger a little while longer? Are you busy planning a big Thanksgiving get together?

 

Have a lovely week whatever it is you're doing and for everyone here in the US, get out there and don't forget to exercise your right to vote.

 

 

catch a falling star

Sirena McKenna tried to catch a falling star and ended up falling into the lake. Luckily she left a few notes on how to do it.

 

I was feeling a little blue last night so I set out to catch my own stars.

 

 

My house doesn't have a balcony and  although I live near the river I made sure not to be anywhere near it so I wouldn't fall in like Sirena.

 

 

It's tricky catching a star you know. Some burn bright for days while others slowly start to dim as soon as you put one in a bottle.

 

 

Maybe stars aren't meant to be caught but allowed to be free and burn bright. Still I thought I could keep this one for just a short while. Surely the man in the moon wouldn't miss one tiny little star.

 

 

Hope you're having a lovely week.

 

 

 

 

 



blue moon giveaway winner and remembering

Thank you again to everyone who stopped by and entered my Once In A Blue Moon giveaway. There were a total of 36 entries (not including multiple comments). Everyone had really wonderful Halloween stories and ideas to share. And the winner via the Random Number Generator is....

 

 

#34 - Anna from Witchcraft and More

 

How fun to have another Anna be my winner!

Congratulations and thank you again to all of you.

 

Another quick reminder to invite you to play along at my Autumn Altered Witch Shoe Challenge. We are posting on September 22, the first day of Fall. So find an old shoe and get out your glue gun and glitter. Hope to see you there.

 

I also want to take a minute to remember and honor 911, the ones lost, the ones left behind and the heroes...two legged and four legged.

 

photo credit: Fred Stone

 

Have a beautiful, thankful and blessed day.

 

 

 



pretty parasols

When I was a little girl my grandmother would often walk me to or from school. Whenever it was sunny she always showed up with two parasols, one for her and a little one for me. I loved walking around with my parasol, I think it was a red plaid one, and even today I can't resist picking up a pretty one to add to my collection.

 

I still can't wait for the first rain so I can use one of my umbrellas. Many of which have accumulated in the trunk of my car. I wish more ladies used them here in sunny California like they seem to in the south. I think there is some strange unspoken rule that says umbrellas are just for the rain and only little old ladies use them on a sunny day. How silly is that?

I have been revisiting my parasol fascination again and I recently came across this really fun project at Dollar Store Crafts.

It looks super easy. I really wanted to make one first before posting it but I couldn't wait to share. I'm also still on a hunt for the right umbrella. So here is the project. Thank you to Disney from Ruffles & Stuff for creating it.

Materials:

• boring old umbrella (on hand)
• Dollar Store shower curtain liner $1
• An old button

Cost Estimate: $1

1) First you want to measure all the way around the bottom of your umbrella, and double it for how much curtain liner you will need (plus extra for a flower, and top ruffles). For example, my umbrella was 120" around, and I cut four 2" sections that were the full length of the curtain, for a total of about 280 inches. No need to add seam allowance because it doesn't unravel! Yay!

2) Then sew a straight stitch (on your machine's longest stitch length) down the middle of all the strips, and pull the bottom thread to gently gather.

3) Hand stitch them onto your umbrella, wherever you like! So easy!!

*   *   *   *

I also wanted to share another beautiful wedding with you. This one was posted on Green Wedding Shoes. What I love about this wedding isn't just the way they used all these beautiful parasols...

...but the theme for the wedding was also a vintage carnival! So if you need a little inspiration for your carnival booth take a look at what this couple did. I also added links to Le Mysterieux Carnival's homepage under CURIOSITIES. You'll find another amazing carnival wedding, artists and even an old  TV series about a mysterious dark carnival.

Hope you're having a great week. It's been crazy hot here, 110 this weekend and our air has been bad due to several wild fires. Good time to stay indoors and work on our blog party!



what to wear?

Just in case you might be wondering what one wears to a carnival in the woods. I found some fabulously whimsical fashions in this photo shoot by Paul Schmidt and worn by Charlotte Free.These were originally featured in Jalouse June/July 2011. Black and white stripes, big polka dots, pumpkin orange and pink cotton candy hair. How perfect is that?

Click "read more" for rest of pics.

birthday art

I just did another version of my cupcake girl for a friend's birthday.

She's a big animal lover and rescue advocate so I added a few furry friends.

We had another super hot weekend in the 100s and I'm already ready for fall weather. But there are some things I love about summer.

Like a fun pair of summer shoes!

Have a beautiful week.



more snow

Did you like the Snow White wedding photo shoot from my last post? Well apparently it's a pretty popular theme right now which makes sense with all the movies and fairytale themes out.

I just happened to find yet another gorgeous photo shoot to share.

I found this at elizabeth anne designs. 

This one pairs up the apple red and gold theme beautifully.

I really can't decide which one I like better. This one or the frosted white and silver theme I posted last time.

I'm a little partial to this one I think because I had a December wedding and the red reminds me of the English winter theme I did for mine. I wish I had thought of this back then!

Which Snow White wedding did you like better?

Frosted white or apple red?

You can go here to check out even more lovely pics.

Enjoy.

mirror mirror

I still love weddings. No matter what ups and downs my marriage has been through I still swoon over a beautiful wedding. Especially one that does the full fairy tale treatment.

I came across this Snow White inspired wedding shoot on WedLuxe.

I just love how they worked the theme into a super elegant setting.

Even this simple cake is amazing. Simply sublime.

There are tons of fabulous pics you can see here.

Perhaps it might inspire your next party or project.

 

a pinkdelicious day

I am a big believer in celebrating birthdays.

Every single one of them no matter how many you have had.

The more years the better.

I feel I earned every one of those years. The good and the bad are all part of my journey so I am grateful to be able to celebrate another one.

By celebrating I don't mean a big party with all the works. Some of my favorite birthdays are the quiet ones I spent by myself, just doing my favorite things and then having a nice dinner with my guys. I just feel it's really important to do something special for yourself. Little things that make you feel like a star on your big day, and I mean star like a jewel in an inky velvet sky, not the Hollywood kind of star.

This year I'm particularly excited to celebrate because well, last year wasn't exactly my favorite year. But I made it and I'm more than eager to leave that old year behind. So I started getting ready for my happy cupcake day by treating myself to pale pink baby roses, a little bit of fairy sparkle and a few other girly things (because every woman deserves to be girly on her birthday).

I love these fun Sinful colors for my nails...

Cinderella and Boom Boom...

and my favorite new scent from Bath and Body Works.

They say it's "a light pairing of soft pink petals and vanilla chiffon icing" and I think that's exactly what it is. How could I resist?

Of course I can't forget the cupcake and I finally get to try our newest cupcakery. I saved my first visit for my birthday. The last cupcakery I went to was so disappointing that I didn't even buy one. I walked away very sad. Then I found out about Icing On The Cupcake and now I'm dying to try their signature Pinkdelicious (chocolate with pink butter creme frosting). Doesn't that sound yum? I wish I could send one to all of you through my computer!

So tomorrow I'm going to be one more year older and I'm ready to make it a fun, sparkly frosted day. I'll be up bright and early and after I drop my son off at school I'm going to get what else...a pink balloon. This year I also got an extra special treat. My husband took the week off to spend my birthday week with me. After all we've been through that is especially sweet.

If you're birthday is coming up too I want you to promise yourself to celebrate.

Be proud of your journey and enjoy every delicious birthday minute.

I'll be back to tell you about that Pinkdelicious cupcake!

P.S. I always think it's so cool that my birthday falls on International Women's Day and this year I even get a full moon. Yay!

Update: It's March 8!! Just after midnight and it's officially my birthday.

Thank you so much for the early birthday wishes. It's cupcake time!

fall magazines to inspire

Our weather here has been in the news a lot lately. Like the rest of the country we have had unusual weather this Summer but fortunately for us it has been cooler than usual. I really feel bad for those of you getting those mad heat waves, especially when you normally don't. We have had a total of 5 days of 100+ degree weather this season. Our average is 23 days according to the weather guy. So I'm enjoying it and I cautiously look ahead to what the rest of the year's weather brings.

It's nearly the end of August and you know what that means?

It means the first Fall magazines are starting to hit the stands. Yay!!

Romantic Country actually had their issue out a month ago and one of the features is this enchanting white house all dressed up for Fall and Halloween.

Whenever I see an all white kitchen, like the Practical Magic kitchen, I'm so tempted to start painting my cabinets a creamy ivory. Then reality sets in and I realize one, how much work that would be, and two, it really wouldn't be practical given how my husband has an aversion to wiping up spills. But I can dream.

The Better Homes and Gardens Halloween magazine has the same 2 pumpkin theme on the cover every year. It's a nice mix of stylish Martha Stewart inspired decor and more colorful child friendly themes and crafts.

This year they even did this amazing Autumn Mad Tea Party!

I thought I would just tempt you guys with more early Halloween stuff to go out and spend your money on :)

I have also stopped painting my walls for a few days. It seems to keep giving me a yucky headache so I'm taking a break and catching up with my other projects for now. I'll be back soon with my Artful Bag Challenge ATCs and one of these days I really need to get back to painting on canvas again.

Have a beautiful day.

Oh and I couldn't wait anymore...I was waiting until next week to bring back my Fall banner from last year but with all the Fall related posts I've been doing I just couldn't wait much more. Now I'm all set for Celia's Gypsy Dreams party!

And.....there's lots of room around the kitchen table so come and join me again for the Practical Magic blog party next month!