delicious autumn anticipation

Have you had a chance to see all the amazing Artful Bag ATC's my ladies created this month? They are all so wonderfully talented and just simply lovely lovely people. A few of our ladies from the east coast are dealing with that horrible hurricane so we might not hear from them for a while. Let's hope that they are all safe and sound. You are all in our thoughts and prayers.

When I looked at the calender stuck to my fridge this morning I was almost surprised to find it still said August. I have been happily immersed in Autumn anticipation. Hunting for fall magazines, crafting Halloween goodies and prepping for Autumn blog parties.

artful bag challenge atc swap

Thank you to all the lovely ladies who played along for the second Artful Bag Challenge ATC swap. I can't believe we just finished another round of our challenge themes. Just one more round to go.

This month I swapped cards with 2 lovely ladies and what an amazing swap it was.

These are the 2 cards I sent out.

I made a Bag Fairy for Karla and a Carpet Bag for Diane.

For each card I also made a bag to hold the card.

The ATC sits inside and the bag closes with mini magnets.

These are both made from scrapbook paper and I made up my own template.

I received both of my partners' cards today.

This package came from Diane of  Dianie Mac Designs.

I already fell in love with the Halloween colors and Diane even treated me to the season's first bag of candy corn!

If you're not familiar with Diane's work you are in for a treat. She creates wonderfully whimsical clay art with a holiday theme, especially Halloween and Christmas.

Diane created this witch bag ATC just for me! What a treat! It's truly magical and amazing. I feel so honored to receive a piece of her art. I just love it.

Thank you so much Diane!

My other swap partner is Karla from Sketchbooks ATCs Mail Art. Karla and I were ATC swap partners last December. When I was a person short for my Artful Bag ATC swap and I didn't have a partner, both she and Diane offered to swap with me.

Karla's beautiful ATC came with all these wonderful goodies, including postcards and mini pieces of handmade art.

What's amazing about Karla's ATC  is that it's actually a bag! And it opens up to reveal more treasures tucked inside. Each section is decorated with a unique design and held a little surprise!

Everything about it is feminine and sweet and makes me think of a lovely afternoon tea. Karla in fact tucked in a little bag of  Perfect Peach tea inside which I know has very special meaning for her.

Thank you so much for creating this just for me Karla.

I feel so lucky to receive 2 very special bags from 2 lovely ladies, both amazing artists. Thank you Diane and Karla for a wonderful swap.

Please feel free to link up your ATC bag post here so everyone can see your lovely creations. You're also welcome to add your photos to the Artful Bag Challenge Flickr page anytime.

I hope everyone enjoyed their swap. Thank you again for playing.

We'll be back next month for another Playing With Paper theme.

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!