kandeland

Well, it WAS starting to feel like fall!....

Until this past week! We just had a gorgeous week of higher temperatures and complete sunshine and blue skies!

Which ultimately leads my soul to one place....the BEACH!

Sunday night after dinner Scarlet and I headed over to the beach to walk around and enjoy it again while we could.

Scarlet, the eternal-stick-finder, drew a picture of me in the sand...

We hunted for sea glass, threw rocks in the water, and enjoyed the splendor of the warm evening. This guy was enjoying it too...

He flew over our heads a couple times. Doesn't it look fun and scary all at the same time?

I might consider it if I wasn't the one driving it!

So anyway, it was a lovely evening down by the water. We're quite lucky to get another spurt of warm weather.

See you next year beach!

(don't forget to scroll down a few posts and enter my giveaway!)

And then we had a giggly girl party!

 

So the time came when her mini guests were going to arrive! She was so excited!

We planned a Halloween Birthday party since the house was already decorated that way...

and had 9 little costumed-girls on their way!

We had Mr. Paul the magician-balloon-maker-airbrush-tattooist come to entertain the rowdy group!

He was hysterical and was perfect for a bunch of 4-6 year old giggly nuts!

The giggles could be heard for miles from the magic show... then he had them line up before he threw 6 pounds of candy across the floor to them! Next came his fun balloon making...

They went nuts over all the balloon options!

Then it was on to the cupcakes!

and after cupcakes and ice cream was airbrush tattoos...

Everyone got to choose from a huge poster of selections. Scarlet chose a dalmation...

Then it was presents, thanks yous, and good-byes....

...and lots of sticky floors!

lazy ballerina waits for her party to start

When you're six, and you're waiting for 9 little girls to come and play, an hour can feel like forever!

Halloween Giveaway...

The other night I decided to make myself a little mini faux cake decoration for my Halloween kitchen display. Then I thought: "why not make two and give one away?"

So if you'd like to win one of these little cakes, please leave a comment on this post telling me what your favorite part of Halloween is! I will draw a random winner Thursday the 13th!

Halloween Ornament Swap!

As you may have known, this past July I had some truly wonderful friends to my home for a Garden Art Party that I blogged about here , here , and here .

Well, we just did a Halloween orni swap between the 6 of us, and I can't wait to show you! I made these wooden ornaments...

I was (and I guess you can say "still am") taking a Suzi Blu onlass class where she provided a lightly sketched image of a girl, and I colored her with colored pencils and made her into a Halloween girl.

After putting her onto the painted wood block I covered her in beeswax- my favorite! Then I wrapped them up in some scrap paper I sewed into bags...

I just love fun packaging! And I decided that I'm going to try and not buy any, but make mine as much as possible, so I was happy with the way these turned out.

(My friend Kimberly always does a fantastic job with homemade packaging and inspired me!)

Look at all these wonderfully packaged ornaments from the girls!...

So let's look inside!

First, Vivian , who organized this swap for us, made yet another adorable creation. I'm lucky to have many things made by her hands, and they are all wonderful. Look at how good she paints pumpkin faces!

Next was this super cool Spider made from a spoon! I just thought Heather had the most unique idea! I love it! Just when you think you've seen it all!

Next up, one of my favorite kind of ornaments always- a paper doll! This time witchy-style by Sandy . She's exquisite!

And some more witchy goodness from  Tabitha who made this fun paper witch orni with one of my favorite pin-up style witch images!

And last but certainly not least, this oh-so-sweet pillow orni made by Tammy featuring a little cute witch, and pretty details!

Thank you so much my dear friends! I love them all and can't wait to find special places for them on my Halloween trees!

Next up...a Halloween GIVEAWAY!

I wanna be selfish...

...but I thought I'd share a really awesome giveaway opportunity with you!

Cynthia's Cottage Design is giving away something TOTALLY AWESOME AND SWEET!

Go here to enter this tiny-and-huge giveaway!

(and I WAS being selfish cause this post just got me a second chance to win! hehe!)

Yay for mail!

The last couple days we've gotten some fun mail! First, Sandy spoiled me with this awesome Halloween piece by Lenae May! along with some fun hot chocolate and a funny card...

Then just now I opened a fabulous invite for a Fall Weekend at her house!

I'm so excited to head up to Canada to see the new Camarda home in person! And eat Sandy's yummy cooking as seen on her cooking blog ! I've been diligently crafting away in the evenings in preparation!

Thank you all for the "happy birthday"s to Scarlet! She had a nice birthday yesterday and I went to her school for a bit to volunteer in the class. When we got home, Grammie had a few big gifts for her to open! One was a big Lalaloopsy treehouse and ferris wheel that she loves. Last week Tabitha thoughtfully sent her a little mini-loopsy that can now play in the treehouse!

And another fun piece of mail came the other day. This tiny Danita block that I couldn't resist treating myself to! Isn't she sweet?

Getting fun mail is just, well...Fun! It really beats all the bills!

Wishing you a very happy Wednesday. Be back soon!

6 Years Old Today!

The Reveal!

I finally re-worked my art room- thanks to my mom of course! She gave me this big corner desk that she painted white and it completely made this space more workable. She has this same desk in her art room, and I loved how it kept it organized and workable, so she recreated it for me. Now I have more organizable, useful space, and I actually use the room, instead of my dining table! So here are a bunch of pictures of what the space looks like now!..........

 

So now you know where to find me!