This is Panny the Plaid Purple Bear

 You can find Panny in my Etsy store Mapela's Rag Cloth Doll & Animals.  Panny is from one old time vintage stash patterns; this bear pattern comes from 1965.  Panny does not sit he is a standing bear, I created from some purple Berber that I had and I even followed the patterns directions which call for Berber but I had plaid purple not brown.  Instead of using felt for his eyes I used small safety eyes that are brown and a black small safety nose.  He is 17 inches long and I have filled him with fiber fill and added a purple and sliver wire ribbon around his neck.  Panny is the name I choose for him he originally did not have a name I just thought he looked like a Panny the Bear!  He is safe for kids 4 and up because of the safety eyes.  I another reason the pattern made him standing so that is very hug easy! and easy to cuddle in bed don't you all think?

Come Join Me and Many Many Other Talented Artists at Winters Coming Celebration

Just click on the link to join us and find some wonderful hand crafted items for the coming holidays and winter!!

https://www.etsy.com/search?q=wccofg&ref=auto_recent

A Easy Halloween Treat Witch's Snot Green Chocolate Brownies

This is a really simple recipe and its a good Halloween treat for desert after a meal.   What you will need is 1 box of  brownie mix and one can of lime pie filling and I found my mix and pie fill right in the baking section of and grocery store.  Do up the mix as stated on the box and you need a brownie mix that states to use 2 eggs, so the mix I used was Pillsbury's brownie mix.  In well greased 9 X 11 pan pour enough the brownie mixture to just cover the entire pan don't pour all the mix you want to save about half so half in the pan then add and the lime pie filling and carefully with a spatula spread over the bottom part of the brownie mixture it may be a little hard but it can get done. Then pour the other half of the brownie mixture over the top of the lime pie fill and lightly swirl the mixtures together.  You can sort of see that in the finished brownies pictured above.  Bake until the tooth pick comes out clean.  The cool thing about these brownies is when they are still warm the lime pie filling oozes out to look like green snot!  I have made these for my neighbors little boys! and do they love them!  Should you not like the taste of lime you can use the cook vanilla pudding and add green food color, just make the pudding before doing the brownies and add some green food coloring, I like the pie filling better its thicker and it oozes much more easily, and gives a wonderful tart taste to plain brownies.  I will also add this recipe to my recipes in case you miss out!

The Ghoulish fog Saturday Morning cool crisp Halloween Weather

 Good Saturday afternoon to everyone!!
Today I had to share the photos of this morning's pictures!  One of my most favorite things about living in Astoria and on the Oregon coast is the fall weather and woo who!  we have been having some really nice weather in the afternoon, morning are pretty brisk but the afternoons are sunny and bright.  I also love the fall fog I don't know I just do and what is really neat is I can drive into Astoria and go to the column and be above the fog and so that's what these pictures are of, capturing the fog below.  I also had to add a picture of the column, which you can still climb as you can see in the picture someone has done that, if I remember right I believe its a 177-174 steps to the top.  In some of pictures you can see Saddle Mountain in the distance. So now I better go sit outside and enjoy the sun and later I will pick on the crafting again.
 

A Whacked out Applique Quilt Done with my Dad and Husband in Mind, The Fisherman's Tresure

Good morning! today I am slightly off the subject of Halloween but notice I have mentioned it.  I wanted to share one of favorite quilts again, I did this large wall hanging quilt up some time ago but thought today I share it again.  I designed this quilt with no patterns! I cut out everything free hand straight from the fabric.  It's a fairly simple design in that there are no complicated pieces to it.  That's why I love this form of quilting and I very thankful to my Aunt Carol for showing me this!

Anyway back to the quilt, I designed with the fisherman in mind its mostly fantasy! what fisherman does not dream about meeting up a lovely mermaid?  The story is first about the fisherman catching that fish tale story to brag to all his friends(ever notice how big those fish stories get? or about the one that got away?)

The first square is all the mermaids sunbathing and watching over the treasure.  In the second one you see one mermaid hiding as all the others were scared off and the fisherman in a casting mess! I used all kinds of fabrics for this corduroy, flannel, cottons, other crafting fabrics, thread, buttons just about anything and everything I could find to put in this quilt.  I did the sewing on a machine but used the footer up so that I could get the tangled mess in the fishing line.

In the second half of the story the fisherman finds himself in big trouble by hooking the wrong kind of fish! which is not a fish! and you see what I designed? an octopus. Notice the mermaid in the back round and the whale, you guessed right they rescue the silly fisherman from the nasty octopus and the mermaids give the poor fisherman the treasure!

I use lots a various stitch designs and backed the quilt with quilting batting and a rayon fabric that I found in a second hand store.  I have been thinking about adding it to my store but part of me wants to hand onto it for my grand children to have and remember me by.  Thank you for letting me share one of many favorite quilts with all of you, quilting can be so much fun by just sitting and letting the story come to life as you begin to cut out each piece to make a whack out applique quilt.  You all have a great day!  

More Halloween Crafting going in my Home, Paper Mache' Cone Witches!

EEK!  These frightful witches are ready for Halloween!
I just had to use my imagination when I found these 6 inch cone paper mache' items.  I have even named these 3 ghoulish witches! They are Ada, Adair and Aglea!
First I painted the cones with a mixture of 2 different green acrylic paints to get the color I wanted; then I added just some simple but scary faces.  Next I decided to decorate the cones with scrap book Halloween paper and make look like each witch was wearing a different style of dress.  On Ada who is in the middle I even rumbled up the paper to make appear as a wrinkled dress.  I used 2 types of glue, hot and E600 for more sturdy hold.  I used black craft foam for their hats and yarn for hair, which I just wrapped on 2 fingers then knotted the yarn and glued on each cone.  I also had some great black glitter craft foam, buttons of various kinds, scrap book dimensional stickers and black beads.  For their hands I used thin wire and felt and a little bit of ribbon and fabric to finish off their look!
Tomorrow I will working on some dolls and I need to get busy crafting some cute turkeys and snowmen!
I can't believe how fast Halloween is approaching!   This year too I plan seeing the talking tombstones and filming again but I think I post the video on my YouTube channel.  I have also added a small new recipe using my canned peaches and making smoothies and I will have a white bean stew ready soon!  Hope you all are having a wonderful day!!

What I am working on Saturday Oct 12 for Halloween

I am still having fun with one of my all time favorite holidays!  I have discovered lots of empty cans around my home and got to thinking about what do do with them!  I got tired of just throwing them out so I thought time to recycle some these cans.  This is my first try at creating my tin can critters, so I am thinking about calling them.  

This is Frankie and Abby! I took a small coffee can and primed it with gray prime paint and then began painting with various colors of greens, red and black.  

Then I used my scrapbook paper for a shirt and some pants.  I painted a little on the green plaid paper, making suspenders in brown and green buttons.  I hot glued some owl buttons and I took some the green plaid paper and made a neck bow for Frankie.  His nose is bake clay and purple in color for this hands, nose, I have also made some feet which I will be gluing on later with a strong glue.  Now onto Abby who is sitting on Frankie's head.  I took black yarn and gathered and knotted it to make my spider... yes Abby is a black spider!   Right now I am on hair pin spin! love hair pins they just make great legs! for creepy crawly things.  I glued the legs into the yarn and added some buttons for a red nose and decor on Abby, such as a candy corn button and black beads for eyes and a leaf, a touch of twine for her hair! which is now tied up.  I need to do a little more on Frankie I need to fix that one arm a more and add the feet but he was tons of fun to create and you all can do this!  All you need are acrylic paints, gray prime paint, scrape book decor, paper, poly bake clay, the color can be your choice, coffee can, yarn, buttons, scissors, hot glue, heavy duty glue like E6000  and a bit of twine! and let your imagination run wild!

Now onto the top picture, I found these little paper mache' houses in a craft store and fell in love with them!  They are much lighter than using the rocks when I made the rock cottages and I really can let my imagination run wild for Halloween cottages which this is what I have created here pictured.  I am using acrylic paints and sealing the house with an acrylic sealer.  The scene is all done free hand and no patterns are used.  What fun I am having this weekend!