Cupcakey Sweetness

These extra silly Cupcake Girls have been tormenting me with their sugary sweetness all week. They'd be pretty mad if I were to take a little nibble off their heads, I suppose. And I suspect the culinary experience would be less than satisfying. No, these two gum-dropped goddesses are safe.

For now.

I had to bust out the glitter for this pair, much to Dylan's chagrin.

He's too tough for things like glitter. Yeah, right.

One cupcake is never enough, so naturally I had to make another. I don't know what flavor this one might be. Boysenberry perhaps.

All this talk of sweetness reminds me, I need to buy some candy corn before Friday arrives, with its promise of costumed beggar children. Actually, we've never lived somewhere where we've gotten trick-or-treaters. This is the first Halloween in this house, and the odds are against any nightime visitors, but my fingers are crossed.

For all you Halloween lovers, it's a GIVEAWAY!

Head on over to the Ehag Artists' Blog. Some wonderful artist pals of mine are giving away lots of fabulous prizes, chock full of Halloweeny goodness!

There's a Chill in the Air

The temperature is dropping here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. There's a definite chill in the air, promising mistletoe and holly right around the corner. I know, I know, it's not even Halloween yet.

At least ONE of this week's creations

is still in the Halloween spirit---

Little Miss Hootie Grey hasn't been giving the new snowmen too much trouble, but she has been a little TOO interested in my son's pet mouse.

Speaking of my son, I am very pleased that he has decided he has one more trick-or-treating year left in him. Well, truthfully, his friends made that decision for him. He has been going trick-or-treating with the same kids every year since we moved here. When he said he thought he might be getting too old for such things, they said, "C'mon man, it's tradition!". Far be it from him to buck tradition, so the let the costume making begin!

Jr. High and Art Supplies

Well folks, I'm going back to school. And it's Jr. High no less! Yikes!

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Tomorrow I'm starting to teach an after-school art program. The kids in school here get zero art instruction (a fact that would have persuaded us to take our kids elsewhere if not for the instruction they get everyday at home), so a much-needed after-school program has been started. Hooray!

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I'll be handling arts and crafts. It's becoming a more a more daunting task as time and the reality of dealing with a severely under-funded and under-staffed public school passes by. The reality is, they have next to nothing, art supply wise.

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Did I say next to nothing? I meant nothing. Not a pencil. Not a piece of drawing paper. But they DO have people that really want to make this happen, and that's a wonderful start.

And NOW, they have me.

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Being newer than new myself, I don't quite know what's what or who's who yet, but I know there must be some motivated and caring individuals behind the scenes. There needs to be.

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So I start tomorrow, right? A couple weeks ago, I made a list of supplies that we need to get started. Apparently, it's somewhere in Red Tape Land. No supplies. We're hoping they've been ordered and are maybe even on their way. (Cross your collective fingers.)

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Meanwhile, I start tomorrow. So I had to quickly put together an art lesson that requires no art supplies (?????). I'm not that innovative (or boring). I've been warned not to spend my own money, but I had to at least get pencils and some paper. So we'll draw for a couple of days, and pray for supplies to appear by next week.

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Our public school teachers deal with this everyday. And the good ones make lemonade out of lemons all the time.

They deserve a raise.

And a hug.

And our support.

So thank a teacher today.

Thank you!

Tricky Treats and Creepy Confections

One of the two online groups I'm in specializes in Halloweeny goodness.

Both groups recently issued challenges to their members. This one's challenge was:

It wasn't hard for me to decide on a Tricky Treat.

I love cupcakes. Love them!

They are so pretty and perfectly-sized, tiny little packages of pure sweet potential. So naturally my confections took a cupcakey form.

. . .

Unfortunately, these inedible yummys had a bit of a near-death experience before being saved just in the nick of time.

(Don't be scared, this story has a happy ending.)

See, sometimes I like to the hurry the drying process a bit by sticking my paperclay pieces in a warm oven, especially on rainy days (which we have our share of here in the Pacific NW). I turn the oven on and off, never letting it get too terribly toasty for the little darlings. Anyway, on this particular rainy day, it was Dylan's turn to cook dinner (we take turns daily). Not noticing the confectionery delights in the oven, he turned it up to 425 degrees.

(There really should be a dramatic pause here.)

A few hundred degrees into the heating-up process and I hear the tiny cries of Skelly and Punkinhead (OK, so I smelled their overly hot styrofoam armatures expanding). Aaaaah! My poor babies!

I rescued them in the nick of time, just shy of Total Meltdown, but not before several cracks emerged in their frosting perches. Letting them cool down very slowly, I pulled them back from the brink of death. Whew! After a little reconstructive surgery (paperclay transplant), they were better than ever, and a bit more humble for the experience.

I think the whole experience has made them close friends. They're rather inseparable now. I felt bad when Dylan listed them in separate auctions. Haven't they had enough trauma in their short lives?

Flying Through the Air with the Greatest of Ease

I'm in a small group of women from all over the place who come together online to chat and support each other's artistic whims. We like to challenge ourselves periodically to do something new. This time is was a Cage Doll challenge. A cage doll typically has a finished top half, and the bottom half is a hollow cage-like shape. Traditionally, cage dolls were used as theater mannequins, religious figures, and fashion mannequins.

Why bother with lower body on a display doll if it would always be covered by a long gown?

So several of us took this cage doll idea and ran with it (hopefully, there was no running with scissors).

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Click here to see the other challenge pieces. ...

Here's the top bit of mine:

Her bottom half isn't exactly a gown, but whatever.

Naturally, I had to make some residents for such a grand Big Top.

Does anyone else hear calliope music?

Delicious and Nutritious

Don't you just love Bead Soup!

Not familiar with bead soup? Its recipe is simple. First, you take a big ole bowl (or, in my case, an old cookie tin). Then, you throw in all your mismatched beads. Mix well, and dive in. Yummy, yummy! The best part of Bead Soup is its diversity. You can serve it at any function-- formal or casual (or, best of all, at a pajama party). And it's low in calories! It never spoils, and in fact gets better over time. And you can always add new ingredients, the more the merrier.

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Here's what I pulled out of my own Bead Soup this week.