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Visions Of Bliss IS MY NON -- HALLOWEEN BLOG DURING THE YEAR...............

            

Childhood Memories Of Halloween

Night Has Come On All Hallo's Eve

High In The Sky Amongst The Stars A

Bewitching Moon

Is Making Her Appearance

I am sure if I were to ask my readers what their fondest memories of Halloween as a child were, most of you would have a tale or two to tell. Like many of you, I have fond childhood memories of Halloween.

Growing up on a farm in midwest America was a great experience eventhough we didn't have much money. When it came time for our annual Halloween Party we usually had balloons and crepe paper for our store bought decorations, but everything else was "homegrown". We had pumpkins, corn stalks, old sheets for ghosts and lots of hay bales.

The farm we lived on had a huge barn wtih a very large hayloft. This was where we usually had our Halloween Party. At the far end of the hayloft we would set up tables for the food and bales of hay for people to sit on. We usually had lots of food and games like bobbing for apples. And of course, at the end of the evening was the time when we passed around the flashlight to each person who wanted to tell a ghost story. It was loads of fun!

But I would probably have to say that the one thing that I remember the most about the parties was the maze we made out of bales of hay. If you can try to picture this..............To get to the hayloft you had to climb up a ladder that was nailed to the wall in the lower level of the barn. We set it up so when people got to the top of the ladder they had to go through a maze of hay bales to get to the other side of the hayloft where we had set up the party. When the person coming through the maze finally made it to the party area, we had someone standing there to jump out and scare them!

It was a lot of work moving all those heavy bales around to get the maze built, but everyone loved it!! I never would have guessed back then that I would look back on those activities on the farm as being very memorable, but the simple things in life usually are the ones that bring us the greatest joy.

I am sure a few of you have some very interesting Halloween tales, or maybe an interesting ghost story or two, I would love to hear your stories and comments!

Thanks for stopping in to hear the latest musings here at the Art Pod, until next time I wish you PEACE..............

Potion Bottles At Art Pod Studios

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POTION

BOTTLES

NEW PROJECTS IN THE WORKS

Heading Into HALLOWEEN Season Here At the ArtPod !!

Fall Is Just Around The Corner

As We Head Into The Always Fun

Halloween Season

Here At The Art Pod!

The sights and smells of the fall season are such an inspiration for my art. Can't you just smell the pungent smokey air that comes from burning leaves and a warm bonfire after a crisp and chilly hayrack ride?? The taste of fresh warm and spicy apple cider and crunchy earthy colored leaves underfoot?? All of these things are such an inspiration for my Halloween Designs. Some of the items from the Art Pod inspired by the sights and smells of fall are the cinnamon grunged paper and fabric arts.

I am beginning to work on some new items for the upcoming fall season and I am really getting excited about some new projects I have in the works. Throughout the year I keep a notebook that I call "Inspirations". It is where I keep new ideas that pop into my head when I am inspired by something that I hear or see. The GOOD thing is that the pages are pretty full right now and the BAD thing is that I don't know how I will have the time to make all of them up for this season, LOL!! Here is a very short list of some of the projects I will be working on............

A Zine Book About the Three Witchy Sisters of Salem
Optical Illusion Halloween Party Favors/Gifts
Some new Paper Art Designs
A New Witches Hat Design
Miniature Grungy Spiders To Go With The Big Ones
New "Nest" Sitter Dolls, Frankie, Mr. Bonz and Mumford The Mummy
LOTS More Potion Bottles
New styles of Halloween Party Invitations

So check back when you can as I will try to post some pics on here as these projects are in process. When they are finished you will be able to see more pictures of them in my etsy store. Hope you are having a great start to the new week and if you are like me, you are looking forward to the arrival of FALL !!

Until next time, I wish you PEACE..........

Selah (say-la) Place

This picture was taken in front of my friend Terri's home. I didn't know what Selah meant so I asked Terri. She said it meant to pause and reflect. So when I got home I decided to look up the word. It is a Hebrew word and actually has several meanings according to sources on google. The one that sounded like the most common interpretation meant "a dramatic pause or change of tempo - stop and listen". It is used many times in the Psalms.

The second most used interpretation meant "measured against" or "valued". Here the translation "valued" is used to illustrate the meaning of something for an exchange, i.e., wisdom cannot be measured with the gold of Ophir. It is BEYOND value. In other words, it is beyond comparison or measuring against.

What a wonderful way to describe my visit to Terri's home ~ A Time to Pause and Reflect ~ A Place of Value Beyond Measure. Not only did her home exhude this sentiment but also our time spent together. I am so thankful for friends like Terri with a willingness to take time to nuture friendship. May you be blessed with such friendships, until next time I wish you PEACE............

Natural Therapy

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh......isn't that how most people feel when they have a great retreat time in nature? I just returned from a week in the Colorado mountains. The beauty and spendor of the mountains, pine and aspen trees and the swiftly flowing water over the huge boulders can literally take my breath away, and bring tears to my eyes!! I am awed by the beauty, but like most people life gets busy and I forget about taking time to slow down.

While I was in the mountains I spent some time with a long time friend and got to renew and refresh our relationship. It was a wonder to see how each of us had weathered this journey we call life and how much we both had changed because of it. It reminded me how life really is, for me, all about relationships. Without them life would be meaningless. Not that our jobs and other things we do aren't important, but that without some close realtionships all of that would be pretty unfullfilling.

I hope you are having a GREAT summer and take some time to renew and refresh yourself!

A Peek Into The Creative Process Here At Art Pod Studios

Many times when people look at the things I have made they want to know, how did you ever come up with that? Well, believe it or not there actually is a method to my madness ;) It almost always starts with an emotional response I have had to something I have either heard or seen. When an emotional chord is struck in me that usually gets my creative juices flowing. Sometimes I just start sketching or trying new ways to do a familiar project. When this "emotion based" art project begins to feel and look like what I have imagined in my mind's eye, I know how I want it to look when I am finished and just what I need to do to "tweak" the design a little.

Another avenue for creating that I have stepped into lately is a book I discovered called "Caffeine For The Creative Mind". This book has some really great ideas to help you open up your creative thoughts and try new art experiments. I try to do at least 3 creativity exercises a week. I believe it's true what one of the chapters in the book said about creativity being a muscle, and that to make it stronger you have to exercise it.