Saturday, September 21, 2013

Spooky, Spooky...Mojo Monday #311, Seize the Sketch #4

I’m back *waving arms wildly*!  No, I haven’t embarked on pursing knitting as a new sport, and no, I haven’t taken a reprieve from crafting.  Quite the contrary, actually!  My absence – or rather, my parachute-in-with-another-stack-of-creations episode is all due to erratic, sporadic and all-around dodgy internet service this week.  Supposedly, we’re receiving a ‘neignbourhood upgrade’ which is apparently ‘almost done’ (snort!), and whatever technological magic that entails has seen a significant decline in our reception.   One minute all is going well, and the next, the twirly thing-a-ma-jig appears, accompanied by the little yellow exclamation mark on the connection bars…and I’m booted for a bit until the spontaneous reconnection appears.  Repeat the cycle through a series of afternoons and evenings...Silliness. 

Aside from those ‘grrr…’ moments, my week has seen:
  • My husband, still battling his cold, completing his first set of assignments for the graduate certificate course he’s taking at Royal Roads University, prior to heading off  yesterday to the first week of residency he has to attend on campus, in Victoria, BC. The projected time frame students were given for this work was 5 hours; he’s convinced that they either forgot to add a 1 before the 5, or a zero after, because he worked well beyond 5 hours.  He's such a keener! 
  • Once again, I’m on my own-some, so we know what that means!  One change-up from crafting, however, is that tomorrow I’m an official at a cyclocross race in a park 10 minutes from our place. Part of me is excited to be out and about with the cycling crowd once again; the other part is nervous, because I haven’t officiated ‘cross for a couple of years now.   Andy and I walked the course earlier in the week, so I have the ‘lay of the land’ more or less figured out; we reviewed the ‘rules’; and I have my stopwatch, clipboard and layers of clothes all ready to go!  Fingers crossed the weather holds and everyone plays nicely.  As ‘boss lady’ this time, I want everything to go swimmingly.
  • My mom thoroughly enjoying her birthday!  Thank you to everyone who commented on the post + card I shared; your heart-warming messages made her day extra special, as did the ‘purple cupcakes with sprinkles’ my niece and her mom made.  Way toooo cute! Wish I could have celebrated with everyone, but we’ll have another go-round when we visit at Thanksgiving.
  • New stuff arriving in the mail!  Woo hoooo!!!  You’ll see some debuts here, as well as in a couple more posts, as I try to ‘catch up’ with the stack-sharing. 

‘Nuff chit-chat (just in case Mr. Internet is persnickety this evening).  Two cards to share, paired to introduce you to my newest NBUS…

I hesitated over playing with this delightful sketch (love it!1) initially because I figured I couldn’t do it justice (a mojo slump!), but then some of the aforementioned products arrived and I plunged right in.  I confess, I squealed with delight (seriously – quite unlike me, but I couldn’t help myself)  when I opened this set, it’s so darn cute!!  Hopefully, I've done ‘right’ by both the challenge and the showcase of my Stitched Ghost and Spooky die set (My Creative Time).

The background doily is a doily I cut (another MCT die), of a patterned paper that had a doily and banners on it.  Not too redundant (d-uh!!) but in defense of my decision, the patterned doily wasn't placed where I wanted it to be...



Love this sketch too and, of course, the wee ghost wanted to play again...

VERVE dies - for the webbed flag, and a stamp set that I just 'have' for the spiders! 
Glad I found the little critters!

Thanks for dropping in to see my little Halloween cards; your visit adds sparkle to my day!!


9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ahh, the joys of internet connections, Carol ... so glad you're back online again! Definitely done justice to your new goodies as well as to the challenges here with these spectacularly spooky cards ... creepy gothic mansion meets cute spectre ... such fun! Anita :)

Kylie said...

Urgh! Frustration. Technology is marvellous - when it is working well. All the best for your big day. You will rock it as boss lady! Speaking of rocking it - LOVE these! Halloween isn't huge here but I just love Halloween cards. I've even splashed out and bought a stamp set. Love your comment about the doily - that made me laugh! :) So I'm thinking a card making day with you is definitely on the agenda! Your creativity just continues to wow and inspire me! Have a wonderful day!

June Houck said...

Visky, I adore BOTH of these adorable Halloween cards! Fabulous take on both sketches :)

Shannon J said...

Dang those twirly thing-a-jiggies!!! Oooooohhh these cards are SO awesome - you have done the stamps justice over and over and over and over again X a billion!!! The are SO much fun!!! Let me know when you can how cyclocross was - but I KNOW you were a star!!

Lesley said...

That first card is so much fun, the paper looks like vintage wall paper in a haunted mansion. Love both cards. Thanks for joining us at Seize the Sketch!

Stacey Schafer said...

LOVE this! so fun for Halloween! great take on the sketch!

dj said...

two adorable cards...this little ghost die is darling...wait....are ghosts darling??

Geri said...

...playing catch-up again!

First things first, the patterned doily is absolutely unpredictably PERFECT! Besides, we're talking ghosts here...so anything works with spooks, right?
Especially when you pair the para-normal with some sweet green DP....truly a spook-tacular result!

The wee Mojo Monday spook seems quite delighted to be a midst the polka dots...looks like he is the nice kind of spook - happy as ever! The stitched mat really seems to anchor the elements of panel so well...keeps Mr. Ghosty from doing a disappearing act!

Kim S said...

You are so darn busy - how do you do it all??? And I'm so sorry that that twirly thing-a-ma-jig and yellow exclamation got in the way of crafting!! I'm a little ways out in the country so it happens every so often to me - usually when I most need it to work!! (Like during school tests or when I actually have time to myself to read blogs!!)

Fabulous Halloween cards. They aren't cutesy and young but they aren't totally creepy either - a great middle ground!! I am going to have to add those dies to my wishlist!