Bella Dia

Happy Halloween

I made this little Haunted House for a custom order; I don't do a lot of custom orders because I just don't have the time but this idea really intrigued me and I almost couldn't help myself :) This is the front of the house - the door opens and it says "Boo" inside. There's a boiling cauldron of green goo and a witch's broom next to the door.

The right side has a pumpkin patch and broken shutter blowing in the wind.

A lone crow sits in a leafless tree that's surrounded by weedy grass and gravestones.

The other side of the house has lots of weeds and a spider swinging from her web.

A close-up of the spider.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Pandora

I think you are going to love this: Pandora! It's like having your own customized radio station. You put in some artists and/or songs that you like and Pandora will search its database for those songs plus others that are similar and create your own personalized radio station. The songs have been analyzed using up to 400 different elements and Pandora trys to match elements from your favorites to find new music. The Pandora site can explain it much better than I can and is very simple to use too. The best thing is that its free and you can have up to 100 different stations. I've only developed two so far: one is a good listen-while-you-work kind of music and the other is Christmas music (check that off my list!). You need to work with your station a little and give it feedback on the songs they play - say whether you like it or not - and before you know it you'll be hooked! I've already discovered several new artists and puchased their music through iTunes. I've said it before and I'll say it again - I love the internet!

Craft Magazine

The new Craft magazine is out on the newstands and it really does have something for everyone. I received an advance copy and I have to say that it makes a very good first impression :) It's the perfect size to carry around with you and the paper feels good in your hands - it's not slick and filled with static like so many magazines these days. There are tons of articles and projects that are geared for many interests and age levels. For example, I don't think I'll be embroidering my skateboard anytime soon (even though the idea brings a smile to my face) but I can't wait to create my own customized paint-by-number or finally try silkscreening after reading their excellent tutorial. It's kind of like carrying your favorite craft blogs around with you so you can get your crafty fix even when you can't be at the computer. Also, with the holidays coming up, a subscription would be the perfect present for yourself or the other crafty people in your life.

"I told two friends, and they told two friends, and so on, and so on, and…"

Okay, so I fell in love with the crocheted blanket that Michelle is doing and she got the idea from a crocheted blanket that Jane had posted and then, well, I decided that I wanted to make one too. Now, my sister has seen mine and has started one! My blog title is from an old Breck commercial, any of you remember it? That's what I keep thinking of when I'm working on my blanket.

I'm going to write up a pattern for this but it is super simple and a great project for anyone just getting started with crochet. I used 250 stitches, just like Michelle, and it's worked in double crochet with the stitches going into the spaces. Easy peasy lemon squeezee :)

Here's Jane's beauty - Jane said it is actually a vintage find that belongs to a friend of hers.

And here's Michelle's gorgeous WIP!

I'm challenging myself to make random color choices but I am constantly fighting the urge to create a pattern. I think there are an endless number of lovely color combinations but if you need some inspiration you can always try the Random Stripe Generator.

Thanks Jane and Michelle for inspiring me! Look for the pattern here next week.

Yellowstone

We had a wonderful long weekend getaway in Yellowstone National Park last week but it's taken me this long to go through the more than 400 pictures that I took. I put some more up on Flickr, but don't worry I just uploaded my favorites ;) This is a picture of my favorite geyser - Grotto Geyser - I love how it's all slightly out of focus. It looks great in black and white too.

A close-up of the edge of one of the mineral pools.

We are walking up to Grand Geyser here.

As I approached Grand Geyser, this formation on the edge of the vent reminded me of The Thinker by Rodin; what do you think?

Castle Geyser

We saw bison everywhere. Here's everyone, except my daughter and I, taking pictures.

This gorgeous canyon has the Yellowstone River at the bottom. This area is called Artists' Point and we arrived just before sunset.

A lovely blue haze along the edge of a hot spring.

We saw lots of wildlife including bugling elk, a coyote, deer, bison, and a grizzly bear! This was the best shot I could get at dusk with a 48x zoom but we were thrilled we got to see a bear at all.