Apple Apocalypse

I had been babying my apple heads for three days. In the hot daytime, I’d put them outdoors to dry on the roof of the truck. In the evening, I’d heat the oven for a few minutes and leave them in there. But then we had a stormy day, and I didn’t want them to mold. So after dinner that night I put the apples in the oven and left it on the default, which is 350 degrees, and set the timer for 3 minutes. On our oven, when the timer dings, the oven turns off. So after I set it, I went in the living room, and heard the timer, and didn’t give it another thought. But it is a good thing I didn’t go to bed early that night. At midnight I was on my computer when a sickeningly sweet smell entered my awareness. After a time I grew curious and tried to identify the smell. Kind of like burnt sugar or…baked apples. OMG. I ran into the kitchen and as you can see in the photo, it was an apple apocalypse. I was so bummed because I really wanted to see the way the faces came out.

I don’t know if I forgot to set the timer, or if the oven malfunctioned. But I figure they baked for 2 ½ hours at 350.

Apple meltdown.

I let a couple of days pass and then I went to buy more apples. Here are the new guys. 

This time I soaked them in lemon water and sprinkled them with salt.

My man and I.

Fun apple head photo manip.

Broad nose.

Love the mouth.

I can't wait to see how they look dried.

Indian or witch nose.

Experimental Amigurumi Style Face

Crafting and Baking

For some reason my Youtube sound isn't working. Very annoying, especially when I'm trying to watch crochet tutorials!  Two friends from Facebook were trying to help me for 3 hours yesterday. I figured I'd give it a rest and try again today in case the problem is on Youtube's end, but still no sound. Garrrrrr.

A little chipmunk is on my porch hoarding the peanuts we put out yesterday. I've almost finished an autumn elf hat I'm crocheting. This one is for me, but I'll use it as a custom order sample in my Etsy shop.

My boyfriend is making apple butter in the crock pot, so the house smelled amazing when I got up.
I've only had jarred apple butter from stores. This stuff tastes amazing, though too tart to eat by itself. I'm thinking on toast would be awesome. The apples came from my next door neighbor's trees. I think they are called wine sap.

Two days ago I made chocolate chip cookies. And I have a few chips left and some mini m-n-m's so I'm going to put those together in a cookie experiment. Something about the autumn air just makes me want to bake. It's way too hot in the summer to bake so I'm making up for lost time I guess.

Chocolate Chip Cookies Without Nuts

I also got 6 Gala apples from the market to use for apple head dolls. That is going to be a big project. I wish I'd started it sooner because they take a while to dry and may not be ready for Samhain. But I'll do what I can. With our new oven, the drying should be easier than with our old temperamental oven in Anaheim. That thing never did work right.

Autumn Stencil Page

After watching a video of an artist making an art journal page using a stencil, I've been thinking about it. So when I saw some maple leaf doilies at the .99 store I knew they would be perfect for an autumn themed page.  But I didn't get to it today because my cat is in sorry shape and emotionally I just couldn't deal with the prospect of taking him to the vet for the last time tomorrow and trying to do some art. Stress and creativity do not go well together.

While I was at the .99 store I also picked up some grotesque statues.  If I face them at each other they look like they are having a staring contest. They make me laugh.  And I need laughter in the worse way right now.

Welcome to my new followers and autumn crafting tips

Always happy to see that people are coming to my blog more than once.

I think autumn is such a great time for crafting. Time to gather all those botanicals before they are covered by snow. Time to pick up and press autumn leaves and flowers to enjoy later in the winter months. Perfect time to make things for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Day of the Dead, and Christmas. Plus all those birthday cards. I need to make an inventory of birthday cards so they are ready to go. How many of you do that? Or do you find yourself constantly running to the store at the last minute. I find the trickiest part about cards is often the envelopes. So get the envelope first and design the card to fit inside. Or make your own envelope. Carefully take apart any existing envelope and use it as a pattern template. Find some big paper to trace it out on, or piece together glossy magazine pages until you get a piece big enough. Use brown paper, or heavy duty giftwrap. If money is an issue, check postal rates and sizes of envelopes first. They are a lot pickier than they used to be and have minimum sizes and so forth.
I imagine in this day and age most post offices have a website with that info on it if you poke around and look for it.

Don't forget to make Christmas projects like soap or glued items or paintings way ahead of time so they can cure properly.
The photo is my friend Aimee doing beadwork at one of our archery gatherings.

Yay a three day weekend

Some of you lucky dogs have a 3 day weekend for Columbus Day. So you should be able to fit crafts in there somewhere. I normally decorate for Halloween but I'm going to be out of town this Halloween so I'm not in much of a decorating mood. I mean I can't leave it unattended outside for a week, right?

I have gourds galore that need to be crafted upon. I like to do woodburning on them (pyrography) but I also like to paint them or do sinew weaving on them. Or even beadwork. There are so many things you can do with gourds. I have a quiver I started out of a snake gourd and there it sits while I decide exactly what to do with it. I have a lot of projects like that in various stages of completetion. Crafts requires a lot of decision making doesn't it? Sometimes it helps to have a theme like Day of the Dead or Fall Harvest.

Time to grab some breakfast. Have a productive weekend everyone.

Happy Autumn Equinox

I made a garland to celebrate and to remember this ancient holiday.

finish those projects

Yesterday and today I've been going through unfinished projects. I started crocheting a raspberry beret. I also added a few rounds to another crocheted wizard's hat. I can't continue either one until I find more pink for the beret and more black for the wiz.
I finished 2 hats on the Knifty Knitter Loom. I just need to sew in the loose ends. I found a hexagon hat I had started but not finished. I found a bag of amigurumi I need to list on Etsy including a little multicolored elephant.

I found a skein of Homespun in autumn shades so started another knitting loom hat with that colorway. It's going to be soft and squishy and lovely.

I finished the orange triangle section of my royal blue knitted hat. Now I have to start the decreases up to the tip. And I'm still working on the City Lights hat I am knitting. It would be nice to finish at least one thing today.