Oh what a beautiful morning

I caught the sun doing some lovely things to the snow and ice this morning.





Today I am working on word art and the previews for Falling Leaves, Autumn Tea. I should have it in Studio Lorie Monday.

Darcy and Lizzy

Phsew. OK now I really mean it when I say I'm almost done. New characters kept popping by, insisting on cozier cottages, fancier tea services, etc. Nevertheless, I will surely be wrapping things up here in the next couple days.

The SBG 25-Day Blog Freebie Train

Ever heard of a blog train before? Me neither - but I think you'll really like this!

Here's the way our blog train is going to work. Monday December 1st one of SBG's designers will have a Christmas gift freebie available for everyone on her blog. It will be available for one day and on her blog she will tell you who has the freebie the next day. And it will work that way every day until Christmas. Some days (every other I think) there will be two blogs with freebies.

We are all sworn to absolute "cross our hearts hope to spit" secrecy, with horrible dire consequences if we tell anyone who has what days. But, since it just turned December 1 here, I think I can safely say the first blog train freebie stop is Flergs at http://www.flergalicious.com/blog/. Ooooooh I hope I don't get in trouble. (Biting fingernails)

I have already finished my freebie but, of course, I can't tell when the blog train stops here or what's in my blog train freebie. I love secret stuff.

Falling Leaves, Autumn Tea

Almost done.

This is Colin and Heather Heathflowers relaxing on a lazy November afternoon in their tea room, sipping Heather's special blend and preparing to speak boldly about what a sweet day it has been.

Little pretty bits

Autumn is my deep passion. If I were to let myself float on the air of an Autumn day like today I would never return.
These twigs, rose hips, elderberries and seeds are some of the little ripening, season-changing, natural things I saw today in the Fall light.

Happy Halloween

Rianne Pieterse's 16th birthday was yesterday so I made her into a vampire girl for her birthday album. Twilight producers take note: Rianne would be perfect for your next movie.


Now here is scary. This is my sister Rebecca getting ready to go to work as a fire fighting, bobble-head, kayaker vampire.



Be afraid.......

Road tripping and putting the garden to bed....

It could snow tonight so Tim and I were out in the garden with flashlights an hour ago picking the last of the tomatoes. Yay, fried green tomatoes for breakfast. Here is a picture of our summmer grape arbor bedroom which is also the entrance to the garden. Sigh - we probably won't be sleeping out there again any time soon.

Earlier this week we went on a road trip to Halfway, Oregon. Halfway is a tiny town on the sunny side of the Wallowa Mountains, a short scenic jaunt from Idaho's Snake River boundary. While snooping around town we bumped into Mimi and Eric who invited us into their little restaurant, Mimi's MidTown Cafe. Their restaurant closed this summer but they still use it for a party kitchen/playhouse. They made us some espresso and we sat around and chit-chatted for hours munching on some of Tim's homemade brownies and some of their cherry tomatoes. Ahh the perfect road trip experience.

On the way home we passed through Bear, Idaho where I took this picture of the old Huntley barn. It was built in 1880 but I'm pretty sure this will be its last winter standing.

The Battle of the CT's

The battle has begun!!! Five of my very brave CT members (Angel Jet, Ikscrap, Joannknrd, Shayenne27, and Topsi) are Team Lorie’s Wild Imagination Girls in Digiscrapaddicts Battle of the CT’s. Hooo Hoooooo!!!!! It is a really fun layout contest. There are about 40 designer teams enrolled - but Holy Moley it’s tricky. Each layout has to follow a precise formula like: 10 hearts, 9 flowers, 8 stitches, etc. If one of your team goofs up and only has 7 stitches, or 10 flowers, your team gets the boot. You can only use your designers goodies. And, unfortunately, it’s a popular vote contest. (I thought after DST’s hairdo fire no one would do popular vote contests anymore.) Ah well.
You can vote for your favorite team once a day.
Here’s where you can see all the layouts.
It would be lovely if you voted for them. (Polls are open Saturdays & Sundays)
Here’s where you vote.

Feathers & Mittens Pics

Feathers & Mittens went into Studio Lorie tonight right after the SBG chat. That was good stinky fun. Trying to type while the chats went speeding by was giving me the whirleys.
Here are some layouts using F&M from my fantastic CT.

Olga Unger
Veronique

Monicca
Lana

Twinsmomflor

Tami


Lucie


Ikscrap

Dianet


AlohaMomma

Feathers and Mittens

This week I am the featured designer at SBG (Yay!) so I made this little kit for the occasion. Last winter after the first snow I ran out and took pictures of the Fall foliage weighed down from the first sprinklings of snow. I used some of those pictures in this kit. Those little birds always show up with the first snow.

It's supposed to be a surprise, so don't tell Kate I am leaking this information out, but Feathers and Mittens will be free the first three days it's in my store. Oh and I'm also holding a Fall-themed layout contest (deadline midnight Sunday MST) you can read all about it here. (I lovelovelove this kind of stuff.) hugs and more hugs, Lorie

The Poet's Keepsakes

The Poet’s Keepsakes will be in my store around midnight Monday morning MST. This is a collection I have wanted to do for a long time - it is a portrait kit. In it you will find elegant frames and curious treasures designed for the portrait artist inside every scrapbooker. It will be on sale discounted 20% the first 48 hours. (The Painter’s Faeries will be finished in a few weeks.)

The Poet's Keepsakes layouts from my fabulous CT

Angel Jet
Angel Jet
Angel Jet
Dianat
Gonewiththewind
Hollie H
Hollie H
Hollie H
Ikscrap
Ikscrap
Joannknnrd

Joannknnrd
Jootje
Juliegoodgirl
Lucie

Lucie

Monicca

Scrappie Irene

Scrappie Irene

Shayenne27

Wendy 85
Here btw is the official haiku for The Poet’s Keepsakes:

The poet's keepsakes
will remind her quietly
when it's time to write.

If you are the first to make a comment here with a haiku I will happily send you a coupon for a free kit. (Even if you aren't the first please let me read your haikus.) Hugs, Lorie

Ooook ooook!

The Painter's Faeries is warping and woofing its way into an altogether different place and it is dragging me into some new realms I really like but are taking a while to learn.

I'm still working on it all day every day, except I did backpack into the Seven Devils wilderness area last week for two days. We camped in the trees on the shore of a nameless lake that might have been part of a volcano crater a million years ago. My friend Amy baby-backpacked her little booper Ben in with us. Amy did not pack a tent but when it started looking like a mountain storm was sneaking up on us we decided to build her a cozy mini-cabin using Tim's rubber poncho and a bunch of tree pieces the winds had blown over. There was no blizzard that night but the smaller lakes were iced over that morning. Amy and her husband Nick and baby Ben snuggled through the chilly starry night toasty and warm.



BTW Ooook Ooooook is a quote from one of my favorite fantasy characters (hint: he has red hair.) If you are the first to name him (trick question) I'll send you a coupon for Painter when its done. Hugs.