The one about Black Magic

***edited: I just listed my last three black magic kits!!

I said I wasn't going to plug my Etsy shop too much here, but I can't help it! I have been having so much fun, adding things every few days. I am really excited about the newest additions right now! I collected some spooky elements from my own stuff and put them into this fun packs of vintage Halloween collage materials, called Black Magic. They are the same kinds of elements I like to use in my own art. see them HERE.

The one about Serenity

I finished this card last night, so this wraps up the swap I am in and I'll be sending this off tomorrow. I got mine back a couple weeks ago. I am kinda sad it's over. This card is for Ruth. I had a totally different idea in mind for this card. As I scanned it in and looked at it, I realized it looks like it is showing on her. Doh! The word serenity came to mind so I went with that. I guess I could even say her name is Serenity, huh? The illustration is awesome!! It's from a book of poetry from 1899 (wow!) that is full of these kinds of drawings! They are my favorite. I added chalk to her dress because she was looking a little pale against that background.

The one about the wedding

My beautiful littlest sister got married last month (Now I have two BILs named Adam). They had asked me to be the photographer. On one hand it was so much fun and on the other I was stressed out worrying that I would mess up the photos of the most important day of their lives so far. Don't know if I'll ever do another wedding---they are a lot of work. I am still slogging through the hundreds of photos. Photo editing includes too much time sitting on my rear. I edited the artsy shots first. I think this one is my favorite. I can't take much credit for this cool shot, I saw it on Flickr first.

The one about Marie

I made this tag for a swap with Melissa earlier in the year. I had the image printed out and I thought it kinda looked Antoinette-ish. I love to layer paper! Decorative paper, an old letter, sheet music, painted book pages, clip-art of engravings. I liked it so much I made a bunch more and put them up for sale. Those ribbons are my favorite! I like them crumpled looking. :)

The one about being somewhat mysterious

Don't you just love it when something comes together without much effort? And its something you end up liking?

I needed to make a card for Liz's folder (in our spirit card swap). I already had a failed card that was painted with black and white paint, so I covered that with dressmakers tissue. I saw this snippet of a photo on my messy desk so I added it to the edge of the card. The hand-dyed ribbons were sitting in the messiness, too. And I went with more small punched stars. I like those.

Be somewhat mysterious.

The one about the plug

The plug for my Etsy shop. LOL

I hate to turn my blog into a huge ad for my store, so I'm gonna try hard not to. I did add some more goodies recently, and some of my artwork (gulp). But like I said before, I have no use for it once I am finished creating it.

I won two old photo albums recently on eBay and I LOVE how the pages are pastel pink and a really pale blue-green. They are gorgeous! I only put a few up for sale as I want them for myself!! I also added the last trim collection and the rest of my old bottles and shakers filled with silver German glass glitter.

I added just a few pieces of art just to see how it goes.

"Rosebud" is one of the pieces for sale.

oh, and this is how pathetic I am...I started reading Twilight again. sigh.

The one about the stick figures

Don't Feed The Fat People
Originally uploaded by randem

I love this group at Flickr. Stick Figures In Peril. How funny is that?

My other reason for posting this photo---I lost two pounds in THE SAME WEEK!!! I have a theory about getting my body to let go of the fat like it should. I have talked about this before, and I have put it to the test more than once and it seems to be working. My body wants to squirrel away all the fat it can in the off-chance I will be in a genuine caveman-style famine( haa!). So when I am really good and eat like I should, my body just holds onto the fat like grim death. After about a week I CHEAT. Not a whole lot of cheating, just a little. Like a cookie or two in the afternoon. Next day, I am a pound lighter.

Now I am three pounds away from another reward for myself.

The one about Laura's book

For the ever bubbly and fun Laura...an entry into her Alphabetica journal. (I recently helped Laura become addicted to Twilight. hee hee)

I am playing with punched mini stars lately. And apples. And the backs of playing cards.

The background was fun to do------layers of different colors, with the top layer sprinkled with salt while still wet and left to dry. The bottom got cut of on the scanner, but it is a wide ribbon, gathered, and glued to the page with some hanging over the bottom edge. I used the same ribbon for the moon.

The one about my Etsy shop!!!!

I finally did it!

I am very excited. My Etsy shop items have been in the works all summer. I have just begun uploading the fun things for sale, so check back often for more great items.

Marilyn's Etsy shop. Click here.

I loaded my extra glitter from Sparkle Bella into these sweet antique bottles. Each is different and one of a kind. I listed each bottle singly so you can choose the bottle that makes you most happy.