Day 131 - Gourdgeous

Sometimes all you have to do to decorate your doorstep is to just set out nature's own little piece of artwork! Although I love carving pumpkins, the natural beauty of a variety of pumpkins and gourds is enough by itself to make a stunning display. You don't have to be an artist to appreciate a beautiful design...sometimes Mother Nature's touch is best left on its own if you really want something amazing by your front door.

Day 129 - Finals

Like college students everywhere, I, too, have final projects due this week. And this photo tells you all you need to know about what they're doing to me! In my Drawing class, my final project has to be a self-portrait, drawn from life. Do you think this would be a good pose? Perhaps I should keep this face and go as a complete lunatic next Halloween?

Day 123 - Indian Summer

Today's little pumpkin was created by Emma, a school friend of my son. It's so simple to do...a little splash of paint, beads, and a few feathers creates the perfect litttle pumpkin for Indian Summer, that last return to warm days before winter sets in...generally with a vengance. Which it did. Today. Waking up to thirty one degrees and frost so heavy it looked like snow! But with this little pumpkin we can hold on to warm thoughts and Fall's color just a little bit longer before embracing this season's red and green.

Anyone seen my coat?

Day 122 - What Rake?

Rake? What rake? I don't see any reason why we'd need a rake...or a leaf blower...or the force of a giant hurricane to find our yard again! Two acres of leafy carpet where grass once stood! There are officially more leaves on the ground than in the trees. I bet if we took a big piece of cardboard we could sled right down the hill into the lake! About the only one happy about the leafy mess right now is Little Bit, another furry member of our feline herd. He's having a blast searching for little critters under the leaves and chasing leaves on the wind. I'd be happy, too, if I didn't have to clean it up!

Maybe for Christmas I'll tell Santa to just forget the presents and just send the elves to help instead!

Day 120 - Tis the Season

I am in awe of Fall. I can't get enough of the colors around me...rich, earthy browns, sunset golds, Tuscan reds. My eyes bounce from leaf to leaf, each prettier than the last. I'm going to cherish these last few days of fall while the final tendrils of color slip through my fingers...and dream of next year!

Day 119 - Black Friday

So today, shoppers everywhere were buying computers, cameras, sweaters....me? Well, I'll give you three guesses! I bought 13 to be exact...lol appropriate number for me, don't ya think?

Day 118 - PotatAHHHS!

Happy Thanksgiving! No Thanksgiving dinner would be complete without Turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, biscuits and skulls...er....I mean potatoes! And now that this little guy has been carved, it's time we add him to the pot! Nothing like butter and mashed skulls...um...I mean mashed potatoes....to complete our Thanksgiving dinner!

Day 114 - Troll Baby

Since we're a Halloween family, it's only proper for us to have black cats! CVP (Cat Voice Phenomena) is our baby...our Troll Baby that is! Troll Baby is his nickname because he Daily gives us this freaky look. We have NO idea why he does this, and we often wonder what is going on in that furry little head. Have any guesses?

Day 109 - Out With It!

A few weeks ago, I spent the weekend with a few wonderful families, taking photos for future reference. One of my subjects was my most adorable three year old God son. He is one of the most beautiful children to photograph...BUT he is still three. And you never know what a three year old is going to do! He fussed. He fumed. He grumped. Until the sun shone upon us and for one magical moment the most beautiful grin appeared on his face...triumphantly victorious in pulling OUT the stem on the little artificial pumpkin he was holding! Beauty in the face of destruction! NOTHING made him smile....until he pulled apart the pumpkin. Too funny.

And yes, I am totally going to photoshop something else in that little guy's hands...after all, it would be a shame to waste that smile!

Day 107 - Seeing Eye to Eye

When it comes to pumpkin carving, my son and I still see eye to eye. He's a great help for sourcing new ideas...and he has some mad carving skills of his own (gee, I wonder where he gets it from?). And just right for our Halloween niche, he has a wicked sense of humor. It's nice to have someone pass down the torch, er, carving tools, to...instead of The Pumpkin Lady, I guess we'll have to call him The Pumpkin Dude!

Day 106 - One Bad Apple

It's been awhile since I've gotten to play with my food...so I thought it was about time to do so again...until my son beat me to it! Here's his cool little version of the proverbial Bad Apple...

Day 102 - I'm Bringing Sexy Back

It's official. I have the best son in the world. How many other teens would volunteer to put a pumpkin on their head? And if that wasn't enough, pose? We got a lot of great shots in other poses, but this has to be our favorite.

Watch out people, I'm bringing sexy back!

Day 97 - No Wonder!

There are only two inner doors in the entire house that actually shut properly. The dishwasher leaks. The faucets drip. Our rental house has a few kinks in it. And yet, in its own way, it's perfect...because the view is amazing. Every room on the back of the house has a view of the lake...and let me tell you, as the season has progressed, it has been breathtaking. No wonder I love it!

Day 94 - Creepy Tree

People ask me all the time, "Where do you get your inspiration? How can you possibly come up with any more designs?" I say that inspiration is ALL around you. Take today's photo. Isn't that one of the most amazing creepy trees you've ever seen? I could get a hundred designs out of that single photo alone. Anything and everything can become an inspiration if you just keep your mind open and your imagination humming. ( lol and being wide awake on coffee doesn't hurt either!)

Day 76 - Messy Situation

Yesterday, while creating Jack Stack, a new project for www.pumpkinlady.com and the theme of my segment of Virginia This Morning, I run back into my house to grab my camera. I had no sooner shut the door when I hear a crash and three huge thumps on my back deck. Dashing through the screen door, I see three pumpkins rolling down the steps and a big aluminum bowl spinning on its side! Not good! Not to mention that pumpkin guts are now sprayed all over the deck.

Sigh.

No wonder the squirrels love my yard so much!

Day 70 - Welcome to the Funhouse

Want to know what I find to be the most scariest thing at Halloween? Clowns.They totally creep me out! Even my own pattern freaks me out a little. But that's what makes it perfect for Halloween! If you want to spook your friends by carving this pattern, become a Pumpkin Lady Facebook Fan and you may download this scary clown pattern for FREE until 9PM tonight (EST). After that it will be available for sale at www.pumpkinlady.com under the Misfits Category.

Happy Carving!

Stretching

It's a quiet morning here...my guys are off to work and school, and I'm sipping coffee (yes, with white mocha added) while looking out over the lake, rain falling softly through the leaves. I'm grateful to be living where I am because it is peaceful. A place where I can step back from life's craziness and focus. Redesigning www.pumpkinlady.com has been a wonderful challenge but a difficult process. My husband and I do this all ourselves...so if we don't know how to do something, we have to find a way to learn, which makes every day an exercise in stretching ourselves beyond our limits!

We make a good combination, his computer skills with my artistic ones...but one thing I've learned in all of this is that we have so much more to learn! I am soooo not a tech person. So learning to use a digital camera, loading to my computer, editing and manipulating images in three different programs...I think climbing Everest would have been easier for me. To create yesterday's slideshow took a book, the IPhoto's help section, six hours, and my husband's innate knowhow of a program he's never seen. And that was just to get the most basic things learned! My brain hurts just thinking about it again. And the whole afternoon was spent styling the pumpkins and trying to get my digital camera to work just right...then editing the photos forever. Ahhh one small step for mankind, one giant leap for me!

And it's not just learning the photo and editing programs. I've had to learn Facebook, Twitter, and Blogger, and not just to leave messages but learning how to edit and set pages up. I know, you're probably laughing yourself silly at me right now...but that's okay! For a Techless Wonder like myself this has been a Huge task to learn within a matter of weeks. And I promise you that I will get better! Not sure how soon...but I will get better! Besides, I'm living off of white mocha coffees at the moment...don't they make everything better?

And one last note: The Pumpkin Lady's husband, Jack, is the best guy ever. None of this would have ever been possible without him.

Thanks, Honey!

Day 66 - Monstrous Milkdud

I don't know which is scarier. The image of this monstrous little Milk Dud or the idea of how much I play with my food. I think I need help.

Day 65 - A Grizzly Sight

Until 10pm tonight, Pumpkin Lady Facebook Fans can download this pumpkin carving pattern, Snarl, for free! After 10pm, you can find it on The Pumpkin Lady's Pattern Pages in the category "Au Natural." This guy's particularly fierce by candlelight! He's not the easiest pattern to carve, I'd say medium for a difficulty level, but he looks awesome when finished! Try it!

Day 63- Stack'em High

Here's another snapshot of fun things to come for www.pumpkinlady.com. In the past, the "Gallery" has shown photos of some of my work. Well, there will still be photos, but of projects that you can do at home. My past work will still be able to be seen on The Pumpkin Lady Facebook Fan site. Instead of an Art Gallery, the page will become the Project Gallery. Way more fun! And if you have any ideas you'd like to share, send them in and we'll post them in the gallery as well. 

And, yes, our little pumpkin person will be one of the first projects we post! I think I'll call him Kevin.