Over the Top Studios

Christmas Whimsies and other Stuff

I know, I know… I have been a half-hearted blogger of late. It just seems like after Halloween everything went on fast forward.  I am way behind getting my Christmas shop up, way behind on some commission work I have to get done and way behind in my garden (my hydrangeas and fruit trees still are not pruned back).

This picture from earlier in the year, I am too embarrassed  to show them to you now.

Whenever life gets “busy” it seems it is my blogging that suffers the most.  It’s not as if I have nothing to write about, on the contrary, I have a ton. Just this weekend I spent two wonderful days at the CKC – Seattle. For you non-scrap bookers that is Creating Keepsakes Convention in Seattle. I try and go every year with my dear friend Carrie, we always have a blast!

 

Friday was the big Common Folk Christmas Open house. We had so much fun getting dressed up and catching a glimpse of all the wonderful things Katherine and Eric have brought in. We shopped as well! Don’t you love our rather large glittered moose? My husband insisted on it. REALLY!

Sunday was Supper Club at the Stone House in Redmond where chef Ryan Donaldson created an amazing menu for us using local produce and proteins. I will only say that much, stay tuned for a blog post later this week.

And of course, putting the finishing touches on my Christmas Whimsies.  I really wasn’t going to do anything this Christmas, but I decided to do these boxes, crowns and cones when I just happened upon the images on greeting cards and the swans online. I was just so inspired by them. They are all available in my ETSY shop.

 

 

So, as you can see I have been busy. I have decided to designate this week as “Catch Up Week” I will be catching up on my commissioned pieces, catching up on my ETSY shop, catching up on some swap items and catching up on my blogging. 

Catch me if you can :)

Amada

Holiday Open House at Common Folk

Common Folk Co.

15600 NE 8th St, Suite A5

Bellevue, Washington 98008

425-747-4100

Katherine and her crew are busy transforming Common Folk  in into a winter wonderland.  The fun will be going on all weekend long with some items up to 70% off. I have been working hard on my Over the Top Studios Christmas Treasures for this event.  I always make special items just for Common Folk and only available through the store, so…. come by Saturday and Sunday November 7th – 8th and get a glimpse of what I have been up to. You never know what you will find, perhaps a Christmas gift for a friend or a special little something for yourself. Either way you will be inspired!

See you there…

Amada

 

We Have A Winner

To say I had a good time participating in Vanessa’s Halloween Blog Party over at Fanciful Twist last week is an understatement.  It was a blast, but I have to admit I didn’t always think so.

I had the idea of “The Uninvited Guest” weeks before the actual party. The vignettes and camera shots were all in my head and I knew exactly what I wanted, unfortunately, because of all kinds of “personal” challenges I kept putting off the actual photo shoot. 

Finally, the day before the party I decided to shoot all the images, write the post and edit the whole thing. Of course it can be done. RIGHT?

Anomaly #1. We had the heaviest rain of the year, it was coming down in buckets. Half my shots were going to be outside. The rain was so bad my poor “uninvited guest” couldn’t keep the candle on her candelabra lit.

#2. I started making cupcakes only to find, I didn’t have all the ingredients. There is no “quick trip” to the grocery store where I live.

#3.  I couldn’t find my witches costume from a few years ago. All our costumes are in a trunk and it just wasn’t there and then I remembered. I leant it to a friend last Halloween and never got it back. Commence the panic! Thanks a lot _________, you know who you are. :)

As you can see it all worked out in the end thanks to my wonderful sweetie of a husband who patiently walked me through the day. I appreciate all of the wonderful comments – especially the ones praising the camera work.   

Come closer… I have a secret to tell you. 

My husband Tim, not I, is the genius behind the camera. I conjure up the shots but he gets all the lighting right, sets up the camera and takes the shot. Then into Lightroom they go where we both get the image exactly the way I want.

Alright you have waited long enough. As I promised I am announcing the winner of my blog giveaway, my first ever.  Here it is:

Can you see it? Catching a glimpse are you?

Is that a witch I see?

Ohh! Black roses and feathers. Could it be….. YES! a crown. How did you ever guess?

 

Now for the winner. This was harder than I thought, but I used one of those random number generators to pick the winner. And the Winner is …. drum roll please!

Terri Gordon at Designs by Terri Gordon

(I will be contacting you for a mailing address)

Thank you all for participating. This was so much fun, I may have a Christmas Giveaway as well. Take care all – can’t wait till next year.

Amada

The Uninvited Guest – A Halloween Tale

It was a dark and stormy night – REALLY! The time had come, the night of the Halloween Haunt Blog Party. Every last detail had to be in order. Every candle lit, every candy dish filled, every decoration dusted. Dusk was just setting in when in the distance we caught a glimpse of the uninvited guest…

 She was dressed all in black from her pointed toed shoes to her witches hat, in her hand…a candelabra . We followed her quietly, discretely, until she vanished in into the garden.

 Where can she be?   There by the shed! Can you see her just turning the corner. Come back, who are you?There in the shadows where the angel stands guard.

Or behind the tombstones.

She left her broom, has she gone inside?

She must have come for the treats!

 

Or for her long lost cat.

It’s hard to know who is who with all the masks and costumes.

Perhaps she is just looking for her long lost Sister Witch

Dusk has turned to night

And night to mid night.

Until every last candle has burned out.

Our uninvited guests slips back into the shadows, back to where she came from. No one knows her name or why she came. It is all just a blur now. Good night my friend and thanks for the visit.

Please don’t be like the Uninvited Guest. Leave your name and a comment and I will put your name in my own witches hat and perhaps you will be lucky enough to win a very special gift. You have until October 23rd and then a pick a winner my dearies.

Now get on your brooms and go visit A Fanciful Twist and see what positively bewitching things Vanessa has in store for you.

 

Relax – Take a Break

 

I am finally kicking up my feet after working all day on things I would rather not be. Every once in a while I feel like all the energy has been sucked out of my body. I can relate to this picture, it just about sums today up!

So I decided to spend the last couple of hours of the day looking up lovely things on the net. Images that would  whisk my mind away to a place where the only decision that has to be made is what tea to dip my cookies in. My fantasy place……..

Here is my bedroom, where I will awake tomorrow morning rested and refreshed.

 Courtesy of Country Homes

Oh, by the way, in my spare time I would be painting this picture to hang on my dining room wall. I love Flamingos!

 image found on the web/unknown

My kids are so perfect, just look how clean my daughter keeps her room.

image from Sqiudoo Decorating

Oh my look! My new dress is almost done. It took me weeks to fold all that paper. It’s done just in time for my big date with Sweetie this weekend.

image from French Blue

But first, a romantic dinner for two on the patio

Designs by Hemingway

Is it time for a nap yet?

image from This is Glamorous

Wait one last cup of tea before I wake up.

image from French Garden

Goodnight my friends, let’s hope tomorrow brings a better day filled with “Pretty Little Things”.

Amada

A Halloween Whodunit

Come as your Favorite Board Game Character

Last night we went  the most fun filled  Halloween party we have been  to in years. Our dear friends, the Wiesmans, share our  love for all things Halloween. They are extremely creative so their parties are always equally creative.  We were told to come as our favorite board game character.

I went as  The View Master Racing Game and Tim, well – it’s obvious – it worked too!

Dawn and me

By the ay it took hours to hand sew all those reels to the dress

Last night we didn’t have a “CLUE” of the things going on behind the scenes.

Throughout the evening a motley crew off suspiciously dressed character randomly paraded around the various rooms of the house brandishing items resembling weapons, like a rope, gun, wrench and candlestick.  Get the picture.  We were in an interactive CLUE game.

At exactly 10:00 pm the doorbell rang, a young woman delivering a singing telegram came in, performed and then….   The lights went out and screams filled the room.

When the lights came back on the young woman lay lifeless on the floor.

Whodunit! 

When the detective arrived, supposedly to investigate a disturbance of the peace complaint, the body was discovered and the investigation began.

The actors played out the entire investigation, actor by actor until, only through careful deduction and elimination, the murderer was revealed…..

It was Colonel Mustard, in the Drawing Room with the Rope!!!

I knew it!

Thanks Dawn and Jordan for an amazingly fun evening, who knew murder could be so fun!

My Life – Readers Digest Version

Wow, it has been a fun and crazy two weeks. I realize I have not been blogging for a while, I have been so busy! I know everyone says that and we all are so that’s no excuse.

Ever since we returned from California it seems someone has stolen a few hours out of every day because I know before I left the days seemed longer and I got way more done.

I barely got all my inventory together for the big Fall Open House at Common Folk 2 weeks ago. Kathryn had the store Spookified just for the event. I was honored to be one of the featured artist.  Kathryn and Eric are the most wonderful hosts. Every detail was perfect!

Look who greeted us as we came in .

The new sign looks great.

Great shot Tim!

Plenty of “questionable” characters

The “Wicked Whimsy”  table.

Bright and early Monday morning I decided I wanted to recreate my new kids line of gift boxes and toppers so I got to work. It took a few days but I think the new line is really looking great and I hope to add a couple more by the end of the month. They are loosely based on Nursery Rhymes that I loved as a kid. They are currently available at Common Folk and my online ETSY store (click here) 

 

I had two swaps I had to get out  for my Marie Antoinette Mail Art Group so I locked myself in the craft room for a day and got these little numbers ready to go. Hope you like them Rebecca and Becky :)

 

This is filled with Halloween inspired Marie supplies.

A Haunted Opera Mask

MEANWHILE,  Amber at Shabbee Chick Designs asked me to be her featured artist for the month of October. What an honor! I was just taken aback with glee. Amber has an online graphics and web design business as well as a blog. It is just lovely and she is very talented. Make sure you go on over and see my Featured Artist Page on her website.

Saturday we went out to Salmon Days in Issaquah, a huge yearly event out here in WA. We hadn’t gone for years, the kids burned out on it so we just stopped going, but Tim and I decided to give it a shot. The weather was nice so off we went. The event is dog friendly so we took Ollie, our little Pom with us. He had just gotten a puppy cut so he was a hit wherever we went.

I didn’t get many pictures but  Tim snapped these. 

We just loved watching the Dock Dogs. These are all breeds and sizes of dogs competing for the longest distance jump into a waiting doughboy pool. They literally bring in this huge pool, about 18’ X 40’  and  construct a dock onsite just for the event. They are amazing to watch. So many different breeds and techniques are used to train these dogs. They are fearless.

Except for a few

We were very impressed but Ollie was not.  He was more at home charming snacks out of small children. He hates the water.

 

Tim couldn’t help but get some pictures of the Llamas. He has always been fascinated by them as I think they were by him.

Let’s see, where am I. Oh Yes! I was out at Hidden Meadows last night for the Fall Wedding Open House. Tracy and her husband Tim have a breathtaking farm in the Snohomish Valley with drop dead gorgeous views. The grounds are immaculate, the buildings beautiful, the back porch and bar are like something out of a Great Gatsby novel. I was so honored to be invited to show my wedding toppers in such a spectacular venue.  It was a long night but all in all very fun and by the way the food was Marvelous!

  

Now that’s a lot of toppers

UPDATE: I could not get my hands on a Mystery Date Game in time for the Halloween Party this weekend, so I have gone to plan B as I mentioned earlier. It involves ViewMaster reels with a Project Runway kind of vibe.

I’ll post pictures after the party on Saturday. That’s my life the last couple of weeks in a Reader’s Digest version. Now I must get out in my yard and do some fall cleanup.

I’ve missed you all, now go out and create some…..

Pretty Little Things

Amada