Blessed Samhain and a freebie for you

Hello and good morning !Blessed Samhain to all !
With the time change over the weekend my body still has not got used to the one hour time difference and I was up rather early,lol. This morning I am preparing our Samhain Feast , the meat is already on the oven , I have just killed another pumpkin and some gourds , the next thing will be baking a cake, peeling potatoes and preparing the vegetables.
I'm also thinking of a number of my friends who have lost power in MA area due to snow and ice -everybody there , stay safe :) 
With the change-over of the shop to this blog a lot of my older stuff will be retiring , so there will be freebies galore for you ! Plus a lot of the other kits will be reduced in price so you can bag some bargains. I don't have time to do all this in one go , but I will do it as the seasons and occasions fit in with the designs.
The first freebie one is up today - an ex-store kit fitting to the time of year -its called November. I made some lovely layouts with this kit back when I first made it. It was perfect for pictures of my son when he was a lot younger. Like this one

You find the free kit links on the freebies page -link at the top, plus there are all the previews as well.
As for me, I'm back into the kitchen now to carry on making all the goodies -have a great day and Halloween
A big BOOH and Happy Halloween !!! from Snowy

First new kit

Hi ,
The first new kit is in Store after changing over to just this blog -Halloween Hauntings . you can find it here on "Shop-kits available" -just click on the link at the top of this page , plus the new Sampler for it is there as well .

First freebies back up again

The first series is back up -Football Fever ! You can find the folder link to download on the Freebies and Samplers page http://silversnowyraven.blogspot.com/p/freebies-and-samplers.html

2 days to go !

Hello again ,
only 2 more shifts and I'm off again - roll on Sunday ! I have taken some time off over Halloween/Samhain. Now that our new Girl Natalie is trained up its a little easier to get leave .....finally ! I have so many days left and have to take them by end of March.
Thinking back to today last year , now is roughly the time when I was arriving at Jib's house after Erik had picked me up. Has this year flown by or what? It seems like yesterday !
Nikki posted a video for me earlier on Facebook, filmed from her car while on her way to New Bedford , showing the lovely Autumn colours of the trees along the way.
My Shop blog is closed now! In future any new designs , sampler or freebies will be on the Store page here on this blog. I will still design kits from time to time, but not on a large scale anymore.I just have too many other hobbies which take time as well , and I don't want to concentrate just on designing anymore.
Well -Snowy has been busy again !New Dreamcatcher, Trinket box ,the Christmas Bell still needs finishing off , I want to attach some stars to hang down ....

The Bell is an entry for a competition , so keep your fingers crossed that I win a little prize :)
Apart from that not much to tell. I'm still busy learning and studying for the Psychic Development course and its proving harder than I would have thought. I have to put a lot of time into it , daily journaling and training the mind.....which is not so easy, because we are so used to our normal thought patterns that its not easy to just switch them of and make your mind a "blank canvas" to receive messages. The mind wanders, I start and a minute later I think " I have to do the laundry soon"....back to "blank canvas" ...then " I have to buy more milk tomorrow" .... see what I mean? You have naturally born mediums who just pick things up or know them, the rest of us have to work hard and train ourselves to achieve that state.
Anyway- enough now, I'm off to bed,lol
Till next post -Hugs Snowy

Last day again...

...and back to work tomorrow. Good morning ,all :)
Work on this blog goes on , even if you can't see much in the moment. I have deleted old posts-including the freebies ,I'm afraid- but they will go back up on the special page for them. For now there is only one year of posts left on this blog.
Lol, last year on this day I was busy packing my suitcase for my trip across , time seems to be flying by, it seems like yesterday.
There isn't much to show in the moment ,I'm afraid.But I have been busy with a Deco Patch project. What is Deco Patch? You cut or tear special paper , or you can use paper napkins , into small pieces or shapes. Then they get glued on with special glue like Mod Podge (I make my own , its quite costly if you buy it) and you get a mosaic stile patchwork effect on the object you are working on. It takes quite some time as the glue has to dry several hours before you can do the other side or where your fingers are holding it. I just glued the last pieces into place , but this is what it looked like last night -work in progress.

I will show more of the progress as I go along , but for now its waiting for the patches to dry again. -on occasions I use a hairdryer o speed it up,lol.
I windy and raining outside but I have to go out this morning.Brrrr... no point doing my hair -too windy for an umbrella , I'm gonna get wet...ah well....
My disaster kid of a son managed to get a dart into his wrist last night . How do they do it? His mate is exactly the same! So this morning he was complaining about his wrist hurt-I'm not surprised with the nice puncture in it !
Anyway, I'm off for now, breakfast and then get ready and out -till next post
Hugs Snowy

Staying creative

Hi, I'm off on anther rota break and have time to check in again. What have I been up to the past days? Apart from working, shopping and a little bit of crafting not much. I started another Dreamcatcher and worked on a Quote Book. Not digital - tradional scrapbooking style for this. I also completed some more Christmas presents, which I can't show for obvious reasons,lol.
And I finally tried to alter photos giving it the HDR effect. Al Ward will soon post a tutorial on his site for it , but I didn't want to wait until its up and did my own little bits after asking and some research. I have to say, the colours really get vibrant this way !
This was my second try which turned out a lot better than the first one. The original...

and the HDR version

And I took some pics of the book I am working on, not even half way finished yet. The front cover....and when it opens.

The first pages

This contains some of my favourite quotes, a shame the small writing isn't readable on the photos.
In the moment I am watching football. The Pats are on bye this week, but I watched the game which took place in London and now another one.
Oh , and I bought myself a pair of leather look PU trousers. Lol, who says almost 44 is too old for Leather pants? They are great and very comfortable ! Very practical on my bike as they don't let the cold wind through. Temperatures here went down to -2/ 28 degrees a couple of nights ago. So you can imagine I had to wrap up warm.

And Shaun had some fun looking at faster motor bikes-he really is a petrol head !

I have even started to wrap up the first little presents , unlike last year when I was not only in state of shock after what happened and simply couldn't afford much I have started early enough this year. So end of November I can actually mail out the first little packets and Christmas cards. But that's all again for now -hope you're all having a great weekend.
Hugs Snowy

Last day off and back to work :(

Hello again, I tried to make the most of my last day off today. About midday I was done with my work in here and got ready to catch some sun. Isn't that bloody typical? Almost the whole week the sun didn't really want to come out, but now that I have got to go back to work it gets nice again? Ah well, at least I had today with sunshine.
And I took a walk to the beach-a bit further down the coast this time.

I almost got wet feet,lol.
Here is some wilderness

You can even see my shadow ,lol.
My friends the Ravens were with me again.

As for creativity - here is a tip for you. If you have Dover Images or discs you can make fantastic Christmas decorations yourself. I chose Angels. I printed them once the way they are, and a second time a mirror image, cut both out and glued them together. then I laminated it and cut around. A thread through the top so you can hang it later , and at the bottom is a nice bead with feathers-voila, your very own decoration !
These will look really cute in my Christmas tree this year and I plan on making more. 

And I played around a bit , I like sepia colours on photos and the "old look" , so I aged myself . This was taken on my walk today-rather wild and blown through by the wind. And that's all again -early shift in the morning means an early night now. Sweet and naughty dreams to you all -Hugs Snowy

Reiki and Massage

Hello,
nothing beats a new experience a day ! Yesterday I had my Massage and Reiki appointment. Let me just say I am still buzzing ! Which is totally contradicting what my Reiki practitioner first told me -trust me to be completely opposite,lol.
First of all massage was wonderful, then the Reiki- yes, it was relaxing with the music in the background, and I was in a meditative state where I even had a vision. I was told to take it easy for the next 24 hours as the Reiki was working, I might feel dizzy , tired or experience cold like symptoms. I should avoid alcohol or caffeine products to help the body get rid of toxins and negativity.
At the end I was told to stay down a little while and sit up very slowly to avoid becoming dizzy. Yeah right !
I was like a dynamo, so full of energy -I was buzzing. Its as if she loaded up all the batteries in my body. I was so full of energy ! Other symptoms were that I was really thirsty and later on my appetite was amazing, I was so hungry ! Plus I had amazingly vivid dreams.
I should do this more often, its better than a gallon of coffee,lol.
Apart from that I have played a little bit. I went to Edna's blog last night where she wrote and gave a link to some textures.So I went to have a look and really liked it. But....I used the textures in Paint Shop Pro !
So I picked two photos and altered them. Here are the results.
Pic 1 - the Angel Gravestone I photographed at the cemetery...original before altering

.....and as photo art

Then the pic of one of my Lillies , close up...before....

...and after altering it

Yeah, this is fun ! I'm even thinking about printing this one and framing it, the colours go well with my living room walls.

And now-things to do and places to go as usual.... till next time again
Hugs Snowy

DYI Girl is busy again

Hi all ,
not much to show but as you probably noticed I just changed the background here. Apart from that its been 2 days of  giving my tiles a good make over.We've been living here 13 years now and the grout which used to be white had turned into a light brown colour. The silicone sealing along the sink and bath was coming loose ,so it was time to get something done. No amount of bleach or scrubbing was able to restore the look of it. So out with the old silicone and a grout make over. When I started pulling out the old silicone it came to light what was underneath... black horrid stuff ! So once it was all removed a good clean, letting it dry and then filling in the new sealing.

What a difference it makes,lol- all looking a lot brighter !

I would really like a new kitchen, but as this is rented they are not making any changes unless its damaged , and being a good girl I have always treated everything well.
Well, all this DIY stuff has ruined my nails so today is treat time ! I'm having a manicure and at 3 pm an appointment for Reiki treatment.
Seems somebody has gone sick at work, I just received a call asking if I can come in -sorry, but no ! I have planned this long awaited time off to have appointments during this week and get some work done in here. So this time I am not going in.Extra money is nice , but I can't always rush in and have to take care of things here as well.
on that note I'm off ,so till next post .
Hugs Snowy

Time off...yeah :)

Good morning ,
-well, this is my second day off. Yesterday , on my first day I was just lazy ,chilling out watching the Football ,chatting with friends and crafting while watching the games. There were some good ones ! The Saints won, La Nita is happy that the Steelers won, I switched over to the Raiders and actually got stuck on that game. They were playing that well that I even missed the first minutes of the Pats game,lol.
On Saturday night Shaun had his first little accident with the motorbike on a slippery road. The back wheel  slipped and he had a fall. He was battered and bruised , but more worried about his bike than himself. The bike had a little damage and the engine wouldn't start. So yesterday after he came from work the boys were busy fixing the damage -success ! The second pic was taken through my kitchen window after hearing the engine come to life again.

The result of my crafting time during the football is another dream catcher.

Plan for today is to get ready now and get outside. Its windy but the sun is shining. I will get my hiking boots on , pack my rucksack with a snack and drink , take my camera and  go for a walk ....oh, I'll take some bread and peanuts ...those cute squirrels and seagulls will like that. Later on I want to give my kitchen tiles a good clean and make-over. They are 13 years old and the grout in between which used to be white is now a light brown colour. No matter how much I scrub or used bleach its not getting much lighter anymore. So I got a " Grout whitening pen" ....after cleaning you just draw over and it coats the lines with a nice fresh white colour. Also the wall above the cooker has some fat stains on which won't come off. But no worries , I have paint left over and will just apply a quick coat to that area to freshen it up again.
In case you wondered about the chat box disappearing, the spammers were annoying me , so I decided to remove it. And my new header is up , plus some pages renamed and new ones. The work will continue slowly,lol. Now I say until next post and have a great day -hugs Snowy

Blogger is annoying me !

Hi all,
I just went to Edna's blog, wrote a comment, had to verify , then put my password in-ok....no problem. Next it asked me for my phone number .... no way am I giving out my number ...with the result that my comment didn't get posted ...grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....
So, I am not ignoring anybody or not reading the blogs anymore, its just Blogger being pissy and until I figure out how to get around this it looks as if my comments won't get posted....damn ! Maybe a fake number will work?
But its to late to try that now.
Today I printed out, cut and glued another Halloween deco-you can do this as well. Here is the page where you get the printables http://www.tipjunkie.com/free-halloween-printables/
And it turned out great !

I also have another project started but not complete yet. I'm really loving to get messy with paper and glue,lol.
But that's not the only thing. I opened my Poser program and got busy doing a picture. And I am quite happy with the result . Here it is.

Well, that's all I have time for now. But the good news: tomorrow is my last day at work -then I have a week off. I still have so many leave days left that I have to take a few each month to use them all up. So I am looking forward to Sunday , the first day of my leave.....plus Football as well :)
Till next time-hugs Snowy

Its getting colder !

Hello,
it was quite chilly here this morning. Not sure how many degrees it was at 6 am when I left for work but around 10 am we had 53 degrees , 72% humidity and 20mph winds. I loved it ! Finally I don't arrive at work completely sweaty from cycling in the heat anymore. Not all were happy about the weather though. Do you remember Michelle Powell, where I used to sell my scrap kits when I first started? Well, -her comment this morning was" I didn't expect to wake up to this !" ...showing a photo of the snow outside her house,lol. Also Lisa in Canada wrote that it was snowing there a little last night.
I have finished creating the new blog background , plus a new banner for this blog.No, not going up quite yet !
Then Deb made me giggle a few days ago by posting this on my page-she knows my love for coffee,lol

Well, that gave an idea. I thought it can't be that hard to make one like this myself. I bought a wood shape at our local craft shop and got busy creating on the computer, printed, cut and glued .....and voila ! -my very own wall plague now hanging in my kitchen.

Well and yesterday was baking day , I made a Spiced Pumpkin cake after buying all these little beauties the day before. And there's not much left-Shaun decided he really, really likes it !

Anyway, that's it - I'm off to bed now. Another early shift to do tomorrow, so I need my beauty sleep :)
Hugs Snowy

Fall and Halloween decorating

Hi all,
It was my second day off today and I have been busy with putting some decorations up and in place. Yesterday/Sunday was spent half asleep -coming off night shift -then watching the football in the evening (Pats won-yippieeee !) and doing some more crafting while watching. We really have had a heatwave here the past week, but luckily temperatures are going down again now towards end of the week. I don't mind the heat, it was in the 80/90ies , but there was a horrible humidity with it. So I'm quite happy its getting cooler again. I have taken a few photos the past days , so let me show them.
I took these the morning after my night shift on the way home.I like the mist in the background.

And now this really looks like fall

Fall decorations- its starting to look like Halloween time  ! The candle wreath with the conkers and leaves is one of my own creations and not even finished yet.

In my living room the spiders are lose....

Its looking spookily good,lol !
And I treated myself a while ago.I saw a Raven statue which just screamed at me "take me home" and I found the perfect place for it. There is my little birdie right next to my bed..... love how the crystal ball glows in this pic,lol

Of cause this is all nothing compared to what Deb put up - she even thought of me when she did it. I got this with the note :Snowy , this is for you

Oh man....Deb's front garden looks so cool,lol !

I am having problems here finding any fall and decent Halloween decorations, so I  will just have to make some myself .The next project is already planned and the materials waiting.
And for now I'm off -Hugs Snowy