Crafter by Night

Who else is up for fall?

So each change-of-season I do certain things that sorta get me in the spirit.  I do this for my own personal seasons, which include Fall (October, Halloween, November, Thanksgiving), December (sorta half Solstice/half Christmas), Winter (January/February), Spring (March, April, May) and then Summer (June, July, August, September).  If I’m in the north March and September get moved around.

But these are the kinds of things I do that signify that life is moving forward, that I’m in tune with what’s going on outside (air/ground/growing season), and that things are still going on as I expect them to.  I get really, really out of tune when I’m not feeling right with the seasons.  I always feel really weird when I move northward or southward and the seasons are different.

So the first thing I usually do is decorate my house.  For fall, that means pumpkins.  I have a lot of pumpkins.  And I have no intention of not collecting more pumpkins.  I am particularly fond of fabric ones like these orange pumpkins or perhaps another color?  Sunshine Annie Designs has pumpkins made of several fabrics.

The second thing I do is decorate myself:  jewelry, I mean. Like this fall Breeze pendant by bijoujuju, which is I believe an image transfer onto polymer clay, but has the look of wood.  I really love the pendant, and the little leaves and curly image.  But you should also check out her description of the pendant which I’ve included below. Priceless.  Don’t you want it to be fall already?

Who needs a summer breeze when you have the fall to look forward to? And have you ever really enjoyed a summer breeze? Well, perhaps if you’ve never lived in the South. However, those of us down here have never enjoyed a summer breeze. Primarily because they don’t happen often and, when they do, they are darn near suffocating. So here is a lovely fall breeze to enjoy year round.

Along the lines of decorating myself, I also usually buy or make a new purse at the change of the seasons.  This jeweltone purse (left) isn’t obviously fall-ish, but I think it is definitely something that conveys the proper mood for the season.  It has the proper colors and, well, the right tone for the job, materials- and style-wise. Not too heavy or light, with an orange, burgundy, dark plum and olive pattern on a medium-weight fabric bag with two inside pockets. From Kreative Karryalls.

I also usually buy new soap.  I always think that scented soap is a nice way to start the day.  Also, I only buy hand-crafted soap – I have made soap, and researched the subject, and I am appalled at what is in/done to commercial soap, and I boycott it completely.

I don’t want just simply can’t use a cleansing product that is comprised of animal fats and petroleum byproducts.  Look at your soap – does it say sodium tallowate or propylene glycol in the ingredients?  That’s rendered fat and petroleum.
So this  Cinnamon and Cider soap seems like a really good idea (right), plus it repeats my favorite pumpkin theme. Made of olive oil and aloe and essential oils. During Christmas I always get cranberry scent, and springtime I get lemon or lemongrass.

I also usually get some sort of wrap thing or cardigan to wrap about myself.  In October it’s all just pretend, ’cause this is Tejas, but it makes me think of real fall in another place.  I just keep it and think longingly of, say, Vermont where there are crisp, brightly colored leaves and chilly temperatures and early violet-colored evenings … Regardless, sweaters do eventually come in handy here, even if we just wear them instead of a coat.

So, I pick this cardigan sweater (left), which is way beyond beautiful – soft gray, nice drape and yes! that neckline! and those sleeves!  It reminds me of morning mist over a pond on a chilly morning.  It’s by Fashion Knitwear in France, who is very talented.  Wow.  It’s acrylic/nylon (washable, yay!) which is great.   and with that, I shall leave you, because I have to think of a way to scare up $78 now.