The Brown Lady Ghost of Rayman Hall, England

This ghost is known as "The Brown Lady of Rayman Hall, England. The picture was originally taken in 1936 by Indre Shira and Captain Provand, photographers working for "Country Life" magazine. The photographers were shooting in the hall when they noticed the apparition.

The first reported sighting of "The Brown Lady Ghost" was in 1836, when Colonel Loftus said he saw her in a brown dress. Loftus reported that her eye sockets were empty. The next reported sighting of "The Brown Lady Ghost" was in 1926 when two small boys saw the apparition.

This was the project I completed last Saturday, October 23rd, when I was lucky enough to be included in a very fun Saturday event entitled "A Halloween Tea" at our local scrapbook store, Artful Scrapbooking.

Even though I cannot take credit for the original design by Ellie,

I did add some of my own images from Moonlight Journey.

A Halloween Tea

The punch was spooktactular with a fine white rising mist, sandwiches, shortbread finger cookies, all amazingly arranged by our hostess Pamela. We even watched some classic scary Halloween movies while completing our haunted houses. Thank you again, Pam, for such great effort and a spooky project to make.

To my delight, I also received this gorgeous altoid tin last week from my sweet friend Becky Loyall, of Whymsical Musings.

This tin created by Becky Loyall.

I was so inspired with her amazing gift, that I created these two tins to share.

Halloween tin images from Seneca Pond and Shabby Cottage Studio.

Ahhh......the fun of Halloween!

'Just can't get enough.

Alice's Banana Bread

The original manuscript, "Alice's Adventures Underground," was published in 1865, by Reverend Charles Ludwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. Then later that year, the tale was published by Lewis Carrol as "Alice in Wonderland." Among it's first readers was Queen Victoria and the young Oscar Wilde. The book has never been out of print.

This banana bread recipe (one of my very favorites) will definitely be one of those baked goods that will call "EAT ME." Unfortunately, I cannot guarantee that it will not cause you to grow!!

CREDITS: MOONLIGHT JOURNEY DIGI PAK "ALICE'S BRAG BOOK"

Mad Tea Party Brownies

Little did I know when I started an art journal a few years ago, that it was the beginning of a journey towards a series of of recipe cards with an "Alice In Wonderland" theme.

The roots of these cards came through the inspiration of my artist friends, Deb and Teri, when we began designing our "Mad Tea Party" books. That book still is a work in progress for me! Hopefully, within the next few months, I can present to you some of my special recipes focused on this "through the looking glass" theme.

CREDITS: MOONLIGHT JOURNEY "ALICE BRAG BOOK" DIGI PAK

Annabel Lee Artist Trading Card

Did you know that "Annabel Lee"

is the last complete poem composed

by Edgar Allen Poe?

"It was many and many a year ago,

In a kingdom by the sea,

That a maiden there lived whom you may

know by the name of Annabel Lee . . ."

Like so many of Poe's poems,

it tells the tale of the death of a beautiful woman.

"The wind came out of the clouded night,

chilling and killing my Annabel Lee . . ."

The narrator tells of a man who

fell in love with Annabel Lee

when they were young,

and even says that this love for her

was so strong

that even angels were jealous.

What a sad love story that

remains so strong even in death!

"For the moon never beams

without bringing me dreams of

the beautiful Annabel Lee . . ."

I created these artist trading cards

for a swap this month.

Edgar Allen Poe is probably

one of my favorite poets.

CREDITS: MOONLIGHT JOURNEY COLLAGE SHEETS

A Witches Life Art Tag

As the bewitching hour of October 31st fast approaches, I stirred up these art Halloween tags using a digital collage I created a while back and placed them into a scanned Mason jar photo I had. I further embellished them with black fun fur yarn and silken black vine ribbon.

CREDITS: WORD AND WITCH IMAGES FROM MOONLIGHT JOURNEY

Witch Society Halloween Cards

Once upon a time the witches rode

In sinister and ominous parade

Upon their sticks at night, and queer lights glowed.

With eerie noises by the goblins made;

And many things mysterious there were.

For boyish cheeks to pale at through the grime

That held them brown and shadows queer would stir--

Don't you remember? -- Once upon a time.

~ James W. Foley

These "Witch Society" Halloween cards were created over the past several weeks by using some Martha Stewart holiday papers, and Ravenhead Manor Recollection sheets and frames. I love how they work so well with images from Lynne Tears and Becky Loyall of Moonlight Journey. The background within the frames "Extract of Witch Hazel" were stamped with an image from Tim Holtz's Haunted Mansion Collection CMS091. I glitzed them up with silver and gold mini glittered stars and tied with recycled sari ribbon.

Happy Haunting,

Nancy

My Frog Prince

In the old times, when it was still of some use to wish for the thing one wanted, there lived a king whose daughters were all handsome.

Near the royal castle there was a great dark wood, and in the wood under an old tree was a well. And if the time seemed long, the youngest daughter would take out a golden ball and throw it up and catch it over and over again.

Now it happened one day that the golden ball dropped to the ground near the edge of the well and rolled in. The King's daughter followed it, but the well was deep--so deep that the bottom could not be seen. She wept and wept as if she could never be comforted.

In the midst of her weeping, she heard a voice saying to her, "What ails you, King's daughter? Your tears would melt a heart of stone."

And when she looked to see where the voice came from, there was nothing but a frog stretching his thick ugly head out of the water. "I can help you fetch it," he said. "But, if you would love me, and have me for your companion, I would dive below and fetch your golden ball again."

And it came to pass that with her father's consent they became bride and bride-groom. He told her how a wicked witch had bound him by her spells, and how no one but she alone could have released him. Now they two would go together to his father's kingdom and live happily ever after.

CREDITS: ALL IMAGES WERE CREATED FROM MOONLIGHT JOURNEY.

Mad Hatter Ranch Dressing

Give yourself the gift of better health...easy to say, but sometimes so challenging a thing to do. One of our local grocery stores provides locally grown "Lettuce Alone" with an optimally fresh, nutrient rich lettuce product, free from chemicals and preservatives.

Their bag contains mixed greens, which may contain red and green leaf and romaine varieties. I love to take a peek inside their label for new recipes for salad dressings. This week was a recipe for a ranch dressing, that I entitled "Mad Hatter Ranch Dressing."

CREDITS: Dressing Recipe from "The Dressing Room" at lettucealone@carmalot.com, and the Alice In Wonderland Images are from Moonlight Journey.