The rest of the story OR...Halloween saga part #4

I know you'll all been waiting with baited breath to discover what happens with Walter and Barbara and the crazy Halloween party so let's continue, shall we?  For those of you who are new...here are links to Part #1, Part #2 and Part #3 so you can catch up and discover why this goofy story happened in the first place.  For those of you following the story, you'll recall that we left Walter and Barbara in their old line dancing clothes practicing their moves.

#15

Barbara was in heaven!  She and Walter had such a good time at the party that she just HAD to call all her friends to talk about it.  She told them how her corn bread was the hit "side" and how everybody wanted the recipe and how she and Walter danced the night away and how Walter didn't even have a drop to drink all night and how proud and happy she was!

Poor woman was on the phone for hours!  Through the grapevine, even the local police knew they'd have no further trouble with those two.  Who knew a costume party would be such a life altering event?  Surely not Barbara an Walter!  They were happier now than they'd been in years.......except........there was still the problem of the elusive yellow beaked cackleberry!  Hummmm......

#16

What's this?  Golly gee, if it's not Walter!  Who'd have thought?  Seems that the agent for the lead singer of "The Grateful to be Alive Band" was in the next dressing room the day Walter did his Elvis impressions and was blown away by Walter's talents.  As soon as Walter left that day, he knew he'd found his next band member.....if he could find him.  By this time, the store owner didn't even pay attention to Walter anymore, and hadn't a clue to his identity.

Only by good fortune did the bail bondsman tell his cousin Charlie and Charlie tell his neighbor, the talent agent, about the fiasco the next town over a few weeks ago, would Walter even have had a chance to be famous.  I guess it just shows that things work out like they're supposed to.

#17

And Barbara?  Well Barbara was so happy after the party and excited that she remembered how she loved to dance that she applied for a job as the local aerobic instructor for their local YMCA.  Not only that, but as luck would have it, as Walter was walking home from a singing gig one day, a baby cackleberry seemed to fall from somewhere right into his green wig and thinking it was his mama, had lived there ever since until Barbara heard peeps one morning and went to investigate.  The poor little thing was on the verge of starvation, so after some milk soaked corn bread, took to Barbara like a long lost friend and couldn't bear to be separated from her ever again.

Now Barbara is the envy of the Orinthology Society of America and their members travel for miles just to take one of her classes and see the "not so elusive anymore" yellow beaked cackleberry.  Kinda shows what love is all about, huh?  lol

THE END

So that's it!  The rest of the story!  If you liked that little adventure, please let me know.  I've already drawn (but not colored) a bunch of envelopes of Walter and Barbara for next time...if I can think up something fun and exciting for them to do.  OR....give me an idea!  That would be cool too!  Until then..............Happy Halloween!!!

Halloween saga Part #3

If you recall, the last time we were with Walter, he had just changed out of the Elvis costume at the costume shop and was heading home once again.

#11


Days went by and the party was getting closer and closer.  Now, every time Walter looked for costumes, he noticed less and less to choose from.  Even the bunny and fish ones were gone already.  Barbara was sick of the drama and told Walter that he had to pick first.......but it had to be without anymore foolishness.  She was sick of their neighbors and the police watching their every move.
Walter was crazy....why did he have to be so impossible?  If he and Barbara had shopped together, this whole mess would probably be over already.  After all, he surmised, it's just one party.  Who cares how you look for just a few hours?  There had to be a plan.............

#12


The next day as Barbara was shucking corn, getting ready to make her award winning corn bread to take along to the costume party, Walter floated into the kitchen in his best duds, holding a flower in his teeth dancing to "Love me Tender".  Barbara immediately ran over to him and smelled his breath.  Hummm.....no wine....no beer....just mouthwash and aftershave.  Now she really was worried!  It had been years since they made "Humpty Dumpty" in the middle of the day and Lord knows she wasn't ready to start again!!!  That's when Walter let it all out.....how he was wrong, and how he knew they both needed to shop together and soon so they'd get the perfect costumes.  Barbara was so happy that Walter would never be "lonesome tonight".  Tomorrow would start the perfect search!

#13


The first thing the next morning, Barbara and Walter rushed to get ready.  They were so excite to shop. Sadly though, by the time they got to "Halloween R Us" costume shop and checked out the couple costumes, all that was left was the American Gothics.  Barbara was so disappointed.  Walter too!  They couldn't imagine wearing those in a million years.  What to do, they thought?  Do we go back to homemade?  What would the neighbors think?  The cops would probably be there even before they had a foot out the door......oh my!!!!
But then, just at the worst moment of despair, Barbara remembered something....but where, she thought, did I put that stuff?  Oh she could hardly wait.  She tore off her wig and dull apron in no time flat and told Walter to get a move on because she had an idea and knew it'd be perfect.  She couldn't wait to get back home to see if she remembered correctly.

#14


You betcha!  It was just as she left it so many years ago, in a box at the bottom of the basement steps.  Oh my how she remembered the last time they wore that stuff.  It was June of 1989 at the West Bend Rotary Club.  The day she and Walter won the line dancing contest.  Wow!  She couldn't wait to show Walter!  What fun would this be?
And sure enough, everything fit just perfectly.  What joy!  They knew they'd be the hit of the party especially when they strutted their stuff.  Just to make sure though, they grabbed the music, Cd player, and got to practicing.

So there you have it.....part 3 of the little Halloween saga of Walter and Barbara.  There are 3 envelopes left........and they're all in transit to Annie as I type.  (Hopefully, not to get lost like poor old envelope #8 which still has not shown up at her house.)  Until next time then......!!!  I hope you're enjoying the story!

A break in our saga for New Ladies.......

I've been a busy girl and have two new lovely ladies to introduce to you.  I hate to break up our Halloween saga, but Annie still has not received #8 envelope, nor 11, 12, 13 or #14 that I've sent, so who knows where they are?  I'm thinking some post office employees are getting the same entertainment out of them as we are, but I wish they'd get a move on so I can finish the story.  So, in the meantime, I thought you might like to meet Ladies #58 and #60.  There will be more!  #61 is flying home to Australia, and #59 and #62 are Christmas gifts and will be introduced in a few months.  

First off is Lynda.  Lynda is lady #58 and hails from the good old USA.

See the "real" Lynda below.  She was kind enough to allow the use of the original photo she sent to me.  Thank you, Lynda!

Next, we have lady #60, Deena.  I must admit that Deena was quite a challenge for me and I was so hoping I could do her justice.  It's not often that I do "young" women, and that alone is difficult.....but Deena was my very first African-American lady with Egyptian heritage.  She wanted her "portrait" to use in her booth for music festivals to promote her business and sent me "her" fabrics" to use for her shirt and binding, plus beads to add to her quilt to reflect who she is.  Thankfully, I did okay!  

And here are the photos that Deena sent me to use.  Once I was done, I almost had a heart attack thinking that I had made her hair the wrong length when I again looked at the first photo, but then realized that the dreads belonged to her friend and not her.  Whew!  Good thing she sent me two photos!  Thanks, Deena!

So there you have it!  Two more lovely ladies to add to the ever growing collection.  If you are thinking of having a fabric portrait done, here is the blog post showing the earlier ladies of 2013 and telling the procedure.  I'd LOVE to add YOU to the ever growing group too!

Now......say a little prayer that Annie gets her envelopes so we can continue the saga of Walter and his costumes.  Until then, have a great week...........

The Halloween party - part 2

Poor Annie is missing #7 and #8 envelopes, and I told her that I was going to continue the saga today on my blog post, but she insists that they'll still arrive at her doorstep, so she is going to refrain from reading part 2 of this Halloween saga until they come.  (Of course, by then, she won't need to read this because she have the original story in her hands.  lol)  If you recall, we left Walter in his clown costume  wondering if Barbara was still pining for her long lost canon clown.  So to continue:

#7


After the last time with Walter breaking down and crying for 20 minutes at the thought of Barbara liking the forever lost canon clown of her youth more than him, he was off the hook for week while Barbara cooked up another scheme for the costume shopping.  Surely there were more sophisticated costumes other than birds, bunnies, fish, chickens, grapes and clowns she thought.  Why not something real unique?  First though, she had to prepare Walter so sent him to the tanning booth for a week of sessions.
She as Cleopatra and Walter as her Egyptian maid servant would be perfect!  Walter wasn't pleased...... jewelry?  He'd have to wear jewelry?  No way!  And what was that skirty thing hanging from his waist?  Surely that would blow away faster than the balloons?  And......yikes!  Eye makeup?  Well, Walter got out of that costume lickity split, ran out the door, jumped in his car and drove all the way home before realizing that he left Barbara in the costume shop playing Cleopatra all by herself.

#8


Just about the time Walter began thinking about costumes again (after his tan faded for about a week), Barbara announced that she no longer could stand his silliness and he'd have to go shopping for costumes alone.  Little did Barbara know that just the thought thrilled Walter to no end.  No more jewelry, no more makeup, no more skimpy parts to be whisked off by the slightest breeze - oh no!!  He was going to be a man!  A hunk!  A man of honor!  Sure enough.......the very first such guy had to be Captain Kirk of the Starship Enterprise.......and amazingly, Walter could still do the Spock finger greeting......what JOY!  But wait, there are more....

#9


Now we're talking!  The man of steel!  X-ray eyesight!  Able to leap tall buildings with a single bound. And not only that, but it came with Clark Kent glasses just for good measure.  Could anything be better?  Surely Barbara would go gaga over this costume, right?  She could be Lois Lane.  Well, Walter was so excited, he decided to walk home and show her right away much to the surprise of their neighbors who ran for their phones to call 911 as soon as he rounded the corner.  Certainly poor Walter had permanently flipped now......superman?  What was he thinking?  He could no more fight bad guys than swat a fly on the wall.  It had to be the booze.  Oh my, Walter must be drinking again.  Poor Barbara!

#10


After 13 squad cars arrived at Walters house due to the neighbors concerned noisiness, and once breathalyzer tests were completed and explanations given as to what happened at the costume shop and how Walter wasn't really the King of Kryptonite, everything quieted down again.  Walter quietly walked back to the costume shop, changed into his street clothes and drove home only to tell Barbara that he thinks he found "the one".  He spotted it just as he was leaving and was going back the next day to try it on.
Who cares if you're not the King of Kryptonite when you can just be "The King"?  Not a "Devil in Disguise" but a "Big Hunk of Love" headed for "Heartbreak Hotel" on "Jailhouse Rock" for "One Night".  Oh my how Walter was "All Shook Up" to have a "Wooden Heart" if only for the short time it took to try on the costume.  He knew it was "Now or Never".  Oh, Walter thought, if only someone would "Love me Tender", and with that thought he took off the costume and returned home once again.

So, there you have it....part two of the halloween costume saga.  Only 7 more envelopes to go so stay tuned for the rest of the story while I concentrate on the many "lady" orders that have come my way lately.  I'm going as fast as I can.  Soon, you'll see some real beauties!  I promise!  Until then, take care and have a great week............

The "Halloween party" #1

Since I haven't been doing much sewing lately, and have mainly been focusing on envelopes and crazy stories, Annie (my dear friend who has been getting the envelopes and ongoing saga) and I thought perhaps you would like to hear it too.  I must admit that when I started, I had no idea that it would evolve into a 17 envelope series.  Since I sometimes write a bit about the character I've drawn on the back of the envelope that I send, that's what happened at first.........(actually for the first 2,) until I got a crazy idea to extend the saga.   You have already seen these envelopes, but now I will add what was written on the back of each envelope so you can follow along the story with Annie.   I do hope you enjoy!!  I must admit, I sometimes had myself in stitches, I was laughing so hard!!



#1 - This poor guy was at the Halloween shop with his wife trying on costumes for a big party they were attending, when he tried on this bird outfit.  Well, his wife was laughing so hard that she ran right over to the pet store and bought a 2lb box of bird seed and told him to go outside, feed the birds and "peep" so that he could attract a "Yellow Beaked Cackleberry" because she needed to add one to her bird watching book for the year and couldn't find one anywhere.  So this poor guy peeped and peeped and peeped and even got down on the ground and pretended to eat the seeds but alas - no Yellow Beaked Cackleberry ever came.  Awww - oh well!  What men don't do for love.



#2 - Remember the guy in the bird costume?  Well, he's still trying to find the right costume.  His wife to him to hop because she thought he looked cute as a bunny!  Trick or treat!!??



#3 - Remember the costume guy?  Well, guess who this is?  He's smarter now though!  He brings a gallon of wine in his car and so every time he changes in a new costume, he takes a walk to his car (with his cup) to try it out and that's why he's smiling.  This fish costume is his 5th try-on of the day.  lol



#4 - Well - when Walter go home from the costume shop after trying on 10 costumes, he was pretty "schnockered" to say the least!!  Barbara was livid that Walter would even think about drinking while costume shopping - after all, isn't being together what it's all about?  She did enjoy Walter in the bird costume though.  It was the highlight of her day until she looked out the window to the sound of clucking noises and saw Walter all decked out in his homemade chicken costume, pecking at apples that had fallen from the tree.  What in the world, she thought!  That crazy man - what?  BUT, what she didn't know was that Walter was still hell bent on attracting a Yellow Beaked Cackleberry bird so Barbara could list it in her 2013 birdwatching book.  Now, that's what love is all about!



#5 - Poor Walter!  How could he have known that 10 neighbors would report him to the police for disturbing the peace?  Idiots!  Didn't they know that he was just trying to attract the elusive Cackleberry bird for Barbara?  And Barbara?  E-gads, that was another story!  Talk about pissed off!  She was the embarrassment of the neighborhood.  After all, Walter in a homemade chicken costume?  What was he thinking?
Well, Barbara got right to work!  She rushed to the party supply store the very next day and started creating her own work of art for Walter.  After all, he should have some respect - where does wine come from after all?  Once she was done taping on the balloons with double sided tape, she told Walter to model it in the yard.  Well, Walter was not only hung over, but worried that a balloon might blow away in a special place, so covered his privates with his hand.  At that very moment, he really wished he had the "fruit of the loom" guys with him.



#6 - After a huge gust of wind took all 120 purple balloons off Walter's poor naked, taped body and he had to make a quick run for the house, he and Barbara agreed to no more homemade costumes.  The county sheriff was happy too since he and his men only had made 18 stops to the house the past two days for neighbor complaints.  From now on, only costumes from the costume shop would work.
Once there again, Barbara was quick to point out that he should try on clown costumes since she was a clown lover from way back and remembered a hunk of a clown from her youth who was shot out of a canon never to be seen again.  Walter's heart sank!  But being the good husband, he relented and tried one on just for her - but he couldn't bear putting on the face mask for fear that she'd think it was the canon clown from her youth brought back to life and then she would like him more than Walter.

SO.....what do you think?  Will they find the perfect costume?  As soon as Annie gets her envelope with more of the story, I will fill you in too.  I hope you have as much fun with this little halloween saga as I did.  Stay tuned............

I've been a slacker!

I think my ambition got up and left!  Lately, for some reason, I have been really lazy!  Maybe it's because I am still "babying" my back.  It's better, but not perfect yet.  On occasion I still have to pop a Tylenol or two.  Then too, it's been raining here for three days and I hate rain!  On top of that, we still don't have our new roads and the mud is driving me crazy!  We all thought they'd be pouring last Monday and Tuesday, but nothing!!  Then, we heard that it needs to be dry and cool......so with this constant rain, I'm thinking maybe we'll get the roads by sometime in November.  E-gads!  I'm sure glad I won't be around in another 25 years when they need replacing again.

I did send out some envelopes.......(naturally!)  I sent only one to Audrey (that you haven't seen) and as of today, I'm thinking it's lost.  She would love it.....!!  Audrey is a real tom-boy for a 5 year old and likes all sorts of fun and creepy stuff.  I knew she'd like this envelope containing the a-z Mystery book titled, "The Zombie Zone".



Then, I sent this one to a friend who is helping me out with a surprise.



AND.......I continue to entertain my friend, Annie in California, with a saga of a man going to a Halloween party with his wife.  You have already seen the possible first 2 costumes, and then there are these:









Who knows what he will choose????

I am happy to report that Lady #58 is finished and ready to be shipped and I have been working on Lady #59 while ladies #60 and #61 wait patiently.  I am thrilled to be working on my Ladies again!  Each one is unique and a joy and I LOVE it!!  I smile the whole time I am creating them!!

So, that's it for today!  Hope you all are well and happy!  Thank you so much for your well wishes on recovering from my back sprain.  I'm positive all your thoughts and prayers worked!! Until next time..