Monday, October 31, 2011

Nipper's Nook

Nipper's Nook


Happy Halloween 2011

Posted: 30 Oct 2011 01:01 PM PDT


The following is an short excerpt from my first book, "The Farm House." I hope you enjoy it.

Happy Halloween...



drawing of Rayku and Luna
Artwork courtesy of a very talented Katie Hicks




Pam came up behind him and asked, "What're you looking at?"

"You remember that Scott and I boarded-up that door outside? Well, the reason we did it was because whatever it was that followed us to the cemetery, followed us from here. While you and Jen were up here, we went outside and followed the prints and they led to the door. Well, after we boarded it up, I felt a little guilty that whatever it was would be left out in the cold, so I went and got some hamburger and made a little trail to the storage room. I then made a little nest for it and gave it some water. Anyway, making a long story short, I just looked outside and the meat is gone and the storage room door is closed."
"So, I guess we have a visitor for the night, right?"

"I guess so."
"You know, that was really nice of you to do that."

"Thanks, Pam. I know what I did sounds strange, which is why I didn't tell Scott, but it just made me feel better. Anyway, let's get back to work and see if we can't find a ghost or two."

"So, oh benevolent one, what do you propose we do?"

"Uh, I was thinking that we just walk slowly around this room and see if anything feels different. Also, I think it might be better if we split up and each of us takes a different room."

"Whoa, wait one minute there, buddy. I really don't like the idea of splitting up. I've watched Scooby Doo and I know what happens when they split-up. I'm not that comfortable here as it is, let alone being by myself, in the dark."

"Pam, there's nothing to worry about, I'll be right in the next room and besides, what could happen?"

"Hello! Was I alone down there in the basement?"

"Sorry, let's just say if you feel anything like that starting to happen again, just let me know and I'll be right there."

"You'd better be or else I will personally hunt you down and smack you."

"Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you. Now, you stay here in this room and I'll can go back into the bedroom."

"Okay, I don't like it, but alright."

Eric took her hand and squeezed it and then walked out and headed to the bedroom. As he passed the head of the stairs, he felt a little chill go down his spine, so he stopped and waited there for a few minutes. He grabbed his recorder and did a quick EVP session, but didn't hear anything else. He stood at the top of the stairs and strained to try and see something, but nothing happened, so he proceeded to the bedroom.

Pam, on the other hand, was not too pleased to be by herself, but she decided to just make the best of it and tried to do a session on her own. As she began her session, she started to feel a chill run down her spine. Although she did feel scared, at least it wasn't like the feeling they had down in the basement and since she knew that Eric was just in the next room, she decided to sit down on the floor and continue her session.

"Hello, whoever is in here, I'm all by myself and waiting for you to come and talk to me. Anyone here? If you wanted to talk to me and not Eric, now's the time to do it." From just over her shoulder, she thought that she heard a whisper and a stream of cold air seemed to blow into her ear. Pam felt a chill go down her spine and she was petrified to even move. As she continued to sit there, she once again felt a stream of cold air blow into her ear and then she felt something touch her shoulder.

"ERIC, GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!!!" As soon as she yelled that, something shoved her, knocking her down on the ground.

"ERIC, NOW!!!"

As soon as Eric heard Pam yell, he started to run over to get to her. As he ran past the stairs, it felt as if his feet were sinking into the floor. No matter how hard he tried to run, he just couldn't seem to get anywhere. As Pam cried out again, he tried to yell back at her, but was unable to make a sound. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He lifted his feet to try and get to Pam, but it was as if he were running in slow motion. He also began to feel heaviness in the air, just like when they were down in the basement.

"ERIC, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?" Pam yelled again.

Once again, Eric opened his mouth to answer and once again, he couldn't utter a sound. In the few seconds that he had been trapped at the top of the stairs, he was only able to move a few steps and all the while, the atmosphere seemed to get heavier. It was getting to the point where it was getting hard to breathe. It felt as if there were something squeezing his chest and not allowing him to take a breath.

As he tried to take another step, he heard a creak on the stairs below him. Now, Eric was starting to panic, he was separated from Pam and obviously something was happening to her and he couldn't get to her; he couldn't even tell her what was keeping him from being with her.

Pam was so scared that she didn't know what to do, so she just let her instincts take over; she rolled away from whatever had touched her and began to crawl and get to her feet. She felt a coldness engulf her, but as soon as she crossed the threshold, the coldness disappeared.

Pam was livid as she struggled to get to her feet and made her way through the bathroom, towards the other bedroom. However, when she shined the light ahead of her, she saw Eric looking as if he were in the opening credits to Baywatch. He was actually running in super-slow motion. It was something, obviously, she had never seen before. It looked as if he was trying to say something to her, but nothing came out of his mouth.

"ERIC, what's wrong? Please, talk to me!"

Eric saw Pam come up to him, but it was like he was caught in some sort of vortex, because he could barely move, nor could he talk. He was eventually able to take another step and it was like it never happened. As soon as he was released, he fell straight into Pam, knocked her over and landing right on top of her.

Normally, this would be a good thing, but right now it was farthest from his mind.

As he got off of her, "Pam, I'm so sorry, are you okay?" He reached down and offered his hand to her, but she just slapped it away.

"I don't need any help from you," she said as she slapped him across the face. "Don't you EVER leave me alone like that again, do you understand me!?"

Running his hand along his face, "I'm so very sorry. I didn't know something like this would happen. I was so worried about you, but I couldn't get to you and I couldn't speak."

She glared at him a moment longer and then threw herself on him and wrapped her arms around him and started crying.

"I was so scared and then when you didn't come to me, I got so angry." Eric hugged and comforted her as she cried even harder.

Stroking her hair, "I'm sorry, this won't happen again. We won't separate again, okay?"

She pulled away from him and sniffing, "we'd better not, because I will DEFINITELY slap you again." She then smiled and slugged him in the arm.

Juliana's Bits and Pieces

Juliana's Bits and Pieces


Christmas series

Posted: 30 Oct 2011 09:26 AM PDT

Just finished another Christmas series available as: Christmas dinner invitation, photo card, sticker, return address label and matching envelope with invitation. This one got Today's Best Award 27 October 2011.
Christmas series

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Nipper's Nook

Nipper's Nook


Finger Stakes

Posted: 29 Oct 2011 02:53 PM PDT


Before I get started blowing sprinkler lines and assisting in biology and chemistry labs, I needed to make something special for my wife's Halloween party at work. So, I decided that the easiest (Yep, I'm lazy) thing to do, would be to make my Cheesy Bread and try and make them look like fingers.


photo of cheesy bread finger stakes



What I did was make the actual recipe and then added a few things to it:

Olives...cut into fourths for the finger nails
2 Tbsp of the Garlic Sauce (yes, yet another shameless link) and I added some red food coloring to it.

Once the bread sticks were ready to be dressed, I cut a slit in the end of each one and placed one of the olive slices. I then took the garlic sauce, with the red food coloring added, and painted the other end of the bread stick. Finally, I placed a stick (stake) up the middle of each one, which is why I can call them: Finger Stakes :-)

I then dressed and baked the little guys as normal.



Here they are before being covered with cheese...

photo of cheesy bread finger stakes


Ready for the oven...

photo of cheesy bread finger stakes


Boxed-up and ready to go...

photo of cheesy bread finger stakes

Juliana's Bits and Pieces

Juliana's Bits and Pieces


Weekend Review: Best Sellers (Sunfluer)

Posted: 29 Oct 2011 09:49 AM PDT

Today's guest is Sunfluer. Little bit about artistic interest: "I love working with different mediums, i.e., oil, acrylics, pencils and ink. I also like playing with my art in photoshop to create fun and unique art. All the art you see on Zazzle products in my store was created by me. I do not use clip art, or buy photos or images. My creative interests are not limited to fine artwork. I create meaningful handcrafted jewelry designs with a signature line of jewelry for the adoption community."
Other of her works:

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Emila's Illustrated Blog

Emila's Illustrated Blog


I remember a peafowl

Posted:

This was the peafowl that I chased around in Kirstenbosch Gardens because I need to look at it very closely I think it’s pretty. Drawn for the Sketchbook project 2012, ‘I Remember You’ theme.   Graphite and watercolor on sketchbook


Friday, October 28, 2011

Nipper's Nook

Nipper's Nook


Friday Fotos: 10/28

Posted: 27 Oct 2011 08:23 PM PDT




Have a great weekend, everybody!!! I'm going to be stuck helping the kidlets in a biology and a chemistry lab.





photo of a guy with a bunch of clocks: We have ways of making you tock
courtesy of... somuchpun.com




We can all dream...

photo of a chicken crosses the road sign
courtesy of... lolpix.com




Ain't it the truth...

photo of a seagull dancing by a glass of beer
courtesy of... eatliver.com




Because I'm stuck teaching chemistry...

photo of a lab cat saying gold is au-some
courtesy of... icanhascheezburger.com

Note: On the periodic table, AU is the symbol for gold.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Emila's Illustrated Blog

Emila's Illustrated Blog


Emsdolls for Mitra

Posted:

A couple and a girl emsdoll for Mitra. These emsdolls are licensed to Mitra. Copyright is mine and if you are interested to make similar emsdoll, please contact  me via the contact form. Copying and editing is prohibited.


Juliana's Bits and Pieces

Juliana's Bits and Pieces


Free Christmas Card

Posted: 26 Oct 2011 10:50 AM PDT

I am giving away this one free card per customer. Offer is valid through November 24, 2011 at 11:59pm PT.


Legal
100% of card net sale price (excluding shipping and taxes) is deducted when qualifying http://www.zazzle.com/137150746028058454 greeting card is purchased from http://www.zazzle.com/graphicdesign and the coupon code XPGTUUKSVOWX is applied at checkout. Offer does not apply to create your own cards. Offer does not apply to card orders of two or more. Buyer is responsible for shipping and handling and sales tax charges. Failure to comply with promotional offer conditions may result in order cancellation. Offer is valid through November 24, 2011 at 11:59pm PT. Offer does not apply to past purchases and may not be combined with any other Zazzle promotional or volume discount offers. If a volume discount applies to your order, you will receive either the discount set forth in this offer or the standard volume discount, whichever is greater. Offer valid on Zazzle.com only.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Emila's Illustrated Blog

Emila's Illustrated Blog


Wishing all Hindus around the world…

Posted:

…a very


Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Emila's Illustrated Blog

Emila's Illustrated Blog


Sketchbook Project 2012, a change of idea

Posted:

I have a sudden change of idea. The theme is still I Remember You but instead of sketching people, I am now sketching animals and people which/who stay closely in my heart. They will be based on photos that I took over the years. It’s better this way as it’s very hard for me to [...]


Monday, October 24, 2011

designer's depot

designer's depot


Steve Jobs Portrait made from Apples by Olivier Lefebvre

Posted: 23 Oct 2011 08:05 PM PDT

Olivier Lefebvre, an artist Montreal Canada made a tribute to the belated Apple co-founder, Steve Jobs by making a portrait of him using … real apples.

steve jobs apples portrait.jpg

"I find it important to mention to all of you that all the Apples used where deer apples, I would never use human consumption grade food for art. So yeah i got my hands dirty. Made for a really nice apple aroma tho!" quoted from Olivier himself.

via: geeksaresexy.net

Designer’s Depot: the best source for artists, designers and art lovers.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Emila's Illustrated Blog

Emila's Illustrated Blog


42, fourty two…

Posted:

Yes, that’s the number of my age. I am not going to lie. I shared my birthday with Mary Blair (October 21, 1911 – July 26, 1978). A tribute to her was displayed yesterday on Google. She was an American artist who was prominent in producing art and animation for The Walt Disney Company, drawing [...]