A walk in the Park

Today I thought I'd share some pictures from one of my recent walks in the Metroparks.  I've been enjoying the park since I was little, and still feel that sense of peace every time I hear the sound of that river (Rocky River).  I have a great affinity for water and natural settings.  I don't mind slogging through muddy spots, or blazing my own trail through the woods.  I never outgrew that childlike joy of observing nature.  Every time I walk along that river I think of my brothers, Jeff especially.  He was the oldest, so he was in charge on our little adventures.  I spent many happy hours with both my brothers playing in those woods and on that river.  And now that I have a digital camera (something I could have put to good use as a kid!), I can take as many pictures as I want, and share them with all my friends.

This is a swampy area where I often see ducks, and the occasional heron.  Right now there are lots of dragonflies cruising over the still water looking for prey.


 
This is a view of the river, which was up pretty high from the recent rain storm.
 
A shot of a plane passing over just above the treetops.  Part of the park is under the flight path of the nearby airport, and the planes fly so low you can practically touch them- LOL!  
  
Three different types of mushrooms I spotted while wandering through the woods.  I've always found mushrooms very interesting, and just a bit magical.
 
This spider made a web on one of the small bridges and was kind enough to pose for a picture (that zoom feature comes in real handy- LOL).  Although I still have a bit of a fear of spiders, I find them very interesting.
 
The river is pretty shallow here, and the horse path crosses it and disappears into the woods on the other side.  Two riders passed me while I was checking the area out.  I really like following the bridle path, since it tends to be the path less traveled.  So that's my latest trip to the park.  Although it's surrounded by city and suburbs, there's still some magic left here, if you know where to look. ;-)
-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Halloween creations from CreativeCritters

I figured now would be a good time to showcase some of my Halloween creations. The picture above is my Lighted Glow in the Dark Pumpkin house, which can be found in my Miniature Houses section.  It's appropriate for the entire fall season, and would make a great decoration along with your other Jack O Lanterns!  I've always enjoyed Halloween- dressing up, pretending to be someone or something completely different, allowing my imagination to run wild- it's a holiday that's just perfect for creative people!  And I have certainly been busy creating lately!  In September I came up with the idea for dolls dressed in Halloween costumes.  I've been making handsewn cloth dolls for a few years now (you can find quite a few in my Cloth Doll section), so putting them in fun costumes seemed like a natural progression.  So far I have 3 costume dolls completed and listed.

First there's Katy, wearing her cat costume

Then there's Penelope, who's dressed as a fairy

And my newest addition, Wendy the Witch and her cat Spook.

I've also been making quite a few new sculptures.  I've been on quite a vampire kick lately.  I'm halfway through reading Twilight right now, and the ideas are coming fast and furious.  I haven't seen the movie, so I'm only being influenced by the images in my own head.  These two sculptures were created before I started reading the book.  I've been a fan of vampires since I was a teenager (I do enjoy horror and fantasy- LOL).

This is my Lady Vampire sculpture

And this is titled Embrace of the Vampire.  I must admit to being quite proud of this one.  It took a long time to complete and turned out very nice.

I've also been working on lots of fun new Halloween themed magnets and earrings.

I just listed my Spiderweb magnet with Dangling Spider

These Glow in the Dark Skull earrings are a lot of fun.

These Glow in the Dark Ghost earrings would be a spooky addition to your Halloween costume!

And of course there's a lot more where they came from!  I'm constantly working on new creations, so be sure to stop by often!  With this new blog I'll be able to keep everyone up to date on all my latest creative adventures.  Thanks for stopping by!

-Michelle of CreativeCritters