Halloween Sickies at Home

Well, Dan, Tristan and I had originally planned Halloween with my daughter Brittany and our little grand kids trick or treating on historic Main Street in St. Charles.

We all ended up sick instead, I came down with this seasons big butt kicking cold and passed it on to both of the boys.  So we had to stay in this Halloween, and since Aelfheim is on a rural highway, no trick or treaters here!

Step up to the front door and visit us this Halloween!

Come in and sit for a spell!

Our table is set with an interesting combination of treats and cold remedies!

Don't forget the throat coat tea, it isn't the cough that carries you off, it's the coffin they carry you off in!

We decked the house out with our Halloween decor.  

And I made a big pot of my moms meatball soup in the crock pot, complete with Halloween pasta. 

2 cans tomato soup

2 cans beef broth

2 cans water

Good splash of red wine

3 cloves of garlic

1/2 onion diced

1 bag frozen meatballs browned

1 bag frozen mixed vegetables

Salt, pepper, cracked red pepper and Italian herbs to taste

Boiled pasta of your choice.

Toss it all in the crockpot and cook for 3-4 hours, add the pasta right before serving.

We relaxed, started off the evening with Practical Magic and then watched random scary movies while styling warm inside

Happy Halloween from the Mueller's to you!  Don't forget to take your garlic! It's good to ward of colds and vampires alike!

Blessings!

Mickie

Feline Friday, The Priestess Card

Mystical Cats Tarot will be coming out in May 2014, so to celebrate Lunaea Weatherstone and I are hosting a fun event on our Facebook page for Mystical Cats Tarot!  Presenting… Feline Friday! Every Friday until the deck is published next spring, we’ll give you a sneak peek of a new Mystical Cats Tarot card. 

Today’s card is the Priestess, she who is the keeper of the Cat Mysteries, handed down through the generations. 

But wait! There’s more! The Feline Friday Foto -- er, Photo -- contest! Here’s how it works:

1. If your cat looks like the cat in Friday’s tarot card, post a photo of it in the comments for that card on our Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/MysticalCatsTarot

2. Every four weeks, we will draw a name at random from the posted photos.

3. That person will win a secret surprise gift printed with the tarot card image that looks like their cat!

You can post your cat’s photo anytime until the drawing date, which will always be announced in advance, so you’ll have plenty of time to share the picture of your lovely cat friend. Please be sure to also "like" our Facebook page if you have not already done so.

The next four Feline Fridays and the drawing date are: 10/18, 10/25, 11/1, 11/8, and the drawing will be on 11/15.

We look forward to seeing your wise and beautiful cats!

Blessings!
Mickie & Lunaea

Mystical Cats Tarot, Mischief Managed!

Well, it's been a long time coming, we signed the contract in fall of 2011, and now the art for Mystical Cats Tarot is done and ready to ship.

Mystical Cats Tarot art ready to ship, Willow approves.

My knuckles feel like I've been in a fight! Why? Or remember my post about peeling the backs off my thick illustration boards for the cover art so they could go around the drum scanner?
Cringe-Worthy Preparation of Mystical Cats Tarot Cover Art

 Well, I did that to all the rest of the cards yesterday.  Whew!  

If you ever have to do this, that rubber shelf lining really saved the day and allowed me to do it my myself while my dear family screamed in fear and ran out of the room!  I had Sweeney Todd playing on the TV while I worked. Muahahaha!!  

First I split the edge of the illustration board back from the art.  

Super important!  Place the art side down and peel the back from the art, not the other way around, this prevents bending the actual art.  ALSO, if you know in advance that you publisher uses a drum scanner and you will need to peel illustration boards, use Crescent brand, not this Canson that I had!  Crescent peels so much easier, this Canson was a real bear to peel, I ended up with bruised knuckles and even skinned a couple of them repeating this process for 78 cards.

I added some non-skid shelf liner to my triangle too, this helped me keep the art flat and undamaged while I wrangled the backs off.  I peeled a bit at a time and scooted the triangle along as I went.

Now the back is off and the art is flexible enough to curve around the drum scanner!

This isn't even all of the backs...this isn't even half.  Shampoo, rinse, repeat, infinity!

So now that I'm done with that, it's time to eat a bit of lunch and head off to FedEx and get these kitties in the mail!  My partner in crime for this project visionary author Lunaea Weatherstone is finishing up the book and then Llewellyn will do their magic!  Of course I still have interior illustrations to do, but that comes a bit later.

Watch for Mystical Cats Tarot in May 2014!  Be sure to pop by our Facebook page to see some sneak previews and be sure to "like" our page while you're there!  https://www.facebook.com/MysticalCatsTarot

Bright Blessings,

Mickie