You are sincerely welcome, lovely Alison. Many thanks in turn for your wonderful comment. I’ve long admired your blog and gorgeous paper crafting creations, so receiving a comment here from you was an extra big delight.

Come to think of it, I too favour the Cz spelling. I’m part Russian myself (though, sadly, did not grow immersed much in the culture here on Canadian soil) and have been tremendously fascinated by the history of Russia’s monarchy since childhood – just as I have that of the country + its people as a whole.

Have you ever had a chance to visit Russia in person? Doing so would be a major bucket list entry for me. Who knows, perhaps one day.

Warm hugs for these ever chillier days of December coming your way,
🖤 Autumn

Sweet, wonderful Lynne, that is, in turn, truly one of the most touching and encouraging compliments I have ever been paid. Thank you immensely.

Had this card not zipped off to dear friends in the States, I would have loved to have given it to you. If you provide me with your address in advance of next October, I would be elated to make a spooky season greeting just for you.

Thank you again. What you said really means a lot to me.

🖤 Autumn

Thank you sweetly, my very dear friend and fellow Halloween adoring soul. 🎃

I hear you massively when it comes to spiders. I had terrible arachnophobia as a youngster (especially when it came to a certain type of large spider that will not be named) and am still uneasy around all but the daintiest of eight-legged critters.

I am sorry that you did not receive very many trick-or-treaters this year and can sincerely imagine what a bummer that must have been.

If only you could have been here in BC with us this time around. Despite – or perhaps because of – the ongoing pandemic, we actually set a new record for the highest number of trick-or-treaters that we have thus far received while living at our current address: about 118 (up from our previous, pre-pandemic, record of around 113).

It’s wonderful that you had kids in your neighbourhood to donate the leftover candy to this year. Literally just a few pieces sat in our big plastic Halloween candy bowl (which is shaped like a classic cauldron) when all was said and done, so I was extra thankful we bought a fair bit just in case we did end up getting a hundred or more kids that night. We will likely stock up on even more for next Halloween, should the number climb higher still (you just never know!).

I was thinking of you big time on our beloved All Hallows’ Eve and hope that even though you didn’t get too many children at your door that night, you had a fantastic day + entire spooky season, dearest Sanne.

Here’s to the next one – just eleven months and a few days left to go now. 😀

🖤 Autumn

You are making me blush like the harvest moon, dear Hilary. Thank you for the heart-touching gift of your kind, supportive words about this festive Halloween card.

You’re too sweet! My “pro tip”, if you will, for working with decorative edge scissors is to use a ruler and lightly draw pencil lines on the backside of your paper, cardstock, chipboard, etc and to then cut along those guiding lines with the decorative scissors.

It is still possible to veer off course, but I find the risk and frequency of such happening is greatly reduced when you cut along pencil lines.

And please know that I understand regarding perfectionism. I was scarily harsh on myself in terms of being a perfectionist when I was growing up (in part because one of my parents harshly and abusively demanded what they perceived as perfection from me in a lot of areas of life).

In my twenties (and now well into my thirties) I consciously worked to try and cut myself more slack and not worry to the same degree about perfection all the time.

It is not an easy or straightforward thing to overcome, as any perfectionist will likely tell you, and I doubt I’ll ever shake it (perfectionism) entirely.

That said, I have made a fair bit of progress – helped in no small part by the Japanese concept of wabi sabi, which (to quote the Wikipedia page on it) is “a world view centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection”.

Many thanks again, lovely lady. I sincerely appreciate your visits, comments, and friendship.

🖤 Autumn