Ghosts Should Not Play On Fresh Asphalt

WARNING! This is going to be a lengthy "you know you live in a small town - when"....story.

So...this morning I was finishing up the inside of this card. My dear husband announces he is taking his truck to the neighborhood service station for a scheduled oil change. I take his trip into my Bubble with the pregnant pause about taking the truck in as a not so subtle hint that he MIGHT appreciate a ride home from the service station.

The mom-pop-shop service station is in a residential area. It has actually changed from mom-pop to pop-son-shop to son-grandson-shop. (Can you tell I live in a small, corn-surrounded, town?) Well this service station - which by the way - also is a gas station...so don't even THINK about pumping your own gas there! As you drive to the pump that archaic and quintessential ding-dong of the bell cord that you drive over signals your need for assistance! A full or partial tank of gas includes an oil check and windshield scrubbing! And of course an inquiry into your day! I guess this is actually a "pay-at-the-pump" kind of gas station...as they take your charge card from you and bring you back a little receipt to sign on a wee clip board.... So TECHNICALLY you are paying at the pump.... Or when you forget your charge card because it is sitting at home on your laptop as a result of a little online shopping...they will just mail you a bill or 'catch ya next time you're here"...

ANYWAY...the pause and not so subtle hint from dear husband was to see if I would follow him to the station and bring him home. SO.....I saved him a walk of 7 blocks. Thinking about all this reminded me why I do love living in small town America! I get to talk about getting somewhere in terms of blocks or miles. I can drive to anywhere in/around town in less than 25 minutes. When I ask my sweet sissy in Atlanta 'how far away' something is the reply always comes in "time" or "no we can't go to those two places in the same day!" "They are in opposite directions!"

I love living in a place where children actually play outside and that, when the windows of my house are open, I can hear the sound of their squeals and laughter. All of this does bring me back to the card. Halloween is just around the corner. And with a neighborhood filled with children and grandchildren it should be a 'spookacular' night!

In this crazy world of horrors and threats I needed to stop and count my blessings and appreciate the little things that surround me every day - like high school age gas station attendants, watching for errant bouncing balls in the streets as I drive, kids on bicycles, actual (non-box style) hardware stores (within walking distance to my home), and all mom-pop shops/cafes that remain in business.

NOW! On to the card. These little ghosties - must have been outside playing! What is the deal with their messy faces!?! I use an embossing 'buddy'....but you would never know it looking at these little fellas! I was going to pitch them and start over but then I decided to come up with a "ghosts frolicking on a fresh asphalt road" story...???

Inside detail. Doesn't every Halloween card NEED a dangling spider?

Boo to You

~Base card - Papertrey Ink Select White

~Layer of black card stock

~Layer of orange card stock

~'Ghosties' (Papertrey Ink Friendship Jar Fall Fillers) stamped with Versamark and embossed using Ranger black embossing powder, hand cut and attached with pop up stickies (I like the shadows made by the ghosties!)

~Outside sentiment Studio G (a dollar bin find!)

~Inside Provo Craft die cuts

~Orange brad for spider to hang from gold metallic floss (floss was ToC item from sissy Gail!)

~Die cuts used for signature block and inside sentiment

Inspirations | Challenges

The Card Concept - clean and layered with color challenge

Sister Act - anything

Sunflowerfield - Halloween

Bloggers - Halloween

Fairy Tale - Halloween

Simply Create Too - Halloween or orange

Thanks for clicking by!

Here's to anything within walking distance, children's laughter wafting through kitchen windows, and 'olde school' pay-at-the-pump gas stations with tiny clipboards!

Nancy in Iowa