First Day Of Fall

*sits down at the table, looks out the window to see the rain falling. First day of fall wouldn't be the same if it wasn't raining. The scent of fall blows in the window....the rain blows in with it soaking my couch...I guess I should shut that....well...that was an enjoyable lead up to today's newest post. Guess I better just get my coffee ready for the latest Cards Over Coffee*

Today marks the official first day of fall, though my fall always starts when September does. As you saw in my last post, it was already Pumpkin Spice and football season, now its the countdown to Halloween and Thanksgiving. Possibly my thoughts have already turned to my favorite holiday Christmas, but, I can feel your glares when you read that part so I won't mention that part yet.

The color of the leaves here have begun to change here and have been for about a week.

They still have a ways to go before they reach their full color, but I am in no hurry to see that still.

When the trees do reach their full color, my wife and I usually drive around and try to take some amazing pictures.

*takes a sip, wonders if the rain has slowed down some to re-open the windows. Walks over, opens window, wind blows rain in on me, nope not quite time yet*

When the trees are full in color, it's looks like a piece of art. Something you just want to paint. Which is what my wife and I recently attempted.

Of course, she is more like Michelangelo and I am more like a preschooler looking for a participation ribbon.

Originally I was going to do a fall picture, but to me nothing says cooler weather in the fall like coffee. Are you at all surprised?

 

So the beginning of the coffee cup painting.

And then the 4 year old me messing up the cup

So I had to fix it the only way I knew how.

And the final piece once I got it together.

Not great, but not my worse. Maybe I will get a white ribbon this time.

Then came my wife's fall painting,

 

Like I said earlier, she earns a blue ribbon every time.

Side by side, there is no comparison.

*takes a sip before moving onto some cards for this post*

It took me a lot of years before I started to appreciate cards with artistic twists. I was always pro photography, but in the past year I have reached the point where some art cards have reached equal status.

A lot of those have come from the 90's, my favorite collecting era.

First it started out with adding some Fleer Metal Universe and then it expanded to other inserts. One of those inserts were these pretty cool 1996-1997 Stadium Club Mega Heroes cards I grabbed a couple of on eBay.

This is the one that caught my attention the most first, THE BEAST Joe Smith with a beast behind him. Card look even more amazing in person.

The other I added was of Charles Oakley who is known as Oak and appears to be guarding a oak tree.

Both cards are made with foil etching and I can't find the odds on these. The baseball version of this insert fell 1:48 odds.

*takes a sip before finishing up today's 2 hour long post*

Fall has begun, there is no turning back to summer at this point. But, I have come to realize that I like September thru December more than I used to. I guess as I age I begin to appreciate things I never did before such as the art cards. If only I could art myself then it would be the best of all worlds. It still makes me happy to try though just like that preschooler who does their first finger painting picture to bring home to their parents.

Hope everyone has a great first day of fall and tell me some of your favorite things to do in the fall or your favorite art cards or even tell me if you paint in your spare time.