99 Cent Sale on Ebay!

We've combed through our craft cupboards and workbaskets in a clean-out session of forgotten and unfinished projects, resulting in our first-ever 99 Cent Sale on Ebay (starting tonight at 9:30 central time). A few familiar faces are present...


... along with a few unusual finds (like a Snow Queen crafted last Christmas). We're crossing holiday lines with a little Halloween and Christmas, and the perfect-anytime pieces like Mary Lennox from The Secret Garden. There's a little something for everyone, so feel free to click the button above and see what we've listed!

Kris Kindle, Kris Kringle, and Mischevious Krampus

As wee little Herkimer Owl delivers the last of his Halloween cards to everyone ...

...our first Christmas creations of the year appear on Ebay, include a melting candle and a grinning little devil...trust me, it's not what it sounds like. Click the vanishing Cheshire Cat on the side bar to see everything for sale this week (both Christmas and Halloweeny).

The first item I stitched and painted for the holidays was the blue Kris Kringle below. I love candles, but they don't last forever...unless, of course, they're made out of muslin and paint. The magic of needle and thread creates the illusion that St. Nick is made of melting wax...

...complete with a glittery "fuse" made from straw twine.

The Wail of All Hallow's Eve...

The Banshee Myth is traditionally a female Irish spirit from the Other World; a messenger of Death and tidings of woe.

In Irish legend, a banshee wails around a house if someone in the house is about to die. There are particular families who are believed to have Banshees attached to them, and whose cries herald the death of a member of that family. Traditionally, when a citizen of an Irish village died, a woman would sing a lament (in Irish, caoineadh, [ˈkiːnʲə] or [ˈkiːnʲuː], "caoin" meaning "to weep, to wail") at their funeral. (Wikipedia "Banshee").

Banshees are often described as dressed in white or grey, and having long, fair hair which they brush with a silver comb. Other accounts portray them dressed in colors, including green ...

Her Scottish counterpart is the bean shìth (also spelled bean-shìdh). These spirits haunt the Celtic Isles this All Hallows Eve, the ghosts of women lost forever to this world...often they are portrayed as washerwomen, deformed and hag-like as they scrub the bloody clothes of the dead.

(Wikipedia: Banshee)

Happy Halloween.

And the Winner Is....

.... Raggedy Angel! The Pumpkinman will be winging his way in your direction as soon as we have your address (if you read this before you get our email, feel free to send it along via the newsletter addy button at the side).

Thanks again to everyone for playing along ... those of you who are new visitors, I think I've linked most of you under our "People and Places" list. We'll be dropping by your blogs to say hello, and you're welcome to visit our blog anytime!

Our next giveaway will be sometime in Nov. (we'll have first and second place prizes for our Christmas giveaway) so keep your eyes open for the next sign-up post.

"Fwankenstein" ... And Some Cool Freebies

Just yesterday, we received a lovely gift from our friend Summer at Artfulife Studio -- an adorable framed paper Frankenstein, lovingly crafted by hand and framed (to see others like him, click the Artfulife link in this post ... new merchandise by Summer is coming soon!)

In the meantime, sign up for a chance to win this adorable Halloween Kitty on Summer's blog (just click this pic or the one linked to the side to visit her blog and sign up, as well as see pics of Summer's artwork).

And speaking of great giveaways....

Artist Diane Knott is giving away an awesome altered art bottle in honor of Election Day.

There's a few simple sign-up rules (a. you must vote on election day, b. you must create a post about the giveaway with a link to the blog, c. you must leave your email address or make sure your it's available on your profile). But it's worth it for a chance to own the "Key to Success" bottle! Just click the picture above to visit Diane Knott's Musings, where you can see pictures of her beautiful work for sale and sign up for a chance to win!

Sign Up Below!! .... To Win the Pumpkinman

The Pumpkinman

Do you know the Pumpkinman

The Pumpkinman?

The Pumpkinman --

Do you know the Pumpkinman

Who lives on Pumpkin Lane?

Cut from old muslin scraps and primmed to fade his colorful paint, the Pumpkinman is only six inches tall! His tiny Jack o' Lantern head is handpainted; his teeny striped-stocking legs are wire-pegged into their wooden base. Ignore his devilish grin -- he's really a harmless, friendly fellow who wouldn't hurt a fly.

Sign Up Below to be entered into the Pumpkinman's drawing ...the winner will be picked from the hat (or cup, or bowl, or whatever's handy) on October 23 (one week from now) . We'll announce the lucky name on the blog and by private email, then send him off to his new home as soon as the winner emails us the address!

Fall Giveaway

As promised, we've decided to host a little giveaway for a Halloween ornie...small and sweet, like the patriotic Liberty Kitty of last July (and in this economy downturn, who doesn't want something free?) The sign-up post will be added tomorrow, along with the wee little fellow we're featuring this fall (he's a little shy, so I won't post his picture yet).

We will probably host one more giveaway around Christmastime as well...maybe with more than one prize at stake, so there'll be a second-place winner. We'll post details sometime in November, so keep your eyes open!

Waiting for Santa

So it's a little early in the year, I know, but we're already jumping into Christmas (or at least, Willy and Jared are). While we're harvesting pumpkins from the patch, they're dreaming of a white Christmas (and Santa's yearly forest visit, complete with gifts for good little animals).

I love the fact that these little guys can hang from their tails...every possum must have that ability...

Dead Man's Chest

It's lonely down in Davy Jones' locker -- but lonelier still if you're the bones left behind to guard the treasure chest.

There's even a bit of gold still in his hand (along with an awfully menacing pirate sword).

The Making of Madame Defarge

Those evil knitting needles were the bane of Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities .... now brought to life by our own needles (only this time it's the sewing kind).

Madame Defarge's wire frame is wrapped in old muslin scraps -- a prim dress is cut and sewn from hand-dyed fabric (lots of water stains and prim marks for effect), then sewn to her body, the cuffs turned back and collar added....

Her head is needlsculpted before wool hair is needlefelted to her head. I pulled the facial threads "tight" to create the lines and wrinkles in addition to the tiny stitches that form her features....

The basket o' heads is filled with tiny needlsculpted heads. I daubed red paint at the base of each one, below the chin (the guillotine does leave a mark, right?). A deathly grey paint for skin color and wild Alpaca hair will be needlfelted above their dead expressions.

The finished product below...Madame Defarge

...and her Basket o' Heads

Halloween Parade

The kitties march forth, with Jack o' Lantern baskets ready for candy ...

These little cuties are based on a vintage card design I spotted a few years ago. I've toyed with the idea of making an "upright" kitty parade affixed to wooden stands, but thus far have stuck to the ornie tree version.