Spirits of Halloween Past

I love the holidays and the fact that Halloween comes up first gets my creative fires burning bright. I love the "anything goes" aspect of making things for Halloween and so, in my usual style, I try lots of different things for my house and also to sell on Ebay on Etsy, like the wide banner and paintings above. This year I plan to do a whole series of Shakespeare quote Halloween paintings or banners. And Edgar Allan Poe, that wonderfully creepy author. I wonder if Stephen King will reach that icon status in the next century?




And sometimes I get an idea in my head and I just have to go for it! In this case it was a Halloween birdhouse with bright yellow and black. Love this! I'll probably do a few more!



I love painting these vintage style Jack o' Lanterns and I still have this set for my home decor. I love the bright combo of colors so much I used them for my banners.




And boy, do I love painting these banners. They are bright and colorful and fun! As you can see, a group of them hanging on my porch are traffic stoppers. I've painted and sold dozens of these Halloween flags and plan to do many many more.


I also like the vintage vibe of white Jack O' Lanterns. Made from muslin then stuffed and painted and embellished to a fare thee well, each year I make and sell lots of these fun pumpkins.
I sketched an idea for candlestick JOLs and this year I'll be trying out some new configurations of these fun guys. The stacked set on the left is over 4 foot tall!



In the last couple of years I have discovered paper mache and I really love the possibilities for making cool Halloween characters. My roly-poly witch sisters came out so well, with such expressive faces, that I'll be making more of them this year. I started using paper mache for doll heads and for lots of Santa and snowman figures, too, so paper mache is my new craft love. I've got a group of figures going right now, it will be interesting to see their personalities take shape!




I've finished some of these witches and others are still in process. Halloween is coming and it's not too early to plan and sketch and design some fun new projects. I'll be posting some of those projects right here, so check back again, won't you?

Angel doll for Hospice

I've been busy this week making this pretty angel doll for a Lovejoy Hospice fundraising auction. I upstyled my sitting angel doll into this standing beauty, and I truly love the way she came out! Thanks to my sister and hubs, who purchased this doll and are donating it to the auction for the Grants Pass, Oregon event. She is my own original design and is my doll #937 . She is signed and dated.

Her sweet face is paper mache, handpainted. And her hair is imported Italian mohair in a fat bun. I added a pretty beaded halo which is not shown in the pics. Her bodice is heavily embellished with my fabric and ribbon rosettes and crocheted flowers, plus buttons, beads, lace, charms and ribbon ruffles. I really went to town on the trims and I loved it! She stands nicely at 19" and her full skirt is moire (wood grain) satin. Her sleeves are ruffled lace and her hands and arms are wired.

Her quilted muslin wings are wired and span 10" across by 15" long. Very renaissance looking! The pleat on the back of her dress is centered with a satin ribbon rosette. She holds miniature book wreaths from Christy's Creative Chaos at http://christylovespaper.blogspot.com/
These are so cool! Christy centered them with discs saying "Love" and "Joy." This angel also comes with a wired muslin banner which says "Peace."

With her wired arms and hands she is poseable and can hold small objects. Here she shows off her pretty ruffled chemise under her dress.
And just to add to the fun, I included one of my red velvet Christmas stockings and an embellished twig wreath. We're hoping she raises some great funding for the Hospice and she was so much fun to make I am going to make another for my Etsy shop! I'm also posting about her on my craft blog, Make the Best of Things, where I'll be joining some weekly blog parties. Come visit!