I'm late getting this up as I've been off having lovely holiday adventures - lots of photos for this month's spooky theme! But first, down to business. If you'd like to participate on your blog in my annual October's Post Spooky, it's easy. Just follow the simple steps below:



1. Pledge to Post Spooky all month long. This doesn't mean you have to post every day, just that every post you put up in the month of October has to have some sort of "spooky" element. It can be fun, silly, scary, interesting, real, fantasy, or just generally autumny. It's your call. If you have other, non-spooky news to share, just add a spooky twist to it or something spooky to the end of your post, a "P.S." (Post. Spooky.) Mwahahahahaha!

2. Add the fun button shown above to your sidebar linking back to this post so that other people can join in the fun and can find the other Post Spooky participants that will be listed and linked all October long in my sidebar under the button.

3. Once you've added the button, let me know so I can add your name to the participant list.

That's it!

I'll be Posting Spooky both here and over on Beach Treasure through October and into the first week of November to include Dia de Los Muertos celebrants.

For several years I've been trying to figure out how to attend this show. Every year family commitments, usually football, intercepted any plans. So imagine my excitement when I discovered the team had graciously scheduled a bye week on the date of the event this year! I'm finally going to Halloween and Vine!!! Be sure to click on the link and check out all the wonderful artists who will be attending.

Along with the show, I'll be visiting my old Sonoma County stomping grounds. I'm planning to do some serious dining, as only Sonoma County can provide. Sourdough bread, fresh catches from the shore, specially prepared vegetables, a glass or two of the fruit from the many Sonoma vines, perhaps a trip to one of the many Gravenstein apple farms.

Almost time to pack my suitcase! Note to self - leave room in the car for new art work, a few bottles of wine, and a box of apples.

I stumbled on this photo tonight, thought it was something I'd already posted but apparently I just slipped it into drafts and forgot about it. This giant fork and spoon was a thrift find this summer. The book is in the photo for size comparison. Aren't they awesomely over the top!? As soon as I get the rest of my kitchen painted, they're going up on the wall.

My mom sent me a package yesterday. There was a cute little Halloween tree inside, which I forgot to snap a photo of.... another day perhaps. But before I opened it up, I couldn't help but admire the artistic collage design made by the many stamps on the outside of the box. (click on the images to get a full screen view)






And before I forget - Enjoy the Autumn Equinox everyone! Have a very blessed Mabon.

Still Life with Basket of Apples - Paul Cézanne

A little refashioning going on. And my first gift making of the season as well.


I found this tee at the thrift store the other day when they were having a bag sale. It didn't fit anyone I knew, not to mention it had a really silly Bible verse on the back side of the shirt. (There are some lovely Bible verses, but this wasn't one of them). But this side was perfect for a certain princess in our family. So I cut the tee up.


And made this! I'm thinking it will be a great addition to a bower full of pillows in a princess' bedroom. I like how it's black and pink - a little frou frou but not over the top.

"I don't want any trouble. I just wanna be alone and quiet in a room with a chair and a fireplace and a tea cozy. I don't even know what a tea cozy is, but I want one." - Buffy Summers

I would have posted this last night but my cable internet server has decided to pull down the shades and turn off the lights every night. GRRRRR. Might be able to get it fixed finally today, knock on wood. But at least it's working right now. Knock again.

I finally got some studio time and finished the tea cozy I started last week.

It's a pattern I adapted from a tea cozy my mom bought me long ago at a craft sale. I like it because it doesn't have to be taken off the tea pot to pour like this type of cozy. I've never used that type but I also wonder if it keeps the tea hot as long as there's no bottom, and I wonder if there's a steam issue that requires airing or washing after use because the spout is covered.

It also doesn't have to be a perfect fit nor gathered and tied like this type of cozy. Although this type works well, they used them at the tea room, it seemed a bit fussy to get on and off.

There are other variations - quilted, sewn, felted, crocheted and knitted. All have their pluses and minuses I suppose. The main problem I've seen with many is that they have to be fitted to a specific size and shape. Still, I can see how one could become intrigued enough to try out different kinds. Me, I just like this one and since it works well, I'm sticking with it for my first efforts to make them myself.


Here's a peek at the inside fabric. Theoretically it could be used in reverse as well, just the seams would flare out around the bottom with the orange side out. This size fits a medium to large tea pot. I'm going to have to figure out how to scale it down if I want to make a cozy for my smaller tea pots. So far I don't have a cozy for them, I just drink the tea a bit faster.


I moved on to another project, sewing up some small rips along the seams in these lovely stretch velvet gloves I found at the thrift shop. Only took about fifteen minutes and now they're ready to use. I thought of embellishing them but they'll be useful with more outfits just the way they are.


If I was more organized, I woulda created a spooky little vignette and had a nice background. But I was all about getting things done, not getting distracted last night. But one more photo, 'cuz I thought myself clever and added a little spider to the elastic gather. EEEKK!

Autumn is in the air. I can feel it.




The ghosts are getting restless.




Wee mice and busy harvest gnomes are hard at work gathering seeds and nuts.




Jacks both silly and spooky are awakening in the heart of sleeping orange squash.




Witches and dark fae can be heard swooshing past in the windy night.

I had hoped to get a head start on autumn activities, but summer, she was a full one this year. I'm running, skipping, flying and pedaling to catch up.

I'd hoped to have an autumn holidays swap, similar to the winter holiday swap I hosted last year. It seems rather late for it, I think I've already missed most of the larger swaps. Honestly, I don't know, I've been too busy to even check.

BUT....

anyone up for something easy, something fast, something with 80% less saturated stress and 90% more fun!?

I'm proposing the FAST FALL FAERY SWAP!

You could add even more F words if you wanted. (F words - nope, not gonna go there) Words like FLAT, FLITTER, FLUTTER, FRIGHTENING, FRIENDLY, FRAMED, FORAGING, FLAPPING, FANGS, FOREST....

You get the idea.

Here's what I propose. Something that's both seasonal and magical. Autumn Faeries, Foraging Gnomes, Sparkly Skeletals.... anything that's small, easy to ship (hence the FLAT idea might be a good plan) and takes one relaxing stretch to create. One afternoon with a pot of tea in the studio. Or one evening on the couch while watching the new fall television shows. It can be something to display in our homes or perhaps wear. A little artist's trading card or a collaged faery, a tiny Fimo gnome, a beaded witch.

I know, I know. I've been gone. I doubt I have a handful of blog readers left, much left a handful of potential swappers. But I'm throwing the idea out there. It would be fun.

Any takers?

I had an unplanned blogging hiatus over the last of the summer and yet there was so much to blog about, not the least of it all our faery adventures. I've been posting about Faerieworlds over on Beach Treasure and hopefully you've popped over there to catch all the amazing photos of faeries of all personas and persuasions. All of the posts could just have easily been blogged about here, so filled with art, beauty and creativity. But I put them up there, am still putting them up (I still have another day and a half left to still post about), it seemed the way to go.

I've saved out a few pics to post here, so I can share the links to these lovely artist's websites. You might want to stop here, grab a snack and a beverage, so you can relax and visit at a leisurely pace.


This is my friend Patricia Hedegaard, a dollmaker extrordinaire from up in Washington state. Here she is cuddling a few of her "naked" creations. She had lots of faeries in her booth but she was working on these Halloween folk while vending and visiting and enjoying the festival. Now that's the way to multitask! Here is her website and here is her Etsy link.


Here is silly Ammie. I call her Apple, which fits her perfectly as she's refreshing, sweet, and just the perfect amount of tart. She makes beautiful wands, quills, handmade papers, books and journals. Visit here here. I bought a gorgeous wand from her this year that I've thought of ever since I saw it at last year's festival.


Beautiful Katie Lennon dancing, one of her many talents. She's also a wonderful artist. I bought a small woodcut print of a crow (one of our shared fascinations) from her last year and this year I bought a tank top with another of her wood cuts on it, a portrait of Edgar Allen Poe. (I've worn it several times already Katie and it's really soft and a nice fit - good choice of clothing companies!) Fly on over to her website.


I don't know these vendors but I have a feeling it would be easy to befriend them, I loved their dark romance style. Did you catch the photo I took of one of the vendors reading to Joli. So sweet. These are some fun and quirky souls. I didn't have time to choose anything from their booth at the festival but I'm planning to saunter on over to their website and purchase me something alluring some dreary evening when I need a pick me up.


This is, of course, our very own Victoria, posing here with my little skelly friend. He looks very cosy, doesn't he. What I might not have mentioned is that she's a budding fashion designer. Well, maybe I've mentioned it once or twice. But have I ever remembered to share a link to her design page with you?


Our friend Matt's pirate booth looked incredible. The flag was lit up at night as well. Well, when the electricity was working it was lit up. I love the crisp colorful FUN of his artwork. Definitely check it out here. Arrrrrgh!


For two years I've resisted being a silly fan but this year I finally broke down and asked if he'd mind posing for a photograph. Why deny it. I'm totally a silly fan of the amazing Brian Froud. I'm actually a fan of the entire Froud family. I hope soon to be able to participate in one of Wendy Froud's doll workshops. I just keep missing the opportunity. Brian and Wendy, and their son Toby, are all not only incredibly talented artists, they are also all very genuinely lovely people. You could get lost in their World of Froud website for hours, days... well, it is the faerie realm. And you know what happens to time when you wander there.

Remember, more Faerieworlds photos up on Beach Treasure.

I went to the local thrift store today. It's been a while since I've shared treasure hunting pics with you so I thought I'd share today's finds.

I found this hand sewn and embroidered orange cloth. It looks sorta peachy in this photo but it's really more of an autumn orange. The rocks atop it were in a box of goodies my mom sent to me recently. I also found the beautiful green hor d'oeuvres dish. It's a rather expensive European company but it has two small chips on the edge so I got it for 85 cents. Yes, I know, why 85 cents? Why not 75 cents? or maybe one dollar? LOL. I liked the unusual long length, it seems a nice way to display something delicious.


I paid $3 for this miniature dressmaker's form. I'm planning on embellishing it with different outfits - maybe a witch's dress this autumn, a snowy faery for the winter holidays, and so on. And it's pretty enough as it is for now.

I haven't spoken much about refashioning and wardrobe issues lately, but I'm still spending time with my clothes. Over the summer it was all about making outfits for Faerieworlds. And now, having lost several sizes, I'm trying to go through and fine tune my wardrobe both for fit and design. I'm all about making sure everything in my drawers and closets are about who I am NOW and not who I was last year or ten years ago.

Of course who I am now is not your run of the mill "mom wear" type of dresser. I'm a bit .... odder. And of course an important part of being odd is having lots of fantastically odd hats. I've found a number of great hats over the summer and today I found two more! Now I just need it to be cold enough to wear them.


Okay, let's face it, this is NOT a good photo of me OR of the hat. But trust me, it's a cute hat. It's black felted wool with a soft gold trim. It's much larger than it looks in the pic.


It's hard to take photos of yourself in hats. This one is a crinkly black velvet number. Crushable and bendable. I love it.


I won't force you to look at photos of the rest of my finds one at a time. Here's the whole pile of it, thirteen pieces. One of the nice things about shopping used is that it frees one up to buy unusual items that you might not be willing to buy new, and more expensive items you can't afford new. I also tend to buy more "basic pieces" when I buy used. So I found myself some nice tanks (a lot of my old tanks are now too big to wear underneath anything, where they belong). I bought one oversized shirt simply for the beautiful batik fabric - everything orange was half price and so I got somewhere between a half and a full yard of orange batik for $1. I also bought two dresses that were oversized because, for $3, I thought they'd be fun to go completely wild with them, cut them up, reduce them, turn them into tops or skirts or who know what. The appeal was they were gorgeous natural fabrics. Also two cute jackety wrap thingies, two pair of capris, a striped boys tee shirt (orange and black, can't resist), that pretty orange and black piece in the front is a nice dress and...... I think that's it.

More wardrobe news, I sorted my skirts today because I knew they didn't all fit anymore. I was hoping to get rid of more than I actually did, but I'm happy enough to have weeded out a decent sized stack. I'm going to offer a lot of the sorted out skirts to the mommy-to-be of my latest grandaughter-to-be. She could wear some of the floaty skirts with a nice long sleeved tee over her expanding belly - I think it would be really cute! I set a couple of my favorite skirts aside to attempt to resize them. A few more went into the costume supply box. And three are in a Maybe stack.

I also scored on a big bag of books - you can check out the titles over on Beach Treasure.