Introducing the Whimsy Pumpkin Gals...

What a great summer we had in Victoria! The weather was spectacular and I got to spend a fair amount of time in one of my favourite places... the beach.

Hubby and I also had a lovely week up in the Okanogan (Canada's wine country in the interior of British Columbia) sampling all the wines and having a very delicious experience in the five star restaurants attached to the wineries.

In September, we ducked down south of the border to Portland for a stay at the Kennedy School hotel for few days and then over the Oregon shore visiting Cannon Beach, Seaside and Fort Stevens.  How lovely it is at Fort Stevens with its miles and miles of white sand. The drive back up through Washington state is one that I always enjoy. Yep it was a good summer all around.

I was anxious to get home... I missed messing around in my art room and I had a big box of goodies from Blick that I brought back with me that I could hardly wait to get into.  Nothing like a couple of weeks away from creating (and a trip to the art store) to get my juices going again.  And.. with Halloween around the corner, the idea for the Pumpkin Gals popped into my head one morning while I was at the pool (I do my version of water aerobics every morning for an hour or so at the crack of dawn).  What fun it has been coming up with these two beauties!

I chuckle every time I look at them... and now that they are finished I am a bit sad... the juice, the fun is always in the getting ready to create phase and in the creating itself!!

Now I just know you are going to ask...what are they made of?  It's polymer clay sculpted over very large glass Christmas bulbs.  The bat and the cat are also made of polymer clay. The bat is attached to a pipe cleaner so that it moves when you touch it.  The cat just lounges around and looks smugly cool!  They are free standing but can also be hung on a Halloween tree or in a window.  I just chuckle every time I look at those false eyelashes!

Halloween is just around the corner... what are you going to create???

Till next time, have an artsy week,
Sharon

A Be-Witched Tutorial

When I was a kid, I loved Halloween.  The thought of dressing up and going out "after dark" with my neighborhood friends to gather candy from the families in our neighborhood was just down right exciting.  The moment that the calendar slipped into October, I started planning my outfit!!

This year, the "magic spookiness" of Halloween and the fun of "dressing up" wandered over to touch my imagination again.  But first a little background....

This school year, I have volunteered to be the school crossing guard twice a day for the elementary school close to our home.  The street is a dangerous spot for little ones.  Too many cars speed along it.  Some drivers seem to not pay any attention to the posted school zone speed restrictions.  Other drivers are so wrapped up chatting on their cell phones while driving (even though it is illegal to do so in British Columbia) that they even go through the red light!

Because we have so much rain in the winter (and it can become so downright miserable some days that I threaten to pack up and move to Arizona on the next available flight... giggle...), our little school has had a hard time attracting anyone to man the light and cross walk at the school during the winter months.  So much so that the school has not had a crossing guard for over two and a half years.

Of course I only found out about this fact when chatting with the woman in charge of crossing guards for our district.  If I felt so strongly about it she said, perhaps I should volunteer to take it over! Well there was such a tug on my heart strings and seeing that I had practically talked myself into it anyway, I decided that in spite of the arthritis that has taken up residence in my body and does not like rainy weather one little bit, I'd do it.  After all, it is on my way home from the pool where I swim each morning.

Fortunately, living on the wet coast, I've got great rain gear and over the past couple of weeks doing this discovered that the trick to standing out in rainy weather is to dress in layers and as warmly as one can under all that outer gear.  Hoodies are great under a jacket.  Rain jackets with wide hood brims that shield the rain from dripping onto your face and into your eyes really work. Two way zippers in jackets are great! Ski underwear makes a difference.  Rain pants keep you dry.  The rain may be pelting down in sheets yet I am as snug as a bug in a rug!!  If it starts to pelt down hard, I can use an umbrella between trips of escorting kids across the street. Who would have thought I would enjoy this... not me for sure!!  BUT...

BOY it is worth it!  Parents are so appreciative and friendly.  Many of them have expressed how grateful they are to have someone there now even though they may walk their kids to school.  Some of parents of older kids who walk to school by themselves have expressed how relieved they are to have someone looking out after their son or daughter.

Many of the children always remember to say thank you.  I have received little "thank you" gifts from the younger tykes like a candy, chocolate bar, homemade cards, box of raisins, little drawings.  They are so proud when they present their special little gift to me.  It melts my heart.  Every day I am blessed with smiles or laughs from some of their "worldly" observations or remarks!!

Of course, since the calendar flipped to October, the "chat on the street" has all been about "Whatcha gonna be on Halloween?"  Angels, princesses, vampires, zombies, Red Riding Hood, Elvis, Darth Vader, a baby and  peanut butter (that should be an interesting costume!) are just some of the ideas being tossed around.  I am keeping "mum" about my costume... even though some of them are begging me to tell them!

So, if you promise not to tell them, here's a peek at one part of my costume... and how to make one for yourself in just a couple of fun, creative hours...

 Front Close Up

 Batty Witch Hat

 Back of Hat

What you need to make your own witches hat:

3 large pieces of black poster board
black polymer clay (optional)
small piece of black boa (optional)
fish line (optional)
Modge Podge or glue
Glue gun
1 yard of netting in the colour of your choice
a bunch of black flowers
5 or 6 large silk leaves
black poster paint
2-1/2 inch wide black wired ribbon
sparkly pipe cleaners
black shoe laces
thread in colour of netting
bat print out
glue gun

To make the hat. 

This video on uTube will show you how to make a witches hat better than I could describe it.  It's easy and doesn't take long.  The only thing I would change is to double the brims (make two instead of one and glue them together) to strengthen the brim up.  Even though the flowers and ribbon are not heavy, they will weigh it down.

Once your hat is finished and dry, you are ready to start adding the embellishments,  Drape the netting over the top of the hat.  Using a needle and thread, loosely gather it together at the bottom of the netting and baste it loosely with large stitches all around the brim of the hat. Tighten it up so that it fits around wide part of the hat at the bottom. Hot glue it in place to the brim.

Paint the large silk leaves black.  When dry, hot glue them in place to the brim in the front.  Save one or two leaves for the back of the hat.

Make a large bow (click for a good tutorial on uTube if you need to find out how) for the front of your hat.  Hot glue it in place on the brim and close to the top part of the hat.

Cut down the flowers and hot glue randomly to the front of the hat burying them in the bow.

Click on the bat print out in the instructions above to go to a website where you can get a paper bat print out.

Print out as many paper bats from the template as you would like on your hat.  Cut them out.  Trace the cut out on left over poster board and cut out more bats.  Place a pipe cleaner on one of the backs (hot glue it).  Modge Podge (or glue) the bat cut outs to the front.  Staple over the now hidden pipe cleaner for good measure!  Twist the pipe cleaner in a random shape and hot glue to the hat.

Repeat this same sequence for the back of the hat with any left-overs of ribbon, leaves, bats, etc...

*OTHER IDEAS*

If you have some black boa "furry stuff", you could spice these bats up once you have them cut out by adding a little piece in the middle of the bat for the body, glue some tiny button eyes to the boa.  You can then hot glue these furry little bats to the bow.

Additionally you could make some bats out of black polymer clay to nestle in the bow (just hot glue them in) or for your Halloween window.  Using the print out as a template, cut out bats from conditioned polymer clay. Bake as per manufacturer's instructions (about 15 minutes in a 275 degree oven). If you are going to add them to your window, just poke a tiny hole in the middle of the bat's wing (at the top) before curing your clay.  When cool,  finish the bats with the boa and tiny eyes as above.  String fish line through the top of the bat wing and hang in your window.

Finishing Your Hat

Poke two holes in the top of the brim (one on each side) to add the shoe strings.  Thread them through the holes and tie a knot. These will help keep the hat on your head when tied in a bow beneath your chin.  You're done.  Now try on your creation and listen to the oohs and ahhs from friends and family!! 

Enjoy!!  Happy Be-Witching on Halloween,

Sharon




 

Haunted Halloween House... and a Fun, Ghostly Tale

Happy Halloween everyone!  This week I have a fun, ghost story from the Pacific Northwest by one of my favourite "storytellers" Margaret Read McDonald AND a preview photo of the "Haunted Halloween House" I made in polymer clay and set into a frame.

What a lot of fun it was making this house!  Our friends, Scott and Sandy, are great Halloween fans and go all out with decorating their yard.  It was a source of inspiration for me when putting this polymer clay house with its embellishments together.  

According to hubby, the pumpkins look downright REAL and he loves the bats swooping across the sky.  I was a little disappointed in the moon... UNTIL... I turned the lights off.  Made from "glow in the dark" clay, I was amazed at how long you could see the moon in the dark!  The windows are made from a transparency with alcohol ink dribbled on it and then backed with silver paper.  The rough frame was made from paper mache clay and then painted with metallic paints.

Of course, every haunted house deserves a spooky ghost story to go along with it.  With that in mind, here is a wonderful "true" short tale from the Pacific Northwest.

The Femme Fatale of Rosario Resort

Orcas Island, Washington

Rosario Resort on Orcas Island occupies the former mansion of Robert Moran. In 1939 the mansion changed owners and a flamboyant lady by the name of Alice Rheem took residence. Rumour has it that her husband bought the remote property as a useful place to ensconce Alice and her drinking habit. She became a familiar figure on the island, riding around on a motor scooter, often after one drink too many, sometimes dressed only in her red nightgown. And she was known to have a proclivity for handsome young soldiers, bringing them back to the mansion whenever her husband was away. Alice eventually died in the mansion, supposedly a victim of too much drink. But she seems not to have left quite yet.

As recently as 1986 Alice was causing havoc. A tired housekeeping employee bedded down in an empty room in the mansion one night rather than drive home. Just as she was dropping off to sleep, she noticed a shadow pass across the wall. Turning on the light, she saw nothing. But the shadow moved again and something touched her hand. She waited and seeing nothing was about to trun off the light and go back to bed when she felt fingers caressing her hand. The girl bolted from the hotel, tossing the key to the desk clerk. "There's something in that room!" He shrugged, put the key back on the hook, and noticed that it was midnight.

As it happened, a trio of entertainers had been staying in the room next to her that night. They complained as they dropped off their key in the morning. "How long will that woman be staying next to us?" The desk clerk assured them that she had already left at midnight, the night before. But the entertainers had been kept awake all night, they said, by her carousing. Just before midnight they'd seen the light under the door go on and off three times. then the bed began to creak and the moans of passionate lovemaking started up. they were kept awake all night. The key to the room still hung on its hook and the desk clerk hadn't given it to anyone else. The hotel staff suspect that Alice was at work.

From the book "Ghost Stories of the Pacific Northwest" by Margaret Read McDonald
(Source: Seattle Weekly writer Kathryn Robinson)

Happy Halloween!  Have fun and stay safe...

Sharon

P.S.   I decided to extend the time to get the  "Halloween Hilda" ATC Tutorial  under Current Free Trade Downloads to November 5.  If you would like this ATC tutorial package, Get it NOW as it will be retired on Nov. 5 and no longer available!!  Click on Current Free Trade Downloads link under the header at the top of this page to read how you can get this tutorial.

Halloween Hilda - FREE ATC Download

Hi Everyone...

Well, round two of my cold has shown up.  Just when I thought I had it beat, it has come back with a vengence!!  Tissues are flying everywhere and all I want to do is SLEEP!!  But no cold will stop me from sending a little gift your way....

Halloween Hilda 

the #2 ATC in the Instant 3D Hilda Series 

Here's the sample ATC I made:

The package comes with a ready to print sheet of all the pieces to cut out and put together  plus four embellishments, two bats and two word art banners, "Happy Hallowe'en" and "BOO Day".  Not to worry, detailled instructions on how to put it all together plus a supply list are included.
To find out how to get this fun, fun, fun Halloween ATC, click here.

Well, back to my bed for another round of sleep... if I am a little bit slower than usual getting this Hilda ATC tutorial package out to you, I'm sure you'll understand!  I did want you to have it before BOO season is in full swing.

Have a great week,

Sharon

A Week's Worth of Free Images - DAY 7

Here we are at Day 7... my this week went by quickly!  Hope you have enjoyed all the Halloween images this week.

Check back tomorrow when I will be posting photos of my entries that were accepted into the Sidney Fine Arts Show which began this week in Sidney-by-the-Sea, B.C. and my absolute delight discovering my "babies" at the Artists Reception yesterday.

Here's that so "ugly she's cute" witch again from Day 1... LOL!  See you tomorrow!

Right click to download image.

Cheers,
Sharon

A Week's Worth of Free Images - DAY 6

SPOOKY!  I loved dressing up as a witch when I was a kid... it sure made my mom happy... that was one easy costume! I always insisted on being the Good Witch... half the time I would give my candy away to little kids we met along the way who didn't have very much in their bags... and then cry when I got home because I hardly had any candy left and my siblings had lots.  My mother, bless her, always gave me 1/2 the pan of rice cripy squares, which I adored and my siblings had to share the rest.  Hmmm... was there a secret method to my generosity after all??

Right click to download the image.

One day to go...

Cheers,
Sharon

A Week's Worth of Free Images - DAY 5

Although I can't put my finger on it, I have always found this very old vintage image to be somewhat fascinating... even though it sends chills up my back.  I am not into gargoyles or skeletons... they have scared me since I was a little kid.!
I've included it just to show how brave I am *GRIN* (it's the 13th today!... who me, superstitious???) and for those of you who like this type of Halloween image.

Right click to save to your computer.

Cheers,
Sharon

A Week's Worth of Free Images - DAY 4

Now here's a little cutie on Day 4 who would just love to be included on a Halloween "inchie" or "Twinchie" you could trade with a friend!

Right click to save to your computer.  Remember these images are for your personal use only.

Hope you are enjoying these images and having fun creating some neat Halloween art this week.

Cheers,
Sharon

A Week's Worth of Free Images - DAY 3

Happy Turkey Day to all my Canadian readers!!  I can hardly wait for the turkey sandwiches... what about you??? LOL

Here's your image for today.  Now these must be Scottish witches!  Look at that pumpkin head in a kilt (showing off his cute knees) playing the fiddle!  I wonder if he is trying to romance one of those beauties round the cauldron?

Right click on the image to save to your computer.

Cheers,
Sharon

A Week's Worth of Free Images - DAY 2

Here's your image for today... a friendly witch!  This would make a sweet image for a Halloween party invitiation or a postcard to a friend.

Just right click to save to your computer.

Cheers,
Sharon

A Week's Worth of Free Images

Hi everyone!  This week I have been down with a very bad cold with lots of chest congestion!  I am on the mend now but decided to do this week what I had planned for next week... to post seven days of Halloween images for you to play with and enjoy. 

As best I can determine, all are in the public domain and can be used in your artwork.  But please, do not sell or use these images for other purposes (i.e. collage sheets, CD's, collections, etc.).  That's a no-no!!! GRIN

Here's how it works.  Every day this week, a new image will appear.  All you need to do is drop by my blog each day to pick up that day's image and have fun creating some funky Halloween art! 

So let's start with one of my favourites... just right click to copy it to your computer. 

DAY 1

Drop by tomorrow for a new image and hey... tell your friends!

Cheers,

Sharon

A Halloween "Twinchie Art" Tale

Last week, after making my first twinchies (and thanks to Debbie House, group mom of Inchies 1 x 1 for giving me the "how to" instructions because I didn't have a clue starting out), I woke up in the middle of the night wondering if any of my artist buddies in the group where I hang out the most. The Latest Trends in Mixed Media had ever made twinchies. Well I asked and one thing led to another and the Halloween Twinchie Challenge Lottery was born.

The initial challenge for this lottery was to make 31 Twinchies (either digital or handmade) and mount them on a backing board. On Halloween, one name from all those who sign up and play will be drawn. They will be declared the winner of all 31 Twinchies! Imagine what a cool collage could be made with that many twinchies!

The enthusiasm for this challenge was contagious. Artists started loading up their "twinchies" to the designated photo album before the day was out! Some couldn't stop at just one or two and loaded four, five and even more! They caught the Twinchie bug and now have "Twinchie-itis". Literally overnight, 31 twinchies were uploaded to our group photo album by these Twinchie-ites! LOL More artists wanted to play so it has been decided that now we will go for 62 twinchies and draw two names ... one for each lot of 31 twinchies!

I am absolutely blown away by the fun and creativity they are displaying with this challenge! Never in my wildest dreams had I anticipated such an outpouring of art in such a short period of time. And the art being uploaded... well it is something else indeed! You have to see it to believe it... it is absolutely fantastic. And that's when the idea of writing a short story that tells a small Halloween tale through their art popped into my head in the wee small hours of the morning...

An Artsy Fartsy Hallowe'en Tale

Once upon a time there were two witches. Sisters they were. Twins in fact.

Art by Marilyn Goodman

They lived in an old, eerie mansion called Immortality
with resident ghosts from Hallowe'en Past and spider
webs draped decoratively about in every room

Art by Cindy Powell

The mansion is situated on

the wrong side of the tracks

in a secret hideaway place
in a small town

near YOU!

Now some people say

Art by Linda Gibbons

to spook all the misbehaving children and grownups in town.

Anybody of any importance knows that the sisters Grim have

Art by Peggy Gato

in the basement with the pickles and hiding
behind the secret trap doors in all the closets.

Now, if you should accidently walk by the mansion on dark, rainy October nights, you can hear them rattling their chains when the ghosts come out to wander about the dusty, spider webbed rooms and haunt the dark, foreboding stairwells of the mansion. You will know you have discovered this secret hideaway place because the hair on your neck will stand straight right up and your body will shiver with goosebumps!

Art by Cindy Powell

Listen carefully as you are out for your evening stroll.
Owls hoot eerie warnings should a stranger get
too close to secret hideaways.

Art by Cynthia (Cyn) Stenquist

Everyone knows that those same owls hoot the daily news, events
and happenings to those creatures of the night responsible for planning
frightful acts of wickedness towards those humans who lie, cheat or steal.

Art by Linda Gibbons

Sometimes walking down a dark alley in town,
a ghost will jump out into your path and yell

Art by Gale Heritage

It's just their way of having fun when they
are bored. In September and October they are
probably getting some practice in for Hallowe-en night.

But I can tell you for certain...
many a matrons hair in town has turned
white overnight from the ghastly fright.

This year, the sisters Grim noticed that the Witch industry was having a difficult time hiring properly trained witches with the right witchy credentials. Well, they certainly could not have THAT. It would ruin all witches reputations. They decided this was the perfect time to recruit some new witch trainees and teach them how to be proper witches. To attract new customers, they put this ad in their local paper.

Art by Sharon House

The ad was very successful. Applications poured in by the droves for Witchcraft 101. The sisters Grim picked 10 lucky applicants, who each received a magic flying broom, personalized with their witchy name, on their first day of classes.

Flight training began in earnest a few weeks ago. Each night since, the sisters Grim have a cackle session in their living room. They close all the curtains, light a candle and sitting in a shadowy room, laugh until they piddle in their witchy britches about the hilarious take off and landing attempts of the new trainees in flight training! The sisters Grim have had to make extra batches of "Airhead" salve for the trainees to put on their bruises and scrapes.

Making magical brews, cures and potions and instructions on how to properly stir the cauldron while reciting secret spells began this week. The course, Magic 101, will begin next week. Lessons in brewing poisons to administer to nasty folks who cross their path will begin the week after next. How to boil and season bad little children and misbehaving adults will be covered as well before the annual bewitching day arrives! The Grim sisters are determined that these new witches will be well prepared to deal with anything that crosses their path.

Art by Lynn Stevens

Art by Bevlea Ross

At the end of their training, just in time for Halloween this year,
each witch will receive this special appointment diploma and
be invited to join "The United Witches Union"

Art by Lynn Stevens

So this October 31

Art by Carolyn Summer

Give generously of candy to all those who come to your doorway on Halloween night. Be kind, generous and giving to all those you meet this month. If you don't, you'll be sorry. The witches, goblins, ghosts, hissing cats, hooting owls, et cetera will be out in force to GET YOU.

Trick or Treat?

Art by Linda Gibbons

You decide.

THE END

Thanks to all the member artists in The Latest Trends in Mixed Media Art group who are participating in this fun lottery. They graciously gave me permission to showcase their "twinchie" art as part of this Halloween story!

Hope you have enjoyed this small sampling of "tasty" Halloween Twinchie Art. Drop by the Latest Trends to see more and/or participate in the lottery by joining the group.

If you are looking for an information rich art group to join, I can highly recommend the Latest Trends. I've been a member since 2007 when it first began and have watched it grow to over 900 members in just two years. And here's why... members enjoy all the free workshops, swaps, monthly art techniques and more offered in a warm, supportive, encouraging and friendly atmosphere. Cindy Powell, our group "mom", author, designer and "artist extraordinaire" does a fantastic job of entertaining us each month with a myriad of wonderful *FREE* workshops and projects (many of which are hosted by our generous fellow members) to strengthen our creative muscles and help us improve our art.

Have a great weekend everyone and thanks for stopping by.

Sharon

P.S. Story lovers, I am a bit behind in getting this months' story recorded but a Victorian Ghost story, in keeping with the "season", should be up by the weekend.