Happy September!

So it's September, and autumn is on its way. It's starting to get cooler outside, and I'm looking forward to keeping warm in cosy, luxurious clothes.







Images from Elle and arashmazinani.com

Thanks to a typical washout of a British summer, I have in fact been looking forward to autumn since mid-July - wanting the temperatures to match the grey sky. This seems to happen every year. With autumn comes Halloween, so I tend to start looking forward to Halloween in the middle of the summer. Which is rather premature. It's September now though, and, with less than two months to go, I can stop feeling guilty!

Autumn has already arrived in my little Etsy shop - I've had a Spooky Sale on since mid-July (I told you I get Halloweeny around then!), giving you 20% off selected items. Clicky the piccy to go there:



I've opened a Halloween section too, making the rest of my spooks easier to find. Click the Woolly Bat to go there:



Talking of Woolly Bats, I do believe I've mentioned them before in a previous post. As I mentioned there, their design was inspired by Honduran white bats, little flying balls of fluff. They're made of felted balls and wire, and would look gorgeous hanging in your home.



^..^

A Spooky Sale

Other people may be doing Christmas in July, but I'd rather have Halloween in July! Check out my Spooky Sale section to stock up with some pre-Halloween bargains:

A bat and a ghostie

This cute little fella arrived at my door on Saturday morning:



He now resides in my living room with the other spooky guys:



He was made by by Half an Acre, purveyor of hand-painted wooden loveliness, and creator of the brilliant Widget the Sock Bunny concept (read about the ideas behind Widget here - very clever.).

In other news, my Small Ghostie (click the image below to go to the listing) has been featured in a couple of places. He was on Cuteable on Friday in their Flickr Friday feature, and today he's in the Autumn issue of UK Handmade magazine (check him out on page 83 in the Trick or Treat feature).



Thanks folks! x

Cutie Pie Pumpkin

I'd been admiring this little cutie for a couple of months, and finally bought her a couple of days ago. She popped through my letterbox this morning, and now resides in my living room.



She was created by a fellow Folksy seller, SeeTheWoods, who makes all manner of gorgeous things. Her plumpkins, pumpkins made from a variety of yummy patterned fabrics, are particularly lovely.


(Photo by SeeTheWoods)

Cutie Pie has now been added to the many Halloween decorations that live in my house. Here are just some of those:

A ghostly giveaway

Did you know about Mrs B's 31 Days of Halloween? If you didn't, check it out now, for spooky giveaways and goodies: http://silvermoonwitch.blogspot.com

As I love Halloween, I am of course taking part. As part of today's Halloween fun, you can win this ghostly decoration:





Find out how by clicking here. Happy haunting!

Happy Autumn!

It's officially autumn now (the TNBC calendar says "Autumn Equinox" so it must be so), and I can therefore stop feeling a bit premature for talking about Halloween :) So, with only five and a half weeks, or 38 days, to go until the big day, I've been adding lots more spooky goodies to the Etsy shop.

After buying some wonderful Halloween-themed supplies, I created a little collection of beaded dangles:

The little bells I bought were used in creating these three pieces:





My favourite is this one, because the large orange bead looks like a big chunk of candy :)



I'd also bought some glow-in-the-dark beads, both round and bat-shaped, which went into the making of these:





Pop into the Halloween section of my shop for all of the above and more!

I've also been working on a commission for four silver pieces:



You can't tell from this picture, but the bat on the bottom right is huge! 16 inches wide in fact, double the size of my usual bats. Was awkward but fun to make :)

Halloween in July part 2 - a beaded skull

Production of the Halloween range has begun, and one of the first pieces I've created is this beaded skull:



This piece is the result of a series of sketches, in which I was working out how to make the skull look right. In my designs, I often draw something out as a line drawing first to see whether it would work in wire, as the construction of my wire pieces is basically made up of a series of curved lines. I always drew skulls face-on, and, as a line drawing, that always made them look too monkey-like.





However, while watching Buffy (series 7, which has a hand walking up a skull in the title sequence),



I hit on the (now obvious-sounding) idea that the skull did not have to be symmetrical face-on image, but could be a side-on image instead.





Thus, this design was born - a simple line drawing in copper wire, adorned with glass beads. Click the image below to go to the listing:

Halloween in July

We've been having some typically British weather here lately, otherwise known as rain. The sky is rather dull, grey and leaky. So, despite the fact that it's the middle of July, it feels like autumn. Autumnal feelings always lead me to start thinking about Halloween though, so it's not all bad.

I've been starting to think of some Halloween-related ideas, the first of which has the working title of Bat Bunting. I also think I've finally worked out how to make a skull from wire. Plus, I have many more ideas besides, so watch this space for lots of spooky goodies coming soon! Until then, click the bat to see what I currently have on offer:



I also have some greetings cards that would be great for Halloween. Click the image below to see those:



And remember kids, a bat is for life, not just for Halloween!

A very skully Christmas

You may have read my previous post about this piece, Skully Tree:



Well, the skully goodness doesn't stop there. I have more skully decorations to adorn your home at Christmas, Halloween or all year round:









Why not decorate your tree, and indeed your whole home in a more Gothic style at Christmas? Search "skull" in my shop for more. Plus, look out for other skully things coming very soon, including skully stars.

Post inspired by a fellow Deviant's comments on this piece.

Get your Halloween goodies early ...

I know it's a bit early to start thinking about Halloween, but ... What am I saying? It's never too early to start thinking about Halloween!

For some great decorations, check out the new Halloween section in my Etsy shop:



My cobweb necklaces would also be great for Halloween:



And so would this bat-winged t-shirt:



Happy Halloween!