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!

Burtonesque

Dear reader, it may not come as a huge surprise to you that I love Tim Burton. The Nightmare Before Christmas, Beetlejuice and others of his are among my favourite films, and a book called Burton on Burton has been one of the most interesting things I have read. My paintings have often been called Burtonesque, even though, in all but the piece below, there hasn't been a direct influence. It must just have filtered through from my subconscious ;)



So I'm very excited about Burton's re-imagining of Alice in Wonderland, to be released next year. Alice has long been one of my favourite stories, and I love seeing various artists' interpretations of scenes and themes from the book. I can't wait to see what he's done with it. With a cast that includes Johnny Depp, Stephen Fry, Matt Lucas and Alan Rickman, it surely can't fail to be awesome.

In celebration of this, an Etsy friend of mine, the fabulous jewellery-maker Gugaw, is having a merry unbirthday giveaway! You can win anything from her shop - just comment about your favourite piece on her blog.

A craft fair

This Saturday, 6th June, I will be at a craft fair at the Trinity Centre in Sutton Coldfield. It's on from 12pm to 3pm, and there's sure to be some gorgeous things there! Including my work of course ;)



The Trinity Centre is part of Holy Trinity Church, and is just up the road from this beautiful landmark (click here for a map of the area). I grew up just down the road from Holy Trinity, searching for conkers in its grounds in the autumn, looking at the light shining through its stained-glass windows as I walked past in the evening, and watching people having their wedding photos taken in its garden. It's a really lovely location. So, if you live nearby, or you happen to be in the Birmingham/ South Staffs area, why not come along? :)

Bat Swaps

I've recently taken part in a couple of swaps - the first was with the fabulous Maya of Static White's Stitchery, in which I got a cute little batling, complete with detachable party hat:





You should so check out her shop, which is full of awesomeness. She has other batling brooches, plus Scrap Bats and more. Do eeet.

In the other swap, the UK Handmade Secret Swap*, I received two adorable sock bats by Dreamknight:



So cute! You should absolutely check out her shop too - dreamknight.etsy.com, for doll clothing and curios :)

I felt the need to journal about these bat swaps (Is journal a verb? It is now.), including the bat sprinkles that came with the batling and a little foam bat sticker that came with the sock bats:





*The UK Secret Swap was organized by UK people on Etsy, and is similar to a secret Santa idea. Basically, all that want to take part tell the organizer, then (s)he finds out from them what type of item they would like to receive. Then, from this information, (s)he works out who should get something from which seller. Each person makes something to send to the person they're allocated, and each person also receives a handmade item for themselves. Yayness ensues.