Halloween

I think this might be the coolest kid's costume I've ever seen. I know I would have loved to dress up as Jareth, King of the Goblins when I was 4 years old.

The fact that it's the photographer's little girl (and not a little boy) makes it even better. There is hope for the younger generation.

I'd still dress up as him, but the idea of putting on leggings makes me a bit twitchy.

Source: Christina Ragusin

There are now 40 pictures posted in the Art Ghoullery for Halloween 2009. I may add a couple more (of the flowers on the windowsill) but overall, I'd say I'm finished.

You'll want to open the images in a new tab or utilize your back button. There are plans to revamp the site with better navigation for the galleries, but that won't be happening just yet.

You've seen images of him before, but I thought you might like a peek of him all lit up properly. I've posted two here, but look for a few more this week when I put the entire collection on the website.

As Dave the Dead said in a comment in the previous post, "Nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see". That was part of the plan. And why not encourage the arrival of the Great Pumpkin with a sign?

I used one of my painted pieces of cardboard made last year as the sign. It worked out perfectly (number of letters and the number of fake wooden planks). Saved me a lot of time as well. Recycling props is always a great idea.

I'm slowly compiling pictures of this year's theme. It was called "A Picnic in the Pumpkin Patch". It wasn't a complicated theme. The idea was to make the house look as if a pumpkin patch had sprouted up inside of it.

I'm posting the first two pictures tonight, and will post the rest throughout the week.

As always, I will have the full collection posted in the Art Ghoullery.

Unfortunately, the lanterns I'd gotten at the dollar store all died within the first hour of the party, so they are dark in the pictures. It really added a nice bit of detailing, having the extra lights hanging in the bushes, around the fireplace, and around the room. I wish I had gotten pictures of it.

The first images are of the pumpkins I made over. In the photograph below, you can also see my poor kale plants that are slowly slipping towards death, but on their journey to an early demise, they've grown into interesting shapes.

This post is late in the day not only because I've been running around, but because I couldn't decide which Kathy Staico Schorr piece was my favourite.

I still can't decide, but I chose this one for the post.

Check out her wonderful blend of surreal art with a vintage Halloween flair, all waiting for you on her website.

I have been watching with some interest the emotional debate taking place online regarding Spirit Halloween's supposed campaign to move Halloween to the last Saturday of October. The campaign isn't what interests me, but the deep chasm it's created in my online circles is worth noting.

I've flippantly mused about this very thing in forums, and if I remember correctly, I said I wouldn't mind it so much but would prefer if instead we made it a whole week of festivities for Halloween.

I've stayed out of this new debate, chalking it up to another marketing ploy (a successful marketing ploy, hinging on the edge of going viral) to draw attention to their store. I wasn't about to get riled up or involved in the mess. And I wasn't going to give it air time on my blog.

But.

I underestimated the dedication Spirit Halloween has given to the campaign. Yesterday I got an email - where a living person actually took the time to type GF in the subject line - signed Elio Valenzuela, on behalf of Spirit Halloween.

Ok. You got me. I will weigh in on this.

October is here.

In honour of its arrival, I have loads of goodies planned to celebrate.

First, I've joined the fun on Countdown to Halloween, a collection of bloggers who are vowing to blog about our beloved holiday everyday for the month of October. All month, you'll be able to get to their main site through the newly added badge at the bottom right of my homepage. So welcome to any new readers joining me for the first time! Take a look around. Hopefully you'll find some Halloween ideas to make your celebrations spookier this Halloween.

Second, what better way to celebrate the start of the season than with an image from Femke Hiemstra (pictured left)? Lovely, isn't it? Check out my previous post to learn more about the artist and enjoy some of her other work.

Third, I'm off today on a road trip in the country. I'm delivering a batch of books and then celebrating with a trip to a nearby Farmer's Market and winery (pumpkins and booze? Yes please).

Speaking of books (not booze), my last and final way to celebrate the start of October will be with a Ghoulish Giveaway. You can check out the details on my Brains Vs Coffee website.

Happy October 1st, everyone.

Fantastic photograph taken by Michael Demeng. I can understand why it's one of his favourites.

Here are two more of my first attempts at a) using crackle and b) painting Halloween images in a folk art style.

I've spent some time putting together a tutorial on my crackle experience thus far, optimistically called Conquering Crackle. While I am nowhere near conquering it, I have enough knowledge to wage a great battle.

As for the two boxes pictured here, the cat box taught me a lot, including that you need to remember where the clasp is going to block your design (poor kitty's tail is chopped off).

I wasn't all that crazy about the pumpkin box (pictured below), but the more I look at it, the more I think I like it better than the cat. Perhaps it's because I was able to control the crackle more on that project. Or maybe it's because the pumpkin is very close (though not a dead ringer) for the style I was going for.