Ghoul Friday

If you happen to be in the London, Ontario area, be sure to stop by Dollirium Art Doll Emporium from May 26th to July 5th, 2013.

The gallery is hosting a "Home Grown Doll Show" of artists from Ontario, and yours truly is part of it. 

Opening reception is this evening from 7 pm to 10 pm and I'm so excited to be part of it, I'm actually going to be making the drive out from Toronto this evening to make a brief appearance. 

I've had a sneak peek at the other artist's work, and am thrilled to be in such good company.

If you do make it tonight, I'll be the exhausted, disheveled woman. Nudge me awake and say hi.

Otherwise, you have more than a month to enjoy the show at your leisure.

The gallery is located at 1 Cliftonvale Ave.

If you don't see me, say hi to my figures. It's the first time they've been away from home besides going to new owners, and I'm concerned they might get upset one dark night...and possibly eat the other figures on display. I won't get charged for that, right?

Spring has sprung, but instead of flowers, it brings with it some monsters in the making.

In between puppy chaos, I've managed to experiment with some new figures, changing up my style a bit which has been fun. I'm excited to see how they come together, and trying to think outside the coffin...er...box...a bit when it comes to my designs. Now, none of these are revolutionary, but I think taking a step to the right of my usual style is a good thing. 

And it's about time I was hit with inspiration. Show season is sneaking up quickly and like old Mother Hubbard, my cupboards are bare. 

It's my birthday today. I almost forgot about that too. When you're spinning wildly, time has a way of being elusive. 

Today I am off to lunch with a friend (and perhaps a stop for a pint or two) while Yetch babysits Monkey Boo. He's been away to Denver all week, leaving the pup and I on our own. I took the opportunity to do some crash course puppy self-control lessons by staying with my mom and her pack of dogs. Monkey is pretty good around the older dog but wants to wrestle full throttle with Padfoot the Irish Wolfhound. Paddy can fit her whole head in his mouth (even though they are the same age). She doesn't even blink at his size. Even Paddy recognizes she's a wild pup (as you can see from the picture below).

On Tuesday, I spent close to nine hours putting away Halloween decorations because I decided to completely reorganize the bins (and make sure everything was off the floor since we had that incident with water in the basement after the torrential storm). 

While doing so, I came across a box of all the decorations I had made for my first big Halloween party back in Grade 4.

Amidst the paper bats and pumpkins was a bound book entitled "Best Spells By Betty Croaker" (and my other name). I do enjoy that I put a copyright symbol on it.

I'd bound the book with thread and used wall paper for the cover. No, the wallpaper isn't very scary, but when you're little you have to work with what's in the house.

The book is a collection of spells for monsters from A to Z. Some are classic Halloween characters while others are creatures I'd seen in my Dungeons & Dragons books (I didn't play at the time, I just liked having books about monsters).

Want to make a mimic? A Frankenstein monster? A Zorma? 

It's all here.

Need an elf for a recipe but don't have one on hand? No worries. There's a recipe for making your own elf. 

A is actually an introduction. Note how little Ghoul uses the traditional spelling of Hallowe'en.

I hope you enjoy the pictures below. I got a good chuckle out of them.

I think we should replace the spirits and traditional monsters who are referenced in scary stories with the change-of-season virus. It's much more terrifying.

On Sunday, I thought I was just about free of the festering fingertips of whatever cold had me in its grip.

But when I spent 19 hours on Tuesday unconscious,  or wishing I was unconscious, I had my doubts regarding recovery. 

I've tried to reason with the bug. I've weakly pointed toward unfinished projects, unmailed items, and important dates on the calendar, but it hasn't made much of a difference. 

This morning I made noises like the Tasmanian Devil as my body tried to clear my lungs and air passage. Instead of being saddened by this new state of phlegminess, I was encouraged. If it's finally in my chest, it means my body might actually be purging it from the system instead of letting it hide behind my kidney or whatever spot it's been lurking the last few months (where you always feel like you're about to get sick, then don't). 

Quick little update. I've spent the last few days finally building the new website. Everything is being redesigned. Who knew I had so much content? I'd say I'm more than 70% done. The goal is to have the new site launched by Oct 1. I think you're going to dig it. Until then I won't be adding much of anything new to the site. Besides that, thanks to everyone who sent notes and updates for how they spent Misgivings Day weekend. And since Sam of Trick or Treat fame has been dominating the announcement of every holiday this past year, a friend thought I should have my own Sam promo for Misgivings Day in the form of a sketch. I think it's pretty hilarious.