baking Krampus

With the falling snow (where did all the leaves go?!), it's become evident that that other Holiday (you know, Christmas) is on its way. The older I get, the less I like Christmas. I am already sick of all the stuff in the stores and it's only November 11th!!! Seriously, can't they at least wait until after Remembrance Day?
Anyway, can't stop a train wreck, can you? So, what do I like about Christmas? I like baking, and last year we made Krampus cookies!!! Yesterday I hunted for a cookie cutter, but the only one I could find isn't very good, but I did find instructions on how to make your own cutters, and amazon.ca sells a cookie cutter making kit, or even just the metal refills for the kit. Hmmm... I'm thinking maybe to create some Christmas joy I need to Hallowe'en it, with a little devilish mirth!


Here's a close-up of last year's creations, chocolate cookies with red sugar glitter horns, yellow mini-Smartie eyes and dried cranberry tongues. I used two shapes, a crescent moon and a heart, but it was slow going.

Pumpkin 2012?

One happy Hallowe'en surprise presented itself when I was cutting into and cleaning our Jack-o-lanterns-to-be! Sprouted seeds! Deep within the dark cozy "womb" of one of our pumpkins, several seeds had grown roots and were sprouting!

How magical! We planted these sweetlings and one survived the shock, and here he is, being unimpressed today with another shock: snow!!!

So, what am I going to do with this baby? Can I keep him alive all winter, until I can plant him outside? How do you slow down a pumpkin's growth?

Getting over the blues...

I can't believe Hallowe'en is over... Yesterday I packed away the last of the decorations (although I simply couldn't fold away the child-sized skeleton, it would just be wrong! He's living in my studio for now.)
I've been rather depressed (where have all the ghosties gone?) and then I got this lovely package in the mail!

When you receive something this creative, you know you're blessed. Real leaves are taped onto the box, so simple yet so elegant! I received this from Sally J. Smith of Green Spirit Arts, one of my Online Hallowe'en Artists' Studio Trick or Treat artists, and inside I found the 2012 calendar and greeting cards I purchased, along with many special thank you treats. These are some of the cards:






To see more of Sally's amazing work, please visit
http://www.greenspiritarts.com.

Why dogs aren't allowed in cemeteries

I have a cake in the Kraft "Halloween Centre" gallery! Go to http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/community/gallery.aspx?plckGalleryID=c5adadb0-af9c-4a39-a972-2f835af5903d to see the gallery or directly to:
http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/community/photo.aspx?plckPhotoID=30144f37-7de2-4d03-8968-98b1c8086781&plckGalleryID=c5adadb0-af9c-4a39-a972-2f835af5903d If you want more details on how to recreate this cake, just email me.


I hope you're having fun with your Hallowe'en preparations. Here's a picture of my conjoined twins and partially eaten gingerbread men!
I'm so happy I found these cookie cutters!

Autumn's glory before the boo!

Wow, isn't Mother Nature awesome!? This is an aerial photo (that was front page on Tuesday's paper) of where I live in southwestern Ontario... simply gorgeous. Of course, things look quite different now as it's rainy and the wind is blowing hard, a lot of the pretty leaves are down. It's very October today... to help get in the mood for a creepy, branch-scratching scary Hallowe'en! I love it!

On the down side, I've managed to get a sinus infection and am laying low this weekend... bugger. Hopefully slowing down and taking care will hurry this infection along, I have to much Hallowe'ening to do!

Doll Master magazine

I'm so honoured to share this news with you! Back in February, I was approached by Alexandra Varenikova of "Doll Master" magazine, a Russian publication. She was looking for Canadian Teddy bear artists and had seen my work online: would I be interested in being included? YES! And so finally I received my copy and I'm entirely blown away by the quality of art in this magazine! Not only is the magazine a high-gloss publication, the doll art is breath-taking! Wow! And three of my girls are in there: Seian, Sarah Bratbie and Melusine!
(Click on the thumbnails to see full-sized images.)









Sadly, I don't know any Russian at all, do you? If you do, are you willing to translate these 3 pages? I'd very much appreciate it!! Please email me!

On top of the world!

So the Hallowe'en studio tour is up and running! The opening of the creaking gate went smoothly on Friday night, right around midnight and that marked the end of a long and hard climb... I didn't get to finish everything I'd planned on, but I'm very happy with the result. Furthermore, the artists all seem to be happy with the tour, as well as all the trick or treaters who have emailed... Here's to the bats!
I didn't finish my demon, he's still just an unfinished head... But there's still lots of time to create some of the Hallowe'en decorations I planned on making LAST year!!!