Halloween Goodies & Kutztown Folk Festival

Can you believe it’s just about July already? This year has just been flying by. I have been busy working on new creations lately, and just finished updating my Early Work Mercantile Shop for our July 1st update. My offering this month is a primitive witch make-do.

SOLD, but will take a limited number of orders - email me to inquire

I also added a new set of 3 vintage style chenille Halloween ornaments to the Old World Primitives Etsy Shop, and will be adding a bunch more Halloween ornaments (both chenille and cloth) soon too.

On Sunday I also had the pleasure of attending the Kutztown Folk Festival in Kutztown, PA for the first time and I enjoyed it so much, I can’t wait to go back again next year! The festival included over 200 crafters both selling and demonstrating their crafts, and the quality was just amazing. There were SO many things that I wanted to buy! It was hard to stick to my budget and leave with just a few small goodies, but it was really fun and inspiring to see so many high quality crafts. There was also a quilt barn filled with over 2,500 handmade quilts, many of which I wished I could bring home with me too. We also sampled lots of yummy food and drink including the homemade fudge that I am snacking on right now, looked at the many exhibits, listened to some live folk music, and watched a thatched roofing demonstration. A few of the pictures that I took at the festival are below.

And finally, a big thank you to everyone who voted for my extreme primitive black cat doll in the Etsy Americana Decor Voter Poll! She was featured in a Storque post announcing the voter favorites and is now included in the Americana Folk Gift Guide.

Primitive Folk Art Ghost Doll

Just listed on Etsy - a spooky new primitive folk art ghost doll, ready to haunt a house near you.

She is made of lightly stained muslin and cheesecloth, measures 22″ high, and was created using a Kentucky Primitives design. Float over to Etsy for more photos and a full description.

Etsy Americana Decor Voter Poll

My latest extreme primitive folk art black cat doll has been included in a new Etsy contest asking “Which item would give your home that old-time Americana feel?” I am happy and honored to be included - thank you Noelle of Xenotees for the nomination!

If you would like to vote for my cat doll, the link to the voting page is here:
http://www.etsy.com/voter_list.php?ref=voter&room_id=56

Vacation in Poland and Slovakia

I just returned from my 2 week vacation in Poland and Slovakia and have been working on catching up on e-mails, orders, news, my blog reading list, and getting back into the swing of things. In the meantime, I have some photos from my trip to share…

Demänovská Ice Cave in Liptovský Mikuláš, Slovakia

Demänovská Cave of Liberty in Liptovský Mikuláš, Slovakia

View from atop the High Tatras in Zakopane, Poland

Raft tour along along the Dunajec River between Slovakia and Poland

Driving through a Slovak village

Entrance gate to Auschwitz - Oświęcim, Poland

Auschwitz

Hiking in the Tatra Mountains in Zakopane, Poland

Hiking in the Tatra Mountains in Zakopane, Poland

Hiking in the Tatra Mountains in Zakopane, Poland

View from a castle tower in Poland

Wilanów Palace in Warsaw, Poland

Rebecca - An Early Style Primitive Folk Art Doll

Today I have decided to pull myself away from my gardens long enough to introduce Rebecca, the newest addition to my Old World Primitives Etsy shop. She is an OOAK cloth doll with a face sculpted from Paperclay. She is entirely hand painted, antiqued, and sealed. Rebecca’s early style outfit was inspired by my fascination with the Amish of Lancaster, PA and their old-fashioned way of life.

And now it’s back out to the gardens for me.  This year my husband and I created two raised beds in our backyard, inspired by the great success our friends Dawn and Bill have had with them (and how delicious everything they grow tastes - we just got our first sample of the season at another amazing BBQ in their back yard last night).  With some advice from a recent article in Early American Life, we now also have raised beds of our own - filled with 4 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, pickle cucumbers, orange bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, red and white onions, snow peas, strawberries, dill, parsley, garlic chives, basil, and cilantro.  Many more veggies will be added in the late summer for a fall crop.

Giddy Over My Goodies

I am so excited about the beautiful prize that I received in the mail this past weekend that I had to share! I was the lucky winner of a giveaway hosted by Heather of Audrey Eclectic to celebrate the addition of prints to her Etsy shop, which is also filled with gorgeous original pieces of art. I won a print of “Orchard Sisters” and I absolutely love it! Thank you again, Heather!

Soon I will be removing it from the pretty packaging that it arrived in and framing it in a barnwood frame that I ordered from my favorite handmade frame shop, All Barn Wood. I will then be hanging it right above my desk in my studio, where I think the “Follow Your Dreams” slogan will be most appropriate!

And while I am sharing fun new goodies, I also wanted to show off the reclaimed wood light switch cover that I recently purchased from Against the Grain on Etsy, since my hubby just installed it this weekend. Isn’t it unique? It looks great with the primitive decor in my living room (which is getting a new paint job soon - goodbye boring white walls!  Olde Century Colors simulated milk paint awaits).

Early Work Mercantile Grand Opening!

Early Work Mercantile is now open for business! Before I head on over to browse through all of the other talented artists’ goodies, I would like to introduce you to my two new offerings that are available now in the Old World Primitives Early Work Mercantile Shop. Both dolls were created using Netty LaCroix designs.

First is Hester - she is an extreme primitive folk art pioneer doll.

My second offering is a spooky extreme primitive black cat doll.

For more information about each of these dolls, please come and visit them over at Early Work Mercantile. I on my way over there myself right now!

Extreme Primitive Black Cat + EHAG Prize!

I was planning on making an Uncle Sam doll as my next creation, but I couldn’t resist squeezing in a primitive black Halloween cat first. This extreme primitive black cat doll is wearing a witch hat and was created using a Netty LaCroix design. He is available now in my Old World Primitives Etsy shop.

In keeping with today’s Halloween theme, I also received a wonderful package in the mail today. I was the lucky winner of a set of curious Halloween ornaments handmade by Iva Wilcox in EHAG’s Frightful Fête 3rd Anniversary Giveaway. I was so surprised and happy that I won - and when my package arrived, I discovered that Iva had also tucked in a beautiful signed, limited edition ACEO Halloween print as an extra. Thank you so much, Iva, for brightening my day with these lovely goodies!

April WSOAPP Shoppe Update

Today marks the WSOAPP April 7th update! I just added the new extreme primitive angel doll pictured below to my Old World Primitives WSOAPP Shoppe.

April will be my final month on WSOAPP, and starting May 1st you may find me on Early Work Mercantile (in addition to Etsy and 1000 Markets). I will be closing down my retail store in approximately 2 months and transitioning that page over to a homepage for my handmade wares soon after.

Announcing Early Work Mercantile

Today I am excited to announce that I have joined Early Work Mercantile, a new online monthly selling site for artists who create early style folk art creations reminiscent of the 18th & 19th centuries. This lovely new mercantile was created by my friend Doreen of Vermont Harvest Folk Art.

Our Grand Opening will take place one month from today, on May 1st. Shops will be updated the 1st and 15th of each month.

Click the banner above to view our homepage & current list of artists!