Time Flies When You’re Going Bonkers

I have been all over the place since my last post… oh gosh, where to start. I’ll start with the embarrassing part first – my husband and I attempted to move for the second time within three years, and our plan flopped once again. We have been trying to move from the suburbs to an older farmhouse in the country… something that I always thought was my dream… to live in a 1700s or 1800s farmhouse decorated like one of the homes I have so often drooled over in Early American Life magazine. But our attempts to move have taught me that this may not be my ultimate dream after all. The country escapes that we found ourselves pursuing were still just a little too “more of the same,” albeit in less developed areas. We don’t have the big bucks required to completely “get away from it all,” and we just couldn’t find anything that was quite enough away.

So now we have a new plan in mind… bear with me here, as this may sound crazy… to save up enough money to REALLY move into the country… or rather, a step closer to the wilderness. We are going to save up, purchase a motor home, sell our current home, and pursue the freedom of living full time on the road, camping at remote, wild and beautiful spots along the way. This is an idea I have been toying with for 6 years now, but I never thought I would be able to make it happen. I felt too entrenched in my current way of life despite how much I wanted to give this a try. But now, if we can save enough to make this plan feasible… there is a new goal in the horizon.

So. I’ve wasted a ton of time this summer house-hunting, packing… and then un-packing (ugh!), but I’ve still managed to get some new dolls and ornaments created, and to do a bunch of gardening and pickling too.

garden

Do you think my tomato plants are happy?? 😀

tomato plants

And now I invite you to meet an extreme primitive doll named Nadine, and a primitive witch make-do named Hexe:

extreme primitive doll

primitive folk art witch make-do

Plus my newest ornaments in spun cotton, spun glass, and chenille:

spun cotton ornament

spun glass ornament

chenille Halloween ornaments

All of the new creations above can be found in my Old World Primitives Etsy shop.

Welcoming Summer

The unofficial start of summer is here, so I have decided that I must get out of my gardens and back to the creating table.  There are many dolls and ornaments in progress that are calling for my attention!  Here is a look at the spun cotton ornaments that I have added to Old World Primitives Etsy shop since my last blog post… yes, I am already preparing for Halloween!

spun cotton ornament

spun cotton ornament

spun cotton ornament

spun cotton ornament

And this is Laura, my latest primitive cloth doll with a sculpted Paperclay face – she is traveling at the moment, preparing for her feature in a future issue of Prims magazine.  🙂

primitive doll

I have been working ever so slowly on my Izannah Walker doll class, which thankfully has stayed open long enough for slow pokes like me.   This is where I am at with my doll now – her sculpting is done, and I am ready to apply her stockinette next.  I think that perhaps I have been hesitating with moving onto that step for so long now because I’m a bit nervous about messing her up!

izannah walker doll

Published in Prims Magazine

I have been eagerly anticipating the arrival of the newest Stampington & Company publication, Prims Magazine, in my mailbox for some time now – so I am very excited that it’s here! As I tore the box open and began thumbing through the pages, I found myself impressed not only with the quality of the magazine and photographs (nothing less than what you’ve come to expect from Stampington if you are already familiar with their publications), but completely wowed by the quality of the artwork inside. I feel truly humbled to be included in the premier issue amongst so many artists that I have admired for a long time now.

Pictured below is the magazine cover and a peek at the two page article that my doll Rebecca is featured in.

Prims magazine feature - The Life of Cloth and Clay

Since my last post, I have also added a bunch of new goodies to my Old World Primitives Etsy shop, including spun cotton ornaments, a set of 3 patriotic 4th of July chenille ornaments, and two primitive black Halloween cat dolls (yes… I am starting to think Halloween already!).

Old World Primitives Etsy Shop new items

What Fun at The Witches Ball!

I am back from my first craft show, which was also my first Halloween party for the year, and feeling energized.  Halloween is my favorite time of year, and this festival was a great way to get into the holiday spirit!  The decorations and Halloween colored lights throughout the streets were amazing, there were plenty of yummy treats to be had (my favorites being the warm and fresh kettle corn and the hot apple cider), and many people went all-out with their costumes.  It was so fun to see all of the creative costumes throughout the night from my booth viewpoint.  It was also great fun to see and hear people’s reactions to my products and help them with their purchases.  Many comments during the night really made me smile. Here are some of the photos that I managed to snap during one of my brief forrays outside of my booth (note to self: bring my tripod next time).

The Witches Ball 2009 in Mount Holly, NJ

The Witches Ball 2009 in Mount Holly, NJ
This was the giant witch that greeted visitors to the Ball.

The Witches Ball 2009 in Mount Holly, NJ
That’s my booth on the right, and to the left was talented painter/sculptor Linda Mehnert. I bought one of her cat sculptures and just adore it!

The Witches Ball 2009 in Mount Holly, NJ
This was the view of the booths to my right from inside my booth.

And just to give you an idea of how amazing the costumes were, here is a photo that I borrowed from The Witches Ball Costume Contest Winners page of their website – this was my favorite costume of the night, which I was lucky enough to get to see up close (the wings were jointed and moved – and the detail in her dress and choker were amazing).

Best Fasntasy Costume at The Witches Ball 2009 - Bride of Death

Primitive Witch Hat Box

Today officially feels like fall here in New Jersey – we had to turn the heat on for the first time since last spring, and the green leaves outside my window are finally starting to get some red and yellow tips.

Yesterday I updated the Old World Primitives Early Work Mercantile shop for our October 1st update with a primitive witch hat box.  The witch hat is made of painted, stained muslin adorned with a strip homespun and bit of dried flowers. The box is made of painted, stained paper mache.

primitive witch hat box
primitive witch hat box

Does anyone have their Halloween costume ready yet?  I do, since I’ll be wearing mine already next weekend to The Witches Ball.  I’m going to wear my very favorite handmade Halloween costume – “Tragic Alice” by Heavy Red.  My Mom will be joining me as a fairy!

my Halloween costume

Witch and Angel Ornaments

This week finds me once again busily preparing items for both The Witches Ball on October 10th in Mount Holly, NJ (can’t wait – it looks like it will be such a fun evening!) and the next Early Work Mercantile update on October 1st.  The fun weekend excursions of fall have also begun – if the weather cooperates this weekend, I will be taking a trip out to beautiful Lancaster County, PA to do some shopping, get lost in a corn maze, and soak in the beautiful sights in the countryside.  I am also looking forward to going to The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze again this year.

I have also managed to squeeze in two new additions to the Old World Primitives Etsy shop.  First is a set of 2 vintage style Halloween ornaments made of chenille, crepe paper, and vintage witch faces printed on card stock.  The set includes 2 of the wee witch pictured below.

vintage style chenille witch ornaments for Halloween

Second is a set of 3 Victorian angel Christmas ornaments made of chenille and Victorian angel faces printed on card stock.  They can be used as feather tree ornaments for Christmas or everyday, and would also make nice handmade wedding favors.

Victorian style angel ornaments

Meet Medea, the Primitive Witch

I just updated the Old World Primitives Early Work Mercantile shop for our September 1st update… and as promised, I am now sharing the full view of the scary witch that I previewed here last week.  She is my Early Work Mercantile offering this month.

primitive folk art witch make-do

primitive folk art witch make-do

SOLD, thank you!

This primitive witch make-do primitive is 21″ tall, and was created using a Kentucky Primitives pattern.  Her name is Medea, and she would make a spooky addition to your primitive Halloween decor!

Also, my final upcoming vacation notice for the year – I will be on vacation September 4th – 12th. All orders received by 2:00pm EST on Thursday, September 3rd will ship before my vacation begins. All orders received between September 4th – 12th will ship on Monday, September 14th.

My Latest Antiquing Finds and a Sneak Peek

Since my return from Canada I have been busily preparing Halloween dolls and ornaments for my first foray into the craft show world, coming up in October. So I have many new creations in the works, but most will be held aside for the show for now.  I do have some wonderful new antique show and shop finds to share though – some will become part of my show display.  I found all of these pieces up in Canada.  I would have brought back even more items, but my parents beat me to a few of them… when we go antiquing together, we always seem to go after the same items!

antique show and shop finds

I would also like to share a sneak peek of my September 1st offering for Early Work Mercantile – she is a very primitive and scary witch.

Early Work Mercantile September sneak peek

Check back next week to see more of her!  I will try to squeeze in some new Etsy offerings soon too.

It’s Not Easy Being Green

The canning continues in my backyard garden center… and despite the copious amounts of pickles that my cucumber plants have been producing, my husband has decided that he hath not enough cucumbers for his brine. He has therefore been attending our local farmer’s market each weekend to buy up all of the small cucumbers for sale there so that we can pickle them, too.

Behold the gallon jar.

gallon jar of cucumbers in brine

I would also like to introduce my newest primitive folk art creation – a Halloween frog witch doll, created using a fun Soft in the Head “Frogette” design. She is ready to cast spells and enchant hearts. Available in the Old World Primitives Etsy Shop now.

primitive folk art frogette doll

SOLD, thank you!

And finally, an upcoming vacation notice – I will be on vacation August 8th – 15th. All orders received by 2:00pm EST on Friday, August 7th will ship before my vacation begins. All orders received between August 8th – 15th will ship on Monday, August 17th.

Primitive Folk Art Witch Mannequin

April 2012 Update: due to the tremendous response that this item has received on Pinterest, I am once more offering this creation for sale in my Etsy shop.

My newest creation this month is a primitive witch mannequin make-do that can function as a spooky pin-keep or a unique addition to your primitive Halloween decor. This piece is 21 1/2″ tall, and was created using a Hudson’s Holidays pattern. I enjoyed getting to use some of the beautiful 19th century reproduction fabrics that I recently purchased to create this witch mannequin.

primitive folk art witch make-do pin keep

primitive folk art witch mannequin