Antiques, Spun Cotton and Izannah

Since our last visit here, I had the pleasure of once again attending the Antiques in Long Valley show in Long Valley, NJ where I scored my beautiful blue antique chimney cabinet last year.   This year the show was just as amazing as the last… there were so many wonderful goodies that I wished I could have brought home with me.  The booth where I bought my cabinet last year was once again filled with wonderful pieces of furniture and many Sold signs.  This year I was on more of a budget than last year, but I did manage to come home with two finds that I am really pleased with – a small and extremely primitive hand forged shovel…

…and an antique German spun cotton ornament to add to my collection.  The technique used to make it is different than I have seen before, so studying it will also assist in my education process as I learn this old technique.

I am continuing to really enjoy where my journey into spun cotton has been taking me.  Below are my newest creations that are still available.  I am also archiving my designs on a new spun cotton ornaments page of this blog.  Custom orders for designs you may have missed are always welcome.

And finally, I have some progress on my first Izannah Walker style doll from the workshop that I am taking.  It has been hard to tear myself away from my current obsession with spun cotton to work on her, but I’ve gotten a bit completed!  I have her torso sewn and stuffed, and her head with shoulderplate stuffed and pinned onto the torso.

After sewing the shoulderplate in place, I shall begin sculpting her face – I will share how I do with it in my next blog post.

I will end for now with a big thank you to Cathy of the always-inspiring One Pink Goose for presenting me with the Sunshine Award, which is awarded to bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspire others in the blog world. I am honored!

Decorating for Christmas… Crafting for Valentine’s Day

December is such a fun and festive month here… I love decorating my primitive twig tree, each year with a few more new ornaments than the last.  I always keep some pine scented candles burning throughout the month to make it smell like we have a real tree.  As I unwrap my winter folk art decorations and place them about the house, each one brings smiles and gets me in the Christmas spirit.  Below are a few peeks at my primitive Christmas decor this year.

I have also been working on some new ornament designs for next year, beginning with Valentine’s Day. I added a new set of vintage style chenille cupid ornaments to my Old World Primitives Etsy shop today. They are ready for the season of love with their Valentine hearts and arrows.

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).

This was the giant witch that greeted visitors to the Ball.

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!

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).

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.

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!

Vintage Style Chenille Christmas Ornaments

Today I am taking a short break from furiously preparing Halloween orders and show inventory to share the newest addition to  the Old World Primitives Etsy shop – a new set of 3 vintage style chenille Christmas ornaments.

Each Christmas ornament is made of chenille, Victorian Santa and vintage Christmas images printed on card stock, and a mini frosted Christmas tree.  They are the perfect size to use as either feather tree or Christmas tree ornaments.  They also make great gifts, and come packaged in a clear cellophane bag tied with a bow.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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

I just updated the Old World Primitives Early Work Mercantile shop for our August 1st update. My offering 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.

SOLD, thank you!

Crows, Canning, and Collecting Antiques

After a weekend spent getting most of the windows in our home replaced (and moving everything in each room out of the way… and then back into place again… and then cleaning up the mess), I finally had time to get a new primitive crow doll that I finished making last week listed on Etsy today. She is 19″ tall including her witch hat, and was handmade by me using a Veena’s Mercantile pattern.

SOLD, thank you!

The canning of all those pickles in my last post has also begun! I’m boiling the salt water for jar number 3 already, which I will add to a jar stuffed with pickle cucumbers, fresh dill from our garden, garlic, and horseradish root to make Polish style cucumbers in brine.

Once the lid is sealed, we ferment them for 1-2 weeks, and then open and eat! We’re already eating jar #1 – delicious! (Or shall I say, bickering over who gets to eat the last pickle from the jar… after which my husband drinks all of the brine.)

And finally, I went antiquing last Thursday at the Chester Antique Mall, and have some photos of my finds to share. I set out wanting to find a piece that could function as an end table for next to our living room couch, and that is exactly what I came home with. I also found a fabulous lopsided, slotted iron spoon to add to my collection.