This is a reclining primitive Halloween cat doll, dressed in a black witch hat and a black cheesecloth scarf.  Look for her in a Santa hat in my Etsy shop later this week.

And this is primitive Halloween moon wall decoration wearing a black witch hat. I envisioned him as a Halloween man in the moon, but some think he looks like an old crone, which I can see too. S/he will also be in my Etsy shop wearing a Santa hat later this week.

The ornaments pictured above are my newest spun cotton and spun glass designs for the 2011 holiday season. I am now working on another batch of Halloween primitive dolls – a black cat, a witch cat, and a witchy moon. More spun cotton Halloween ornaments will be added next week, and perhaps a Halloween paper doll or two.

What will emerge from my workspace today?

I have new spun cotton ornaments and spun glass ornaments in the works – they will be added to the Old World Primitives Etsy shop later today and tomorrow.

Each of these primitive dolls may be found in the Old World Primitives Etsy shop.

And here is a peek at pages 18-19, the spread that includes three of my sets of vintage style chenille Halloween ornaments – I am so honored to be featured here!

And a closeup:

I have a few new dolls in progress too.   I am excited to use my new antique shop finds – grungy old buttons and antique lace – in some primitive creations.

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.

Do you think my tomato plants are happy??

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

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

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

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. 

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!

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

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!).

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!