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All posts for the month April, 2013

I’ve shown you what I got from my Secret Pumpkin, but what did I make for my recipient? I had to wait a few days to make sure she had it in hand before spilling the beans. As it turns out, my giftee is one of my favorite people in real life, the very talented Lisa Harkins of Fibre Isle. Naturally, I wanted to make something special.

A few years ago, I started a novella called A Quiet Haunting. The Spousal Unit wishes I would finish it. I decided to write a tiny story based loosely on the ghost I’d written earlier, and create an accordion book around it. The story:

She stilled, willing everything quiet
Her hair, her dress, still, still.
They were home, they were here,
And if they noticed
The gentle slope of her shoulder
Outlined softly in dust motes,
They would shriek, they would startle,
And her gossamer self
Would scatter to bits again.

The lines of the story were divided into nine Artist Trading Cards, and fitted into the pockets of the book.

box

Here’s the box, stained, decorated, and sealed. I didn’t take a picture of the inside, but it’s done in orange and purple, because hey, Halloween!

front-wrapped

Inside, wrapped in black cloth, was the book. Closed with black twine, decorated with a web, spider, and burned-ribbon flower, and tagged with “A small ghost story from your Secret Pumpkin.”

inside

shriek

Inside, ATCs nestled in delicately creepy pockets.

back-trees

back-ghost

The back of the book shows a windswept evening landscape, and another glimpse of our ghost.

I’d never made anything like this before, and it was an absolute joy to put together. I’m sure my little ghost will be happy in her new home.

Last October, I signed up for the Secret Pumpkin exchange run by Shadow Manor.  The idea is that you receive something when Halloween is far away, to warm your creepy little heart. In exchange, you send something to another pining Halloweenie. Yes, I made something, but you don’t get to see it until the recipient gets it. Be patient. What you get to see today is what I received from my awesome, awesome Pumpkin. Behold:

Vampire Hunting Kit

Yes, it is what it looks like: a vampire hunting kit, delightful in its completeness and authenticity. I am completely bowled over by this thing.  I kept saying “oh man, oh man!”  and giggling as I opened it.

Contents:

Wooden stake
Mallet (because really, pounding that stake in is harder than Buffy makes it look)
Wooden cross with St. Raphael medal
Wooden box to contain vials
Large vial for holy water
Thunderstone
Salt
Flour of Garlic
Holy Incense
Poppy Seed
Brimstone Powder
Cemetery Earth
Coffin Nails
Vial of collected vampire fangs
Mysterious key in pouch
Note in latin that basically says: “I am leaving you my holy kit to fight the evil Nosferatu that walks the night.”

A few more pics:

kit-fangs

kit-vials

kit-cross

Wow. I want to figure out what every little thing means. Then I want to get an all-leather outfit and take the kit out hunting. Also, because she had to make sure I hadn’t moved, I got to know who my Secret Pumpkin was, so here’s a big, public THANK YOU, YOU ARE SO FREAKIN’ AWESOME to Jenna, the mistress of Shadow Manor herself.

Color Swatch Book

sprays

I finally got around to doing swatch sheets for my sprays. You know how people show off their tidy little swatches with perfectly printed labels and neat edges? Yeah, so not me. So I finished up (there are two more pages like that one), went to put them with the sprays, but I realized I have most of my spritzes in one place, and all my Dylusions in another. What to do? But lo, what is this–I have an extra notebook! Why not take all the color swatch sheets I make, sprays, paints, inks, etc., and put them in one place? So that’s what I’m doing. Just making the swatch sheet encourages me to create. Having this handy will be extremely helpful.