Scary cool!

Listen to this!! In the last 14 days, our "enter" page was accessed by 182 unique visitors!!! That's so cool! And we haven't even gone live yet!!! Wow!

This according to http://www.statcounter.com Super cool tool!

It's almost time!!

WOW! The last few days have been insane! I have never spent so much time on the computer, but everything is ready except for minor tweaking as artists check their pages for a final time and we make adjustments.

Monday I worked on the artist pages from 10:30am-5:00pm and then 8:00pm to 11:30pm! There were a lot of late arrivals... but we survived (if you received a rather curt email during that time, please excuse the tired fingers!!) Tuesday was another 2 1/2 hours. Today we have wrapped things up!

And tonight... we go live!!!!

Haunted happenings!

Unfortunately Sue Burgan was unable to join us, but Brenda Dewey has!!! Brenda creates magical creatures, and she's into Hallowe'en BIG-time!

She doesn't have a website, so you'll just have to wait until tomorrow to see her work! These boots are hers, though, works of art filled with treats for her family and friends!

We're out there!

Thanks to our amazing artists, even with no money for advertising, we're still going to be seen in all the best places! Through email lists, newspaper listings, blogs, postings on websites, etc... we're going to have lost of trick-or-treaters and it's all because of you, ladies! Special thanks to April, Amy, Martha and Karen, you put a smile on this old ghoul's face! Have you been spreading the word? Let me know!

Happy Death

You know, sometimes the world seems like a cruel and miserable place full of inconsiderate and ridiculous people... and then other times a person does something so nice you're walking on air! Mr. Dan Piraro of "Bizarro" fame (you probably have seen his work when you read the newspaper's funnies) has graciously allowed us to use one of his strips, "The Grim Reaper's Crafts Booth"! Not only that but he sent a crisp, clean copy that almost glows in the dark!
Pay him a visit if you would, http://www.bizarro.com

I am covered in goosebumps to share the news that Amy Thornton has joined us! Amy's adorable bat Duane DeVein made it all too clear that she belongs on this tour (after all it's for bat conservation), and the rest of her wild and zany bunch are sure to catch your eye... and drag it 15 feet! Can't wait? See Amy at http://www.mutztoots.com/ and blogging at: http://mutztoots..blogspot.com/

spinning our web

Our tour is listed on http://www.shadynookcrafts.com/craftshows.htm and it's on Martha DeRaimo-Burch's website http://www.marthasbears.com and it's in friend Melanie's blog: http://indextrious.blogspot.com/ ! Let's continue to get it our there!

Spirited advertising!

Mom and I had a card-making blitz and we've sent out 36 hand-made, beautiful invitations to those collectors who have purchased my soft sculpture art. I'm hoping they'll be enticed to trick-or-treat with us on October 1st!

Martha DeRaimo-Burch has added us to Facebook! Way to go, Martha! Thank you so much!

And many artists, like Karen Lyons, Amy Thornton and Tammi Beaulieu have reassured me that they will spread the news to their mailing lists! Thank you so much, dear ladies! That's the spirit!

Everybody counts!

Okay, I got a counter on the site, so we'll know how many people visit, how many return visitors, etc...! It was free and from http://www.statcounter.com/ if you're keen on getting one yourself and was very easy to load up! Let's hope it has to count some big numbers!

It took some doing, but Pat Murray has joined our group of artists! I met Pat about 1 year ago and she created for me the most adorable needle-felted baby rat. This is "Pooka" in the photograph! For our tour, she has three animals ready and waiting. You can see her impressive menagerie and this lady's incredible imagination at www.freewebs.com/patscreations

Also on our tour, we've got a real treat in that Pamela Williams has come on board! Pamela is internationally known for her powerful and hauntingly beautiful photographs of cemetery statuary. I'm truly honoured to make her art available to you all through our tour! http://pages.interlog.com/~romantic/ is her website

Haunting the neighbourhoods!

Advertising is underway! Everyone has to pitch in to make this event a success, and I'm hearing some wonderful things! Thank you for doing your part and please tell me what you're up to! Ruth Fraser is off to England with our poster and bookmarks in her luggage! Morgan Hersey has sent it to her dealers! Sheri Fleischauer will be handing out bookmarks at the GarlicFest this weekend! And I've hung 11 posters in and around town (mine is a tourist town, after all). It's in the Public Library in Kincardine on Huron Lake and all the way over in Carp just outside of Ottawa, Ontario. And because Bill Slavin's illustration is so lovely, everyone has been very receptive! Very nice!

Doppelganger?

We've got two Sarahs! First, there's Sarah Pendergrast. I met Sarah at Okto-BEAR-Fest a few years ago and adopted a wee pumpkin bear and witch bear, so naturally I hoped she would enjoy taking part! Nowadays, she's creating imaginative bears and other spooky creations, like canvases and mini books! Can't wait to see them! Sarah's got a blog at http://sarahiscrafty.com/

And then, very new to my acquaintance is Sarah Medina. Sarah adds to our international flavour as she's way down under in Australia, and her bears definitely have world-wide appeal. Lately she's been bringing Lil Spooks to live, adorable teddies that walk the 'not so very dark side". Can't wait? Here's her website:
http://www.jellybellybears.com/