Still an orange glow!

Teddy Bear Review has published a review of our tour! Thank you so much, Joyce! Read it here: http://www.teddybearreview.com/ Doesn't Pam's bear look absolutely perfect for Hallowe'en?

A bright and spooky New Year!

We are all set for a brilliant 2012! Please note that I've moved our tour: now http://www.halloweenstudiotour.com/ is its true address (not just a redirect) and it lives as a sub-web on my scratchingatthewindow.com. WOW! This move should secure accessiblity (ie no down time!).

Here's to a fearless New Year!

Picture from http://pixdaus.com/single.php?id=246651

Fading into the eerie mist...

For the most part, this blog is now going to go to sleep, until the passion, mischief and mayhem begin to unfold again come summer 2012 and the 4th Annual Online Hallowe'en Artists' Studio Trick or Treat starts to build momentum! Until then, rest, more or less, in peace!

(I'm blogging all year over at http://clawscratches.blogspot.com/, join me there!)

If you're an artist and want to hop onto our Haunted Haywagaon, please email me and I'll let you know what's involved.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday Sale

Hi Everyone,
I hope you come visit my website I am offering a Black Friday and Cyber Monday Sale on my website through Monday November 28, 2011. Come to my website and check out the wonderful deals. Thank you for checking it
Beth
Some Bears and other beasts

www.bearsnbeasts.com

On to December...

Okay, so I'll admit it! Hallowe'en is over! Fine! Go ahead, celebrate that other Holiday, if you must!
But do it in style, like with these critters from my Hallowe'en artists:

Pam Pontious' merry rooster, Amy Thornton's snowman pin, Melanie Clark's Frostie Bear,

Martha Burch's Candy Cane Santa and Beth Hogan's Snow Lady with Lights!

These and so many more are waiting for you at www.TeddiesWorldwide.com but only for a very limited time starting today!!

We are in the Fall issue of BATS magazine! This issue came out in good time to show off our gorgeous poster and bring attention to our tour from the bat-loving community!

We had some excellent advertisting this year (all free), no wonder our statistics soared!

It's over...on to 2012!

Our tour for 2011 is officially over, but I have some excellent numbers to share!

Number of unique visitors: 1958
Number of sales: 20
Amount collected for Bat Conservation International (not including $ from artists' sales): $800.00



Number of happy bats: priceless!!!!

There are many additional side-effects that are not measurable, like how many people now know about bats and their plight. So I think all the artists deserve to take a bow and bask in a swelling round of applause! And I thank each and every one of you, artists and trick or treaters, for supporting this event and making it the success that it is.

Here's to making a difference for the bats!

Creaking Door Prize winner!

I'm happy to scream out: it's Deborah B. of Boulder, CO! Deborah correctly figured out the mystery phrase, "white nose syndrome"! Congratulations, Deborah! Your prize, the beautiful velvet covered journal, is on its way!

Eeeek!!!

In one week it's Hallowe'en! Eeeek! That means our tour is almost up, only a few days left before the pumpkins go dark and you'll have to wait another year! New items have been added, and the auction still has some steals so go trick or treating and you may be surprised at what you find. And remember the bats in your Hallowe'en wishes!

http://www.halloweenstudiotour.com/

Late to the party!

But what's a party without music?! If you've already enjoyed the tour, please take another look! We have a new artist: a musician! Her page will be up soon!! And a new auction item! (Thank you again Beth!)

1101 unique visitors have already trick-or-treated with us!! (as per statcounter.com)

3 days to go!

Only 3 days to go, and on October 1st our tour gets a big advertising push as we're part of Culture Days:
"The second annual Culture Days weekend kicks off on Friday, September 30 and runs through Saturday, October 1st and Sunday, October 2nd with over 5,500 activities happening in 800 Canadian cities and towns from coast to coast to coast. Are you ready to celebrate and participate in the largest ever arts and culture campaign in Canadian history?" -- Culture Days email

For the Bats!

Hi Everyone!

I am so very excited to be a part of this event!! Our fiendishly clever webmistress has done an outstanding job organizing this event. I can't wait to wander down the virtual paths and explore all the fantastic special features, tricks and treats she has created for all the visitors.

While this event promises to be filled with amazing art from all over the world, we must remember that this is a very important fund-raiser for the bats. I don't know about you, but in our area (northern NY state) we have seen a definite and dramatic decline in the number of bats filling our twilight skies this summer. And equally noticeable have been the record number of mosquitoes. The two are not unrelated! So let's come out and support those who are working hard to help the bats!! They need us just as we need them!!

See you all in the Haunted Forest on October 1st!!

Greenspirit

Almost time!

Only 4 days to go before the gates swing open and everyone can enjoy our tour!!! Finally I have everyone's art (ah! These artistes and deadlines!!!) and I am thrilled to saw WOW!! You're going to see some incredible art!!! And such fun introductions to the artists and their "studios"! I can hardly wait to share!

New this year: an auction!!! Thanks to my sister Doris' inspirational idea and donation of 3 gorgeous hand-knitted pieces, there are now 9 items up for bid, many being one of a kind!! And all the donors (so far)are giving 100% to Bat Conservation International! (Thank you, ladies! You are amazing!) So, gentle trick-or-treaters, bid for the bats!

Much appreciated!

For anyone wanting to help advertise our tour and help the bats, here's a button that can be used as you wish!

And thank you!

We're a Culture Days event!

Our Hallowe'en tour is listed as a Culture Days event, and here's the flyer being distributed in our area!

Here's the front, then unfolded... ...and here's us, in the bottom right corner!

Thanks again to Eileen at Perth Arts Connect for getting us in there!

My Halloween yard!

So I thought it might be fun to post a few videos of my yard from last year. It looked much scarier in the dark but the darker videos just did not do anything justice. 

Enjoy,  Melanie 

FINALLY -- I got some pieces finished for the Halloween show!  Just could not catch up this year!!!!
I have a great altered book with lights - for a centerpiece
one of my little bears and a crow this year.   Gotta wait to see them though

Lets go and Trick or Treat

Halloween Show is coming soon I want offer you a look one of my pieces that I will be offer at this wonderful show of Artist. You can check out more of my work at www.bearsnbeasts.com
I look forward to all the spooky stuff when web show opens
Beth Diane Hogan

Black magic!

Artist Sally J. Smith was hard hit by the nasty weather that ravaged the east coast and her beautiful forests show the brutality of Mother Nature's rage... So many of the places that are the stars of her photography are viciously altered, needing time to heal. But Sally will join us on our tour! And here below is a tease of a photograph of one of the houses she'll be offering as a treat. With a little black magic!

Scary or sweet?

Bats and our tour had a great day at the Maple Leaf Doll Show on Sunday! Well over 100 bookmarks went home with eager collectors, and new connections and friends were made! My rat Ceres here poses with Grandma Gnome, created by very talented artist Deborah Downey, who may join the tour in 2012.

I am working on some Halloween tags, notebooks and fun stuff.  This is my "4 Sisters" tag.  These are really FUN!!!

Teasing treats!

Pam Pontius of PamdaBears has sent in pictures of her treats and here I am teasing you with wee close-ups of their spooktacular faces! October 1st is only 31 days away!

Creaking door-prize announced!

Once again, there's a Creaking Door-Prize to be won on our tour! Again, it will be a word scramble where trick-or-treaters have to collect the letters and unscramble them to spell out the correct phrase. And here's the prize: a gorgeous black velvet 8" x 10" journal! I bought this at a Medieval Faire because I thought it would be the perfect offering for our prize, with the elegant witch and crows, dark and powerful!

So enjoy the tour come October 1st, collect the letters and good luck!

Wish-craft!

What do you do when people you admire agree to join you in something you really believe in? Well, first you jump up and down and hug everyone in reach, then you blog/brag a little. :0
I have awesome news!!!! Mark Dennis, an incredible sculpture artist, has agreed to take part in our Online Hallowe'en Artists' Studio Tour! I covet his work, especially his mermaid and the drowning sailor and his satyr! WOWWWW!! Look at this amazing piece!
Check out Mark's blog at: http://www.madsculptor.blogspot.com/ (Photo of Mark by Adriana Esqueda)

Then drag your zombie behind on over to Britta Peterson's haunted hollow to be utterly amazed! http://www.eerieelegance.com/ and http://www.brittablvd.com/ are her websites and she's been hosting and sharing her Hallowe'en parties for years! You're sure to be inspired by the amazing creativity of this super cool Mistress of Hallowe'en! And she's going to be on our tour!! I am so very happy!

Finally, I've heard from George Plumley that I have permission to use sound clips from his "Sounds Like Halloween Night" CD! While I will be reviewing the CD on the tour, you're welcome to take a sneak peak: http://www.soundslikehalloween.com.

What can I say but that I'm grateful, so very happy and grinning from ear to ear! What an amazing tour we're going to have!

* Wish-craft= make a wish, than make it happen!*

Batty greetings!

Batty cards! Each little guy folds up and fits in a lovely red envelope. They have crystal eyes and you can write your own personal message on the orange pumpkin. Of course I'll be offering these as a treat, but I'm only making 12.

Visible ink!

For those who have not yet received their subscriptions, or who've been unable to rest their bony hands on a copy (like me), here is the announcement in the September issue of "Dolls" magazine (just click to enlarge) and the Philadelphia Convention review from "Teddy Bear Review". While both articles appear in both magazines, except for the pictures they are very much the same.

If you visit the magazines' links, you can enjoy the entire issues!

Don't we look stunning!?

Spreading our wings wide!

Spook-tacular news! Not only will our tour be covered in Teddy Bear Review and Dolls magazines, but BATS magazine will include the tour's poster and (drum roll please) we're now listed as a Culture Days event! Wow! (Thank you again Eileen of Perth Arts Connect!)

"Participating in Culture Days by registering an activity is a great way for you to further raise your profile in your community, reach new audiences and make new contacts interested in promoting the arts and culture. It’s also a great opportunity to be part of a Canada-wide initiative that supports the vision of promoting access to arts and culture." And there we are!

Also, while I was on vacation, I left a nice pile of bookmarks at the Visitors' Center at MacGregor Provincial Park and in the Port Elgin Public Library! I hope my fellow artists are getting the word out too, it's such a great feeling.

Gone Batty!

Greetings to all.

Here is a little glimpse into my latest artistic intensive.

Cute and cuddly bats snoozing and swaying from your ears anyone?

I'll keep the finished pair in my attic, happily flying about, until October 1st.

Sheri

Hi everyone! I present to Marlene Tetrich and Laudanumila

Hi everyone! ( Hi Karen ;) )

I do not handling very well in English, so I can not participate in this place all I want, so I'll let the pictures speak for me, I present to Marlene Tetrich and Laudanumila, my first creations this year for Halloween, I hope that they like! :)

Have a nice day!
Sandra

Faery magic!

Sally J. Smith creates (or "finds") and then photographs incredibly beautiful masterpieces in nature, and quite often she stumbles upon faery houses! For our tour, I don't know what sort of treats she'll be offering but the decline of bat populations in her state of New York has inspired her to join us.

For an example of her works, take a look at the calendar she's created for 2012, available at http://pomegranate.stores.yahoo.net/w538.html.

Wondrous weavers!

Another artist who has yet to say "Boo!" here on our blog is Sheri Fleischauer! Sheri is an amazing artist who experiments with all sorts of mediums, although I think basket weaving is perhaps her favorite. Her jewelry is awesome, and here is a very Hallowe'en design of a fellow weaver: dangling spiders! Light-weight and very comfortable to wear, they allow you to make an elegant and eerie statement! I hope there will be a pair available on the tour!

Come haunt with us!

This is an open invitation: I'm looking for a choice few artists to join the Online Hallowe'en Artists' Studio Trick or Treat.

If you create original art, ANY kind, with a Hallowe'en, autumnal or macabre theme, please contact me if you think your art would play nice with the rest. It's all about sharing our art, bat conservation, and enjoying Hallowe'en together. The "fee" is a $28 donation directly to Bat Conservation International, and a promise to spread the word about the tour (through emails, your website, facebook, posters, bookmarks (ready to be printed off the website), etc...), however you are able.

I really hope to find some more European artists, so contact me!

You can send the email to (Karen) at woosel[at]wildmail.com.

Eerie windows to the soul!

Artist Sandra Arteaga (Are you there, Sandra?) hasn't posted anything yet, so I thought to share some of her previous works with you all, as a tease and to show off her incredible talent! Here are two pieces that I find breathtaking:




This is her corpse bride








and this is her witch.

Aren't the eyes amazing?! I want so much to see her work in person, I hope she creates a piece perfect for my collection!

Running with scissors...and an axe!

One item I will be offering the trick or treaters this year will be handmade Hallowe'en greeting cards. It's always so hard to find nice ones, I often have to resort to making my own, so I thought why not offer them as a trick or treat!
This is one of the designs:

Notice the lovely batty cutout corners and the cool fuzzy ribbon/yarn! (For the tour, I will be sharing more photos from this incredibly well-decorated home!!) Of course, there will be a very limited supply of cards... hint, hint. ;0

Less than 100 days to Hallowe'en!

In collecting all the decorating tips, recipes, and other fun things to share on the tour, I came upon this great list to help you all prepare your Hallowe'en gatherings! This list could be used no matter what you're planning, to stay on top of all the bits that sometimes get forgotten! Here's to a stress-free host/hostess! Because it's (almost) never any good to axe your guests...

(It's from Taste of Home magazine, their 2010 Hallowe'en special.)

Stoking the fire!

Wow! Thank you, my dearies, for your inspiring and teasing posts!!! I've been a bit down on the tour lately as I'm hitting too many "too busy, maybe next year" brick walls from invited artists... But seeing your posts stirs up the fire under this old cauldron and renews my spirit.

A collector wrote "Here in Pennsylvania we have lost almost all the bats in this area to the dreaded white nose fungus disease, so your Halloween tour is one event which is very dear to my heart." That too reminded me why we're all involved in this event: to help the bats both with our donations to work towards an end to White Nose Syndrome but also to share our love and fascination for these often misunderstood creatures. Here's to saving the bats!

Day of the Dead Skull - Work in progress...

I don't know about all of you, but I'm getting really excited about this Hallowe'en season!! Last year I got so inspired by Dias de los Muertos or 'Day of the Dead' artwork - especially the skulls! Only I was inspired a little too late to have a related piece ready for the tour.
But not this year! I hope to have a skull or two finished for this season.

So far this one is just a work-in-progress and I can't wait to get to the embellishment part!
Well, my skull doesn't have much to say - with no mouth at all, just yet! But, personally, I would like to say thank-you to Karen for all her hard work organizing the Hallowe'en Artists' Studio Trick or Treat Tour every year, in support of bats!!

a Boooooo Book

Hi everyone -- I had this Boo Book last season - it was a blast to make! Something other than a teddy bear and quite refreshing! I think maybe there might be another in the cooker for this year -- maybeeeee