My Jack in His New Home/New Mast Head!

I never thought of putting a green light in one of my white jacks! It looks
pretty cool, doesn't it?

Michael over at the Skull and Pumpkin blog was gracious enough to purchase one of my Raku jack-o'-lanterns!

This is great for reasons aside from actually having money in my account. First, I heart Michael and his blog. He's just such a great person (I had a chance to spend a few minutes with him at Monsterpalooza a couple of years ago); witty and funny, and a really decent human being.

Second, since my works are kind of like my kids-only, of course, I'm hoping most people don't actually sell their children-I want them to go to good homes, where people can appreciate them and make them part of their daily or holiday memories. I feel very much like Mr. Glass about my artwork, at least most of the time, and I love when it goes to a place where it will be admired, rather than a place where it will be carelessly used one or two years, then stuck haphazardly in a junk sale. *shudder* 

No, I love the idea that what I make will be a part of someone's growing-up memories, like that special Christmas decoration that gets passed from generation to generation.

Michael wrote a nice blog post about the jack he purchased, plus included a shot with the Mini-Boo he won last year in one of my giveaways! Thanks, Michael! And I'm very glad you like your evil jack!

In other news, you may have noticed that the fireplace picture on my blog's mast head has been switched out to reflect this year's crop of jack-o'-lanterns. Thank you to Guy of House Bloodthorn for doing that, and for making my blog look so spooky and cool!

Well, back to work! My Open House is Sunday, and I have more to do than I have hours in the day!

Facelift? A Little, maybe...

Big, sloppy kisses (and garment-touching) to Guy of House Bloodthorn for switching out the jack-o-lanterns in my blog header. The picture is a lineup of some of the jacks and other glowing beasties I made last season for Hallowe'en. Some of them are even in my readers' homes and part of their yearly Hallowe'en tradition!


For those of you who are unaware, Guy of House Bloodthorn was responsible for helping to redesign the Hauntcast site, as well as for redesigning my little ol' blog page. I love his work, and if you need a fresh eye on your pages, I really recommend him!


Eventually, I'll gather some cash and pay him millions to re-do my web page, 'cause he deserves it!

Just a Couple of Things to Mention

Sorry if this sounds a little like a commercial for a bunch of stuff, but please read through so you're hip to what's happening in not only my world, but another one, too!

As you know, Hauntcast is up for the "Best Produced" and "General" cate-gorys (Get it? It's a play on "gory." Pretty clever, huh?) for the Podcast Awards. Apparently, they're tallying up each day's total votes to get the winner, so please take a minute to vote for us each day. Click on the banner to take you to the site. We really appreciate it! When we win, Chis is buying everyone drinks!

O.k., he's not, but you can't blame a girl for trying.

Next, I wanted to remind you all that I have some nice items in my Etsy store that would make unique Christmas gifts for just about anyone. Since it's going to be raining all weekend, I will not be pulling my items out of the Etsy store to take to Jack Russell Farm Brewery, so you can see what my "normal," non-Hallowe'en stuff looks like. My Hallowe'en items are still listed, too-I actually dropped my price on the pumpkin ghost everyone liked so much, so take a look and take him home! (Please! I need to buy and install a utility sink so I don't have to wash my clay tools off in freezing water outside, in the rain! Can I tell you how much that sucks?!)

If you like, you can take one or both of my banners and post them to your site, linking them with my etsy store address: www.etsy.com/shop/shellhawk. Here are the images, made by the exceptionally talented Guy of House Bloodthorn:



 Lastly, I ran across this charity event and had to pass it on to you. The Mission Fish part of eBay is auctioning off this original artwork to benefit the Haven Foundation, which helps artists in need. Artist and illustrator Glenn Chadbourne has donated this illustration, inspired by Stephen King's Dark Tower series, to raise money for the Foundation:

Here's the press release:

Now being auctioned through eBay's Mission Fish with proceeds to benefit The Haven Foundation is this signed original artwork by Maine artist Glenn Chadbourne. This pen and ink drawing is inspired by Stephen King's The Dark Tower saga. It has been professionally framed with conservation quality materials. The piece including frame measures 13-1/4" x 15-1/2". 

Chadbourne has also illustrated the limited editions of Secretary of Dreams Volumes 1 and 2 and The Colorado Kid.

You can bid on the piece here, the full Haven Foundation info on this auction is here, and Glenn Chadbourne's website is here. He does some deliciously dark illustrations, so head over there to take a peek at his work!

Have a great weekend, All!

I Love My New Look

I'm sure by now, you've all noticed the blog has a new, cleaner look. Some things have been removed entirely, some things have been rearranged and compressed, and the whole thing has been given a new look. (Hmm, facelift and liposuction for a blog?) The result is what you see, and more tweaking will be done over the next little while.

The credit goes entirely to Guy over at House Bloodthorn. While we were at WCHC, we chatted a little about my blog and the changes I was considering, and later we talked on the phone while online to hammer out more of the details. I'm really pleased with how everything looks, and that's because Guy not only listened to what I wanted, he intuitively sought out the details that would pull everything together visually. Only a fellow haunter could have pulled it off without making it look cheesy, or like every other "dark website" out there. (You shouldn't be able to glance at a site and know that so-and-so did the graphics work, unless the artist owns the blog.) He was worth every penny!

Guy is also the man responsible for the coordination of the Hauntcast website facelift. It's Guy's "real job", and his prices are reasonable, so if you're looking to do an upgrade on your blog or site, please contact him. Tell him I sent you!

Thanks, House Bloodthorn!

Ape and Mom on the lake. Mom models her Iron Fist swimsuit won from Skull-a-Day.

So this is what happens when I go away for Memorial weekend: a little internet gnome comes along and gives my blog a facelift! Thanks, Guy!

We'll be playing with the look a little, so if you have suggestions or comments, please feel free to make them.

Oh, I've been having trouble with posting authorized comments, so if you made one and it's not up, please re-comment so I can attempt to put them up again!

West Coast Haunters Convention

Here are a few more pics from WCHC. If any of you have some, please contact me so I can post them.

Night one, I had the privilege of meeting up with the Davises for Thirsty Thursday. They took me to a neat little wine bar across from Dark Horse Comics, where I took this pic.

The Hauntcast booth, our little cave and home away from home.

Chris Davis and lovely minion (whose name temporarily escapes me, because I can barely remember my own name... Chris-help a girl out, would ya?),  Elyssa. (Thanks, Guy!)

Bloodshed Brother Zack kicks it in his old-school Hauntcast shirt. It was great to hang with both Zack and Jeromy. Keep an eye on these two guys, everyone. There will be great things coming from them in future years. Just you watch!

Davis minion and all-around great guy Daniel, doing the catwalk!

Hauntcast art director and winner of the Vanguard award for the Resurrection of Rose, Guy/House Bloodthorn, trying on his inscrutable look. Good luck with that, Guy. Great prop he made in the background, huh? Big thanks to him for all the help he was and schlepping his reaper into the show!

More pics tomorrow. Stay tuned!

West Coast Haunters Convention

It's official: I'm headed to the West Coast Haunters Convention May 21-23 with Hauntcast. I owe a big thanks to Mr. ShellHawk for graciously allowing me to make an appearance so soon after the last convention. What a guy!

I'm very excited to have the chance to meet friends of the show Chris and Jeff Davis and Leonard Pickel. I'll be joined by honorary Hauntcast member, House Bloodthorn, who has been kind enough to work with us on our website redesign. (Har!) He will be helping me out at the Hauntcast booth, so be sure to stop by, say hello, and congratulate him on winning the Haunter's Video Vanguard Award for The Resurrection of Rose.

I'd like to encourage everyone on this end of the world to make an effort to come to support this new convention so it returns for many years to come! There will be many haunt legends among the teaching staff, so it's worth it to come out and gain some knowledge from their years of experience.

Yay! Yay! YAY!

Ahem. I am dignified. I do not say, "yay."

O.k. I do when I see House Bloodthorn posted "The Resurrection of Rose." I have so been looking forward to seeing this!

I sigh myself a happy sigh. Now I gotta go watch Pumpkinrot's video again.