Hot Sauce, Just In Time For Barbecue Season!

It was months in the making. Right when the Hauntcast Resurrection was in process, The Undertaker stepped forward and said that if Hauntcast came back from the grave, he would formulate Hauntcast Hot Sauce. 


As you know, the Resurrection effort was successful, and now, we have the hot sauce, complete with Felix LaFlamme's design for our label, and available in the bottle and the hand-made coffin!


I can't wait to try it. I've been a fan of Haunted Hot Sauce for a long time, and The Undertaker is one cool ghoul for doing this for us! And hot sauce and eggs in the morning? Delish!

Aluminum Art Skull

I was looking around on Etsy when I found this amazing Cthulu skull! Lost wax casting in aluminum.

 Created by the talented Josh Dow of Eliot, Maine. His Etsy store is here.


Excellent work, Josh!

Inspiration

Trick 'r Treat is ever my inspiration. I would love my walkway to look like this come Hallowe'en 2012. Love the book even more. The illustrations are so very rich!


164 days and counting!

Shocktail Hour-Now Pouring! and Other Tidbits

Chris Baker and Johnny Thunder tie one on during the latest episode of Shocktail Hour. (I know you're surprised as heck!) I have to say I've been enjoying the show, myself. I've discovered a number of movies I never would have heard of because of Johnny Thunder, and I always look forward to hearing what he has to say.


In other news, the El Dorado Hills Art & Wine Affaire went pretty well over all.

I managed to snag a place on the bridge, which not only gave me some of the best views in the entire place, but gave me a nice breeze and only one row of vendors, rather than being lost among a bunch of them. Load in was pretty quick, as Mr. ShellHawk came with me and helped set up. Sales were decent, but not as much as I'd hoped, though I covered my booth fee and a little more, even after the 10% commission I had to pay. I took a bunch of pictures and will be posting some of my "normal" ceramics on Etsy shortly. My beer cups look like they may be a popular item, so be sure to look for those!

This week has been about catching up and cleaning house, as the house looked like a bomb went off in it! The dogs all got their long-overdue baths yesterday, so the loose fur will be floating along today. They'll all get to be brushed well again today, which my now-81-pound puppy still isn't sure about.

Next stop: West Coast Haunters Convention!

One Last Shameless Plug-And Potters Make Terrible Hand Models!

 I'm down to the wire with a million things left to do for the El Dorado Hills Art & Wine Affaire this weekend. I skipped my workout so I could start pricing, inventorying (is that a word?) and packing my stuff for tomorrow. I started taking photos of my stuff the other day, so I could have it documented, but I'm not done with that as of yet.

And I discovered I shouldn't be a hand model. I took the picture above to give a sense of the size of my little wine cup without the unattractive tape measure. I came up with this hand position to hide my potter's hands.
Potter's hands look like they work hard. Clay dries out your hands, gives you hangnails, ruins your cuticles, and don't even think of getting a manicure, because it's a waste of money! I wouldn't want to do anything but work in clay (and be the Mistress of Mayhem on Hauntcast) anymore, so I'm satisfied with the look of my hands-until they start cracking from the dryness, that is. I'm still looking for a good restorative treatment for them.


Well, anyway. Please come out to see me if you're in the area. I'm the exhaused-looking, frazzled woman begging for wine from the people in the booth next to me!


Oh, and by the way, a big, fat shout-out to Guy Miller of House Bloodthorn for my new "normal" banner-and by normal, I mean not Hallowe'en! He also designed a postcard for me. Check it out:

Not just a Hallowe'en talent! Thanks, Guy!

Another Fine Art Show You've Gotten Us Into!

This weekend, aside from being my weekend up at the El Dorado Hills Art & Wine Affaire, is the weekend for the Consumnes River College Student Sculpture Show!

Although I don't have work in the show, if you're at all interested in fine art and ceramics, this is truly worth a visit! It's amazing how talented all these people are, and they're all students of my teacher, Yoshio Taylor. If you're anywhere near the Sacramento area, this is a must-see!

Hauntcast 38: Carnevil is Up!

New show with all kinds of goodies to make your build season as good as a cold beer on a hot day!


Hauntcast: At least we don't suck! 

My Favorite Tree

This tree, an ancient oak just off the freeway off ramp by my house, is my very favorite. It's the classic dead, scary tree I envision is in the garden of every haunted mansion. I have driven by it and admired it for the last four years, and finally pulled over and took some pictures, often glancing over my shoulder for the Highway Patrol!

 I include a number of pictures of it for reference photos, should you need them. One day, I will be ambitious enough to get over there during the "golden hour" of sunset, so there's more of a contrast between light and shadow.

 Sadly, this beautiful old tree will likely be gone soon, as the entire property has been annexed by the City of Folsom, and some 1200-1500 oak trees will be torn out for homes and businesses. (There's something called "mitigation," which in laymen's terms means if you tear out nature over here, you have to restore some of it, over there. It still doesn't replace what was torn out in the first place, but it puts food on my table...) Even though I realize it's "progress," it still just breaks my heart. I love looking out at the rolling hills and the oooooolllllld ruins of stone walls, possibly the remains of an old west settlement. I can never see those without wondering and imagining what life may have been like back then.

I am secretly hoping it turns out to be an ancient Indian burial ground.

Hauntcon and Hauntcast

Well, this weekend is Hauntcon, and some of the Hauntcast crew will be there to meet and greet you!


Allen Hopps, Ed Gannon, Grimlock, and I believe, Chris Baker, himself will be manning booth number 218. (It would have been room 217, but the creepy lady in the bathtub kept screaming at them to get out...)


Please stop by and say hi to the guys and give them some feedback on the new episodes. They should be able to fit that in between filling their red Solo cups...


CORRECTION: I can't read, apparently. Chris and Johnny Thunder will be at Hauntcon, and Allen Hopps, Grimlock and Ed Gannon will be at the National Haunters Convention. Whoops!

Busy, Busy!

It's been pretty loony around here! School is winding down, so I've been sweating getting projects done before the end of the semester. My school has a type of kiln I don't have, and it's unlikely I will have one of my own any time soon, so I'm taking advantage of my access while I can!


The clock is ticking down to the El Dorado Hills Art and Wine Affaire, too. I truly don't feel like I have enough to sell, there, and there's a sculpture that  I was hoping to finish that will likely not be ready in time; I should be drying it already and I'm just barely halfway through building it. If I push it, I may wind up with another exploded sculpture, and that just hurts way too much! I'll probably do better to focus on my faster projects and just get back to that when I can, but I may do a marathon session to get it done and play it by ear.


I'm heading back into teaching, too, so after this weekend, I have to sit down and re-vamp a couple of lectures. I just finished my segment for Hauntcast and sent it off to Chris, too, all while being in Los Angeles for my nephew/godson's First Communion. I was such a good girl, I was even editing my segment on the plane!


Guy of House Bloodthorn has been kind enough to design a new banner and postcard for me, one that will be good for the "rest of the year," i.e. not Hallowe'en. I'm going to finalize my insurance this week, and it turns out I have to contact the State Board of Equalization (California's sinkhole of cash for the struggling small business owner, who make you buy all sorts of permits on top of your re-seller's license!) and let them know I'm going to be selling at that fair. California is a terrible place for small business, I have to say! It's that whole lemonade stand effect, cubed!


In any case, it may be a little quiet around here for a little bit, though I will try to check in with some Hallowe'en goodies from time to time!


And please, if you're in the area, stop by my booth on the bridge at the E.D.H. Art and Wine Affaire on May 12th and 13th. I won't have my Hallowe'en stuff there, as I'm saving it for the West Coast Haunters Convention, but I'll have some great things there, and there will be live music and lots of great food and wine to sample!


Well, off I go, to sit through two hours of mass! Oh, boy! ;)