(Inside A Black Apple)

Halloween Dispatch

Today we're going to carve up the pumpkins, spend the evening with some scary movies & hopefully get visits from some cute trick-or-treaters!

I hope they all look something like this:

source

A smattering of Halloween links:

• My Favorite Halloween Movies
• Little Black Apple Halloween Cards from a few years back
• Mad Monster Party
• Heidi's cutie witch DIY & formidable Halloween decor collection
• The Cool Ghoul Monster Coloring Book
• Excellent Halloween postcard archive
• Some nice old Halloween snaps

I hope you are having a spooktacular Halloween (har har har)!

Miette for Halloween

Remember back when I asked the cosmos for a Miette Sweater ?

Well, a lovely & talented lady named Jean made me one, and it's perfect. Down to the smallest funny little button-placket detail, it's Miette's woolen peppermint goodness through-and-through.

Since I have such a gem on my hands now, I thought it was only fitting that I should continue continue my proud tradition of dressing as a character absolutely nobody will recognize, and be little Miette for Halloween 2011.

As suspected, nobody knew who I was, but that's fine! Without the perfect jumper and Ron Perlman on my arm, who can blame 'em?

Hooray Halloween!

Bandit Dolls

Edition size: two each colorway
Made from: Cotton, wool felt
Featuring: vintage dotted fabric bowties, hand-painted faces & removable bandit masks

These little rascals will be part of tomorrow's update!
Just two ginger-hairs and two acorn-hairs available, along with all the new paintings.

See you then! 

Four Fancy Kittens

These four fur-faces are the final paintings that'll be part of the October update!

Inspired by all the excellent cats and kittens in bows that populate turn of the century trade cards, advertisements, and children's things, here are four of my own.

All four measure 6"x8"x1", and are painted in acrylic on wooden oval plaques.

I think these pals are also an expression of wishful thinking on my part, because Miette will never agree to wear a bow for more than a few minutes without glaring at me while shaking it off.

To dream the impossible dream!

One more thing to share for the October update - see you soon!

Portrait with Star Dress

Hello there!

With the exception of a group of small paintings I'll share soon, this little star-speckled lass is the final painting I'll be adding to the shop for this October update I've been working on. The pink, black and gold motif was inspired by one of my favorite Darger girls (a clipped-out print of her hangs in my dressing room, so I see her every day!)

Portrait with Star Dress     11"x14"     Acrylic on wood

Her dress is sanded down, and I really liked the quality it gave.

I had been doing so many drawings for Oddfellow's (all the illustrations are in graphite) working on this set of paintings has been so nice.

I still have just a few more things to share before I add it all to the shop - but the October update will take place in October, I promise!

Blooms & Branches Card Collection in the shop!

This lovely and anticipated card set is now in the shop!

The day these arrived from the printer, I opened up the boxes and (as predicted) started using them right away for my own correspondences.

They are so handy!

They turned out just right - plenty of room inside for a substantial note, and a pretty exterior with a simple little saying on it.

I hope you find them just as useful & charming.

Happy Thursday to you!

New Bandit Portrait Set

Continuing with my Octoberish paintings, I am happy to present...a new set of Bandit Portraits!

This rascal pair is something I was sure I wanted to include with this round of work:

Bandit Girl & Bandit Boy      8"x10" (each)     Acrylic on canvas

(Click to enlarge!)

These two...all the rare book heists they surely get up to.

All the new work will be available really soon! A few more things to share, and then I'll know exactly when I'll be able to post the originals (and any other doodads) in the shop.

I hope October is treating you well so far. I'm working up a storm, on these and other projects...so hard, in fact that I haven't even found my way to a pumpkin patch yet. I have been making potpies and apple betty, though, so it's a pretty good start on the chilly-weather activites!

Lillian & Licorice

Another little lass and another little black cat for October - a kitten, really!

I think there might be one more black cat that comes out of this group of paintings, but I'm not sure...

Lillian and Licorice    11"x14"x1"    Acrylic on wood

I'm really on a kick for these floppy little bow-ties.

I wanted to make two little licorice-haired friends with green eyes...I can't deny that I like it when people resemble their pets.

-Quite unrelated, but I recently needed some leather buttons to replace some unfortunate metal ones plaguing a tweed coat. I remembered all the lovely ribbons I've bought from M & J Trimmings, and checked on their button supply - sure enough, they had just the ticket and I got very lost in their lace and ribbon offerings before I purchased my little packet of buttons.
Just a tip, in case you don't know about 'em!

Happy Friday! I hope the Fall is making you as giddy as it's making me.

Portrait with Cat Ears

Here we have another of the new October-ish paintings - this little mini-series is so much fun for me, it keeps growing larger! I'm still trying to decide when the update will be, but I'll be sure to post it here when I know for sure.

This little girl seems like she's from the same ragamuffin gang as the Kitten Bandit & Arrowhead girls from last year.

Portrait with Cat Ears     11"x14"x1"    Acrylic on wood

She's got a simple but quietly wild feeling I really like. I think her prettily rumpled quality and the looser brushstrokes are helping that feeling along.

More soon!

The greeting card sets are back from the printers, and there are more paintings - one concerning a little black cat (a real one this time, not a pretender like this lass) - to share.