Winter Moon All Hallows Read Book Giveaway

Greetings my dear darklings, I hope you are all having a wonderful lead-up to Halloween.

This year, I was introduced to the joy of Neil Gaiman's All Hallows Read, as lovely Yvonne over at Winter Moon held a giveaway in honour of Neil's 4-year-old tradition. 

I was one of the lucky winners, which made today a very happy mail day - as if receiving 'The Amityville Horror' wasn't enough, Yvonne also included some beautiful Halloweenie extras! Thank you so much, Yvonne!

I absolutely adore all of the thoughtful little goodies Yvonne popped in, and am looking forward to framing those movie postcards! 

I'm off to bed now to start reading my All Hallows Read prize. Yvonne, thank you so much for hosting this wonderful giveaway and for my lovely surprises - you are such a sweetheart! ♥

A very Happy Halloween to you all, dear darklings! ^V^

Halloween love for Belle Dee's Doo Wacka Doodles

Greetings my dear darklings. I hope you are all having a ghoulishly gleeful October.

To celebrate this marvellously macabre month and the countdown to All Hallows Eve, I have been posting some works by my favourite Halloween / monster artists. 

This evening's post features the art of the gorgeous and talented Belle Dee (aka Shana Bilbrey).

Selfie from Belle's blog

Describing herself as "just a girl who likes Halloween & Old Horror films and drawing pictures of them," Belle's Doo Wacka Doodles lend a vibrantly fun retro style to many of my favourite classic monsters and villains. A graphic designer and illustrator, Belle's work has been published in Little Shoppe of Horrors, HorrorHound and Rue Morgue magazines, has been exhibited at Gallery1988 and ZaPow, and won the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award for Best Fan Artist of the Year in 2010.

These are my personal favourites from Belle's extensive body of work. To see more, do yourself a favour and pop by her fab blog, http://doowackadoodles.blogspot.com   

Enjoy! ^V^

'Halloween A-Go-Go' by Belle Dee

'Regan from The Exorcist' by Belle Dee

'Lorre, Price & "Rhubarb" in The Comedy
of Terrors' by Belle Dee

'The Phantom' by Belle Dee

'Elvira' by Belle Dee

Belle Dee's piece for the 'Vincent Price Presents'
art show at Star Clipper Comics Gallery

Belle Dee's 'No More Mr. Nice Guy'
for the 'Rock & Roll' art show at ZaPow

'Bates Motel spot illustration, featuring
Freddie Highmore' by Belle Dee

Belle Dee's 'The Klopeks from The 'Burbs' for
the 'Crazy 4 Cult' art show at Gallery1988

Belle Dee's piece for the 'Creepy Cute' art show at ZaPow 

Witches In Fiction 2014… Crafting Blooming Howls

Greetings dear darklings, and welcome to my little contribution to the Witches In Fiction… Crafting Blooming Howls blog party, hosted by the fabulous Magaly Guerrero of Pagan Culture blog. 

I have never been handy with a needle and thread, but I have always thought it would be fun to dress my babies up in homemade costumes for Halloween. When I read about the theme for this blog party, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to take up the challenge and make this little dream a reality!

Given my lack of sewing skills, Mother 'Mingo very kindly assisted me with creating these cute costumes for her grandchildren, even going as far as sourcing fabrics and appliqués for them - thanks Mum!

I decided on a Merlin costume for Norman:

Trying on Norman's hat 

And a bat costume for Till:

Trying on Till's wings

Now to put them together for a cute family snap!

Here, Merlin Norman has used his magical beardy powers to cast a spell on Till, turning him into a Mini Schnauzer-Bat. Neither of them seem quite sure about all this witchy business, but their mother thinks they look adorable :D 

I look forward to seeing you all over at Magaly's blog and reading all of your posts!

Halloween Love for Mike Bell's Monsters with Martinis

I do so love October. Its arrival always fills my dark heart with ghoulish glee. 

For some of us, every day is Halloween, but this is the only month of the year during which it is socially acceptable to adorn our front yards with gravestones, severed heads, skeletons and screaming banshees. Thank you, October. :D

To celebrate this marvellously macabre month and the countdown to All Hallows Eve, I will be posting some works by my favourite Halloween / monster artists. 

First up is the fabulous New Jersey lowbrow artist, Mike Bell.

Mike in his studio

Mike's pieces combine three of my favourite things in life - classic monsters, tattoos, and cocktails - with humorous narratives, Rat Pack cool, and iconic pop culture imagery. The result? "A world where the weird is wonderful and the inhuman is alive."

Mike's work has been exhibited in galleries right across the USA, including a current solo show at Seattle's Gargoyles Statuary. Fine art prints of some of his pieces are available for purchase from Lowbrow Art Company.

These are my personal favourites from Mike's extensive body of work. To see more, I highly recommend visiting his website, www.belldogstudio.com

Enjoy! ^V^ 

'Frankendroog' by Mike Bell

'Made For Each Other' by Mike Bell

'Bat Man' by Mike Bell

'Werewolf of London' by Mike Bell

'Hot Rod Lily' by Mike Bell

'Jack Celebrates The Dead' by Mike Bell

'The Goblin King' by Mike Bell

'The Birth Of The Bride' by Mike Bell

'Franky Stardust' by Mike Bell

'Kitty Martini' by Mike Bell

'Bride Cocktail' by Mike Bell

'Brokenhearted' by Mike Bell

'Undying Love' by Mike Bell

Forgotten Memories - Dilka Bear show at Auguste Clown Gallery

Greetings my dear fellow darklings. I hope you are all well.

I've been very thankful to be in Melbourne over the past couple of weeks. 

On September 19, Auguste Clown Gallery unveiled 'Forgotten Memories', a collection of 18 dreamy, melancholic new works by the incomparable Italian surrealist painter, Dilka Bear. 

Photo courtesy of Auguste Clown Gallery on Facebook

The opening night of this show was fabulous. Dilka fans from far and wide gathered to gaze in awe at her "collection of abandoned memories." The beer flowed, favourites were selected, and red dots quickly appeared under almost all of the pieces within the first hour. 

'Night Guide' by Dilka Bear

'Su ana' by Dilka Bear

'Solstice' by Dilka Bear

'Gratitude' and 'Sylfe' by Dilka Bear - photo courtesy of
Auguste Clown Gallery on Facebook

However, the ultimate highlight of the evening was not one of the "wistful urchins" adorning the walls, nor the signed artist books, each one featuring an original illustration on the title page. It was in fact Dilka herself, who had flown in especially to be present for the show's opening night! 

Dilka signing books before the show - photo courtesy of
Auguste Clown Gallery on Facebook

Dilka was lovely, mingling with fans, chatting about her pieces and thanking everyone for coming down to see them. I got starstruck at the last moment and couldn't think of a single intelligent thing to say to her, so I decided not to take up another fan's time with her and hung back. What a fanbird. ;)

I took home a copy of the Dilka Bear book, a beautiful hardback collection of 75 of her paintings, with this little darling on the title page:

My copy of the Dilka Bear book and its title page

And this gorgeous print that I have had my eye on for some time. It is called 'Memories', and gallery owner Leigh was kind enough to ask Dilka to sign it for me before he framed it: 

'Memories' by Dilka Bear

As if all this wasn't exciting enough, Dilka then returned to the gallery for a four-hour live painting event on September 28, giving fans the chance to "watch her brush expertly weave a distorted fable of magic creatures and abandoned memories before [their] eyes."

Not knowing how big or how detailed a painting she could complete in four hours, Dilka finished a practice piece during the week, using a palette comprised of just four colours. Here it is on the left, as Dilka sets up to begin the Live Paint on the right:

Photo courtesy of Auguste Clown Gallery on Facebook 

Live Paint in progress - photo courtesy of
gallery owner Leigh on Facebook

The finished piece - Dilka Bear Live Paint
at Auguste Clown Gallery

I was only able to make it down to the gallery for the end of the process, but what a magical experience! I absolutely adore the finished piece - is there anything more beautiful than a Dilka version of Wednesday Addams?

The exhibition wraps up on October 12, so if you're in Melbourne between now and then, do yourself a favour and pop down to see these beauties for yourself.  

Thank you Dilka, thank you Leigh - this show has been incredible!

Vintage shopping at Winter Moon

Good evening, my dear fellow darklings. 

Many of you here in Blogland will already be familiar with the wonderful Winter Moon and the lovely lady behind it, Yvonne. 

For those who have not yet had the pleasure of making her blog's acquaintance, upon visiting it you will discover that Yvonne also has an Etsy shop, filled with delightful vintage treasures.

I recently made my first Winter Moon purchase after seeing these vintage French blood red glasses on the Winter Moon Facebook page and becoming instantly smitten: 

Yvonne still has three other sets of these little darlings in her shop if you've fallen in love with them too.

As if receiving vintage French glassware in the mail wasn't exciting enough, Yvonne was also kind enough to include some gorgeous little surprises in my promptly-posted parcel:

After wrapping the glasses with care, each one in its own layer of red tissue paper and bubble wrap, Yvonne then popped two vintage Penguin book cover postcards inside Burton-esque bags:

Along with some teeny tiny poison bottles:

A letter 'R' for my first initial:

Four wee antique pill bottles:

And a lovely thank you card:

Isn't she a sweetheart?

Thank you so much Yvonne! I look forward to more Winter Moon shopping in the not-too-distant future. ❤

Gothabilly Glam - Debstar Designs

Greetings, dear fellow darklings. I hope you are all well.

This evening, allow me to introduce you to a fabulous Australian alternative jewellery designer, who is not only wickedly talented, but a lovely lady to boot. Meet Deb, the Gothabilly gal behind Debstar Designs. 

Deb of Debstar Designs, pictured here
with one of my cousins

Based in Sydney, Deb has been creating costume jewellery for the alternative market for some time now. She draws her inspiration from "the unusual, the strange, the kooky and kreepy and the downright weird, featuring icons classically associated with cultures including Rockabilly, Gothabilly, Psychobilly, Goth and Horror." 

A collection of Debstar Designs pieces

Debstar Designs often has a stall at the Sydney Rock & Roll Alternative Market, and will be setting up for the next one on September 14. 

Debstar Designs Market Stall

If you're heading to the market, keep an eye out for her gorgeous green coffin display case, and these recently-created matching display frames: 

Debstar Designs Market Display Frame, 
with Triple Skull and Crossbones Chain Necklace

Following Debstar Designs on Facebook and Instagram is a great idea if, like me, you don't live in Sydney and therefore can't get to the market stall, as she often posts one-off items for purchase that are not available through her website. Below is one such example - Deb posted this fellow gothic flamingo on Instagram last week, now here he is on my coffee table. :)

Debstar Designs Flamingo Brooch

Some old Debstar favourites:

Debstar Designs Spider Brooch with Black Crystal Diamantes

Debstar Designs Starburst Crystal Hair Clips with Skulls

Debstar Designs 'The Munsters' Necklace

And some new favourites, currently available on the Debstar Designs website:

Debstar Designs Spiders and Webs Necklace

Debstar Designs Poison Letter Necklace

Debstar Designs Coffin Cardigan Clips

Debstar Designs Hearse Bracelet

I might just have to book a trip up to Sydney around September 14. :) Love your work, Deb!