All ten year old girls have a crush on Tim Curry...

My sister and I have a Halloween tradition. Every year we watch our favorite Halloween movie. Not a horror film, not It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown...no, the best Halloween movie ever is The Worst Witch.

It was made for TV in 1986 and stars Fairuza Balk as Mildred Hubble (her first role as a witch, long before she was in The Craft.) It also stars Charlotte Rae in dual roles as the school's headmistress AND her evil twin sister, Tim Curry as The Grand Wizard (who is swooned over by every female in the movie) and Diana Rigg as Miss Hardbroom (the not so nice potions teacher who doesn't like Mildred.)

It's a crazy movie, full of songs, goofy 80s special effects, and just plain wacky situations. In the middle of the movie Tim Curry gets his own music video!


Miss Cackle's "evil" twin sister and her coven of goofy witches are dressed like a five year old's idea of a "bad witch." They also have a song...


It really has to be seen to be appreciated. Or maybe you have to be a child of the 80s to love it as much as I do...you can see for yourself. Someone has kindly posted the whole movie on youtube.

Back online

A few of weeks ago my old computer (which I'd had for at least six years without upgrading) stopped connecting to the internet. Oh, no! What was I to do? My dear boyfriend let me use his for a while, but it was hard not being able to log on whenever I needed to. I've realized how very much my life revolves around connection with people through the net. Not a bad thing...I like having friends and customers all over the world :)

Today I finally bought a new laptop for myself! Nothing fancy, but it has lots more memory than my old one. It also has a webcam, so you may see some youtube videos from me soon (not quite sure what they'll be about yet...maybe plush making tutorials or other artsy things.)

Now that my web life is back to normal, I'll be posting more to my sites (especially Etsy and twitter) and trying to blog more. What would you like to see here? Process pictures? Tutorials? Design inspirations/color board posts? Let me know :)

I'm working on some new dolls (monsters, circus freaks, and fairy tale characters.) I'm also taking holiday orders now! There's less than two months until Christmas, and I need to get custom orders by the first week in December. I'll make a longer post in a day or two, with all of the details.

Halloween plushes

I just posted the first few of my Halloween plushes! Nosferatu, London After Midnight vampire, and zombie Poe. Lots more to come over the next week or so!

Doll and plush commissions are open

I just reopened my commissions. If you'd like to order a custom made plush toy or doll, here is all of my commission info: http://silentorchid.deviantart.com/journal/13694803/

And if you're thinking of ordering something as a Christmas gift, you should order early. (I know it isn't even fall yet, but my holiday commission list fills up fast.)

Monsterfest 2010!

In just over a month I'll be at Monsterfest! It's a local horror con that kicks off the Halloween season. This year it will be Saturday October 2, from 9am to 5pm at Chesapeake Central Library. Lots of vendors, artists, writers, horror hosts, and movie makers, as well as panels, films and a costume contest.

I'll be there selling my horror themed goodies. If you have any suggestions for characters, monsters, or Halloween things you'd like to see in plush form, let me know. Anything I don't sell at the con will for sale in my Etsy shop later that week.

And in other news...my commissions will be open again later this week, but on a limited basis. I'll post an official update, with all of the details, soon.

Shop update

I added a bunch of new dolls and plushes to my etsy shop today, including some circus freaks, urban legends, and a serial killer!

New home

So, I moved yesterday. I love my new apartment! It's tiny, but very cute and the perfect size for me and Justin. It's in the middle of Ghent, the "artsy" neighborhood in Norfolk. I'm around the corner from The Naro (single screen, arthouse theater,) lots of restaurants, shops, and galleries. Being able to walk down the street to eat or go shopping is going to be so nice! Especially after spending my whole life in the suburbs, where you need to drive to go anywhere.

I'll post some pictures when I get everything put away and organized.
Also, I'll be updating my Etsy shop soon and re-opening commissions. Stay tuned for updates!