Shivers of Delight

So it's true. My resolve not to host a Halloween party this year is starting to gnaw away at me.  I just started day dreaming about what a Halloween brunch would like like. Would that even make sense? I began doing a tiny bit of research on haunted tea parties last weekend and came upon the perfect tea to serve at your next haunted event or any storming day. If I don't have a party, at least I got a blog post out of it. Adagio Teas makes artisan tea blends. The website has hundreds to choose from, but what caught my eye are the Fandom Signature Blends . If you are a fan of any science fiction, horror, super hero, anime, or television series they make a tea for that. And not just one tea! They make an entire collection for one theme. It's fabulous. The teas come in metal tins with cool artwork. You know how all the creative people make tiny altars from Altoid tins? Well, I think Adagio Tea tins are going to be the next big thing. There is a huge cauldron full of teas to c...

When did putting patches on your jean jacket come back in fashion? I'm not necessarily opposed to it unless the patches are smiley faces and rainbows. Please, please, please, no rainbow suspenders. I can definitely get behind the screen-printed patches form One Hand Print Studio . Their patches are made with white ink on black and have incredible detail and style. And, they're dark, dark, dark. Rat Skull Four Eyed Cat Cursed Clown Death Space The Eye That Can See Everything Coffin Heart Confession: I don't own a jean jacket....I really want all of these patches to make a quilt. How cool would that be?! 

Rod Serling , best known for creating The Twilight Zone series, died at the age of 50 on June 28, 1975.  I am in awe of all that he accomplished by that age. I have been familiar with Serling's name since I was a child. I remember episodes of the tv show (in rerun, mind you) playing on our black and white television and Serling was a local celebrity in our town of Binghamton, NY where he spent most of his childhood and graduated from high school. Writing today's post about him is difficult. There is so much to say and a million things you can purchase with the Rod Serling/Twilight Zone theme. How to choose? For me, what is important to know is that Serling opened the minds of a generation using horror, fantasy, and science fiction like no one before him. He subtly, and not so subtly, raised issues of racism, censorship, and anti-war activism during the family-hour on television. No one was doing that - he changed all of us. And then, he co-wrote the screenplay for The Pl...

Etsy knows me well. The site is always showing me just what I like. The thing I like best is how it connects me with artists all over the world.  It makes my morning posting so much easier. Today, I share Villaoscura with you. It's a shop from Madrid, Spain. These dolls are calling to me. Katarina the Creepy Circus Aerialist Death Ertael Fallen Angel Koff of the Wormnakes Peleghan One-Eyed Troll Villaoscura has other haunting items as well. The Grady Twins Pendant and Jewelry Box Classic Monsters Pencil Holder Gorgon Medusa Brooch These are just some of my favorites. There are many more fun items to view in the shop. Take a look around.

It's highly probably that you, like me, follow several blogs of the spooky and unusual. I keep meaning to do a post about some of my favorite blogs that I'd like to share with you. No time like the present! One of the blogs at the top of my list is called She Walks Softly . Blogger Dana Anhalt has an eye for unusual art that leans more toward fantasy than horror. Her posts send me scurrying all over the internet to find out more about the artists she features. I have a long list of bookmarked blogs that I check every week and when I don't feel like I have the time to look at all of them, I still check in with She Walks Softly. I hope it's on your list too and if not what are you waiting for? I was delighted to learn that Anhalt has recently opened an Etsy shop of her own work. The shop is also called She Walks Softly (smart) and at the moment has a beautiful selection of pendants that pay homage to memento mori jewelry. Take a look. Lover's Eye Pendant ...

June 23 is celebrated in many places around the world as St. John's Eve . The Catholic Church honors St. John the Baptist's birthday on June 24th and long ago many of the pagan customs of the Summer Solstice became co-mingled with the Christian holiday. The website CatholicCulture.org has an interesting article about the history and traditions of the  St. John's Eve Bonfire . St. John's Eve is a night for magic and it's celebrated with bonfires from Denmark to Ireland to Brazil and beyond. In Quebec, Canada, St. John the Baptist is the patron saint of the province and the holiday is celebrated with bonfires and parades. In the United States, it is mostly celebrated in the French regions of Louisiana. New Orleans celebrates St. John's Eve with Voodoo rituals. Large St. John's Eve Bonfire in Alesund, Norway  (source: AmusingPlanet.com) It's on St. John's Eve that the blending of Christian and pagan practices are most visible. Believed to be a ...

A friend and her family vacationed in Colorado last year and told me that as they were driving in the countryside they saw a house surrounded by woods that had silhouettes of Bigfoot nestled in the trees. They loved it so much they drove past it several times. Why should we save our spookiness just for October? It's always more startling to see something when you don't expect it. However, I'm not encouraging you to be that neighbor . These things take subtlety. After all, seeing a witch on your front lawn in March is just disappointing. In my yard I have a sea of ferns along the side of the house. I'm thinking I could put the silhouette of a skeleton rising out of them. You wouldn't see it till you rounded the corner, really. That would probably be unexpected. The shape of a man or a group of wolves at the edge of the woods near our fire pit would be spooky too, I think. Chartini's Yard Art has some great pieces. Bookmark this shop for Halloween. Order no...

You may remember (probably not) that I posted about Joshua Hoffine's horror photography way back in October of 2014 . I'd be surprised if you haven't seen Hoffine's work before. It's been floating around the internet for awhile now.  His carefully posed photos will bring back every childhood fear you've ever had. (I'm a bit afraid to purchase one and hang it in our house.) Hopefully, you're reading his blog . Hoffine, in partnership with Dark Regions Press, is currently promoting a book of his photographs on Kickstarter . If you're interested get over there quickly because you have less than three days to support the campaign. This is Hoffine's first book and is a collection of 13 years of horror photography. That's a lot of horror. Can you imagine having all that in your imagination? No wonder he has to recreate it. It's probably the only way to get it out. I'm sure his mother had no clue what was lurking there. He looks li...

For many wonderful years, I lived in Athens, Georgia. This past weekend a close friend from Athens came to visit me and while I was driving her to the airport this morning I was thinking about the Summer Solstice and that reminded me of the Georgia Guidestone s in Elberton,Georgia. (source: Wikipedia) First, a bit about Elberton, GA. This small rural community is located about 45 miles outside of Athens. It is known as the "Granite Capitol of the World" because of the granite mines there. I have a feeling there are other places in the US that would question Elberton's claim to fame, but that's for them to fight over. My friends and I were known to venture to Elberton for two things. First, there were large areas where pieces of granite were thrown in a trash pile because they broke while they were being carved, they were left over pieces, or best of all there was a misspelling. If you had a garden and wanted to make a unique patio or edge a bed you went to the...

It's time to clean out my Etsy favorites box again so I have a few things to show you. If you like what you see, visit their shops. You might find something else that you can't live (or die) without. Continuing with the embroidery theme from yesterday, Heritage Stitch offers cross stitch patterns so you can try to make something beautiful yourself. Sugar Skull Cross Stitch by HeritageStitch My sister-in-law is a wiz at knitting and crocheting. She made a shawl like this in black and I'm in love with it. This one is from OneCre8tiveMama. Crocheted Skull Shawl by OneCre8tiveMama BoneAndSkull has some wonderfully carved jewelry from bone. Human Skull Ring fromBoneAndSkull I need to find a place for these cabinet knobs from jade4wood. Skull Cabinet Knobs from jade4wood These measuring spoons from theRoosfoos are fabulous! Calaveras Measuring Spoons from theRoosfoos You haven't forgotten the movie The Witch from this spring already, hav...

I have featured a few pieces of embroidery by Moonrise Whims artist Renee Rominger in previous posts. I thought it was time to spend a little more time with her gorgeous embroidery. I'm in love with the colors and blending of intricate detail with simple outlines. You can feel the joy in her work. Rominger's pieces are made to order so you have the option of requesting certain colors and minor changes. Frankly, I think they're perfect just the way they are. Human Skull with Florals Skull Flower Pot Floral Human Torso Edgar Allen Poe Human Eye Edgar Allen Poe Quote Someday, I'm going to take up embroidery. Really.