LOOK WHAT CAME TODAY!!

I was lucky enough to win a giveaway on Facebook, from one of my friends, Theresa Meloon. Since we live in Canada and Theresa lives in the U.S., I thought it would take at least a week to arrive, but it came today. Now, I didn't know what I had won - it was to be a surprise. Imagine my delight to open the box and find all of these goodies.

First, there was a lovely quilted piece, with gorgeous Halloween graphics and black cats - our favourites. It's in the centre of our harvest table and it looks just wonderful. Then there was a sweet Hallowe'en banner that I will put on the wall, and there was also a pumpkin, clip-on ornament and a goody bag of candies!

So, an ordinary day was made very special by these lovely treats - THANK YOU, THERESA!

ESMERALDA THE WITCH, FOR SALE ON EBAY

Esmeralda the Witch is my entry into the Autumn Challenge at Creating the Hive. She is officially for sale on Ebay - you can view her auction by clicking Ebay Listings Esmeralda is 6 1/2 inches tall and made from vintage cream mohair, that is naturally distressed. She is stuffed firmly with excelsior and weighted with stainless steel shot. Her face, ears and paws are shaded with permanent fabric paint and she has amber german glass eyes and a waxed nose. Esmeralda has vintage wool felt paw pads. She is wearing a collar and witches hat, made from hand dyed, black and orange wool felt. The collar is decorated with tiny vintage bells.

Esmeralda comes with her old fashioned halloween candy container and a brooche, made with reproduction Hallowe'en ephemera. The image is soldered behind beveled glass, with a decorative design.
SOLD

HIVE CREATIVE CHALLENGE - ESMERALDA THE WITCH

I have just finished my piece for the Creative Hive Challenge. This was a fun project - I am really enjoying my time at the Hive. Esmeralda is a 6 1/2" white mohair bear, dressed in a wool felt hat and collar, and she has her own vintage style hallowe'en pail for Trick or Treating. I hope you enjoy her as much as I enjoyed making her. She will be for sale in a day or so. Thanks for peeking!

NEW BEAR, "TICKETY BOO"

I just love black teddies but they are ridiculously hard to photograph. I'm finally satisfied with these pictures, so he is officially up for sale! "Tickety Boo" is 5 1/4 inches tall and made from hand dyed German Shulte mohair, which has been aged and distressed. He is fully jointed with German amber glass eyes, a sparse waxed nose and distressed ultra suede paw pads. "Tickety Boo" is firmly stuffed with excelsior and gently weighted with stainless steel shot.

"Tickety Boo" wears a hand dyed, wool felt hat and collar. Both the collar and the hat are removable. He comes with a Hallowe'en ornament that says "Boo" and the tiny pumpkins and Hallowe'en confetti is also included. "Tickety Boo" is both designed and made entirely by me, with the exception of the ornament and confetti. He will come with a signed hang-tag and is a collectible and not meant for children.
SOLD

AGATHA THE WITCH

I have finally finished a Hallowe'en teddy - Agatha the Witch. I normally make a lot of Hallowe'en bears, but somehow time has sped by this year. I hope you like Agatha - she's a sweet little witch, not a nasty one :o)

Agatha is 5 inches tall and made from beige mini German mohair. She is fully disc-jointed and traditionally stuffed with excelsior and weighted with stainless steel shot. Agatha has german glass eyes, a sparse waxed nose and shading on her face, ears and paw pads (with permanent fabric paints). Her mohair has been distressed to give her vintage appeal. Agatha also has distressed ultra suede paw pads with tiny holes, which allows the excelsior to show through.

Agatha wears a sweet little dress made from an antique hanky. It has been gently aged, making it look vintage. She has a silver star on a silver thread, around her neck. Agatha's witch costume is made from dyed wood felt. It consists of a witch's hat and cape, a broom. and a pumpkin sign. The witch costume is removable so she can be displayed just in her dress for the rest of the year. Her dress is also removable.

Agatha also somes with a double sided Hallowe'en ornament, with vintage reproduction ephemera ( a little boy on one side and a black cat on the other. The images have been decorated with foil and glitter and are encased between two soldered pieces of glass and hung with a black organza ribbon.

Agatha and her accessories are both designed and made entirely by me, Brenda Power. This set with come with a signed hang tag and is a collectible, and not meant for children. Postage for Agatha is $12.50 postal shipping and $15.00 UPS to most places in North America. Please email me for a quote for international shipping and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email me. :o)
SOLD

LONGWOOD GARDENS, PENNSYLVANIA

I was supposed to post these last week, but things got in the way. I find once summer is over, time speeds up so fast that Christmas is here before we know it. So, here are my favourite pics of Longwood Garden, PA. It was built by Pierre Dupont and is still overseen by the family. The grounds are spectacular and it is certainly worth taking a day to visit. They change the garden by season - I'd love to see it at Christmastime. So, grap a cuppa and get ready for a stroll through the gardens. Hope you enjoy it. o)

View as you enter the gardens

I loved the tree lined walkways.
The architechture was fabulous.

Another tree lined passageway.

The main Conservatory

More lovely architecture.
A lovely old turret.
This was all marble!!
A section of the special children's garden.

Another great walk.

The pumpkin patch with ghost gourds.

An Admiral butterfly just waiting to have his picture taken.
Very different apple trees.
Lots of hidden fruit.
A beautiful pergola covering another walk.

A walkway inside the main Conservatory.

We had to take a picture of this beautiful flower.

The largest lilypads I have ever seen.

A gorgeous orchid from the Orchid room in the Conservatory.

Another lovely orchid with some ivy.
One of the Conservatory walls.
Incredible lily lined walk, inside the Conservatory.

Beautiful plants everywhere we looked.

The opposite Conservatory wall.

A view of the grounds and fountains from atop the Conservatory.

Pierre Dupont's house.
Inside Pierre Dupont's personal Conservatory!

One of three treehouses in the gardens, all from reclaimed lumber - the floor in this one was from a demolished factory in down town Toronto! :o)