Seasons Greetings From an Unfinished Moon Man

I wanted to have this project finished for Halloween this year, but I've had just too much on my plate. I have not had much time to work on the big guy, but I did have the"bright" idea of decorating his staff and hat with Christmas lights. Har har!

I hope to get back to sanding and painting on the moon man after Christmas, when things slow down a bit.

Happy creating!

Spookytime Jingles December

Time is flying isn't it? The cool thing about this as that it's already Spookytime again! It's my favorite time of the month. SO that makes this my favorite time of the month of my favorite time of the year. It's a good time!!



Be sure to check out all of the awesome new art at STJ tomorrow, or tonight if your a night owl like me.

Also, I have a new item available at Etsy. This is the first of a little series I'm calling "Snowbodies." Click here to see the listing.

See you tonight at Spookytime Jingles!!

Frosty ACEO on Etsy!

Well, here's what I accomplished today. I was trying to organize and clean up my work desk, and I came across some supplies that inspired me to do this card. It includes some aged chenille stems, an old luggage tag, and a piece of sheet music from an old book. When I saw these things, they all called out "Snowman!" so I whipped up a mini Frosty, and put them all together.

I'll probably make a Santa and an Elf card to match, so stay tuned!

Available on Etsy!!

My 10 Favorite Christmas Movies, and some...

I'm a movie fan, and a sucker for Christmas movies in particular (cheesy though they may be). It's November, and Steph and I have broken out the Christmas DVDs. I've watched the classics growing up, and some may be great to me, if only for the childhood nostalgia, while others have only emerged in recent years as instant classics.

I'll start with my 10 favorite Christmas movies (unless I'm forgetting something.)

10. Nightmare Before Christmas. So it's a mash-up of Christmas and Halloween, but it's an ingeniously made classic as far as I'm concerned.

9. A Christmas Story. Most of you would probably like to strangle me for putting this movie at number nine on my list rather than 1, 2, or 3. The fact is, this one's new to me and I'm not sure I've even seen the whole thing from beginning to end. However, from what I've seen, it deserves a spot here.

8. Miracle on 34th Street (the old one). I don't care who you are, you can't watch this one and tell me it didn't give you a touch of Christmas joy.

7. Prancer Yeah, yeah I know it's not really a guy movie. I grew up on it, it grew on me, and now it's one of my Christmas staples.

6. It's a Wonderful Life I love this movie and it's good old fashion moral. Again, sorry it's not closer to #1 on my list.

5. Polar Express This movie restored my faith that great Christmas movies can still be made today... well four years ago. Truly an amazing flick.

4. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation One of my favorite Christmas movies, and vacation movies. Could be the funniest movie on the list other than #1. I get cracked up just thinking about it!

3. The Santa Claus No-one could have done it like Tim Allen. Such a clever and original idea for a movie. I love it. Unfortunately I can't say the same for the two sequels.

2. Elf My favorite Will Ferrell movie and one of my favorite comedies. There are parts where I can't stop laughing.

and the winner is........

1. Home Alone Wish I knew how many times I've seen this! It never fails to bring the laughs, and that good "Christmasy" feeling. Hands down, my favorite Christmas movie.

And now for some honorable mentions, some of which I'm a little ashamed:

Jingle all the Way This is an almost painfully bad movie, but Steph makes me watch it every year. She doesn't even like it!! However, it has somehow become something of a tradition and it would be kind-of sad to miss it.

Earnest Saves Christmas A childhood classic to me, just didn't have a place in the top ten.

Home Alone 2 It's pretty funny but it's almost a complete knock off of the first one. I'll still give it a watch now and then.

Jack Frost A bit too depressing for me.

So what is your favorite Christmas movie? Check out the poll over on the side bar and vote for your favorite.

New Ornament WIPs

I have a few ornaments in the making, including a couple of Santas, a couple of snowmen, and an elf. Some of them will probably be on Etsy before the week is over, so keep an eye out!

Joyful Winter Snowman

Available now at Etsy.

My Collection

This is something that has been near and dear to me for my whole life. When I was a kid, my grandma gave me a cheap, factory made nutcracker. Somehow it struck a chord with me and I've been collecting every since.

My favorite nutcracker maker is Christian Steinbach, who is also one of my biggest inspirations as an artist. Unfortunately, he just passed away last year. Hopefully his children and grandchildren will carry on his legacy.

In light of the oncoming Christmas season, I'll be posting a picture of a nutcracker from my collection at least once a week.

I'll start with my very first German nutcracker, a Steinbach given to me by one of my grandma's friends. She's a very generous woman!

"Sherlock Holmes"

WOW

This little guy just remembered that the next Spookytime Jingles update is just around the corner, and I think his expression says it all!

Visit me at STJ November 13th to find this elf and more!

Elf WIP

It's amazing how many times I changed my plans for this piece before it ended up where it is now. I first made the package with the intent of having an elf sitting on it. Then I decided to have him standing on it. As you can see, I crossed both of those ideas and decided to put him in the package!