GHOULTIDE GATHERING HERE WE COME!

Just wanted to let you all know that I will be leaivng in the next few days to attend GHOULTIDE GATHERING held at Mill Race Village in Northville, MI! I am so excited to be helping my best friend Joyce Stahl of Enchanted Productions who is one of the Halloween Artists who will be doing this amazing show!

If you live anywhere near there (or far away).....it will be well worth the trip to see these amazing artists along with their wonderfully wicked art!

Just look for the orange Enchanted Tent to visit us and the little Enchanted Ones!

This year is the first that there will be a preview night on Friday night from 6pm-9pm. Cost is $20 which includes a free Ghoultide Tote, live music from the Appleseed Collective, refreshments and candy treats. Tickets will go on sale at 2pm Friday afternoon next to the General Store as you enter the village. The price of the preview will also get you into the show on Saturday from 10am-2pm.

Saturday's ticket price is $5.

The little Enchanted Ones are so excited and just dying to meet you!

We hope to see you there!

Below is a video that I made consisting of pictures from the past two Ghoultides that we have attended....Enjoy! (Be sure to mute the music player above before viewing.)

Vintage Palette Art & Enchanted Productions Dolls now on Zazzle!

Design personalized gifts at Zazzle.


New products by both Joyce and I will be added weekly......or if you have any requests, feel free to suggest them to either one of us. :)

Joyce and I have Way too much Fun!

This has to be my favorite photo shoot ever! As many of you know, and some may not, I take the pics for Joyce's dolls that we list on eBay under my shoppe ID Villagegiftshoppe. Joyce makes the dolls and writes up the descriptions.....and I take their pics and list her auctions and add the music to go along with her dolls. Mortimer has a very special song to go along with his auction that Joyce found. It's Always Look on the Bright Side of Life by Monty Python and it fits Mortimer perfectly as he is known as The Whistling Mortician.....*giggle*

Well this past weekend, we took her latest doll, Mortimer the Mortician, to the 4th St. cemetery in New Philadelphia, OH for a photo shoot. What better backdrops for a man of his profession?


We found this amazing monument with THE MOST gorgeous wreath of calla lilies and the hand in the center with the finger pointing up towards the heavens! Only problem was, Joyce is short and this monument was not.....LOL So she was stretched up on her tippy toes and doing her best impression of the Statue of Liberty so that I could get Mortimer and the wreath in the same shot! (Way to stretch JoycEE!)


This is one of the doors that was on one of the tiny mausoleums. It had a rusty grate covering the entrance but the door was open and you could see inside. It was so sad that the little windows had been boarded up where there were probably once little stained glass windows. I still don't understand how someone can vandalize a cemetery or gravestones? *sigh*


This little plot was surrounded by the most awesome rusty wrought iron fencing! The perfect backdrop for little Mortimer!


And here he is in front of the little house that we imagine the groundskeeper to this cemetery once lived in. We could see in the windows to the two small downstairs rooms where one had a fireplace.


It even had a steeple! We just loved the vintage architecture!


And this was the first stone that we happened to see as the perfect place to take Mortimer's first picture! And the way the shadows were cast in the background was perfect!


And for this amazing pic, we would like to thank our friend Sandy for doing her magic! We sent her this picture of the most amazing victorian hearse which ws taken by Spike Bakker and she inserted Mortimer into the pic. We were hoping to get his pic taken with one owned by a local funeral home but the funeral director "got busy" this weekend and we were unable to do it. SO......it ws Sam to the rescue!!! Thank you so much......you're THE BEST!!


If you would like to visit Mortimer's auction....just CLICK HERE!

Have an Enchanted week everyone!

Meet Mr Grim.....................

This guy just makes me giggle! We had so much fun with him on Sunday! This has to be one of the most fun Photo shoots that we've ever went on. I think this is one of my most favorite ENCHANTED PRODUCTIONS dolls ever JoycEE!

Here's MR. GRIM'S auction link.







Enjoy the pics and the video too!

Congratulations JoycEE!!!!!!!!!!

I want to congratulate my best friend Joyce Stahl of Enchanted Productions on her article in the current issue of Art Doll Quarterly! Joyce submitted 4 dolls for the fall 2009 issue and they used all 4 of her dolls!!

As you all may well know, I list Joyce's dolls for her on eBay. She creates, I take their pics, she writes their auction descriptions and I set up their auctions and add the music that goes with them.

It was 3 years ago that Joyce walked into our shoppe with her dolls and their was one that as soon as I saw it, I said, "Joyce, this doll needs to go on eBay......." and the rest is history! =D

Now she can finally say that she's published......and in what is known as "The Most Elite" of all the Doll Magazines out there! It's been a long road Joycee, but well worth every mile! I'm so proud of you and happy for you!!

Below is the photo shoot of her 4 dolls that we took at the shoppe the day before they were all shipped off to California. We were even able to keep track of their journey across the states, thanks to the USPS online Track and Confirm feature!

Make sure you pic up your copy of the Fall Issue of ADQ with Featured Artist Scott Smith's amazing pirate cat doll on the front cover............



We will have this issue available at Village Gift Shoppe and I'll see if I can bribe Joycee to autograph them too! ;o)

What Does it Feel like to turn the Big 5-0?

No different than any other day................................LOL! Honestly, it didn't hurt at all hitting that milestone. I woke up on that special day to this sign stuck on my front porch for everyone to see, since I live right on the Main St. of town. My hubby had a gifted artistic co-worker of his make this sign in honor of my special birthday(Thanks Troy!). Thank goodness that it was hard to read by the car passerbys....lol But when I left for work, I looked back towards the house and the little 3-5 year old preschoolers were out on their walk with their teachers and I saw one of the teachers pointing up towards my porch! Hahaha! See, I had tied an inflatable Sponge Bob up along the side of the sign so that hubby would know that yes indeed, I had spied the infamous BD sign..........lol I wonder how many of the little ones noticed the "Girl Gone Wild at 50" sign beside Sponge Bob and if they had any questions about what those things were hanging out of those holes??????????????? One thing about 50........Depends can be your friend!!! *giggle*

Now, I have to show you the most special of gifts that I received form me dear friend Joyce Stahl of Enchanted Productions. Joycee knows how crazy I am about pumpkins and even more crazy about the white (Lumina) ones. I knew that she was working on a doll that was going to be wearing the special "dream dress". One that had came to her in her dreams.

So when she came down to the shoppe with a special birthday lunch for me, I knew she was bringing the doll wearing the special dream dress which I thought I would be listing on eBay this weekend. I was so excited to see what this doll with the special dress was going to look like! One of my favorite parts of listing Joyce's dolls on eBay for her is taking their pictures and when I saw her, I was already thinking how amazing she was going to look standing in front of my vintage ceiling tin tile that I had just given a makeover!

After Oohing and Aahing and drooling all over her...................Joyce said, "Read her name tag!" I turned over the tag and this is what it said, "Happy Birthday Nana...Because you're so special!" Love, JoycEE. "Elizabeth Ann 2009" Elizabeth is my middle name and Ann is JoycEE's. All I could do, as soon as I started reading that tag, was sob like a baby. I had no idea that this special doll was going to be mine...........=o)

Then JoycEE started to tell me what every little piece and scrap of material, trim and buttons meant and where they came from. Each and every one had a special meaning. Some of the materials were the same materials that were used on dolls that had special meaning and or marked special occasions. Some of the vintage buttons I had given to her, some came from vintage jewelry that was purchased during trips that we had taken together on the hunt for treasures to be used on her magical dollies. The vintage seam binding came from Antiques by the Bay which was one of our amazing day trips during our trip to California for PFATT Fest 2008. So many memories................and all stitched by hand with love to create this amazing dream dress and doll. =o)

I can't even begin to tell you how touched I was to be the recipient of such a heart felt gift. There were many tears shed and a whole lot of hugging going on! =o)

Elizabeth Ann holds in her hand the sweetest little heart shaped pumpkin which signifies the love for Halloween that both JoycEE and I share and also our membership in the EHAG eBay group.

JoycEE even whittled her little pumpkin head stem! I know how many hours she has put into creating this precious little gift and I will always think of her and all those special times that we have shared together when I look at ELizabeth Ann!

Thank you JoycEE!!! You helped make my "half way to a century" birthday the most special one ever and one that I will never ever forget!

Hugs,

The Jadyn Test....................

I hate to admit this but......we use a little 2 year old as a doll testing guinea pig! This is what we call THE JADYN TEST......LOL


Everytime that JoycEE brings me her newest doll to take pics and list on eBay, we always have to get Jadyn's reaction to that particular dollie. It's so funny to watch and see what kind of reaction she will have and the sign that a doll is going to be a good one, is when she gives it a kiss! We know it's a winner then! Of course Jadyn has grown up with Joyce's dolls but every now and then.........there are a few that she refuses to go near......LOL Those ones have gotten the, "Noooooooooo" response or the "Scary!" I wish now that I had written all her responses down. Us Nana's are known to be a little forgetful sometimes! hahaha!

But this newest one of Joyce's she absolutely loved! So Nana had to get the camera out and take a pic of her hugging Joyce's little shining star doll. I found the perfect "slightly creepy" version of the "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" song to use with this auction also! We hope that you will go take a peek at the latest doll that passed THE JADYN TEST! *giggle*

Come Visit me at..................

Dover Band Boosters Annual Fall Craft Show

Saturday October 11 9am-5pm
&
Sunday October 12 11am-4pm
Dover High School
Dover, OH


Our booth will be full of handmade items such as primitive furniture pieces, hand stitched stitcheries, hand painted wood items, handmade dolls and more from some of our many talented consignment artists.

We will also have dolls made by Joyce Stahl of Enchanted Productions for sale! Many of you will know her as Enchanted Productions on eBay. Joyce is trying out a new style of doll made of paper clay over cloth. Make sure you stop by and grab them quick because I know that they won't last long!

We'll be set up in the hallway outside the cafeteria and in front of the Library. Hope to see you there!

Haloween Giveaway over at my friend Joyce's Blog!

Isn't she the sweetest little punkin' head that you ever did meet?


My sweet, kind and generous friend Joyce Stahl of Enchanted Productions is having her Halloween giveaway over at her blog! SO......make sure you fly on over there and leave a comment on her giveaway post for a chance to win this little cutie!

Here's the link...........GOOD LUCK!

My Birthday Gift From JoycEE!

I kind of let that day sneek by without posting about it here.........LOL When you get this close to that huge milestone, you tend to want to forget rather than remember! hahaha!!! Like I told more than one person when they asked how old I was..........I said 29!!!!!! Bwwwwwwwwaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!

But seriously..............JoycEE made me one of the sweetest birthday gifts that I have ever received! This adorable little pumpkin girl was given to me by the Queen of Halloween herself!!!!!!! What a treasure!!! And lookie at the tiny little candy corns that spell out Nana!!!!!!!! Awwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!! All I could do was giggle and of course give JoycEE a big hug for the awesome gift!!!!

I just had to share a pic of this little sweetie with all my blog friends out there!


So without further ado..................


HERE SHE IS!!!!




Another huge hug and "Thank You"! Miss Queen of Halloween!!! You made my birthday a special treat this year! =D

*Nana

My Friend JoycEE's Skills!

On Tuesday............Joyce, Brenda, Jadyn and I had a girls day out. We went to see Joyce's mural that she painted in the Dover Public Library. I had only seen pictures of it before so I have been wanting to go and see it in person and to see it in person is absolutely breathtaking! I can't imagine painting or drawing anything on that grand of a scale.............or standing on scaffolding to paint it. I'm just i awe.................................

Joyce with her mural.........


Jadyn looking at the fish reading a book in the chilren's section mural........



Being her usual little ornery self! I love this pic.........LOL


Brenda and JoycEE strike a pose in front of the chilren's mural. It's pure magic!


JoycEE, Jadyn and I.........


What a magical place to read a book!


JoycEE and Jadyn.........=D When Jadyn first laid eyes on the first mural and I was pointing out all the things in the mural to her, she said, "WOW JoycEE! Good Job!" We giggled over that one. It was just too cute the way she said it!


We then left the library to eat lunch. After that was a stop at the new material shop in New Philadelphia, then off to Riverfront Antique Mall to look for vintage goodies. JoycEE used to work there and she guided Brenda, Jadyn and I to all the interesting booths! Antique mall rules are that all small children must be strapped into their strollers, so the whole time Jadyn was saying, "I want out. Help me.......JoycEE help me!" We giggled until we almost peed our pants! LOL

What a fun day! Next time, we're going to go visit Brenda and she's going to show us all the awesome places that she likes to shop at and of course a stop at Starbucks!!!!! I can't wait to go!

Until then...................

*Lori