Christkindle Time

Well another year has passed and we are back to Christkindle opening night in Mifflinburg. This is the time our town turns into an authentic German street market. After 18 years of being outside in a small hut during this festival we are now happy to stay nice and warm inside our store. On this night, December 12th the temperature was a whopping 19 degrees outside and you can bet we were glad to be inside! The Christmas season is upon us and it  doesn't seem possible another year has come and gone so quickly. To all of our customers and friends, Guy and I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We will see you in the Spring when all is thawed and Easter is on it's way..until then..good night.

Baby it's cold outside!

Yes, it is cold outside so that means one thing..it's the Christmas season again! Has another year flown by already? Maybe I've been asleep all year and just woke up. Wasn't there a fairy tale about that, no wait that was Sleeping Beauty. No sleeping beauty here, just a stressed out middle aged woman covered with paint, a dazed look on her face from lack of sleep and no idea what the day of the week it is! If you go back to last years blog at this same time it's pretty much the same story. It's belsnickle time as we are busy in the studio trying to get ready for the Der Belsnickle show in Boyertown Pa.This show has us traveling on Thanksgiving so I hope someone is open for dinner that night. Dec 12, 13 and 14th brings us to Christkindle Market here in Mifflinburg. We will be at the store where you will find our new Christkindle Star ornament this year along with several new Belsnickles and other goodies. Join us for hot coffee and coco, cookies and goodies. Here's a picture of some new works!

Hold on tight..Here we go!

Well it's been a long long summer. For any of you who have been in touch, you know the studio has been closed all summer.Starting back in the Spring, Mifflinburg has been going through a road reconstruction. This project has closed the road in front of our store since March. I guess you could say this has been a forced vacation for us, probably one we otherwise would never take! During all this time off  we have been working mainly on orders for 6 ft belsnickles. Now that Fall has arrived my work has turned to Halloween and getting the store ready to open. As of right now I think I'm ready to roll. We will open tomorrow9/7. We still have the construction going on but the end is in sight. Soon we will start gearing up for ....oh no is Christmas coming again! Oh my, where did the year go? I feel like I lost several months.....and I did. Hold on it's gonna be a bumpy ride!

See I can't even get this picture straight!

The Tumbling Peas!

                             TWO SHOWS NIGHTLY AT 6&9!

It's Circus Time!

It's that time of year, mix Cotton Candy, Snow Cones, Roasted Peanuts, hot summer days..what do you have? The circus is coming to town! This week I found an old mold we had made of a creepy clown candy holder. He opens in the back and has a rusty  wire handle. I'm also working on the set of wooden circus animals pictured. The road construction project goes on as usual in front of the store so we are trying to keep busy in the studio. The six foot belsnickles are well under way and hopefully we will start the paper mache  on them soon. Well back to the workbench, I have the tumbling peas to finish, you can view their  circus act here soon!

I'm Driven To Drink!

As some of you know we are going through a major road reconstruction in our downtown. Chestnut Street that runs through our downtown is closed for six weeks and that's  if  PENDOT stays on schedule. The entire length of this project is 9 months. Parking is non existent at this point so our town has become a ghost town. Some businesses have closed for the duration of the project, some have relocated to other towns. We are going to try and be open on Fridays and Saturdays. The rest of the time I am rambling around in the studio trying to find a  a direction to keep me busy. Yes, I could be making belsnickles but it's to hot. I don't feel much like Halloween quite yet so my afternoons are sitting at my workbench, twiddling with paint brushes, sketching ideas and watching Turner Movie Classics. The green guy pictured above did manage to crawl out of my head this past week. My husband asked me what it was...I think it represents me trying to deal with the construction ...I'm taking votes!

Oh Crap I guess It Has Really Been Awhile!

Well what can I say, I had every intention of getting back to this blog sooner! Looks like I haven't been here since April..Oh my! This seems to be the time of year we do basically..well nothing. I guess because we work our ass off during the fall and winter seasons so by the time summer  rolls around that's our vacation from work time! The stores still open and I'm tinkering in the studio with stuff that has otherwise has been on hold. This is the time I mess( very technical term) around with ideas that have been rattling around in my head for awhile like the pie pictured. He's a jolly fellow with a spun cotton nose. I guess you could say The Life Of Pie! I wish I had taken some pictures so you could have seen how he was made. I have to remember to start doing that! In other news, the big yellow Belsnickle was sold to The National Christmas Museum in Paradise Pa. We are now starting on another one for the same museum and one for another customer so I shouldn't say we aren't busy! Mifflinburg is now undergoing a large scale road reconstruction project that has closed our downtown. We have known this was coming for the last several years but non the less we are unhappy. If by any chance you may be planning to stop by the store, give us a call and I will tell you where to park in back of our shop...we  do have a rear entrance. Well until I return....keep checking!

It's been awhile.....

It's been awhile since I have felt motivated to write anything. We haven't faded away, just taking a small break to reorganize and get a fresh perspective on the store and the studio! The weathers warming up so with a little luck we will get moving again. Back soon with new pictures and adventures!

Good Day Sunshine.....

Well here it is Feb. 15th, the day after Valentines Day. We've survived the Christmas season, the workload running up to the Feb. wholesale market, the market itself and now unpacking and trying to make sense of getting my store reopened on Feb. 25th for the Easter season.  Much to do and not much time. Wed. was my (hopefully) last eye surgery. It's been a long road with this eye, eight months to be exact of living in a somewhat distorted world. I've always had somewhat of a distorted mind but when your eyesight is also distorted and you do what I do, well it just makes life a little interesting! Today it was 44 degrees.. a small warm up for central PA.! Apple( the dog,) and I sat in the sun for awhile just soaking it up.Oh how I am looking forward to Spring...This has been a long cold winter.Depressing . Anyone who reads my blog knows we live in a old funeral home connected to an old mercantile store beside it. The temperature varies greatly from room to room.Having  ten foot high ceilings this house is hard and expensive to heat. We have hung plastic, closing off hallway areas that we don't need to keep warm, closed pocket doors and basically huddle around the pellet stove in the kitchen. Living large like a hermit! There are days I would like to chuck it all and move to The Villages in Florida! So whats next for us at Stamm House?Well, the plan is, get the store open on Feb. 25th. We should have lots of vintage style Easter, new children's toys and new retro candy! So here's hoping for an early Spring!

We're off to see the wizard!

Well not quite the wizard but we are headed to the Market Square wholesale show at the Oaks, PA! It's been a long cold month of work and  Guy and I are excited to be getting out of town at least for a few days. I'm posting a few sneak peek pic's of some of the new things we are taking. CRAZY pumpkin lanterns...a cool sly tomato lantern who comes with his very own tomato bug! Assorted German rabbit candy containers, chicks, gnomes, toadstools and high flying frogs....We will have a nice selection of German belsnickles in white, grey with spun cotton mushrooms and traditional red., also the pine cone gnomes will be making their first market appearance! If you are visiting the show our booth number is 1417 in the Gallery.
See you there!

 

This little piggy went to market!

This little pig along with a whole herd of pigs are going with us to market! These guys in the picture are made from an vintage sugar shaker. I just love this retro look! Reminds me of my childhood. I think this little porker will blend in nicely with our spring line of rabbits, ducks, geese and sheep. This is the last week of painting, the following week will be finishing and packing for the wholesale show at the Oaks..Feb. 4th and 5th.

Out of the studio and looking for food!

OMG the lights hurting my eyes! I've been locked in the studio for the past month getting ready for the wholesale show at the Oaks  Feb. 4th and 5th. I just came out and I'm in need of sustenance!. I swear I have moss growing on me from working such long hours. There's not been much new here at Stamm House since Christmas except getting ready for this up coming show. We have made some crazy new lanterns with wonderful German toadstool on them, a funky tomato lantern with his own tomato bug and a few new Easter pieces. If you are a shop and attending the Oaks, we are in the Gallery. I will be selling cash and carry of Easter, Halloween and Christmas. We will also have a selection of belsnickles that we will be taking orders on. I'll post a couple of quick pics of things in the pipeline....now I'm lookin for food!