Goodbye Fall.....Hello Winter?

Ugh...Its coming..Winter. Can't it be Fall all year long? Well sadly we say goodbye to Halloween, the most wonderful holiday of the year, and hello to Christmas. The work pace is trying to speed up here in the Stamm House studio but unfortunately I haven't seemed to have gotten the memo yet! Maybe it's age or maybe it's well age. My brain is saying it's tired. My arthritic hands are saying they hurt and my eyeballs are saying they are strained. I have good intentions of getting up and running but seem to be easily distracted. We have a show coming up on November 28th and 29th in Boyerstown Pa. at the historical society. We better get a move on! November 30th we have late shoppers night here in Mifflinburg. The second week of December we have Mifflinburgs Christkindle Market. On top of all this we have our store open..soooo..I'd better get with it soon! Late nights, pots of coffee and my propane heater,..it's a date!

Time Has Passed!

Wow, I didn't realize how much time has passed since I wrote on this blog....It's almost the end of October and we are heading towards Christmas faster than I want to admit. Halloween work has come and almost gone at this point. I just finished sending out the last of Halloween orders this past week. Christmas work is gearing up quick. I am working on an order of 24 Santa head buckets that will be in the mail mid week. There are numerous belsnickles waiting in the wings for their finishing touches of feather tree sprigs and mica snow. The Christmas molds have been pulled and brought to the molding room. Unfortunately we are in the middle of a kitchen renovation so our time to work is pulled every which way right now. Today I realized we have to leave for a show in Boyerstown Pa on Thanksgiving day. I better have some belsnickles finished! Then there's the store...oh my store! My store needs cleaned and decorated. I need about 5 clones of me to get everything done. Well.....good luck with that! So to sum up, as in past years everything here at Stamm House is running about right on schedule....behind, behind, behind!

And we are rolling!

Good Lord, I haven't  posted since July! What have I been doing all summer? Well I'm not moving as fast as I use too. I think maybe now my age is catching up with me a little bit. A little less energy, a little more napping and a little more procrastinating! Fall is almost here and then comes the Christmas season so we are starting slowly to roll. I have spent the summer working on some new crazy Halloween  pieces. The funny thing is, the first of anything is new and exciting to make. Having to make more than one is boring. The new Halloween pieces are outside my normal working medium of molding reproductions. These new pieces involve working with several mediums to create one item ....not really crazy about that. Old dog, new tricks..NO. Shortly we will be onto Belsnickles and Santa's and all things Christmas, like by next week! Guy had a promotion at work so he is busier than ever which cuts into his time to mold. So we have had a few changes to deal with lately. On top of everything else we are in a major kitchen renovation which may not be done by the holidays and I will be a psycho!Here's a picture of my crazy teapot which pretty much sums up my mood!

In The Works!

Things are starting to gear up for Fall in the studio. The past few weeks have been design time for me. It feels like the rush is on and I will be out of time soon if I don't keep moving. I've been designing a new line of "creatures" for the Fall. They are made up of pumpkin men, squash, cats and witches. Right now there is a waiting list, no pressure there! I'm posting some pictures of finished pieces and pieces in the works...so have a look!

A little cat and mouse anyone?

Today's picture is of the cat I just finished. He's the cats meow! Actually he is my favorite. Sometimes working on one of my  creations I get so frustrated I want to take a pair of scissors and stab them but this guy was fun to make! Summertime is my down time when I have the freedom to work on anything new I want. It really is a nice change and keeps me creative. Soon enough we will be back in Belsnickle mode and complaining about the freezing cold here in central Pa. Guy is finishing up 200 small feather trees for a special order and then he's onto mold making for the upcoming season. There's molds that need to be remade and new ones waiting. I am working on these new items for Fall and then I need to turn my attention to our store for the Fall and Winter season..it's never ending!

A Quiet Saturday Morning

Well all is quiet at my house and studio this morning.The only thing I'm hearing is a rather vocal momma bird in the courtyard and an occasional car passing down Chestnut St. This all seems weird, Chestnut St is never quiet! Oh well I will enjoy it while I can. Guy has gone off to work this morning which is not his usual schedule. There is a Summer festival today which requires him to work the day schedule instead of the evening hours.Sooo quiet, quiet, quiet around here today. I have been working on more items for the new line of holiday ..?????. I'm not even sure what to call these guys yet, maybe veggie People, maybe Halloween Creeps or maybe just "Creepies". I don't know, I'll worry about that later. I've been putting in quite a bit of time on the designing of this line even though there are orders backed up waiting to be finished on our regular line of reproductions. Hey,  the more the merrier, isn't that what they say! Everything will get done eventually. Right now I am just going to enjoy my quiet before I open the store today.......ahhhhhhh..silence

Friendship!

What a pair.....The mushroom professor and the big mouth cherry! These are the two latest in my new Fall line. It's time to grab a cup of coffee and head back to the studio to see what else pops out of my head today. Happy Thursday!

The "C" Word!

Christmas..is it really only 6 moths until Christmas again? It feels like I just finished making Belsnickles yesterday! Guy and I were in the studio earlier today and I looked at him and  blurted out.."Ya know Christmas is only 6 months away!" Old Hawaiian boy shot me the "stink eye" quicker than I could blink! I think he mumbled something but I'm not sure exactly what. I quietly returned to working on my samples and did not speak of the Christmas season again! Pictured today are some of my samples that will be available this Fall. We have the Pumpkin King, the Squash Man, the Halloween Candle holder and the Hysterical Eggplant. More to come as time marches on towards...shhhhh.... Christmas!

Look what grew in my garden!

 It's summertime and I finally have time to work on new ideas! I'm posting a quick picture of my sample. This will be a line available in the Fall. This guy is a squash person. He will be joined by goblins and pumpkins and anything else that crawls out of my brain!

I THINK IT'S SUMMER!

Well I do think summer has finally come to central Pa. I'm not sure if we saw any Spring but I will take this weather over last winter any day. After a very good Easter season and our business has slowed down a bit I have some free time to work on a few new ideas. I am posting a few pictures of items I've been playing around with. The Halloween bug has bitten early and I'm anxious to get going on some crazy funky jacks! In the pipeline  for this summer is a wonderful screaming hen with a toothache. Shes a candy container just waiting to be molded along with a 16 in German gnome, a new grinning jack, a witch on a pumpkin and a wonderful Scottie dog and container. Think our summer in the studio will be busy? On top of these projects we have three more 6 foot belsnickles on order so let the paper mache "mess" begin! The store received a mini makeover right after Christmas to pass the time. The frozen split water pipes in the store are about to be replaced and a new roof is going on the house this next week. It was one rough winter, one I never wish to go through again. So here's looking to summer, get as hot as you want...we will not complain!(too much).

Spring Has Sprung!

Aha, Old Man Winter has finally left us! What a winter it was here in Central Pa. We have weathered frigged temperatures, broken heating pipes in the store, sleet, snow, wind and anything  else old Mother Nature could throw at us. I spent most of the winter doing, well nothing. The recliner, blanket and I became very good friends. I lived in my PJ's, watched a lot of trash TV and napped, napped, napped. Now the sun is out, the birds are back and the temperatures rising....Spring has arrived! Here's some pictures of the store, yes we are reopened and back at it in the studio...I love Spring!

 

In Like A Lion..Out Like A Lamb?

What's that old saying about March? In like a lion, out like a lamb? Will this weather PLEASE warm up! Anyone living in the North East knows how damn cold it has been this winter. Our store is still not open yet for the Spring season, I refuse to open until the weather starts to cooperate. Right now I'm shooting for April 1st as an opening date. Until then I guess I will still be working on Easter items huddling around the gas heater in my studio. I hate winter!
See you soon.......

Off to Market Square!

It's been a lot of cold days, a lot of frozen broken pipes in the studio but somehow we have managed to work through it! We are headed off to the Market Square wholesale show on Sunday. I'm posting a few pictures of some of the new items with an antique finish we will have there. The temperatures suppose to be near 40 while we are at the show. This will seem like a heatwave to those of us here in the Northeast! Maybe will will sit in the parking lot in our lawn chairs basking in the sunshine. Hope to see everyone there!

 

Time for a long winters nap!

Happy New Year to all! With 2013 coming to a close I would like to thank all of our wonderful customers for visiting  Stamm House this year. We have enjoyed visiting with every one of you! I hope that all of our belsnickles that went out this year for gifts or for collections are loved by their owners. We enjoyed making each and every one of them. It is now time for us to take a long winters nap. Stamm House will be closed until March 1st. Unfortunately we will only be doing a little napping because this is the time we will be getting ready for the February wholesale market at Oaks Pa. After our return it will be time for a little remodeling in the store to get ready for the Easter season. We are looking forward to having some wonderful new Easter items for you to see! So I will say goodnight for awhile. I'm posting a picture of the 6 ft feather tree my husband made me for Christmas..Love it!