October sped past and now the holidays approach. I plan on getting my shopping done early! I will be looking to make my purchases from individual artists who hand craft their work in America. And yes, that includes me! Pop on over to Pfattmarketplace.com this season for unique gifts from some wonderfully talented artisans. I have new work featured, including these adorable Floating Angels. You can head to my page to purchase and to see my other offerings. Wishing you a joyful Fall this week!

The birthday celebrating began October 20 when our handsome son turned 18. From a sweet, pudgy child to a responsible man, Trevor has grown so quickly and is now 6'2" tall! We dined at Ruth Chris' Steakhouse and talked about college plans, high school activities and friends. John and I are so proud of our son.

On Saturday, it was my turn to celebrate. I turned...ahem...35 ...give or take 10 plus years! I headed to the city to meet John for lunch at the waterfront off Embarcadero Street. Friday turned out to be a stereotypical San Francisco day with fog and a constant drizzle of rain. I just loved it!

The TransAmerica Building rising into the gray skies.

For those of you who haven't been to the area, no trip is complete without a ride on BART - Bay Area Rapid Transit. That's how my husband gets to the city everyday for work - a 40 minute trip each way and $9 for the roundtrip. So I hopped on a train and met him at his office, and together we left to dine at Pier 7.

Looking out at the Bay from the restaurant windows was the Bay Bridge barely visible through the fog. This is the very same bridge that was closed recently for repairs after a piece of it fell off and crashed through the windshield of an unsuspecting commuter!

I ordered a crab salad sandwich with market fresh greens and John ordered a sole sandwich with crab mashed potatoes. My goodness were his potatoes delicious!

My birthday dessert was a sticky toffee bread pudding with house made vanilla bean ice cream...of course, I might as well have slapped it on my thighs! The sugar, butter and pure gooey-ness were so worthy of a birthday though!

The celebrating continued on Saturday when John and Trevor made me a wonderful pot roast dinner complete with candlelight and chocolate cake! It was a perfect fall meal with the crackling fireplace also setting the mood. I tried to milk another day of birthday celebrating out of them for today, but the Sunday routine quickly took over.  Laundry, shopping and lots and lots of exercise to cancel all the extra birthday calories!

Throughout all the celebrating, we were keenly aware that our beloved Brianna was not with us. Happy events like these are bittersweet when you have lost someone so precious. Her birthday gift to me though was a wondrous dream last week of her coming back to us. I was overcome with joy as I hugged her and held her tight. And then I woke, tears still in my eyes. She was a beautiful vision.

Take time to celebrate with those you love, because each day is a gift. 

The pumpkins have been placed with care on the walk, the windows have been properly broken and the curtains lovingly tattered. All is set for a perfectly haunted evening for trick or treats. Hope you are having a happy Halloween weekend!

~ Iva

I am wishing you all the happiest of Halloweens! We are busy preparing for our Halloween costume party tomorrow night. I can't wait! Now, I'm sure you're all waiting to see who won?

Drum roll please....

Artist Lisa Fulmer was randomly selected as winner of my original beeswax collage "Halloween Mischief," and ...

Becky Best is the lucky recipient of my curious eye ornament. Congratulations ladies!

Both had multiple entries for spreading the news, and their efforts paid off! I  just wish I could send everyone a gift for participating and joining in the masquerade ball!

So dance and be scary during this most merry Halloween!

To celebrate the Haunted Masquerade event hosted by Cassandra Van Curen of my Artful Adventure and reaching my 100th post on this blog, I am having a giveaway.

In keeping with the blog event theme, I've created a 5x7 beeswax collage on wood board, "Halloween Mischief."  It is bordered by black dresden that has been given an antique verdigris glaze here and there and script writing in the background.

This sweet and maybe a bit mischievous young maiden has donned her mask and carries a crystal ball. What does she see? The man of her dreams? You may not see it in the picture, but I've included the fuzzy silhouette of him under the "crystal."

I will also be giving away a curious eye ornament for a second lucky winner. It's backed by a large black dresden star and copper crepe paper with a bit of black glass glitter, a perfect addition to a cabinet of curiosities.

To enter, please leave a comment on this blog by Wednesday, October 28, midnight (pacific). I will need your email address, if you post anonymously. Winners will be selected at random and announced in the morning of Thursday, October 29, so come back to see if your name is chosen. And, if you post my giveaway on your blog, I'll enter your name two times! Join my email list and you'll be entered three times.

In the meantime, grab some witch's brew and some wicked treats and head over to Cassandra's blog and check out the other Haunted Masquerade participants. Many are my friends from the Marie Antoinette Mail Art group on ning and most are hosting giveaways too. Happy Haunting!

I am so fortunate to call Tangerine shop owner Gina Gabriell a friend. She has the most generous heart, and always knows how to bring art into the lives of those she knows. So it was with lots of excitement some months ago when she told me that Micheal DeMeng would be stopping for a 3-day teaching stint at the shop. I couldn't believe it! He was going to be right here in our backyard. So without hesitation I signed up!

I was not available for the first day of his classes, but was able attend on Monday and Tuesday for Demented Toys and What a Relief. His amazing art was on display (pictured above) and when you see it in person, you see how much detail goes into each piece.

We learned a variety of painting techniques - including his recipes for some creepy effects and how to deconstruct and recontruct a variety of objects including lots of Barbi dolls and every toy imaginable. What each student came up with was an eclectic array indeed! Each toy had the stamp of its maker on it, and at the end of the day, we came together to discuss how each of us felt about our work.

I was surrounded by dear friends and boy, did we have fun! We all shared the bags of odds and ends we had brought to possible use in our project and laughed and  learned all at the same time.

Pictured from left are Julee Herman, Susan Bartolucci, Ms. Gina, and me. Among the 15 students the first day of class were also friends Lana Kloch and on day two of my learning adventure, Colleen Moody joined us.

At the end of both days and with the song of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" playing, we all placed our projects on the table as Micheal went through each one discussing the good points. Mine is the little horned-China-head-doll-rolling-serpent-mermaid-toy-thingy pictured at the bottom far right on the white paper towel. (It was still dripping with layers of paint!)

On the second day of classes with Micheal, we learned all sorts of methods to manipulate paper and use it within our framed pieces. My creative wheels were spinning with ways I am going to incorporate what I learned into my own art.

Thank you Micheal for sharing your creative secrets with us and thank you Gina for making the learning experience possible!

Join me Wednesday, October 21, as I take you through the haunting look of beeswax as we create the pictured Halloween beeswax collage. Learn what makes this medium so unique and how it adds a romantic look to your art. Mischief and magic will abound as you enjoy an evening of Halloween fun with some spooky treats.

The evening workshop is planned at Cottage Jewel Antiques, 100 Prospect Ave., Danville, CA. Space is limited. Prepaid registration of $45 required. Call (925) 451-7805 or send me an email to register and for additional information. VISA/MasterCard accepted. I'll send a confirmation email with the class supply list.

Hope to see you for a bewitching evening!

There has been so much going on in the last few weeks, I've hardly had a chance to keep up! Of course, my blog writing suffers too, but I've finally been able to catch my breath enough to post about my trip to Southern California on this blog. Forgive me if it's a repeat of what you read on my Halloween Alchemy blog.

The last weekend in September,  Colleen Moody and I headed to Gilding the Lily in Fullerton, California, to teach two workshops each over a two-day period. We left plenty of time though to visit some amazing places including Roger's Garden in Corona Del Mar and Paris to the Moon in Costa Mesa.

Oh my goodness!! My heart went pitter pat when we first arrived at Roger's Garden. I love nurseries, since I consider myself a gardener - at least of containers for the time being. The entrance was beautiful with fall colors and pumpkins every where. Little did I know what delights were inside the many buildings!

Being a lover of everything Halloween, our first stop had to be the Holiday Shop at the Garden. We were told they have the best Christmas displays, but they were still working on them and wouldn't be ready for another two weeks. I did peek in and see all sorts of glittered trees and ornaments. It will be a spectacle when done!


So in we walk to the Holiday Shop, which has been dubbed the basement of Mad Madeline's Manor. The banner above said it all about the look! There were many themed rooms that just took my breath away. They cleverly tucked their products amongst the amazing displays. As they say, pictures are worth a thousand words, so here are just a few of the many I took.


The entrance to the Holiday Shop.


The talking dummy, who informed us that it had "been a long time, been a long time" (in his quirky dummy voice) since he was on stage.



The walls and ceilings were dripping with old, "dusty" chains, cobwebs and everything you might find in an old basement, including furry rats, huge spiders and a mean ol' cat.


Okay, I want to know who had been collecting these wheels? I mean what a grand idea!!



Painting these dolls all white gave them the best ghostly affect. Oh Chucky...where are you?


Bird cages will always seem somehow different after this display. This was a huge cage, about 6 ft tall! How would you like that spider in your house? Or better yet....



this one clinging to your ceiling?? This is a shot looking up. Can you say "Creepy?"



The lighting throughout the display was phenomenal! The mad scientist was still at work!


I have never really like clowns. But after this photo collection, I like them even less! One of those pictured had fangs!! Yikes!

If have a chance to see Roger's Garden, I highly recommend it. Not only did they have a wondrous Halloween extravaganza, they also had a huge selection of seasonal plants, gift items and more! We spent over an hour wandering the property, soaking in all the eye candy, and of course, picking up a purchase or two along the way.


Next on our day of stops was Paris to the Moon. What a delightful little shop, nestled in Costa Mesa.


Although I didn' t get any photos inside, I can tell you that it is full of the neatest kitschy findings, sweet wedding and baby gift items and gift makings, odd doll parts for your Halloween displays, lots of Edward Gorey books (which I wish I would have gotten!!) and a large array of fun art and this and that to make your own. They also have a great selection of FG&Co cards, tags and calendars. It was just too much fun!

When we asked about a suggestion for lunch, without hesitation the shop keeper handed us a menu from Taste Buds. It was bar none the best salad I've ever tasted! Grilled vegetables topped with grilled chicken and a vinagrette that still makes my mouth water when I think of it. We added an order of pomme frites with truffle oil and our morning was perfect!

For photos from my classes, head over to my Facebook Photo page, where I've posted them. (While you're there, join my Iva's Creations Fan Page for the latest news.) There were so many wonderful people I met over the few days we were there! Thank you Dede Warren for your invitation and to Shopkeeper Nancy for having us, and to all my students for making it so special!!