Halloween: Spooky Cobweb

 

 (Click photo for full size.)

** Today is Day 12 of #septemberspookyseason24 on Instagram. Daily posts and some giveaways via @wyrdworldminiatures. (Click photos for full size.)

* Follow me also - @cwrite12. I'll try to post my daily (hopefully) Halloween inspiration here also with a reminder. Join in! 

TODAY'S PROMPT: COBWEB

I had a hard time figuring what to add today... Then I remembered the rug I'd made for the current 1/24th Van Buren Halloween dollhouse I've been decorating.

I like making rugs from Halloween cobweb fabric, this one being transparent so I glued it to the matching bed fabric. The cool tree bed is from Michelle's Miniatures.

As for other cobwebs, I plan on putting some of the white webby kind on the ceilings and walls, but I'm sure they won't photograph well.

*** But... just realized I have the spooky table for the house, too. But will save that for another post as I also made the 1/24th Miss Haversham-style figure! Pix to come!

* Don't forget - you can sign up for email headline updates and see other post links in the left column.

#Halloween Book Review: A Skeleton Rides a Horse & Other Stories

  Halloween season is underway, so what better time to add some book reviews and such?

And nothing fits the season better I'd say than a book with a skeleton! Well, this skeleton does a lot of things including helping solve mysteries, in author Toni L.P. Kelner's latest collection, The Skeleton Rides a Horse and Other Stories.

* Get the paperback on Amazon and B&N, and get books and e-books at publisher Crippen & Landru.

The collection of 12 stories range from the title-inspired story "The Skeleton Rides a Horse," based on Toni's six-book Family Skeleton mystery series written under the name Leigh Perry, to stories, with curses, werewolves, pirates, a carnival, elephants, and more.

** Another fun fact is the author has a mini version of the skeleton named Sid that is her traveling companion on a lot of her book-related excursions! Read more about that here.)

This is an eclectic collection, sure to give readers a chuckle or two as they pick a favorite. The title-inspired story is especially fun if you're not familiar with Toni/Leigh's animated, re-living skeleton character, Sid, who travels around with main character, adjunct professor Dr. Georgia Thackery in pieces, in her bag. (See the cover photo.) And yet, Sid can still see, hear, talk, think, and reassemble himself as needed. Btw, he's a great help when there's a mystery at hand to solve as in this story involving a retro TV show reunion. 

(For Sid's origins, see the first mystery in the series, A Skeleton in the Family, A Family Skeleton Mystery.) 

I also enjoyed the story, "Where Does a Herd of Elephants Go?" I love elephants, especially watching videos of the playful babies and the wonderful rescue groups in Africa for orphaned elephants, so I hoped that this little mystery where the long-time owner of a small circus is killed isn't because of the elephants. I won't say what happened but there's a satisfactory ending and there's a good clue buried if you spot it. 

If you prefer a story with an interesting name, then the Agatha Award-winning story "Sleeping With the Plush" will have you going, huh? until you understand that it's set at a carnival. With a murder. And an ingenious way to get rid of the body and solve the crime.

There's more, much more, like werewolves, a sleazy bar owner who gets what he deserves, and other shenanigans. You'll enjoy the ride. I did. Giving this 💀💀💀💀💀. (Hey, it's as close to skeletons as I can get here.) 😊

Halloween: Spooky Season Pie!

 #SEPTEMBERSPOOKYSEASON24

** Today is Day 10 of #septemberspookyseason24 on Instagram. Daily posts and some giveaways via @wyrdworldminiatures. (Click photos for full size.)

* Follow me also - @cwrite12. I'll try to post my daily (hopefully) Halloween inspiration here also with a reminder. Join in! 

I may not be able to match all of these but I'll try....

Today's Prompt: I baked a pie

Well, I didn't but I had been wanting to make one of those creepy face pies for the dollhouse.

Luckily, I did a Halloween swap a couple years back in the Half-Scale group and my swap partner Randi did a great job of it!

I'm still setting up the 1/24th Van Buren Halloween dollhouse, but thought this pie (above) would be perfect on the kitchen table! If you haven't seen these in real life, they are even creepier!  Here's a video on YouTube from Wilton:

 

Halloween Spooky Season: Skellies!

 

Today is Day 9 of #septemberspookyseason24 on Instagram. Daily posts and some giveaways via @wyrdworldminiatures. 

* Follow me also - @cwrite12. I'll try to post my daily (hopefully) Halloween inspiration here also with a reminder. Join in! 

I may not be able to match all of these but I'll try.... (Click photos for full size.)

Today's prompt: Spooky Scary Skeletons! 

I don't know about scary... my miniature skeletons seem to be enjoying themselves!

I love putting them in the dollhouses, like the guy above visiting at the half-scale Witch's Cottage.  See more pix at the link above.

He seems to have made himself right at home, why, even spying on the neighbors! haa! (Well, he's doing better than his dead-looking friend standing in the back corner!)

Even better, he also has a dog! Every skellie needs a dog, you know.

Halloween: Spooky Season Historical Lizzie Borden

 

Remember that rhyme? Lizzie Borden took an axe...

Today is Day 8 of #septemberspookyseason24 on Instagram. Daily posts and some giveaways via @wyrdworldminiatures. 

* Follow me also - @cwrite12. I'll try to post my daily (hopefully) Halloween inspiration here also with a reminder. Join in! 

I may not be able to match all of these but I'll try.... (Click photos for full size.)

Today's prompt: Historical 

Previously I shared some amazing photos of a miniature Lizzie Borden scene by Debra Hinton and an  incredible handmade Lizzie Borden figure (above) by Sharon Cariola (see her Facebook page.) More photos worth a second look here. 

And if you're looking for the perfect Halloween read....

Reading the autopsy reports and looking at the crime scene photos made me think--what if there was another reason the victims were brutally killed in such a manner? The book is based on the real-life records and includes accounts of the actual events.

Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter by C.A. Verstraete, 

One hot August morning in 1892, Lizzie Borden picked up an axe and murdered her father and stepmother. Newspapers claim she did it for the oldest of reasons: family conflicts, jealousy and greed. But what if her parents were already dead? What if Lizzie slaughtered them because they’d become… zombies? (See my website for more details on the book.)

Spooky Seasons: #Halloween Silhouette

 

Today is Day 5 of September #septemberspookyseason24 on Instagram. Daily posts and some giveaways via @wyrdworldminiatures. * Follow me also - @cwrite12. I'll try to post my daily (hopefully) Halloween inspiration here also with a reminder. Join in! 

I may not be able to match all of these but I'll try....

Today's prompt: Spooky Silhouette

Well, not the exact definition of a silhouette (which I don't have) so I'm doing another version - the form/ghost looking out the window of my 1/24th Van Buren Halloween dollhouse.

Merchant of Venus Review

 

About the Book: 

Imagine losing a parent and discovering he had a secret life you'd never known about. You and your siblings embark on a quest to uncover what it all meant, becoming enmeshed in a series of images and anecdotes found in newspapers, magazines, books, and documents. Ultimately, you realize your parent was not just famous, but VERY famous! Walter Thornton was famous during a time when it was easy to be forgotten (1920s to the 1950s), making the discoveries about his life all the more engaging due to the involved process of uncovering them.

 Through alternating perspectives presented by two sisters, the Thornton saga unfolds in a whirlwind of surprising revelations, unexpected drama, adventure, and glamour. Just imagine beautiful models, pin-up girls, Hollywood royalty—Thornton was a true trendsetter. This book unveils the captivating story of Thornton's rise from an orphan to a charismatic male model, to a visionary who transformed advertising by founding the first-ever agency for advertising models. But hold onto your hats because there's more! Get ready for dramatic twists, encounters with models who transformed into Hollywood legends such as Lauren Bacall, Susan Hayward, and Grace Kelly, and a hint of McCarthy-era intrigue—it's a gripping tale worthy of the silver screen itself!

** Purchase a copy of The Merchant of Venus: The Life of Walter Thornton on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop.org. You can also add it to your GoodReads reading list.

Review:

 I'll admit, biographies, autobiographies and memoirs often sound interesting, or they're done by/based on an interesting individual but... they often don't pan out.

They can be boring, self-indulgent and short on any unique facts. Don't stop reading here because I said that. This book is different.

I was drawn to The Merchant of Venus, The Life of Walter Thornton by Nancy Thornton Navarro and  Adriana Thornton-Cornejo with Philip Mershon, as I love old Hollywood, like history, and this is a topic and subject I didn't know much about. I'm glad I agreed to read it.

This is definitely worth reading ,with tidbits about such people as the beautiful Susan Hayward and even the legendary Lauren Bacall and Grace Kelly's beginnings as Walter Thornton models... to a sprinkling of other lesser known stars.

An intriguing, fun fact is that Robert Thornton---the subject of the book and originator of the well known and well regarded modeling agency, which started the trend for managing and advertising models--- was a model himself. And pretty well known. Remember seeing all those vintage magazine ads with the dapper guy in the spiffy hat? Yup, that was him. Thornton's near-perfect classic features put him in the place of being the most requested and highest paid hat model in the industry.

What I found amazing was that after the daughters were grown, they were lucky enough to find their father's papers and photos still hidden away in the former family home.

There's also a unique family mystery his daughters try to solve along the way about why their father was in a Depression-era photo with a sign saying his car was for sale as he needed money. It turns out they found he never went broke and in fact seemed to weather the Depression well. 

If you like old Hollywood, history, and more, you'll enjoy this book. It's an interesting, compelling, and easy read. Hat's off! I give it 5 stars, or more appropriately, let's give it 5 hats. 🎩🎩🎩🎩🎩

About the authors: 

 

 Nancy Thornton Navarro is a former trademark and copyright attorney who has also served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Irving, Texas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Nancy currently lives near Dallas with her husband and is a proud mother of three.

 Adriana Thornton-Cornejo (R) is a Programmer, 2D Artist, and CAD Drafter at Focus 360, a company serving the Home Building Industry. Adriana hopes that, with renewed public interest in her father’s life and career, she can one day open a Walter Thornton Museum. She lives near Los Angeles with her husband and their two sons.

 Philip Mershon is an entertainment industry historian and storyteller who loves going down a good rabbit hole in search of the truth. He lives in Palm Springs, California.

Spooky Season: #halloween

 For fun:  (Click to see full size.)  #SEPTEMBERSPOOKYSEASON24

** Today is Day 3 of September #septemberspookyseason 24 on Instagram. Daily posts and some giveaways via @wyrdworldminiatures. * Follow me also - @cwrite12. I'll try to post my daily (hopefully) Halloween inspiration here also with a reminder. Join in! 

I may not be able to match all of these but I'll try....

Today is Motion/Blur: 

Ummm.... do you mean those blurry photos that don't turn out? ha!

Or...

I just bought these scary earrings at Michael's, not to wear, though I could... but to take out the blinking light to use elsewhere. On sale, and yes, I buy things to take apart. Doesn't everyone? haa! 

It fit my favorite ceramic pumpkin once I made the hole bigger and set it on a small box I'd made awhile ago and painted... Yes, it blinks fast, slow and stays on. I'll post the short video on Instagram -  @cwrite12. Can't tell if it'll work here or not until the post is live. 

So... here's the "on" photo, too. 

Tomorrow: Day 4's theme is easy --- Abandoned! I finished that Abandoned Room just in time! Click the name for more photos. 

 

Halloween: Van Buren Dollhouse Furnishings

 Another month and a new post! Where does time go?

I've been working on making some furnishings and decorating the half-scale Greenleaf Van Buren Halloween dollhouse I finally got back to last month. It had been sitting awhile so I decided to finish the trim and top roof trim, and I have to admit, it looks pretty nice. I realize I still have to add some cobwebs to the inside ceilings, too. (See last post - abandoned room. Click photos for full size.) ** See end for the Instagram #septemberspookyseason24 game photo!

I kept looking at it (or was it peering at me?) and finally decided to start adding some art/pictures, which really makes a difference. We'll see how well I can get photos as some may be hard to see. I make a lot of pictures like the eerie landscapes below as they're fun to do and just to have them on hand, even if I don't use them all right away.

The rooms are in progress. I hate showing photos of things not finished, but I also love sharing how it looks so far. So, no win. ha! But taking the photos gives me an idea of what I need to fix or change. You stare at things but it seems only a photo shows the goofs or changes needed. You know how that goes...

Parlor/Living room: This has a cool cat pattern background from scrapbook paper I had. Sadly, it's gone except for maybe a tiny piece. I added the creepy picture to the fireplace top. (Warning: I bought the fireplace last year (or the year before) at Michael's and have bought lit items before with no problem. ** Be sure to check things now: I bought a larger lit pumpkin lantern this year (not shown) - which I learned after I was home that it came WITHOUT batteries. Things are getting cheapened. I would've been really mad if I'd paid full price.)

The coffee table was received in a past Half Scale group swap. I painted it and added some creepy manuscripts inside.  

A pot of poison sumac (SDK Miniatures.) and a Dracula book (of course!) is on a side table from TMC Miniatures. This goes in the parlor above and in second photo below, next to the maroon Gothic chair near the door.

That ghost gets around!

The Kitchen: so far: I am thinking of putting that spice cabinet there on the right side wall. Have to add more dishes. More poison plants in the skull on the cabinet.

Looks like someone got mad... haaa!

Still in progress. I hung onto this old plastic kitchen stove/sink piece for a long time but I think it fits well here with the Tootsietoy fridge/cabinet. I think I'll have to age this even more. I wasn't going to make it really dirty, but it still looks too clean. Have to add bead knobs and a larger faucet yet.

Here's what's cooking so far, eyeball soup and bloody steak (have to add the liquid in.) I'm being pretty tame here... (for me). ha!

Bedroom:

The tree bed kit (Michelle's Miniatures) fits pretty well in here, along with the chaise kit. I need to add in more furnishings yet and a rug.

Just a short tour for now. I'll be adding more things and more photos soon, so stay tuned!

For fun:  (Click to see full size.)  #SEPTEMBERSPOOKYSEASON24

** September also is #septemberspookyseason24 on Instagram. Daily posts and some giveaways via @wyrdworldminiatures. * Follow me also - @cwrite12. I'll try to post my daily (hopefully) Halloween inspiration here also with a reminder. Join in! Sept 1 prompt is Tumbling. Today Sept. 2 is...Feathered Friends. (Some of these may be hard to match. See photo above.)

 
   *** Ahhh, I remember, I do have a Feathered friend... the vulture in my large haunted house on my website! My pet vulture is from Barb's Mini-Gems.

Another Literary Loss: Historical Novelist Victoria Thompson

 

Sadly, I just heard that a favorite author, Victoria Thompson, passed away. I enjoyed her Counterfeit Lady 5-book historical mystery series, beginning with City of Lies, and have been reading gradually through my favorite series of hers, the Gaslight Mysteries.

The Gaslight Mysteries focus on midwife Sarah Brandt, who also is daughter of one of the richest men in the city, and is one of the founding Knickerbocker families in 1890s New York. Her somewhat unconventional life of supporting herself after the death of her late non-society doctor husband has Brandt now helping women in childbirth and occasionally helping Police Sgt. Frank Malloy solve crimes she may hear about or come across in her work. While fiction, the books do focus on realistic events of the time period.

 The series starts with book 1, Murder on Astor Place, where Brandt discovers a girl from a prominent family has been killed and helps Sgt. Malloy uncover who did it before another death occurs.  

It's a fascinating series, with each book (27 in the series) often featuring crimes related to different issues of the period and societal problems that are still relevant today. It's been interesting to read about the suffragettes, to the prejudice against the early Chinese settlers and mixed marriages, to drug abuse (opium/laudanum), other crimes, and more. 

I recently finished book 16, A Murder in Murray Hill, which involves missing women, lonely hearts ads, and sexual abuse. Some things never change. I just started book 17, Murder on Amsterdam Avenue, centering on the death of the son of a wealthy family who think he was poisoned. Brandt and Malloy uncover secrets stretching back to the Civil War.

It's nice to read a multi-book series and I'm glad I have a ways to go until the end, though it's sad that it will end with book 27, A Murder in Rose Hill, which just came out in April. Unless.... I wonder if she did write another? 

I'm just sorry I didn't email her to say how much I've enjoyed these books. A lesson: contact that author you love reading. I know I appreciate when someone lets me know they like something I've written.