Lantern v1 and the CafePress Space Cat

Just a short follow up from the previous blog entry that the newest version of 12-sided vintage style paper Halloween lanterns is now posted for sale, to end Mar 04 2012 Sunday evening. And though the last one (v3: The Haint House) reached up there, this new one (v1: The Pumpkin Dream) is currently at a great price, and worth stopping by to peruse a listing that comes with both lantern and book:

Pumpkin Dream #2/5 Lantern & Book: vintage style Halloween poem & art Bindlegrim

So, if anyone is as confused with the various versions, as I am trying to explain them, here is a quick overview on the series. I believe this is important because although the lanterns may appear similar at first glance from post to post - the content of each lantern is a  limited run... and, so far, the editions have only numbered five prints per version. (That means when one edition is sold out - they won't come back).

Below is a list of the versions as of this date, and I added release dates too because the designs don't necessarily follow availability:

v1) The Pumpkin Dream (limited run of 5 - released 2-26-2012)
v2) The Cornish Litany - to be announced
v3) The Haint House (limited run of 5 - released 2-12-2012)
v4) The Space Witches - working title, to be announced
v5 & beyond) - to be announced

This all breaks down to something like v1: #1/5, v1: #2/5, etc.., so each lantern is signed with the version name and the # in the edition. The latest posted lantern is signed "The Pumpkin Dream" #2/5, 2012 Bindlegrim (and has the artist's special Halloween signature). The labels of each lantern also contain the version name and edition number.

So, if you are enjoying the various imagery and themes as much as I am creating them - I want to be sure each time to post photos of the lanterns in the round. And here are some detail shots of v1: The Pumpkin Dream turning the lantern toward the left.

As a further note - for those of you who like a particular theme, I'm also releasing some related products. For example, v2: The Cornish Litany has a series of 12 postcards, and both v2: The Cornish Litany and v:4 The Space Witches now have some cool tee-shirts available on CafePress that are great any time of year:

 

And here is one my favorites so far. It's in uniform style with pocket-size chest design, and features an outer space kitteh in its antenna topped helmet frustratingly filled with little white mice. How are you going get those mice, space cat???

Halloween Lantern v1: The Pumpkin Dream

Arghhh! Once again Ichabod's Cottage has been dumped on by heavy snow and the scarecrow has officially had it since being dumped on back in October - as have the Bindlegrim denizens maybe even long before then, with a single tiny blue snow shovel to dig them out. With all this white stuff falling, at least work is proceeding on the warm orange glows of  a new hex-shaped paper lantern!

Now that The Haint House has sadly departed, not only has there been development of new images, but also a glance back to the original lantern content of style #1. I was nervous that with the excitement of getting really spooky for #3 The Haint House, it would have spoiled me, however, I'm really thrilled with #1 The Pumpkin Dream, (also a limited edition of 5), especially now that I see it complete. I'm enjoying the simplicity of the imagery that to me seems very classic Halloween. The mostly even positive and negative space of the orange and black seems to focus attention on the silhouettes within the fields of orange!

Here is #1 The Pumpkin Dream, Halloween lantern, in a series of shots spinning the lantern to the left, so that you can get different views of the form in six and four panel increments. (I decided this time to show a peak at the lantern in  darker settings lit by a 3 watt flicker bulb). 

So for the uninitiated, The Pumpkin Dream theme is directly related to a book of the same name released last year in 2011. (I was actually working on completing the book in earnest around this same time last year, so in a way, for me, this lantern is commemorative)...

The Pumpkin Dream poetry was a tradition-in-process of mine for a few years, that was illustrated in retro style characters with a palette of orange and black, and released as a DIY publishing venture via various local stores, my favorite pumpkin patch, and Amazon. Note: I've decided to list the lantern with a copy of the book - yet if you are interested in the book itself, I might suggest etsy for a signed copy.

For those familiar with the book, you'll see some small twists in the imagery of the lantern. This final version is a mix of characters and dingbats brought together in new scenes. While the major characters are still present, some of the minor trick-or-treat characters took center stage in panels of their own --- the Princess and the Superhero have found love, the "Jack the Ripper" is being spooked by a spider, and while the Trick-or-Treat Ghost is being haunted by real spirits, the Devil has absconded with his JOL parade lantern.

Hope you enjoy the new adventures of these characters and I'll be sure to post a Bindlegrim blogger entry, facebook message, or twitter message, when this limited edition lantern, in style #1, is available. Happy hauntings from beneath the snow covered cottage of Ichabod's.

Witches, Rockets, and Bindlegrim Radio Waves

With The Haint House Halloween Hex Lantern #3 ending today on ebay, it was maybe past time to get to work on style #4... and this time it's a countdown to outer space adventure featuring witches and rockets! Below are a couple of images from the 12 being created for this new Halloween lantern, (and, btw, for those who might be keeping track, version #1 The Pumpkin Dream & #2 The Cornish Litany will be listed for sale shortly in the coming weeks).

This upcoming version (number four) was inspired by a series of 1950's plastic candy containers with goggle-clad witches riding space-age vehicles. Here's an example of these vintage pieces from the amazing collection of flickr member ghostofhalloweenpast:

With inspiration like that, it's hard not to have fun creating this space-age imagery, while listening to some moog and theremin, with spacey retro lounge music like Space Capades: Ultra Lounge 3, or instrumental rock like Telstar by The Tornadoes, or the darker side of eerie electronic experimental music with Louis and Bebe Barron's Forbidden Planet soundtrack... to name a few.

And speaking of music, that seems like a perfect segue-way to mention Bindegrim radio, which is now broadcasting on a DIY internet broadcaster station that I've enjoyed now for many years called Live365, and is featuring alot of the vintage Halloween music I've been discovering over the past many years.

Currently the Bindlegrim station is in construction-development mode, so the playlist may seem a little limited at this time, but I think audio folks will enjoy what is currently available. I have started off with a collection of Halloween-themed tunes from the 1920's to the 1950's, and, in future, plan to expand the music from those years as well as into larger time-spans reaching into the 1960's and beyond. In the meantime, hope you enjoy the humble musical beginnings, and feedback is always welcome.

Halloween Lantern for a Haunted House

12 Eerie Visions of Creeps and Chills, Glow for HALLOWE'EN Thrills!

Bindlegrim vintage-style 2012 Halloween Hex Lanterns are officially here, with one listed as of yesterday evening via ebay (ending 2/19)! So I wanted to share a spooky batch of detail photos taken of this old school lantern featuring all new Bindlegrim imagery. (Below is the lantern front and back in its packaging).

This is style #3 The Haint House - a limited edition of only 5 offering this particular Bindlegrim imagery. As mentioned in a previous entry (The Haint House Halloween Lantern) inspiration came from vintage images of haunted houses - and unlike the old lanterns usually displaying a repeat of 6 images - these new lanterns offer 12 distinct panels (also because I have so much fun creating the images). The Haint House reveals doors, windows, and cracks, oozing with skeletons, mice, ghosts, mice, ghouls, mice, witches,  mice, bugs, snakes, mice, zombies, and other Halloween oddities such a winged moon with sharp teeth.

Here is a flickr gallery of The Haint House that shows the Halloween lantern from various viewpoints - hung in pendant style, with detail shots and in its packaging.

For consideration of the materials of this paper novelty - the lantern frame is made from acid-free 2-ply matt board with a nod to archival quality. The images are printed of durable laser-prints on vellum. And just like the good old days are Made in the USA and hand assembled. Holes are in top for string or thin wire for hanging: (I didn't wire any of these as to keep them pristine - so the photos below show it hanging by the flip switch on the socket --- not recommended for long term placement).

It's hard to tell in current photos (created more for detail rather than mood) but I'm using a 3 watt flicker bulb from the local hardware store in this lantern (and suggest either this or a battery operated candle). It creates the perfect eerie ambiance since the vellum allows low light to shine brightly. Any hotter/brighter bulbs, open flames, or moisture are not advised since this is a fragile paper novelty, and those are the very same terrors that warped, burnt, and destroyed vintage lanterns from the 1920-30s.

If you have any questions on availability of any limited edition styles --- (still hoping to see earlier versions for #1 The Pumpkin Dream and #2 The Cornish Litany follow soon) --- feel free to contact me.

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In other notes - I want, in future, to get a list of additional links for great vintage holiday artists and sellers, but in the meantime wanted to mention a wonderful seller that I've had the pleasure of purchasing items from in the recent past - 55audrey.

The seller offers a long-time popular booth on Bonanza (Audrey Grace Vintage) as well as Ebay (Book Shop) --- and also provides holiday tidbits through a newsletter and twitter. Recommended!

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Happy Valentine's Day everyone and heres to more haunted fun throughout the year of 2012.

14 Free Cupids for Pixel or Print

While visiting the office.microsoft.com templates page the other day, noticing their current selection of free Valentine templates, I re-discovered this funny little Valentine that I created while contracting there, and wanted to say a few words about this versatile Valenttine's Day Countdown Calendar which was created as something to be enjoyed in either printed format or in PowerPoint.

The opening screen (or front of the card) of this Valentine features 14 numbered doors with cupids delivering love letters through the mail. What the doors reveal is totally up to you. While the download file has already been preset with images and text - you can easily change these. (The first image below shows the doors - and the second image shows a couple of doors still closed but others revealing images and text).

I haven't had a chance to explore this myself, but I think it would be fabulous to do a version on actual paper. Basically, you would print screen the scene with closed doors, and then print screen the scene with all items revealed. On just the front image, cut in such a way that the doors would swing open. And again, you can customize the back image to contain your own text, images, photographs, etc. Glue the two pieces together around the frame of the doors - and you've got a cool interactive Valentine! (The image below is a mock-up of how this might appear, doors ajar):

If you want to do use this digitally on PowerPoint, this help article (How to create a personalized Advent calendar), while it actually discusses a similar type of PowerPoint template, (an Animated Advent Calendar I had created for Christmas), the basics hold true for updating this Valentine.

Happy Valentine's Day 2012...!!!

The Haint House - Halloween Lantern (style 3)

For those keeping track with the small buzz generating over the new vintage-style 12-pane Halloween lanterns; if all goes according to plan, it looks like the first of these should start appearing February 11th, 2012...! But the new question is - "Which style will show up first?" A short run down of the styles so far include:

1) The Pumpkin Dream
2) The Cornish Litany
3) The Haint House
4 to ?) to be announced during 2012

The new panes for style #3 The Haint House were finished just yesterday. This is perhaps the spookiest so far? The imagery was inspired by a fun 1950's candy container called "Boogie House for Ghost & Spooks" seen below:

One of the fun parts of creating these lanterns is dreaming up 12 scenes in a theme for each pane. Here are 6 of the 12 pane designs for The Haint House lantern.

If you missed imagery in development on styles #1 & #2 you can see The Pumpkin Dream lantern styles in the Bindlegrim facebook gallery Bindlegrim 2D Works, and The Cornish Litany style in previous blog entries (The Cornish Litany Lantern (Limited Edition) & Cornish Litany Lantern and Postcard Set).