As the amazing 2013 draws to a close, sending you best wishes for happy holidays with some random pics of the retro-mod aluminum Christmas tree decked with fave vintage Shiny Brites. And with special guest appearances by three Johanna Parker pieces (the limited edition Snowman sitter at the bottom of the tree, and the Santa & Snowman ornaments hanging out over the stockings). If you look closely, you just might also see Red Hob & Green Hob, stars of Grim Happy Christmas hanging out on the boughs of the tree; they are enjoying this grooveshark playlist (Bindlegrim Christmas).
Bindlegrim is happy to announce that Grim
Happy Christmas is now in its 2nd edition for 2013 with improvements on both price and format. This newer version
is a larger 8.5" square which just seems more kid-friendly, and the print is larger for those of us with tired eyes. As well, the cover and content are now on soft-to-the-touch matte pages without any major loss to the photographic quality. I only regret it has taken me since 2011 to get this done!
You can find the book in two places online* this December with the following
special prices:
1) On Amazon (currently priced around $7.95 and qualifies for their free
shipping deals).
2) On CreateSpace (using December's coupon code4DX92CZDget it
for $5 + shipping).
* Note that the book is still on blurb.com but there the 7" glossy (first edition) costs around $20 to produce and for some reason they only offer limited and expensive shipping options via UPS)...
Are you new to Grim Happy Christmas? Well, once upon a time, a little Christmas gnome leaps from the darkness of his storage box to seek out the
happy dreams of the holiday, but instead finds dirty dishes and big scary bills!
What has happened to Christmas? The story that follows is told in simple words and
photography, and is appropriate for the entire family (minus perhaps a scary scene with the grim reaper), and offers a quick lesson that maybe the importance of the holiday isn't found rushing off to find glittery gewgaws to bedazzle the senses, when love is right there at home, wherever that may be for you!
Christmas Gnomes (Tomte, Nisse, or Hobs) are (per Wikipedia) mythological creatures from Scandinavian folklore typically associated with the winter solstice and the Christmas season. The gnome is known as a gift bearer and considered the Swedish version of Father Christmas. As mid-century decorations - the gnomes were Christmas kitsch ornaments Made In Japan during the
1950s of hand painted hard plastic faces topped by flocked paper hats.
Arms, legs, and hair were chenille, and the bodies and feet were made
from spun cotton.
The characters of
this book are actually cherished vintage hand-me-down ornaments from the author's home, that became the centerpiece of this book's lesson during a particularly skint and cancelled holiday. The photos seen in this book were at first to become a simple Christmas card yet during the photo session seemed to be telling a story, and this developed into a little hand-made book of scribbled words and pasted pictures. It was the only material gift
offered during that harsh year - but with content that became meaningful
beyond price.
Bindlegrim, Red Hob, & Green Hob send you their best this season! Merry Kitsch-mas!
While snow fell here in the high desert, the Bindlegrim elves finally finished up the last bit of work on a 5/5 limited edition set of candy container gift-box lanterns! These are already making their appearance for Karmpusnacht and on various online venues over the next week for a timely arrival to their new homes well before Christmas. And the listings this time will include full and broken sets for those just trying to get their favorite character.
More news to follow and please check the Bindlegrim facebook and twitter pages for timely updates... and hopefully to include news of better availability of the retro-kitsch tomte book "Grim Happy Christmas". In the meantime - a few wintery candy-filled photos of Krampus, St. Nick, and Jack Frost. Happy Holidays!
So perhaps the weather was an omen... rainy and
cold... an appropriate Bindlegrim night full of thunder and dark purple skies with bits of brilliant Halloween orange peeking out from a setting sun... yet I had zero expectations
(certainly after reading the other finalists listed below) so this was to be an amazing
surprise that On Stranger Winds won in the Fiction: Sci-Fi / Fantasy category of the NM Book Co-op's 2013 New Mexico - Arizona Book Awards!
Days before the actual announcement, I wanted to take the time as a scifi/fantasy fan to see what our local authors had to offer, and with an eagerness to cheer them on for their hard work. Therefore I assigned myself homework - to read (as much of) each as I could before the date. And I feel confident recommending most of these if you enjoy the genre. Here is a quick rundown of the book and author finalists in the Sci-Fi Fantasy category, (with many offered as Amazon e-books with a downloadable free preview).
Ghosts of the Black Rose: Belinda Vasquez Garcia - www.belindavasquezgarcia.com Note: there is a very interesting scene in here involving a priest, his deceased skeleton wife, and the enchanted beautician.
Asleep at the Wheel of Time: Michael Gray- www.michaelfgray.com Note: a true well written sci-fi entry that had my interest piqued with a story that involves dolphins and a recent VLA discovery of what could be a message from Titan.
The Tower of Il Serrohe: RJ Mirabal - http://rjmirabal.blog.com Note: an anti-hero in the Rio Grande Valley finds an alternate universe. Back-story involves curanderas. And there is a sly sense of humor to some of the dialogue.
Corr Syl the Warrior: Garry Rogers - www.garryrogers.com Note: A smartly written YA novel where animals evolved, and utilize natural powers together with technology. A murder has occurred at the beginning, while trouble brews on the borders.
With my reading accomplished, I was ready to cheer any of these authors for a well-deserved award. And we arrived at the 2013 NM Book Awards on that stormy November 15th night in ABQ. New to the experience, I had no idea what to expect, yet had a welcoming, wonderful time. Met some great authors and publishers, enjoyed drinks, and the food was actually top notch. (Heartfelt kudos to the meal planner!)
The award ceremony itself was perfectly timed and the actual winning of the award a bit of a blur... (see the full list of winners here)... and while I wish I had bid more money to win that Rodulfo Anaya book package, the following are my personal highlights of my evening...
Out of pure chance we sat next to Fresco Books. Really awesome chatting with the authors behind
this amazing hardcover book. They won both the Art Book category and the Best
New Mexico Book for Art of the National Parks. To my immediate right was this wonderful artist, Terry Dunn: www.tlawsondunn.com.
On our left sat a first-time author Karen Kelling. I'm not sure I understood the complete plot, but the book
sounds like a good read for you holiday fans as it takes place around
Christmas, and there are appearances of ghosts from the past: The Comanchero's Grave.
Well, that's it! After all the hard work, and latest excitement, I've been spending the past 24 hours quietly(?) basking. Thank you to all the words of congratulations from friends and family. And of course thank you again to the informed editing assistance of Cara Wilhelm, the spooky whimsical cover art from David Irvine, the spooky font Zombie Apocalypse available from Sinister Visions, and the word-styling of Daniel Boyer in his fabulous foreword.
Goodnight folks... time now to work on volume two...?
Another quick post to follow up the previous 2 characters with good ol' St. Nick... although I'm not sure this guy is any less "troubled" than Krampus and Jack Frost before him.
I suppose the less than cheerful expressions could be based on the fact that Santa here and the others were originally Halloween characters who got a "mask-over" for the upcoming December celebrations. It just may explain their not-so-sweet disposition. Can you figure out who's hiding behind the Christmas affectations?
Bindlegrim has given up trying to teach the workshop elves anything but Jingle Bells in a minor key this year - as their work continues to be a bit on the dark side of Christmas? And here are a couple more sneak peeks at work in progress for what will be follow up object-designs to the vintage-style candy container lanterns that were released this past Halloween 2013:
Bindlegrim was in the workshop today... attempting to teach the elves holly-and-jolly, and ho-ho-ho, and all that jazz... but the sweetness and light came out a little bit dark:
Well we're still working on it... but if the witch-elf-snowman hybrid above is any indication, Bindlegrim Christmas 2013 is going to be rather... peculiar. More to come...
Finishing out the Halloween 2013 postings this year with a quick reminder that if you are searching for some spooky tunes of our early century past (1910s to 1950s) click over to this seasonal vintage music station sponsored and programmed by Bindlegrim on live365.com: Bindlegrim Halloween. For the next seven days through the Halloween weekend the station has been upgraded to offer up to 60 non-VIP listeners at a time (up from the usual 5)...!
This is about 4 1/2 hours (as of this writing) of music from the 1910s to the 1950s featuring the music you might have found on 78 RPM, such as jazz, swing,
big band, ragtime, lounge & more... (this is before rock and roll which has plenty of sources for that genre). The music here (not always p.c.) is about ghosts, witches,
devils, skeletons, spooky haunts, or even just the simple pleasures like the autumn leaves, by musical artist such as Louis Armstrong,
Kay Starr, Glen Miller, Betty Hutton, Cab Calloway...
Hope you enjoy! And suggestions / requests for songs are always welcome (though I may not get to them in the current year). There is no monetary compensation in this for me. This is just a hobby as something I like to do (as a fan of music from all eras) that brought together my love of vintage decor with the music of that holiday past. Happy Hallowe'en...!!!
There has been a big sigh of relief here in the Bindlegrim labs - as the Creeps have walked off the production slab, and nestled snug in sealed packages ready for new homes. As of tonight there are 3 listings at 3-day auctions on ebay for your consideration, just in time to arrive before Halloween week! Oh, but what shall it be? There are Creeps (Shadow Edition), Creeps (1st Color Run), and Creeps (12-sided lantern). Well obviously the main idea here appears to be giving you the Creeps! Links are listed below in order of first to the last listed.
1: Creeps (Shadow Edition) Full set JOL, Witch, Bogle, Cat, Devil, Clown, as stark soot-faced minimalistic design versions. Silhouettes lend to their mystery and fit a classic to modern Halloween decor style... with translucent facial features that glow in the dark. The diecut characters are made of 2-play acid-free museum board (same as Bindlegrim 12-sided lanterns): Vintage-Style Halloween CREEPS SOOT FACE Candy Box Lantern WITCH CAT DEVIL CLOWN
2: Creeps (Color Run) is a first edition 5/5 print run of this artist-designed diecut series .This is for the complete set of six characters, on vintage-style slot-and-tab candy container/lanterns offering printed imagery on front, sides, and back, and of course those translucent eyes for that after dark glow: Vintage-Style Halloween CREEPS Candy Container Lantern Set WITCH CAT DEVIL CLOWN
3: Creeps: (12-Side Lantern) - A very special limited edition return of the Bindlegrim 12-sided vintage style Halloween lantern with Creeps imagery! If your counting this very special 5/5 limited run is the eighth Bindlegrim 12-side lantern and was unplanned but the idea spilled over from the candy container/lantern project seen above - here re-introduced on full-color translucent vellum scenes: Vintage-Style Halloween CREEPS 12-Side Lantern WITCH CAT DEVIL CLOWN SCARECROW
So that's all for now all you autumn-minded folks! Please accept the deepest of apologies for squeezing these in so close to Halloween... but auctions will end Wednesday, October 23rd, and I can be sure to ship on Thursday in time for next week's celebrations.
The following limited edition sets are now complete for Halloween 2013 or beyond! Will do a barrage of sales info via blog posts, newsletter, and social media (facebook, twitter, etc.), for you curious cats. Stay tuned!
Creeps (Color Run) edition of 5 (character six-pack) as full-color candy container / lanterns:
