Grim Bindles (Past and Present)

Week three (of four) for the Bindlegrim sale - and this week really dug deep into the bindle for something old (cards from 2004), to something new (two one-off hybrid lanterns) all ending this coming Sunday August 3rd, 2014.

1) Vintage-Style HALLOWEEN 9 Card Series: ghosts, pumpkins, bats, haunted houses

Bindle' really scoured the crypt for this set created in 2004. The photo-collages feature original photography and digitally created elements. The background scenery followed a personal journey across the U.S. from the swamps and abandoned house of the Southeast, to the mysterious ghost towns and lonely deserts of the Southwest, to the spooky drizzle and moss-covered roofs of the Northwest. The ghost character was shot in studio, as were some of the props like German-esqe Jack O'Lanterns and bats, and later all was brought in the computer for an artistic integration. You can see more images in this earlier blog entry, or in this flickr set: Hallowe'en.

2) Vintage-Style Christmas WINTER LIGHTS 6 greeting cards, old electric decor

The imagery here of vintage Christmas lights dating from 1920's to the 1960's, and were photographed by the artist in the studio, with graphic design added later in graphic programs. Cards are approximately 4.25" wide by 5 1/2" tall. More images can be seen in this flickr set: Winter Lights.

3) Vintage-Style HALLOWEEN 8-Sided Lantern HORRID DECOR jol pumpkins orange/black

This listing is for vintage-style 8-sided lantern hybrid created to test Spooklights for Halloween 2014. The lantern panes are like those for the 12-sided lanterns (and therefore feature the pumpkin-and-leaf motif in the corners). The imagery was for the only non-limited run of lanterns from 2012 known as "The Horrid Decor" and this one features orange and black prints on vellum.

4) Vintage-Style HALLOWEEN 8-Sided Lantern HORRID DECOR jol pumpkins blue/black

This listing is for the 2nd of two vintage-style 8-sided lantern hybrids created to test Spooklights. The lantern feature the pumpkin-and-leaf motif in the corners. The imagery derived from the only non-limited run of lanterns from 2012 known as "The Horrid Decor" and this one features blue and black prints on textured paper.

Thank you again, and stick around for next week - the very end of the sale...

Vanishing Creeps

Week two of the Bindlegrim sale - and already some items in the Creeps editions are sold out as I pack their bindles with care for cross-country travels literally coast to coast! Again, thank you to all who gathered for week one.

It actually appears that the Summer Lantern Sale might be something of a misnomer, as I seek to fill out some unexpected gaps in the coming weeks - but for you 12-sided lantern fiends (and I know there are a few) I do plan to list the last 12-sided Creeps lantern in the final fourth week.

As I pull together some oddities for week three, here's a quick review of what is currently up for grabs in the second week ending Sunday, July 26th.

1) Vintage-Style Christmas SPIRITS #5/5 Artist Signed Set KRINGLE, FROST, & KRAMPUS

This listing is for the last full set of vintage-style candy-container lanterns from Spirits, a 5/5 limited edition set of three characters designed, printed, and diecut in the artist's studio. While a couple of characters may show up solo, this is the last of the Krampus characters available.

This is the fifth in an edition of five packaged sets - each character is signed, and the package insert is numbered #5/5.

2) Vintage-Style Easter Greetings TO THE HUNT #4/10 Artist Signed Postcard & Folio

Since Bindlegrim reached outside of the Hallowe'en norm for the above Christmas listing... this Easter card was also included to bring in a little more cheer, albeit slightly twisted once again. This print postcard was limited to a run of only ten cards, each with a peek-a-boo folio. This card is signed and numberd #4/10.

3) Vintage-Style Halloween CREEPS A.P. 2/2 Open Silhouette Set Candy-Box Lanterns

This is the 2/2 set of artist proofs created before the final 5/5 run of "soot-faced" Creeps. I cannot fully recollect why this set was created before the final packaged sets, but I believe it must have had to do with the direction of the dies upon the 2-ply museum board (since the die cutting process actually gives a subtle front and back edge to the paper). In any case, unlike the 1/2 set sold off the previous year, the 2/2 set was never even bent into shape... as shown here standing at full attentive display in this old crate.

4) Vintage-Style HALLOWEEN & CORNISH LITANY variety set themed Postcards and Book

With Bindlegrim's 2013 lantern stock rapidly vanishing - I continued to grab up a few other items for the sale... and thought it fun to gather a collection of printed goodies. This lot contains the following:
1) On Stranger Winds - Tall Tales for Shorter Days: a signed copy of the book with the newer matte cover (which I love much better than previous editions for its soft touch). The book is a collection of stories and poems (and was a winner of the New Mexico Book Awards in 2013 in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy category). Cover art by David Irvine (aka The Gnarled Branch).

2) Cornish Litany cards, 2011, has a limited number #/25 of signed cards. Both here are numbered #6/25. These postcards are artist reprints of the original art that was commissioned by Cornish Litany fanatic Debra Mesiter: A Litany... Cornish and Otherwise.

3) Cornish Litany cards, 2012. This set was originally release with a (sold-out) 12-sided Cornish Litany lantern that contained the same imagery.

4) One set of 4 Hallowe'en cards from the new Spooklights lanterns by Bindlegrim. Un-signed from a moderate run of 100 sets.  

Thank you once again to all for considering these items for your Halloween bindle. Stay tuned for week 3 starting this Sunday, the 26th.

2014 Summer Lantern Sale

Wow, yet another thunderous monsoon with lightening turning the day into night here, sweeping over Ichabod's casita huddled here in the high desert foothills... It's put me once again in the mood to get this announcement out here on the blog!

The Bindlegrim Summer Lantern Sale officially began Sunday 13th, 2014... and unlike the Spooklights (on Bindlegoods) which are currently available as a small run of undetermined number..., these summer sale items were produced as signed limited editions of five or less, and have been listed as ebay auctions to give more people a chance at grabbing the grim goods.

The first week includes:

1) Vintage-Style Halloween CREEPS 3/3 Artist Proof Set Candy-Box Vellum-Eye Lantern

This listing is for vintage-style candy-container lanterns from the Creeps (Color Run) which was a 5/5 limited edition set designed, printed, and diecut* in the artist's studio. This auction is for the third and final set of artist proofs (that determined all was okay for print quality and die alignment) for the 5/5 run.

For this set the package insert is singed as "AP" (artist proof) - not all AP sets were packaged. Each character is signed and numbered on the inside (and does not appear when assembled - see images). Note that this set was used in photos to represent the sealed 5/5 run, and therefore may have some slight wear and tear.

 

2) Vintage-Style Halloween CREEPS #3/5 Packaged Set Candy-Box Vellum-Eye Lantern

This listing is for vintage-style candy-container lanterns from the Creeps (Color Run) which was a 5/5 limited edition set designed, printed, and diecut* in the artist's studio. This auction is for #3/5 from the limited run of five signed and sealed during the production. (Any photos of opened, assembled items were done with the artist proofs - not this sealed package).

 

 

3) Vintage-Style Halloween CREEPS #3/5 Silhouette Set Candy-Box Vellum-Eye Lantern

This listing is for vintage-style candy-container lanterns from the Creeps (Silhouette Version) which was a 5/5 limited edition set designed and diecut* in the artist's studio. This auction is for #3/5 from the limited run of five signed and sealed during the production.

 

4) Vintage-Style Halloween CREEPS 3/5 Artist Signed 12-Pane Lantern Limited-Edition

This listing is for one vintage-style 12-sided lantern Creeps from a 5/5 limited edition. A bit of rarity in 2013, this was perhaps the only 12-sided lantern produced by Bindlegrim in 2013. This auction is for #3/5. If you've been keeping track of the 12-sided editions, this was #8 in the Bindlegrim series of lanterns (and was a special edition only for the 2013 year), with the panes inspired by the Creeps (Candy Container/Lanterns).

 

 

 

 

 Thank you all for considering this for your Halloween bindle. 

* What is a diecut? While this terminology seems to be used incorrectly by writers in the Halloween collector community to coin a certain range of 2-D hanging decorations, die-cutting is actually a process that created a huge number of Halloween products - boxes, crepe paper 3D items, cardboard displays, and on and on.  As someone who has been exploring the process (in my own work that drifts between industrial process and DIY art), I think it interesting to see how few people, especially old-timers, mis-understand what diecut really means. (See this wikipedia article).

Disintered Creeps

Disintered Creeps 

or 

More Peeks of Bindlegrim Summer Sale 2014

As Bindlegrim continues to dig-up old Creeps from the dark places of the studio... it appears the first week's listings have been cued for the front of this years's 2nd annual summer sale, which by following tradition of the first, lists a few items every week for about a month... and then, they are gone!

Please post a comment if you have input on separating or keeping packages intact for the sale. And, I thought it might be worth looking back into the processes of these items - with most printed and cut by dies in the studio.

Item 1 (or six???): opened pack of Creeps (artist proofs 3/3) which could be sold as a set or separately considering any input from the Bindlegrim faithful?

Production notes: The 2013 Creeps were printed and diecut in the artist's studio. There were 3/3 artist proofs with those shown here as the last of them. (Some earlier artist proofs were sold last year on etsy). This was the final print of the artist proofs that determined print & cut of the 5/5 limited edition run, and these were used in the various photographs for the set during 2013. Each item is signed as 3/3 A.P.

Item 2: unopened pack of the 2013 Creeps. These, like all 2013 sets were produced in a limited run of 5 (not including the artist proofs). Printed and cut with dies in the artists studio.

Production notes: The Creeps candy-box lanterns were Bindlegrim's first foray into a printed item, and the entire process was done in-house from the printing to the die-cutting. (Note the process is cut with a metal die to be most like a vintage-item - and not hand cut which would have created jagged inconsistent qualities). There were 3/3 artist proofs to get the expected print and alignment quality, and the final sets were a limited run of only five. Shown is #3/5 from the final run.

Item 3: one unopened pack of silhouette museum-board Creeps, a six pack of vintage-style candy-container lanterns.

Production notes: The 2013 Creeps were first conceived as a printed item, but sometime during the production I decided to test museum board, and thus this "soot face" set was born. There were 2/2 artist proof runs to make sure they would work (some sold on etsy), and then a final 5/5 limited edition run. Each character has been signed by the artist identifying the set and shown here #3/5.

Item 4: the only 12-sided lantern produced for the 2013 season. Creeps #3/5 special edition to go with the six-pack candy-container-lanterns of the same year.

Production notes:  To my recollection this was the only 12-sided lantern created in 2013 as a special edition to accompany the Creeps candy-box sets. There were only 5/5 created, with each signed and numbered. Shown is #3/5.

Crawling Out of the Woodwork

As design materials for Halloween 2014 start filling up the workspace for the new Spooklights series, seems like a good time again for a sale... to bid a final farewell to the work of 2013, and here's just a quick revisit of some of the work that's been lurking about in the dark forgotten crevices of the studio (pictured below) here gussied up as an orange crepe-paper gift-basket of vintage-like goodies.

Perhaps you caught last year's summer sale that wiped-out the remainder of all 2012 six-sided lanterns? Well, I wasn't sure there would be enough from 2013 but, after some rummaging, discovered there are actually limited-edition packs and some artist-proof singles of Creeps (both candy-boxes and special edition 12-sided lantern), Spirits (candy-containers), Cornish Litany postcards, and signed copies of Tall Tales Stranger Days.

There is no definite date for the beginning of this, (which could perhaps be as soon as this Sunday the 13th). Stay tuned, and I'll do my best to get the message out through the various Bindlegrim channels - facebook, twitter, the newsletter, the blog here, and the news blog now on Bindlegoods.

Sleepy Summer Daze

Ah, drifting again through the heat of the sun and the waves of sound emitting from the summer cicadas... although here in the high desert they sound a little bit more like frantic shop equipment when compared to the lazy lull of their southeastern cousins... (I seriously thought I was hearing someone run a table saw the first time I heard one)...

Anyway, it's that time again for a summer sale isn't it? Did you catch lasts years wipeout of 2012 12-sided lanterns!?!? Well, time for me to stop daydreaming and clean out the studio. I'm quite sure I have some neglected pieces of vintage-style goodies from the 2013 Creeps and Spirits series (both in the form of candy-container lanterns and 12-sided lanterns done in limited editions). More news to come as I start to wake up... In the meantime, you can see some of these in the Bindlegoods gallery.

In the meantime, a big thank-you again for those who shopped the Bindlegoods webstore this past month. As they are made to order I haven't been very good about photographing them, but did just get a pre-assembly order this past holiday weekend... and well, took advantage of the opportunity. Loved seeing these in multiples while I had the chance... (also see the Bindlegoods store blog for more Bindlgrim shop news).

P.S. This year's Halloween Trunk Show in Denver is slated for October 11th...!!!