Grizelda the Witch at My Castle Shed

Years ago when my sons were small I and a neighbor dressed as scary witches. The little children were so frightened on Halloween they would not come down the walkway for their treats.

When I became a grandma I decided to become Grizelda the Clown Witch. Who could be frightened of her? My orange crushed hat has a spider web and a rubber spider dangles from the edge. You can see my green felt hooked nose. In the photo above for my Treadle Lady site I posed in front of the Paris Cabinet and sewed on my German Gritzner treadle sewing machine.

When my son Doug and Lisa came over with Davis their heads were shaking. Doug lovingly said, "Mom, you are such a geek." Yes!!! And I love being one. After a couple of years of teasing that stopped and about the 5th year Lisa said, "I want to be a clown witch." Another "Yes!!!" So I whipped up her adorable costume, a much cuter version with a short sassy skirt.

After becoming Grizelda the Clown Witch I designed and made a Halloween quilt with a hand painted scene. Several years ago I asked hubby to paint the scene that I designed for my quilt so I could make Halloween cards, the quilt didn't photograph as clearly as I wanted. Here is the painting he did, propped up on a chair in the castle shed the other day.

When my grandsons were small they used to point to the witch in the quilt and say, "Grandma, that's you." What a compliment! The books on the shelf in the painting are, Potions, Witches Who's Who, Pumpkin Cookbook, Frog Care and it was the title of the last book that sealed my identity, Clown Witch Costumes.

Last week I put up spider web garland banners to decorate my castle shed and then posted the PDF file for sale to make them in my Etsy shop. Here is link.

On a quiet evening this week I took my wine glass and lap top out to write at my medieval style table in my castle shed. I had a little story idea about what is happening in the painting. I propped the painting in front of me so I could tell the story, suitable as a night time story for little children, no scariness. It will be posted in my Etsy shop soon. (Here is the link to the story card.)

The castle shed is so enticing, a great little place to escape and write or work.

Here are party favor baskets I designed a few years ago and made a fresh set.

 And pillow boxes that coordinate, great for Halloween treats.

Are you ready for Halloween or a bedtime story?