New Design- Ghost Story Dolls

Finding lovely cotton fabric with writing and pressed flowers printed on it got me thinking about making some new ghostly dolls. I added some sheers and some tiny printed toile to the mix to add some different fabric textures.

Shimmering cat's eye beads should make interesting eyes. I've had a bag of these beads forever and have never found just the right doll to use them on. I'm really pleased with how she turned out. I've never made anything so gruesome.

Now I have to come up with the reasons why that even with a cut throat and 2 missing hands my ghost is still smiling in such a beguiling way..... My guess is she's plotting to scare the person who did this to her to death.

In my mind this Lavinia is going to be even more proactive in avenging the crime against her. I remember reading Titus Andronicus years ago and thinking it was too bad she didn't get to kill
Demetrius and Chiron herself.

Season of the Ghost- A White Ball of Fluff

In one of my Earlier stories I told you about Great Grandpa Albert. He wasn't the only ghost in MJ's Grandmother's house.

His Grandmother kept several cats and I'd see their ghosts on occasion. A cat ghost is just a delicate wisp and just flutters by you like a cool breeze.

One little wisp used to hang around with me when I was sharing MJ's studio in one of the upstairs bedrooms. She was a quick little ball of fluff and my impression of her was that she had been a little white cat with dark patches. I'd often catch a glimpse of her zipping ahead of me on the stairs as I headed for the studio.

Quite often I'd feel a cool patch next to my paint palette. She liked sitting on the work table next to me and watching me work.

I only saw little Fluff completely motionless once. I entered the studio and there she was sitting on the table waiting for me. The house was converted into offices when it was sold and I often wonder if anyone there has a little wisp of a companion who sits beside them and watches them work.

This photo is one MJ took of one of our rescues, Kirby. Unfortunately Kirby became ill and couldn't be saved. I haven't seen him around the house yet, but who knows? :)

Season of the Ghost- The Man in the Window

When I started dating MJ way back in 1983, he was living in his Grandma's house. She had died recently, so he and his brother were acting as caretakers.

This was an interesting old place. Albert, MJ's Great Grandfather, had built this house and the one next to it. It was 2 stories and huge. It had a big kitchen that opened up to a room with a fire place and from there, that room led to a short breezeway with small paned windows that looked
out onto the front yard. At the end of this breezeway was a shop where MJ's Grandfather had had his saw saw sharpening business.

One late afternoon MJ and I arrived at the house and parked in front of the breezeway windows. As we got out I looked up and saw an elderly man peering out at me. Since I knew MJ and his brother were the only ones living there, I was a bit startled for a second. I paused and MJ asked me what was wrong. I replied that I was fine...we'd only been dating a week or 2 and wasn't ready to have the I see ghosts regularly talk yet.

Well, I kept my eyes open, got closer to MJ and as we were getting more serious I told him about some of my ghostly encounters. I decided to wait on discussing the elderly ghost until I had done a little more investigating. In the old saw shop area, all kinds of family papers and pictures had been stored. There was a beautiful old velvet covered photo album with a lovely photo of MJ's Paternal Great Grandma and a bunch of pictures no one in the family could identify. So, my quiet search for the id of the man in the window continued.

One night we parked in our usual spot and the elderly man appeared in his window. He started like fog and solidified. I casually asked MJ if there was a white haired man that worked with his Grandfather in the saw shop. MJ replied that his Granddad worked alone. "Well then who is the old white haired guy peering out the middle window?" Before I could tell him that I was just seeing a ghost, MJ rushed in through the breezeway door and found no one.

We had a long talk and I described the ghost's white hair, large nose and red and brown plaid flannel shirt. MJ went upstairs and rummaged around forever. Finally he came down with a small stretched canvas. "I painted this when I was a kid, " he said and turned the canvas so I could see it.... a Jr high art style portrait of a white haired man with a large nose wearing a brown and red plaid flannel shirt. "He was my Great Grandfather Albert. He's the guy who built this house. When he was alive, what is now the old saw shop was his apartment."

MJ never saw Grandpa Albert, but felt cold spots in the shop when I would see him looking out of the window. He never responded to me when I tried to speak to him and no one else ever saw him. Even after Mike's Dad sold the house, sometimes I'd see Albert looking out his window when we'd drive by the house. To this day, I wonder if he's still watching and who he's waiting for.

Here's another spooky MJ illustration to dress up my post.:)

Season of the Ghost- Dead Babies in a Burning Car

Yeah, I know weird, nasty title. The phrase is one I learned from an old boyfriend who was a photojournalist. He had a professor who felt this was one of the ultimate photo ops for a photojournalist. I use the phrase when I see something really horrific happen. And sometimes I can just be a w/bitch.

Well, today I have a sad little story. And yes, this one deals with another Ouija board. MJ and I were at a friend's house for pizza and a video. Maggie, Bob and their roommate, Alex were all telling gruesome stories. Bob always seemed to like to try to upset me or gross me out the point of nausea. Maggie seemed to like to pick at me and make feel less than human. But I put up with the crap cause MJ was friends with Alex and Bob. The negativity of the house's energy didn't help either. Negative people seem to collect negative spirits.

We got talking about ghosts, psychics etc and I related the Flaming Gary story. Maggie insisted on us trying out her Ouija board. I was in no mood, but I was annoyed enough with the whole miserable evening to agree....the environment had some bad vibes and the idea of scaring Bob and Maggie was appealing. .....Hey, I'm human, okay?

So the board came out and we started off. It wouldn't work unless I had a fingertip on the planchette. We had a few spirits that answered a few yes or no questions, but one kept showing up and it had a message for Shelly.

Maggie wanted to stop then, but the ghost or whatever was determined. It wanted to talk to Bob...well Bob was not happy and Maggie was pissed. Apparently Bob had had a relationship with this chick, Shelly, before he met Maggie and fathered a kid. Supposedly this ghost was the baby. Bob and Maggie were the only 2 people present who knew bout the abortion. Needless to say I got what I wanted.... Neither of them picked at me for quite sometime.

As to the entity being an aborted baby, I don't believe it, but entities/energies already in the house playing with 2 nasty people....yes. I think one of them took pity on me or I just finally used my own psychic abilities to protect myself.

Yep, this is another of MJ's illustrations. After this incident, Witchy Woman was my nickname. :)








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The Season of the Ghost- Ghost Manager Walking

My oddest ghost story is from when I worked as the store manager of the Simi Valley Salvation Army thrift store.

The store was made up of 2 sections. One was the main floor with a back room and loading dock. The main floor connected with a small room we used for the used books, records and vintage clothing. This room originally had 3 steps down from the main floor.

Just before I took over the floor of this little specialty room was raised to match the level of the main floor. It was interesting that the new floor had an odd bounce to it.

Anyway, one night after closing I was doing a walk through on the main floor. I was making a to do list for the next day and as I approached the middle of the main floor I could hear hangers being slid in the specialty room.
I thought...oops a record guy or a retro chick didn't hear me call closing. I called out,"Excuse me, but we're closed." As I watched,a woman in a floral dress with her dark hair pulled back in a bun started walking towards me through the doorway.

The only thing was...she was walking knee deep in the floor. As she got closer to me she faded away. Obviously she only knew the original floor with the 3 steps down in that back room.

Now, I've seen ghosts since I was little so I wasn't scared, but I was curious to find out who this lady was.

My asst. manager at the time was a long time Simi resident and was a regular shopper at the thrift store even before she got hired to work in the store. So I went to Betty the next day and asked her.

I found out the ghost was probably a previous manager named Juanita who worked there 10-12 yrs before I became manager. I described her right down to the flowered dresses she always wore.

After that first meeting, I never saw her again, but if I heard hangers moving around on the racks when I was alone in the store, I just called out a greeting to Juanita and the noise would stop.

The beautiful Halloween illustrations were created by my husband MJ Bivouac. Thanks, Mike.:)

Telling Ghost Stories

Wading by the lake-shore was how I spent my summers....
Watching my lover casting far and wide for golden
fishes and complimenting his skill.

Casting his greedy line further he found a catch more
golden than I would ever be....

Water, water, everywhere....What grave for me.

Floating in the water is how I'll spend this summer....
I'll again be the elusive prize he can never catch
and only he'll see.

I love ghost stories...the Gothic ones full of sadness and passion. No obvious gore for me thank you. The idea of an implied horror can be creepier than actually seeing the bloody victim or monster. The Medieval Silver Dagger Ballads and Edward Gorey's inspired my series Spectres of Unfortunate Romances.

So it was easy to come up with the idea of doing a series of ghost dolls, but the poem aspect really threw me at first. I am essentially creating stories and dolls about murder victims, but at the same time I want the ghosts to be giving their murderers hell too.

With the character, Nerina, she my have spent hours with her lover watching him fish and was killed and replaced by her rival, but with her ghost lurking in his favorite fishing spot....I don't think he'll enjoy himself any more.

I'm betting that Nerina's visits will get him to confess or give himself away. Since he's the only one that can see her, the problems the murderer will face trying to hide his fear will eventually break him down.

I really want to stay with the period motif of these dolls because the long skirts lend themselves to creating the floating feeling of a ghost. The victims in all the Silver Dagger Ballads I've seen were women, but some of the victims in Gorey's stories were male, so I have some choices to make as I continue this series.

Since this isn't the 14th century and women aren't quite the chattel we once were, I suppose I should consider doing a few male victims of love too. It is easy to portray only women as victims of choosing poorly when falling in love, but failed romances happen to everyone .

These dolls tend to be cathartic for me . I fill their stories with sad memories and let them go. Everyone can relate to a bad romance and the relief when it's over.

First Half Doll Design For My Book

I've been working on my first dollmaking book and I just finished the first example of what you could do with a basic half doll design.

I like to use a half doll to make ghosts, fairies, angels, or demons. Actually, anything that floats, flies or is in the process of appearing or
disappearing.


This first piece is a poor unfortunate ghost who loved not too wisely, but too well. She's in her watery grave, but I'm going to write a dark amusing poem about her ruining "His" fishing trips every season. I've always been an Edward Gorey fan and I had a blast writing the last 2 story poems for Poor Sad Mary and Autumn Leaves.

I like the names Maud, Rachel or Edith for this figure. If you'd like to suggest a name feel free.