Designing holiday products can be tricky as I must think a year-plus in advance while creating my pieces off season. The latter comes natural since I always have Halloween on the mind! But, I do find my patience running thin as I design and create pieces that will not be available for more than a year. By the time they arrive, it's like a happy reunion where the face is pleasantly familiar, but we do have to get reacquainted a bit. This week, I am finishing up a small batch of Halloween prototypes for Bethany Lowe Designs, 2012. I had fun with these as I decided to blend my illustrations with the sculptures that I love to create. The end result is a series of fun, jack-in-a-box style candy box characters that serve as both decorative as well as functional pieces of art! The first image is a mock-up as I honestly ran out of time to actually build the boxes. Keep scrolling down for more.....

The illustration of a lanky pumpkin man teetering atop a jack-o'-lantern
creates the fun panels for this sweet piece.

These sample drawings are a trio of sideshow-style images conveying a whimsical character framed in a staged setting. Four panels of each design will comprise each box, and the corresponding character's bust will crown the box's lid!

Of course, I had to include one of my black cats in the mix!

Here's another peek at my jack-o'-lantern character! What a fun face :)

And, my first licensed skelly will be making his debut alongside the other two characters. I'm looking forward to reuniting with this fun trio next fall! Now, if only I were more patient.....

I also squeezed in a spooky spider design.... Stay tuned for a peek at him later...

Happy Haunting,
~ Johanna

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