Great Pumpkin Carve

Despite the cold, rain and wind, my Mom and I had fun working on our pumpkin at The Chadds Ford Great Pumpkin Carve.  2011 marks our 9th year at this fabulous event and I'm so excited to write that my design won the award for Most Halloween!

Lighting the pumpkin...

My Mom likes to paint her face and hair like a pumpkin:)

The inside is neat...

View from the parking field...

Some of the other pumpkins. My favorite was the barn owl but I really like Totaro too. 

To be eligible for judging, you can't add anything to your pumpkin though. 

Happy Halloween!

Chadds Ford Great Pumpkin Carve 2010

The view of the pumpkin patch from our pumpkin.

We had pumpkin #8 and it was our 8th year of carving here.

To see our past pumpkins, click here.

My crazy mom and I.

She loves to paint her face like a pumpkin.

I'm starting to carve, working on the full moon.



The finished design, a barn owl and raven.

We won People's Choice, a first!

My daughter Zoe admiring our carving.

The crowd view from the back of our pumpkin.

Screaming skulls.

Christine O'Donnell is a witch... hahahaha!

Skulls and snakes were popular this year.

What a great idea!

I would not have the guts to carve up a pumpkin like that.

Loved this Sleepy Beauty themed dragon pumpkin.

Art of the Pumpkin

With autumn fast approaching my mind has been turning to pumpkins. I've even found two misfits growing in the garden to put on the front porch. The pumpkin is a piece of art without me ever having to touch it. These fall beauties come in so many colors and shapes now it's enough to make a Halloween lover like myself giddy with anticipation of their harvest.

“I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.”

~Henry David Thoreau

Scenes from a nearby Amish farm that specializes in unusual pumpkins.

Jack Be Little pumpkin visits a local cemetery.

Zoe and I at the Chadds Ford Pumpkin Carve last year.

My new site showing all the pumpkins I've carved for competitions.

The Art of the Pumpkin

Chadds Ford Pumpkin Carve (part 2)

These are not my pumpkins but I thought I would share. After I carve my pumpkin it's nice to get around and look at others. The crowds are huge though so it'shard to get up close and get a steady shot.
To see my pumpkin from this year, click here. To see my pumpkins from past years, click here.
The first one below won Best Overall and I knew it would as soon as I saw it!

Ice Age 3

A post or two back I mentioned that I would be carving pumpkins for the dvd promo release of Ice Age 3 this weekend. Part of the arrangement was that I bring a precarved pumpkin with the dvd cover on it. Well, I've worked my magic today and after several hours have it completed. They didn't want me to gut it so you won't be able to see it lit. They always look so much better with a little fire!
I'll be at Winding Brook Farm on Saturday and Sunday and maybe on the Philly news too. We'll see!

Chadds Ford Great Pumpkin Carve (part 1)

Oh boy, I am so tired I can barely hold my eyes open! I just had to share some photos of our pumpkin at the carve tonight. We won't know who the winners are until Friday.

Zoe sitting with our pumpkin. She thought it was important to share her Ariel lunchbox.


I've got my drawing on. Now I'm ready to carve!


My Mom hollows out the back and puts in the candles. No easy task, it takes just as long as the front design.


Has a ghost from the Brandywine Battlefield shown up?


No, that's just Zoe and I!


But a real witch did show up to pose with my pumpkin!


Turn the lights off and the real magic begins!


Death Rides a Pale Horse