When I was a child, growing up in England, halloween wasn’t really a thing. We just didn’t celebrate it.

Occasionally, I used to catch a glimpse on television of what halloween was like in America: houses decorated with cobwebs and pumpkins. Suburban streets thronged with children in fancy dress, trick or treating. Parties. Adults in witches hats dishing out sweets willy-nilly.

The nearest equivalent I can think of for us wasn’t even at halloween. Each year just before Christmas we were allowed to stay up to see a portly man from the local Rotary Club wearing a very bad Santa outfit come down the street on a wobbly carnival float done up a bit like a sleigh. We would stand on the street in our nighties and coats and think how exciting it was to be outside after dark. As the “sleigh” crawled past, Santa would give each child a boiled sweet. (Yes, just the one!)

To be honest, I felt a bit cheated. Why did American kids get all the fun (and sweets)?When my lad was little it was lovely to dress up and go round our neighbourhood with his friends visiting all the participating houses for trick or treating. Actually, just treating. We’d carve a pumpkin (or rather, I would) and tell a spooky story.

But that’s all in the past now.

So this year I decided that I would make halloween a bit more special.

Weeks in the making, I hereby present: The Halloween Collection…I have created a series of figures to celebrate spooky season (and beyond) made from vintage velvets, wire, wool, foraged twigs, clay and other bits and bobs – including vintage napkin rings!

First comes The Orange Seller (photo above). One of the figures inspired by Christina Rosetti’s wonderful poem Goblin Market (click the poem’s title to read it) he is one of the “goblin men” we are warned to avoid.

Transporting his magical wares in a cart fashioned from a horse chestnut seedcase, with watchmaker’s cogs for wheels, he tempts you with an orange in his outstretched hand… But beware! The fat, hairy fly on his head warns you that his oranges may be sweet, but he is not.Next up is another denizen of the faerie realm, Cherry Ripe. Don’t be fooled by her benign smile – she is filled with wicked enchantments. She wears a wooden amulet around her neck and carries her cherries in a black cat shaped basket, all the better to tempt you with…Then there’s The Trick or Treater. Just don’t expect any treats from him: with his tiny lantern and that grimace, he is all tricks…Next is Little Ghost. He tries his best to be scary to fit in with the others, but really he is more sad than bad, a little lost soul…Another girl next – The Apple Seller. Her fruit is carried in a hand woven basket, cushioned on a gingham cloth. She is dressed to impress in her lacy gown, but it is alas no longer pristine. Well, it is dirty work being a denizen of the underworld… Now comes The Pumpkin Man. He bears a woeful expression, as befitting his character – it would be a sad existence, selling miniature versions of your own head for people to eat, wouldn’t it?Also inspired by Goblin Market is the next character, The Evil Goblin. Remember the warning of the poem:

“We must not look at goblin men,
We must not buy their fruits:
Who knows upon what soil they fed
Their hungry thirsty roots?”

Would you trust him?!Last, but by no means least, there is The Moth Lord.

A Prince of the Hidden Realms, he rules over the moths, who love him and flock to him as to a bright light. He wears a cloak decorated with embroidered wings and a crown whose jewel matches his shining eyes…The Halloween Collection will go on sale in my Etsy shop at 3pm on Saturday 25th September.

There may also be a few other little treats on offer …(did you spot the trio of pumpkins?!)

See you there – if you dare!