Happy Halloween

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!

Tonight is my favorite night of the year! I'm out trick or treating with my son and lo and behold I see my patterns gleaming from front porches everywhere. I'm amazed by the talent I see! And honored that families would choose my work to become part of their holiday memories. I'm truly blessed by all the wonderful people I've met. I LOVE getting your emails...esp. when I hear that it's your first time carving and that in some way we've helped you create your first masterpiece...

This year was a celebration of ten years of The Pumpkin Lady - but don't think we're going to sit back now! Next year will be bigger and better than ever and we're already setting things in motion!

Cheers to another ten years!

Happy Carving,

Lisa Berberette
The Pumpkin Lady

You Tube How To's

We did it! Thanks to the wonderful help of Kyle Echols of Echols Photography, we were able to produce our first series of You Tube How To videos on the basics of pumpkin carving. What fun! I'm now addicted to the magic of You Tube. Though these videos may be the first, they won't be the last. Eventually we'll add more tips and tricks on pumpkin carving, plus a series of videos on holiday crafts and entertaining.

Now, people ask me, "What do you do the REST of the year?" Well, besides being a full time mom and full time college student, we plan as we can for fall. Spring is magazine time, that's when the magazines shoot their fall layouts, so I create designs in Feb. and March for that. Occasionally I may be contacted to do several pumpkins for a large display, like the portraits of the Presidents, and that in itself can take the remainder of the year. During the summer I design the pattern books for the website, and I start taking orders for personal carvings. Unfortunately, many people wait to ask me in October, when my work is already planned out, so I need to clone myself if I ever want to get it all done! Honestly, in October I'm usually in media mode, doing tv segments on shows like Martha, Fox, and The Food Network. (By the way, did you see the Food Challenge Outrageous Pumpkins episode? Catch it between now and Halloween and see yours truly as one of the judges...I was really impressed!)I'm also trying to answer as many emails as I can...hence the need for the videos! I'm often asked the same questions again and again, so, to saving my fingers for carving rather than typing, we created the videos. I can't imagine how fun it would be to have one's own show and get to do things like that every day....

hey Martha, ya need an assistant? besides carving pumpkins, I have a mean set of glittering skills I can show ya! Call me!

Are You Aware?

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. In honor of this amazing cause and all those who have been touched by this disease we've created two new patterns for the website....free! You can download a ribbon that can be carved out of the pumpkin, or a ribbon that you shave into the pumpkin's surface. Technically, the ribbons will glow yellow, however you could use a red battery powered light to change the color or pin some colored cellophane (or maybe even try plastic wrap) inside the pumpkin to change the color.

I realize that the ribbon stands as a symbol for many different causes depending on the color. I hope that you will use this pattern for your own personal testimony and have your pumpkins glowing from front porches for all to see this Halloween.

To download these free patterns, go to http://www.pumpkinlady.com/pattern.htm and then scroll down until you see the ribbon patterns.

Happy Carving!

Lisa Berberette
The Pumpkin Lady

Give a Little, Get a Lot

Each year for the last eight years - and always on the third weekend of October - my family and I volunteer our pumpkin carving skills at the Virginia Living Museum's Night of the Living Museum event in Newport News, VA. We literally schedule our season around it! (Yes, even appearances on tv shows get scheduled around it!)If you've never been, you should! It's a wonderful evening for families with itty bitties...kids under ten that are looking for a nonscary Halloween event. Families can come, in costume, and trick or treat in this incredible museum, complete with hands-on exhibits, live animals, and a planetarium!

On Friday and Saturday night(Oct. 17 & 18) from 6-9pm you can come learn how to carve pumpkins with my family (and get a dozen free patterns as our treat to you!) but I'm not the only one you should see. You can visit the Storytelling witch, the Spider Lady, the Jamestowne Bucaneers, the VLM Wizard, take a night trail walk, meet the animals up close and personal, observe stars, make crafts and get lots of treats...plus a whole lot more! Is it any wonder why we love this place?

And the other reason why we love the VLM? You won't meet nicer people anywhere else on earth. The VLM staff do a wonderful job of preserving Virginia's natural heritage and teaching children all over the state to understand and care about the world around them. For more info about the museum, go to: http://www.thevlm.org . Hope to see you there this weekend!

It's Party Time!

Every year, as an alternative to Halloween parties and trick or treating, churches everywhere hold their own parties. Hallelujah parties, Faith festivals, Fall festivals...they go by all different names but the basis is the same...Faith and Fall Fun. However, these gatherings require special patterns of their own, patterns that aren't Halloween related...and trying to find those types of patterns is like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack! So, as we aim to please, we've developed a whole NEW book called Faith Patterns, where you'll find Christian themed patterns to use at your Fall Festival. You asked, we delivered!

And this brings us to another question....What do you like? Patterns are created according to the requests we receive. If we don't create an entire pattern book, we'll at least try to make it one of the free patterns on the site. Email us and let us know...

We're listening!

Lights, Camera, Action! Oh my!

My time flies when you're going insane! It felt like I blogged yesterday...and it's been weeks. Oh my! Can you guess why I've been so busy, besides the obvious time of the year? If not, here's a little update for you...this isn't just pumpkin season, but media season. Yes, we all know what day Halloween falls on, but the news media doesn't prepare for it until the very LAST second which means I'm jumping through hoops at the last second! The last few weeks before the Big Day are nuts! I've just received an email that, for the second year in a row, I've been invited to appear on Fox News Weekend Live. Of course, they want political pumpkins, which I just happen to have a new pattern book of on the site. Naturally, they want a little something special, too...so you'll just have to watch Oct. 25th to see whose portraits I roll out!

And that's not all. One of my favorite shows is on the Food Network. Anyone else but me LOVE the Food Challenge, where these amazing culinary experts compete to make the world's most insane creations? This year, on Oct. 26th, you'll get to see Extreme Pumpkins, where expert pumpkin carvers go head to head! Yes, yours truly will be on the show...but not as a carver! I'm part of their expert panel of judges.I had a BLAST on the show. Wanna know who wins? Sorry, you'll have to watch Oct. 26th and see!

And now for my latest craziness...I've just come back from NYC after taping a segment for.......(drum roll please).....Martha Stewart! Watch The Martha Stewart Show on Oct. 27th on the Fine Living Network to see yours truly in action. Plus, there's more than one amazing carver on the show that you DON'T want to miss!

And yes, there will be a few more appearances along the way which I'll tell you more about later this week because right now, I've got to get carving!

Let's Get Digital

So I'm an avid scrapbooker, although admittedly I buy more paper than I could ever use (who can resist pages of color, textures, and good ol' glitter?). However, the piles are adding up and I figure there must be a better way for me to scrapbook...esp. when I often have a difficult time finding the "it's perfect!" piece of paper to go with my photos (hence the piles). The solution? Digital scrapbooking! And not just for myself...but you too. I've had several digital designers asking to use the images from www.pumpkinlady.com to create layouts. So, we thought, why not do it ourselves? Coming soon we'll have pages of digital papers with matching frames, brushes and embellishments that we all can use. Of course, we'll start with Halloween - my personal favorite - but we'll be creating designs for year round memories as well.

Happy Scrapping! oops! I meant Carving!

Lisa Berberette
The Pumpkin Lady

Piles of Pumpkins!

October 1st ususally heralds the arrival of pumpkins in stores and on the farm. However, this morning I drove up to my local grocer and what did I see? Piles of pumpkins filling the front sidewalks! Woo hoo! Autumn has arrived! I know, I know, you probably think that I'd be sick of pumpkins by now, that this morning's discovery would have sent automatic shudders down my spine. Nope! I still love carving pumpkins...more so, seeing these big orange globes brings back memories of fall that I'll get to experience once again. Suddenly I want to jump in a big pile of russet colored leaves, don a fuzzy sweater, light candles and fill the air with the baking aroma of spiced apples and hot cider.

So, let the season begin! Giving in to temptation I brought home the biggest pumpkin I could pull from the pile (I might even go back this afternoon and get some more!). Now, for the hardest part of pumpkin carving ...choosing which pattern I'm going to use!

They're Heeerrrreeee

New patterns for 2008 are here! Last year we debuted a new, downloadable Halloween pattern book. This year, we have an all new Halloween pumpkin pattern book(with 24 new patterns!), plus a book of another dozen patterns celebrating Harvest Home. In honor of Campaign '08, we've also got a third book of political and patriotic pumpkin patterns just right for the occasion. Can you tell what I've been working on over the past few months?

And don't worry, there will be plenty of free patterns, too. Each week from now until Halloween, we'll add several more to the website in the Free Patterns section. Don't see your favorite subject? Email us your ideas and the most popular may become a new book, or, at the least, become a free pattern for the website. Besides, we love hearing from you! Knowing that people enjoy the designs... hearing how they've become a part of your holidays...that is what makes all the hard work worthwhile!

Happy Carving!

Lisa Berberette
The Pumpkin Lady

Woo Hoooo!

It's here! I walked into Barnes and Noble yesterday(my home away from home) to peruse the latest Halloween magazines, and, lo and behold, I see Woman's Day's Halloween Celebrations Magazine. Why, you ask, am I so excited? Because The Pumpkin Lady has an eight page spread beginning on page 46! Earlier this year, when other people had visions of fuzzy bunnies and yellow chicks dancing in their head, I was designing these Halloween patterns and carving as fast as I could to meet my deadline. I sent the finished carvings off to their photographers and now I can hold the outcome in my hot little hands. The patterns I created for them are all new, and can only be found in the magazine. But don't worry, I'll have plenty of new patterns free to download each week from the http://www.pumpkinlady.com/ website beginning the last week of September, plus there's three new pattern books debuting this weekend. Whether you celebrate the Harvest or Halloween, I'm sure you'll find a pattern your whole family will love!

Happy Carving!

Lisa Berberette
The Pumpkin Lady

School Days

Labor Day has come and gone...my son is back in school...and me too! Despite working around the clock these days, I attend college full time too. No...technically I'm not a glutton for punishment...I just know that there's still a lot more that I need to know! As you can probably guess, my classes center around the Arts, but I've added several more that, instead of just muddling through, will make me a pro in Adobe Illustrator, In Design, and enhance my Photoshop skills...all to serve you better! These classes will make it even easier for me and my ever so patient hubby, Jack, to design pattern books, update the website, and get those creative juices flowing. Now...if I could just figure out when I get to sleep.....

It's About Time

After lots of prodding from family, friends, and fans, I've decided it's about time to create The Pumpkin Lady Blog. As the leaves change color each fall, emails begin pouring in, many with similar questions...Do you carve pumpkins year round? Can you make a living at that? How long does it take you? How do I follow my dreams? Could you....and so on and so on. So, this year I'm going to blog my artist life with you. And give you this warning: I love my life, but it ain't all wine and roses! My job as a professional pumpkin carver brings a lot of excitement, and more than its share of problems. I'll share with you the ups and downs of being an artist, student, and working mom. I'll even let you in on some of my future goals and plans, so you can keep me accountable and hold me to them!

It's going to be an exciting year, I'm glad you're going along on the ride with me...