Samhain 2016: "Black Jack Pumpkin Ale"

"Black Jack Pumpkin Ale" Vintage Beer Label Design

"BLACK JACK PUMPKIN ALE" SAMHAIN APPAREL

MEN'S TEE

Days are getting noticeably shorter, the nights cooler, and a few leaves have started to drop from their branches. The ancient festival of Samhain approaches.

New Samhain (Halloween) Designs!!!

Shop Celtic Hammer Club Samhain (Halloween) Apparel NOW!

It's that time of year again! Time to break out the zip ups and crack open the pumpkin ales! It's almost time to celebrate SAMHAIN, or as many of you know it, Halloween!

Halloween is so much fun. Carving pumpkins, dressing up, scary movies, and, of course, lots of candy. What many don't know, is that the spectacle of Halloween and all its goblin goodness has its feet firmly planted in the traditions of the pre-Christian Celtic peoples of Ireland and Scotland!

That's right! Everything from carving pumpkins (although they used turnips back then) to the superstitious practices of trick-or-treating have their origins with the ancient Celts! For this reason, Halloween is near and dear to Celtic Hammer Club, since we love all things Celtic!

Our Samhain designs pay homage to the Celtic roots of Halloween while also celebrating the fun of being a little scared every October 31st. Creepy twisted trees, unsettling witches with their black magic, jack o' lanterns poised at window sills to ward off evil spirits are all part of the tradition represented on our one of a kind apparel.

If you love Halloween as much as we do, you're going to want to get a tee or a zip up to really stand out at your Halloween party or parade!

Men's, women's, zip ups, and more all available at celtichammerclub.com

Women's styles also available in all designs



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Samhain (Halloween) Accessories!

Samhain (Halloween)

SEE THE FULL RANGE OF ORIGINAL SAMHAIN DESIGNS AND APPAREL HERE!

Samhain (Halloween) Apparel

 I absolutely love October. It finally cools off enough that I can feel comfortable again. I love the look of the leaves as they change color. I love all the pumpkin ales and Oktoberfest beers that are out, and I love Halloween.

What I didn't realize until adulthood was that all the Halloween traditions that I grew up with had its roots in pre-Christian, Pagan, Gaelic Ireland and Scotland. Everything from witches to pumpkin carving to dressing in costumes and trick or treating comes from the ancient Celtic cultures. They called the holiday Samhain (pronounced "sow-in"), and it was a day that marked the end of the summer harvest season, and the start of the "darker" part of the year; the start of the winter. Celtic tradition held that the doorway between the living and the dead was open during the night of Samhain, and that both the dead and faeries known as the Aos Si roamed the land freely on the night of Samhain.

Creepy stuff, but the similarities to today's Halloween traditions are obvious.When I started to learn about Samhain I was as thrilled as Miley Cyrus riding a wrecking ball to find out that my love of Celtic history and my love of Halloween went together like potatoes and whiskey!

So i was inspired to create a special Jack O'Lantern design in honor of the Samhain holiday.

TO BEGIN..... I started with a sketch of our favorite Irishman. Mr. Jack O'Lantern (I know, that joke is unforgivable. I'm sorry. I couldn't resist.) I wanted him to look sort of cartoony, but still really bad-ass and scary looking. I also wanted his vines to twist into Celtic knots underneath him to make sure this particular Jack O'Lantern had a very Irish/Celtic look to him. I also really exaggerated the flames coming out of the top of him just to add more edge to the whole image:

Sketch

THEN... Colored him in:

Colored Version

AND FINALLY... created the rest of the text and other decorative items to create the final image for the Celtic Hammer Club Apparel:

Final Image

It's got kind of a vintage "chalkboard" look to it, but, as always with Celtic Hammer Club designs, the text on the shirt has historical significance and the artwork is edgy.

I will be leaving this shirt available for purchase year round just in case some of you miss out this year (I know that's unthinkable, but there are always a few...). It's never too early to prepare for the next Halloween.

-CHC