Day 69 - More Pattern Goodness

We've added five new patterns to the site tonight: EEK! is my favorite so I've made that my Halloween theme for today. There's also Scarred Stupid, PHHTT!, Chomp, and Cackle. But there's so much more to come! I have more patterns than I can count that will be added between now and Halloween...not to mention all the free patterns and specials just for our Facebook Fans. I also finished editing Sweet Stack today, so the video and directions will be available for free in the Project Gallery by tomorrow afternoon. This weekend we'll add more patterns, projects, and a few other products, too. Where are Santa's elves when I need them?

Day 51 - Skelestones

So my son, Jack, comes in and throws my words back at me. "Do you see what I see?" Ahhhh but I did! He had been tossing stones for our cat, Little Bit, to chase when he picked up this skull shaped stone. The shape of the stone was definitely skullish, and I could just faintly see a face. He asked me to create a "real" face for it, so I added my favorite onyx glitter and little blue gem eyes. It did give him a little personality, but you know what? I think I like it better a little au naturale!

Day 45 - Ralph

In drawing class tonight, we covered a piece of paper with charcoal and used a kneaded eraser to remove portions to "draw" an image of a stack of chairs dubbed Gertrude. Finishing early and desperately trying not to slip into a coma after chair drawing, I wheeled out Ralph, our occasional model and coffee companion. In the same technique I "sketched" out his ghostly image. Soooo much more interesting than a stack of chairs, don't you think?

Day 44 - Kitten Carnage

It had been a long day...we crash into bed with the sound of galloping cats tearing through the house. We hear the usual scuffle, a random chirp, and the sounds of what we thought were CVP and Sock Monkey browsing through their toy basket. Oh were we soooo wrong. In the morning, I notice what I thought was a random piece of my wool felting. "They must have gotten into the bags last night," I thought. But noooooo! CVP jumped had onto my art shelves, nabbed my little wool felted skulls and cat, and he and his brother proceed to deck the halls fantastic with their little felted shreds! Kitten carnage everywhere! Is nothing sacred? All that's left is roadkill and two happy little cyclops. Sigh. I guess even the cats are into Halloween!

Day 40 - You Put Your Left Hand In...

Can you believe 40 days has come and gone since the start of 365 Days of Halloween? Only 325 more days to go! Anyway, I promised to show you the rest of yesterday's little contour line assignment: draw my hand six times, in different positions, holding complicated objects. Of course, being right handed, I could only draw my left hand (you do NOT want me to try drawing with my left hand! Oh my! It's awful!). And my little objects were all Halloween related. Overall, I think it came out pretty well! Next comes inking them in! (Though I usually wear more ink than the paper does...that's why I carve pumpkins instead!)

Day 39 - Contour Candy Cup

I am the queen of multitasking! For example, while in the drawing class I'm taking this semester, I make sure that every project is Halloween themed. This weeks homework is, yet again, a modified contour line drawing of my hand. I have to draw my hand six times, each time holding a different object which, in my case, will be Halloween! While everyone else is holding feathers and flowers, I'm drawing skulls and various creepy crawlies (I'll show you the other drawings soon...gotta finish them first!). Lol no wonder I get weird looks all the time...but it's worth it. Besides, being normal is highly overrated!

Day 36 - Paper Thin

I was going to sculpt tiny little paper skulls for an altered book project so I tried to create a base around which to mold them. Well, it didn't work! (you win some, you lose some) However, the little mold itself was a cool success. It's a stack of thin paper skulls, each one a tiny bit larger than the last. it took quite a while in itself to do...but at least something was successful with the project!

Day 29 - A Face Only A Mother Could Love

Talk about a face only a mother could love! I must admit, I love all things glitter (and, yes, shiny things do distract me) and all things Halloween. What could be better than putting them together? I couldn't resist buying this little paper mache´skull mask and doctoring it up. The question is, is the mask itself as creepy on its own or creepier on someone else? You decide!

Day 24 - Nice Ghouls Never Have Fun

So we were watching Warehouse 13 tonight (love you SyFy network!) while I was making yet another attempt at felting. Did I say this was my last attempt at felting for awhile? I like the process...it's kinda hypnotic...but the time it takes! This one inch little pair took over an hour to make...and my OCD artwork needs to be perfect side was saying I needed to keep going for a few more hours. Yeah, I silenced that idea real fast! So, what was going to be this intricate little pair of skulls was simplified into a happy little pair of ghouls in order to save my fingers from any more pinpricks. Excuse me while I go look for the bandaids!

Day 22 - Quesadillaaahhh!!!

Talk about Mexican food with a little bite! Seriously, never let a pumpkin carver anywhere near your food. I can't promise that I won't do something to it!

Day 16 - Wreathed in Bones

Yes, it sounds a little odd, but I love skeletons...they're one of my favorite things about Halloween! And I love to use them to decorate. Today I spray painted a traditional grapevine wreath black, added a sparkly purple and black boa, and attached a few of my little friends for fun. The best part? My cat approved. After hanging the wreath on the wall, CVP did a happy dance on his back paws, craning his neck for a better view. He then danced a bouncy jig under it and skittered off to find some trimmings of his own! They say that having a black cat cross your path brings bad luck...but if he's dancing, do I have good luck instead? I'll keep my fingers crossed!