Chicago Graveyard, Part 2

Here are a few more pics from that graveyard I visited a few weeks ago. I really do appreciate Mr. ShellHawk's patience while I took these.

I really like the way this angel looks, from all angles. She's got lots of detail work both front and back, from the feathers on her wings to the drapery of her clothing. She's beautifully executed.

I like the simplicity of the one below.

The drapery on this angel looks good, too. The gesture she's been caught in is lovely, and I like the way her wings were done. If only I could figure out how to reproduce this and have a place to store it!

I hope some of you can use these pics for reference.There may be a few more coming up!

I also hope you know that I mean no disrespect to those buried beneath these monuments or their families, just in case you were wondering.

Tease

More Fun With Paint and Other Things

A little update from the overwhelmed Garage of Doom. I took a couple of pics of one of those "note to self" moments.

The base of the cauldron came along pretty well. We had some scrap wood lying around from our raised garden beds, so we used it. Thick, pressure treated wood. Wood meant to be very sturdy.

A month later, I decided to add a fog machine. Problem: the motor was in the way of the hole in the back of the cauldron floor, and the front was blocked by the base. No problem. Get a hole cutter and cut through the base. Through the really thick base.

With typical, almost suicidal optimism, I had Mr. ShellHawk find me the right size hole cutting bit. Too short. Neighbor V brought a longer one over. After about an inch in, it hung up and wouldn't go anymore, flinging the drill around pretty hard. I was lucky not to have been injured. I thought, "Well, there's a woodworker lives across the street. Maybe he can help." He did. He brought over his plug in drill with special side grip and made short work of the hole, but not before commenting that you really didn't need such thick wood.

Wish I'd thought of that.

On a brighter front, I got this little garden statue from Big Lots for half off.
Hate the paint job. You really can't see any details, and the paint they chose really washes her out. Not to worry!Black spray paint to the rescue!Then a nice dry brush of gray paint over the top.I think she looks much better! I can't wait to have her in the cemetery!

News from the Garage of Doom

Yesterday was a pretty productive day in the Garage of Doom. Since my hubby was helping neighbor V's hubby with replacing a bathroom floor (cutting an laying tile-fun!), neighbor V came over to help me in the Garage. We got a plaster cast of her hands done, which I needed for my stirring witch. Since we used vaseline for the release, her hands were silky soft when we got done. She said she felt like she was having a spa treatment! (Plus, of course, she had an hour of legitimately not being able to do anything for the kids, and actually was forced to sit down and relax for awhile...) I love my neighbor, I gotta say.

She had to take a quick break to go see what the boys were up to, so I put the first layer of paint on the new angel garden statue I got at Big Lots. Their garden statuary is on sale for half price right now, so you should think about heading over if you need more for your cemetery.

From there, we moved on to the problem of repairing Stewie. For those of you who don't know who Stewie is, he's the scarecrow I made last year who is serving as the header for my blog. Stewie was in great shape last year, until the torrential rain we had on Halloween soaked his already forward-heavy head and bent his schedule 40 pvc right at a point where we had drilled holes to run zip ties through for chicken wire support. Several ideas were tossed back and forth after I made a slit up the back of his main support pipe. Re-bar up the middle of the pipe? Couldn't do it, because of all the other zip ties in the pipe. (Best Neighbor V quote of the day: "Stewie, you are such a man." Couldn't stop laughing...) Re-bar through the pvc in his shouolders? Same problem. After much thinking and a couple of Blue Moon wheat beers, we determined tht we'd have to build an additional set of supports along the lines of what the symbol for pi looks like, strap him to that, and set him back in his stand. His trenchcoat will cover it up, and no one will be the wiser. Bummer about the re-bar, though. It was a good thought.

We moved on to the start of the Beloved tombstone. Measured and the basic body of the tombstone before we had to stop for the night and start dinner. I used the cheap white 1 1/2" insulating foam you can pick up at Home Depot here in California, and I'll glue the body together today and then add the more expensive pink foam to the front of the tombstone. It's hard to find the pink foam here, as 99% of stores don't carry it because it's considered a cold-weather product and it just doesn't get that cold here. I had to drive for 2 1/2 hours one way to pick the stuff up, but I know it'll be worth it.

As an aside, I have to look into my home office every time I head out to the Garage of Doom. It sits as an accusation; I've been working on it off and on (mostly off) for over a year and still haven't finished it. Maybe I'll get to it. *sigh*

It's mimosa Sunday today. We feel it's important to get your vitamin C, and champagne is a great delivery system. Our extended family is coming over from across the street to share in this healthy tradition.


Wow! Helpful AND health-concious. What great neighbors!

Angel Transformed

I troll Goodwill for treasures frequently. The thing one has to remember about treasures, is: sometimes they're buried.

This treasure was buried under gold paint. Really ugly gold paint.
At some point in life, someone thought this was either a great gift for that special someone, or someone just couldn't live without it. It was a place to hide a key. Subtle hiding place, eh? I wonder at the logic of it. At some point, they came to their senses and ditched it at Goodwill for the tax deduction.

Enter yours truly. First thought: "Wow. That is truly horrible." I pictured the ancient woman with the 25 cats who bought this thinking it was a subtle butter color, due to her mile-thick cataracts. It actually was in perfect condition before it fell out of my car and onto the driveway. I had to use some Gorilla Glue to put it mostly back together. Oh, well. Saved me work on the aging process.

I started to work on the paint a couple of days ago. I went to Home Depot and grabbed some spray paint and plastic primer and went to town on it. Two layers of primer, a layer of black plastic paint. I didn't like how shiny it turned out, so I trooped back to the store and bought some regular flat black spray paint to knock the gloss down. While I was there, I scored a gallon of exterior flat gray paint in the "oops" section for $5. Whee! I got some play sand to throw over it, too. I figure I'll use the rest for tombstones.

After the spray paint had time to set, I dry brushed they gray on and added a bit of sand. I discovered that technique didn't work very well, so only a bit of sand stuck. Next time I'll put the sand on while the first coat is still wet. Whatever. It'll be dark and no one but I will know, anyway.

So here's the finished project.
I think he'll look fabulous in the graveyard this year, don't you? You can barely see the repair on his wing, and even the ding in his hair makes him look aged. What a great find!