Spider Saturday

Since I haven't yet had a moment to start on the spider for Spider Fest 2010 (it's like Woodstock, but with four times as many legs!), I thought I'd get in the mood with this video. Click on the image to watch!

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.

Tokyo Milk

I ran across this in January 2009, in O Magazine. Yesterday was Clean-Out-the-Strata-in-Your-Home-Office-Before-it-Falls-on-Your-Head-and Kills-You Day, so it surfaced again! (Whew! Now I can throw this damn clipping out!)

My eye was first caught by the skull-and-crossbones motif as I was leafing through the magazine, so I tore out the page and set it aside. I looked up the website yesterday to get an idea of what these neat little perfumes might smell like, and I think I might have to put one or two on my Great Pumpkin list. I'll give you the manufacturer's descriptions for each, starting with the one to the left, here.

Poe's Tobacco

No. 1 Parfum

A decidedly different collection of brilliantly paired fragrance notes housed in an alluring glass bottle decorated with Poe's own raven.

Deeply nostalgic: Tobac, Tea Leaves, Amberwood & Autumn Apple

Dead Sexy

No. 6 Parfum

A decidedly different collection of brilliantly paired fragrance notes housed in an alluring glass bottle decorated with an image of a the iconic skull and crossbones

Romantic & Ethereal: Deep Vanilla, Exotic Wood, White Orchid, Ebony

Honey & The Moon

No. 10 Parfum

A decidedly different collection of brilliantly paired fragrance notes housed in an alluring glass bottle decorated with Summer's buzzing bee.

Subtly sweet: Honey, Sugared Violet, Jasmine & Sandalwood




They have some fun little oddities for sale, along with candles, soaps and cosmetics. I haven't tried them as of yet, but I thought, at least, you all might find it interesting to look at!

Tokyo Milk website here.

Pumpkin Progress

Being gone for ten days has its plusses and its minuses. The plus side: the dogs are fat and happy. The minus side: the plants never get watered properly. One of my fuschias was D.O.A., and a few others were gasping for water. My pumpkins even looked a bit beat-up, but fortunately survived. Above, they're going through their over 90-degrees wilt.

I admit to disappointment, like Linus in his perpetual quest for the most sincere pumpkin patch to lure a visit from The Great Pumpkin. I don't have as many pumpkins-in-training as I had hoped (which has nothing to do with the house-sitter!). I have two, plus-at long last!-my Wyatt's Wonder finally has a female that seems to be on its way to maturity. I gave them all some more bat guano when I got back, so maybe they'll be a little happier. I may still have to re-think the whole tent-and-ice idea. So much for my "benign neglect" gardening theory!

Below: hey! Color! The pumpkins aren't very big, but I'll take what I can get!

Perhaps I can find a way to be more sincere about my pumpkin patch. O Great Pumpkin! Where are you?

The Dog Ate My Homework

Mr. ShellHawk and I got back from vacation late Saturday, so Sunday I headed for my studio. I managed to get a couple of pots thrown, and wandered inside for a power nap around 2:30p.m. or so. When I got up, I didn't feel like throwing, so I grabbed a lump of clay from my slop bucket and sat down at the coffee table to make a couple of mini-pumpkins. After catching up on "Trueblood," it was time for bed. I left my pumpkins and sculpting tools on the coffee table.

Yesterday was a busy day, as it was the first "working day" back from vacation. I had Sam Pumking's prize to mail out yard work to do, a fishbowl to clean, etc., and I pretty much jumped into the day when I got up. I didn't worry about the stuff on the coffee table because I knew I'd get to it around dinnertime.

By the time I got finished with chores and washed all the leaves and spiderwebs out of my hair, Mr. ShellHawk was home from work. I headed over to the coffee table so I could put my new pumpkins to dry out in the studio.

They weren't there.

I knew they weren't out in the studio; I hadn't put them out there and forgotten I'd put them out there... So where were they?

I've got a German Shepherd with the classic long Shepherd tail, so I thought maybe she'd tromped by the table and accidentally swept them off. I went looking for them. I checked under the table, under the couch, under the entertainment center.

Nothing.

It was a head-scratcher. Then I found these fragments, including a tiny little stem. (I know they look more like dog kibble, but really, they used to be pumpkins!)

The only conclusion I could come to was that one of the dogs had eaten the pumpkins, even though they're both older and haven't stolen anything off the coffee table in years.

I made their replacements, plus a larger Christmas ornament last night. After all, it's only clay.

But I will be picking up after the dogs today, and will keep an eye out for anything unusual...

Post-Vacation Catch-Up

I went away for vacation, and come back to discover I have received not one, but two (count 'em! TWO!) awards from fellow bloggers The Frog Queen and Halloween Overkill! Thanks, you guys!

O.K., so they're the same award from two different people, but I don't think that anyone turns down a second Oscar because they already have one, right?

The rules are as follows:

1.tell us 7 things about yourself
2. give this award to 15 deserving blogs
3. email those blogs and let them know
4. thank the person who awarded you

I, like the Frog Queen, am a Rebel, and will only tell you one thing, too:

One an item to item scale, I have more Christmas stuff than Halloween. (Of course, by weight, I have more Halloween stuff!)

Blogs to receive this award from me:

1. Badder Homes and Gardens, because what says good times better than snide humor?
2. Season of Shadows for his dedication to sharing prop-building with the rest of us.
3. Spookyblue. His awesomeness (and thoughtfulness) in his posts, prop how-tos and that touch of twisted humor make me look forward to every word he says.
4. Enchanted Revelries, because Tristan's posts both make me laugh and the images sometimes take my breath away.
5. All Together Dead. Just because!

Again, because I'm a rebel, I'll stop at five blogs. Yes, I know that makes me a party-pooper, but I know you'll forgive me!

Pass it on!

Wow. I never thought I'd have anything that pink and cute on my blog...

I Must Have These

I could build an entire costume around these! I don't even care if they give me blisters.

Buy them here.

Victorian Thriller

Thanks to Perfessor Evil for this little gem! Click the image to watch.

Just goes to show that zombies have been a problem for awhile...

Ape Cousteau

More Chris Aype vacation photos on Facebook. Will be back soon!

Hauntcast Is Here!

Hauntcast is up, kids! Go listen!

Now, back to eating massive amounts of freshly-caught crab while I'm on vacation!