Frog on the Pumpkin

why thank you. It is where I store my treasure. :D Here is the unfinished donation box. People are always stuffing money in our comment box, which is kinda small and hard to get change out of, so this year we decided to create a donation box. Toph came up with a sketch of a cool wooden box held up by two small mud monks. So, husband made this wooden chest out of cheap wood from Home Depot and then he remembered that he had some molds of metal chest pieces. Really you ask? Seriously, how many of us have mold for casting faux metal chest pieces? :0 My uncle had made these years ago, I guess he used to make trunks and sell them at craft markets....well, my brother got them....and then gave them to me thinking that I might be able to use them for something someday. And someday arrived a few weeks ago. We cast the front pieces (that would get touched the most) out of resin (when we were casting the hand) and the back pieces (that will likely never be seen, in expanding foam. We used the he...

magazine. This is the October issue of Nuts and Volts, not something you are likely to find at your local newsstand :) Learn how to make your very own " Dungeon Keeper " No cupcake decorating, felt cut crafts or hot glue candles here. No, lots of diagrams of semantics, example code and parts lists that likely need to be ordered from Jameco or Ramsey . For the record, I learn this through osmosis; live with a programmer long enough and you will be amazed at the things you actually understand. :D Husband being the geek that he is, has a subscription to this magazine that has articles on how to build all kinds of cool electronic stuff. Most of this is way over my head, I understand the basics, but this is pretty technical. If you know who Parallax is and the the Basic stamp, this is kind of a fun publication...that has bits that might help you with your prop controller. Or give you great ideas of how that will actually work for a Halloween prop. Or like me....you read (or try t...

character....here is what I would look like. I know it is an alligator costume....but I would stomp around and pretend I was Godzilla.....in a graveyard :D Lots of fun in you have some spare time....check it out http://www.sp-studio.de/index.htm I was having a hard time saving the file. This image is from a screen capture. Now, back to prop making!

going on in my life I got another blog award. I almost forgot....and it is a cool one too! I don't know how "domesticated" I actually am, but I will take the award as proof to the contrary :) Thanks so much to my fellow blogger at the Enchanted Cauldron. Check out the clock she is working on. Oh, my that is a work of art!! It would look amazing in my house :D

:D I have always wanted to type that as a blog heading :) This should really be a Frog Queen folly.....but no, not tonight.....it has been a long day. So humor me. This is not at all Halloween related....unless you consider Labyrinth a horror movie - no, not even I can make that stretch. A little dark at times....maybe. Someone posted an image of David Bowie on the LOLcleb site. Being a huge fan of the film Labyrinth (and Bowie, especially in tights) I had to read some of the comments. Here is a thread of a few of the comments that made me choke on my iced green tea. After a whole run through to the lyrics of Magic Dance line by line....groan, I was and singing in my head too :D It started with someone saying ...... Oh look, there is god! :) followed by ...... If all major christian religions would concede that this is god, I'll become a nun. (In my head I quickly agreed :) then ...... Amen to that! :D If I was only that clever!!! Took me back to Catholic school days....yeah...

That is the question for the Frog Queen. I am dying to play with papier mache - looks like lots of fun. I tried it once years ago on my very first spider. I made it out of flour and water boiled, then dipped newspaper in it. Looked good. Did not last a through. October here in the Northwest is rainy, despite me covering it with paint and sealer, a small amount of water must have got in, cause it turned to mush. Which in fact, left unattended in the garage through the holidays, grew a nice yellow-green color. At least that is what it looked like the last time I saw it. It disappeared in the night. I swear sometimes I can see it peeking out from behind the compressor. It looks angry. And hungry. I am not going to try to catch it. I think we can live together if it stays out of my way , I promise not to beat it with a broom....or burn it with a blow torch :) Okay, where were we? So, learning that I cannot rely on my grade school recipe, I scoured the interweb and found many of you that ma...

for myself or anyone involved when making a prop. Challenges bring out the best in you?!? Right!?! Okay, in my case, this might just be the proof that the Frog Queen has indeed gone over the edge. I could have replaced my old angel with another angel. A simple, sweet angel, something right out of a forgotten graveyard, forlorn and sad. But, no, why do that when you can make it twice as hard and create a angel/demon statue instead. Yep, the new angel will be half skeleton with flaming sword (angel of death) and half quite, simple angel. But in no way a simple prop. Here she is with her half wig head, half foam skull face and her chicken wire body. She has "shoulder pads" because if this does not work....she is playing American football. :D What?!? No the pads are because we are using sheets to create her gown and if you do not put something over the shoulders and other parts of the body where the fabric lies, you will see the shape of the wire. Actually, this one would be more...

and get yourself a subscription to Haunted Attraction Magazine ! Trust me on this one. Go over there...Right now. This very minute. Don't worry, I'll wait. :) . . . . . . . . :) . . . . . . Got it, good! I just got ours the other day and I was completely blown away by the new layout and features. A-m-a-z-i-n-g. Not that was anything wrong with the old design...I always enjoyed the magazine, Leonar d did a fine job. But WOW, seriously, you need to get a subscription today! This new layout is very eye catching and easy to read. I hear the website is getting an update too!! Can't hardly wait! Wait a minute , some of you that subscribe are probably thinking......does this have anything to do with the fact that The Davis Graveyard is the first featured home haunt? And on the cover it says "and the Davis Graveyard one of the best home haunts ever!!!" in big bold letters across the bottom. :) Ah, not really. Though, because they are now going to feature home haunts in ...

to my friend Travis. I am really, really sorry I missed your wedding. We did it to ourselves. We overbooked our Tombstone class last weekend. How much more work could 3 more people add to the process. A couple of hours it seems. Enough to make you miss a wedding. I feel terrible....but here is my excuse :D Here are the photos from our very large tombstone making class. I want to send a big thank you out to all the friends that made this happen. We could not have done it without you. We would likely still be teaching this very moment if it was not for: Dan Elyssa Dawn Mike The Babbling Banshee (aka Karen) (a special thanks to Max, Gabe and Lex for letting us borrow your parents!!) You guys are the best! We had a great time with everyone. Not only did we make 15 tombstones, meet new friends, but we went over: Molding and casting basics lighting with Minispotlights monster mud/papier mache How to cleanup and age a Bucky foam carving facade building and answered endless questions..... So a...

Season 3 of Tales from the Crypt. I have two words to sum up the scariest part of the whole series so far. Crypt Jam - The Music Video I found myself screaming and crying.....don't look, seriously, don't....I am not joking...(bleeping) scary that is.

since the finger scanner that logs me into my computer no longer recognizes my fingerprint. I am headed home.... I wish . So, the fun people in our IT department decided to add these nifty scanners for logging in to your system. They read your fingerprint and automatically logs you into the system...some very cool magic if you ask me. When they set us up they made me catch an image of the index finger on each hand. I thought that was kind of weird and overkill. That was until Monday morning. I go to login to my system and a little question mark comes up over the thumbprint image. That cannot be good. :( I try several times and it will not recognize my fingerprint....what is up? I look at my hand. Ah, yes, I have been making props all weekend and despite a lot of scrubbing with different chemicals and brushed, there is still some glue and/or Great Stuff left on my fingers....(I know I should have worn gloves!!!) I get out a nail file and try to "sand" some of the residue off m...

come up the driveway during the tombstone class. I will give you all a moment to take a collective "gasp" Everyone sitting down? Good. Here we go. I live on a very busy street. It is residential, but it is an artillery between two major highways, so people like to cut through the neighborhood, going much faster than the posted speed limit. So, several times a year someone is not paying attention and we are treated to what we affectionately call, metal sculptures . So, on Saturday in the middle of the very busy tombstone class, we hear a familiar crashing sound. Now, husband and I are not too worried, heard it before, the sound quickly runs through our heads and we register that, no, that one did not sound fatal....but I pop my head out up to see the street and notice that there are several cars involved. And I think sh*t, normally when this happens everyone pulls their cars out of the road and in front of mine and my neighbors house............which on this fine day is full ...

that you blogger friends are the best!!! I got two offers for moss!! Both Full Moon Industries and The Captain have me set for this season. And I even got my own blog entry on The Captains blog. Damn, talk about making the Frog Queen feel special. Look, here is a picture from his yard!! Wow, it really does grow on trees!!! Both of you guys are the best!! Happy Halloween everyone from a very Happy Frog Queen!

that husband is a computer programmer right? If not, husband is a computer programmer. This is important to know later in the post. So, to be fair and no one could accuse me of playing favorites if I picked the winner of my latest giveaway, I asked husband to do it for me. Of course we got busy with the class and many other things and I completely forgot about it until last night. So I ask husband if he drew a winner yet. He looks at me funny. I know that look, it says "you mean draw as into write the names on little pieces of paper and pull one out of the hat.....silly girl, I wrote a program to do that." He rolls his chair over to my computer grabs the mouse and finds a file on the computer. Gives me back the mouse and says "click on that exe" Okay, "click" A small screen comes up and there is a box and a button that says "spin". He tells me to put the number of people that entered into the box and hit spin. The number "18" appeared i...

Do you want to know more about the Frog Queen and Davis Graveyard you can duck on over to I Like Horror Movies (and I mean who doesn't) ...the blog and the movies) and check out the interview that I did with Carl. Thanks, Carl, that was lot of fun. Off to teach a tombstone class.

Can you fit in the driveway for a tombstone making class, 12, 13, 15...16??!? We are going to find out tomorrow. I have a lot of people coming tomorrow am that expect to leave with a damn fine tombstone and the knowledge to make more. Oh, and one of them is a acquaintance who writes for the local paper.....I think she wants to write about the experience. Wow, really, okay, how many people are in the class again.....16? 16 tombstones in 4 hours.....and it has to be fun and memorable and newsworthy experience! Sh*t! Some of those people have some "difficult" epitaphs. If you have never carved before, more that two lines is a difficult tombstone. :) Wow, was I too honest there ? I think I was, did I mention I was stressed? Anyway, that means we are going to have to double team the carving process......."you start carving at the top and I work my way up from the bottom." Always a fun experience. Note to self for tomorrow... Must resist the urge to push them out of the ...

it is the lowest quality skeleton they sell, and thus, the cheapest :) But man, those budget Bucky and Bart's are a mess. So if you want a close-up type picture, of one of them, you have some work ahead of you. Have I mentioned that almost as much as I hate, a Blucky just propped up with no additional painting or corpsing...I hate to see a Bucky in the yard with that silver skull holder with the hook still attached. :( I takes a little work, but you can greatly improve the look of your Bucky with at little time and materials. In this case I am using two-part "Fixit" to cover up the holes and hardware on the Bart that is going in my latest Frog Queen Folly in my garden. First you dremel out any bits of the mold that over cast, and try to match up the two parts of the skull and dremel out the lip. Then you take two-part Fixit and mix equal parts of the putty together until they are the same color. Then you put the Fix-It in the holes, on the seams, or cover any wires and ha...

if it was not so true. :) see more Lol Celebs

Or in our case the "cats". Dorie (Door) has been on my blog a lot because I am taking pictures in the house....and she likes cameras. But she has nothing on Hal (Halloween Cat) - this is his time of year. He lives outdoors with us all weekend and "supervises" the prop building. We even built him a "supervisory perch" off of the top of the stairs in the shop - just so he is comfortable while doing his "job" You will notice him in a lot of pictures between now and Halloween. He LOVES the camera, any camera - TV cameras, regular cameras, camera phones......he is a Diva! So much so that a few years ago we gave him the honored spot on our 2007 DVD as the "Easter Egg" - if you have a moment, check out Ode to Halloween

I usually pay someone on eBay a ridiculous amount for 20 lbs of Spanish moss each year for my display decor. So this year, I thought I would see if any of my fellow bloggers have a source for that lovely hanging Spanish moss? I hear stories of people that rake it up by the bagfuls and throw it out.....wow, I could do that with that regular green spongy moss, clean several bags full off the roofs each year! Anyone wanna trade? :D Any suggestions on where to find it besides eBay?

with husband (again.) See I am helping someone with a fun project. :) So, during lunch, I cc'd an email to my home email that I sent to someone else, just in case that person gets back to me tonight when I am at home. Husband is checking our home emails and then emails me back..... So where are the epitaphs for the class? name tags for the class? the sign for the class? the design for the sign on the donation box? and those bullet hole graphics for my art committee project? Oh, and I think you owe Carl and interview :D Ah, well, honestly . . . . . the wedding invitations were just more fun to work on :)

When you make the mold the right way :) Here is the algenite with resin (plastic) poured in. Funny, plastic does not seem to absorb as much water :D We only needed one hand, so we did this the cheap way. When we cast something for multiple uses we use a higher grade of algenite and use hard plastic to cast the positive. We are big fans of the products from Smooth On . They have great kits to help you with any job you have in mind and if you have a chance to go haunt conventions they are always helpful and are a great wealth of knowledge on casting. If I can't find husband at the show....he is likely at their booth :) Anyway, these came out much better. We have a bit of patching and sanding to do and one of them will be the hand that the new angel is holding over her heart.

(T hat is what Ghoul Friday called it and it kinda stuck.) yield this bit of nonsense. I promised a picture, so here it is. Here is the whithered hand that we pulled out of the mushroom mold . We call it the Incan Mummy hand. Soft and fragile, but very cool! We will find a purpose for it. I will keep you posted.

the birthday of one of my favorite authors and definitely a profound influence on my life. I do love Ray Bradbury, I really do. But my first love in horror is still my favorite.... H.P. Lovecraft Someday, when I have the cash... this is a book that is currently missing from my library, will be mine. It is always on my Christmas list :) I know there is a cheaper paperback version of this set. But I have an library in my house, one of my favorite places....full of hardcover books. They feel so nice sitting in your lap while you are reading, they are heavy and bare the weight of the words so beautifully.....curled up on the couch with my glasses on and a nice cup of tea. Which is what I hope to be doing with this book someday :) For those of you that don't know the history of Lovecraft, he, like many at the time, was an avid letter writer. It is presumed that he wrote upwards of 10,000 letters ("they" say) and I have several other books of his letters and they are endle...

spider is coming to life in my garage. You saw the fate of spider #3 - he went out with the garbage this week :( So I am working on the new spider based on a whole new perspective. Thanks to Toph's idea we are chucking the traditional crank spider out the window and going with a hanging spider. His back two legs will be attached to a long piece of web (where we will hide the power cord) tied to the tree and the bottom two legs will hang down, resting on a cocoon . Instead of the legs moving, we are just planning to spin the cocoon and with the legs touching it they should move to look like the spider is cocooning it's victim . Oh, and we do have a special victim planned, but that is another blog entry. Here is the progress on the spider so far. Glued four pieces of 2" foam together and carved out a basic spider shape. Taking the large corners off with a hot knife and then using a rasp to create the shape. Next I coated the spider in foam coat to see if I could smooth out...

candlelight does it? But it will, here is Frog Queen Folly #5 (not to be confused with my new blog - this is a real - folly.) Does not look like much, and very few people will likely notice what it will do. But I am ecstatic ! This little EFX - TEK set up will flicker the flood lights in the stained glass windows of the church. That way it will look like candle light in the church windows rather than just, well, what it is now. Flood lights aimed at the panels. We tried it in the garage, pretty eerie . Husband took two outlets, removed the connections between them so that they are four separate plugs for the four window lights. He wrote a program that works with the Prop 1 and RC-4 (I think, husband reads this so he can correct me if I am wrong) controller board from EFX - TEK and voila ! I have candle light in the church. I am very happy....even though no one but me will likely notice this detail . Yes, I know, I am crazy. I am okay with that. :)