Frog on the Pumpkin

and then black....so until someone makes the zombie frog cake.....this is going to go on my top ten list. BTW - not the cake from the wedding at my house this weekend....just incase you were wondering.  But that one was lovely too.

I was taking pictures for work, a kids toy for an ad.  Now I am not a photographer, at all, actually I have more of a negative sense of photography if that is possible, I think if I take a picture it will actually make it worse.  But I have always like photography, my sister started taking classes when we were in high school and she has a natural eye for it.  She helped me understand and appreciate the art form. Marci Brand t - our uber talented friend - takes most of the pictures for the graveyard.  She make is look much better that it really looks. Almost what I think it should look like....if I actually knew what I was doing :) Anyway, that got me thinking.  I know that their photo skills look effortless, but both of them would (and have) told me otherwise.  It took time and patience and most of all love.  You have to want to express yourself and have it drive to create something.  The rest is just practice.  Many of us, myself included,...

without an LOLcat post That ending would have made the movie a lot shorter....and more interesting :)

on a coaster at the Davis Graveyard....and have I ever found the perfect ones!  Check these out at over at thinkgeek .

I believe if you are going to open a bottle of wine....don't be a quitter....finish the damn thing!  Really people! :D Oh and for those of you that put the top back on the bottle after you pour wine (especially red) - you don't know d*ck about wine.  Air is good for the wine.....let it breathe.  And I have to say thanks for saving me from making the mistake of ever sharing good wine with you.....I see now that that would be waste.  I bet you buy wine just because of the label too?  You scare me in that not good way. Where was I?  Sorry....I get a bit carried away when it comes to wine. Anyway, for you the more responsible drinkers their are these very cool wine toppers. You can get them here. Okay even I have to admit they are pretty cool.  The only thing that would make them cooler is if they were zombie frogs....just saying.

Here is a picture of the panels for the abbey - all assembled and ready to carve and decorate...see it does not look like that big of  a deal that the moment and it does not seem to take up much space. Ha!  That is how it always starts.....draws you in and you just keep adding to it until it is three or four times it's size......at least that is what the last church facade did :D Here  is another view....what are all those tables? Oh, yeah, we are having a wedding in the yard this weekend.  Let me tell you, it has been like Grand Centeral Station at the graveyard with both the abbey build and the wedding prep going on!  Looking forward to just focusing on Halloween for a while. To see the other side of the Davis Graveyard - the actual yard, when it is not being haunted.  Check out the pictures at the Haunted Gardens blog.

Look at the boxes to soon be unloaded at my local Dollar Tree! Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.2

my cool Starbucks Halloween mug that I use at work.....but I think I might have found my replacement. This made me LOL this am.... literally! ....now that I think about it.....might give my department the excuse to poison me.....I should probably rethink this one!

Let me start by saying I really do have to say I am married to the most patient man on the planet. Like many of you our back door is the main door for the house.  With all the stuff going on during the year it gets a lot of traffic and the screen has had to be replaced a few times so I thought we needed something stronger than the thin screen. Now a normal person would just buy some denser mesh or some metal grate type thing....but I am not normal.  I thought it would be so cool to have the graveyard part of our logo cut out of wood and painted to match the door. Husband rolled his eyes and said....if you print it out the size it needs to be we will cut it on the scroll saw.  Yeah! We finally got it painted and installed this weekend.  I bit more paint and it will be perfect! I love it!! One of my favorite follies!! Note...yes, that is a skull in the flower pot to the right of the door :) View from the inside of the screen Yes, it is Halloween ...

We are having a wedding the our yard next Saturday, so we have been working like mad to get the yard ready.  Yesterday the couple that is getting married brought a bunch of friends over to help and they brought some kids......kids who found the skulls in the yard very entertaining. Concrete skulls + black glass beads = interactive art!

These are the panels for two walls of the abbey Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.2

I started reading tarot cards back in high school.  While my friends were out partying, I was at home studying and learning about the cards.  Yes, I  was one of the nerdy kids. I spent many evenings reading them for my sister, her and I would sit up at our grandmas house and read each others cards.  That was a fun time and one of the happiest parts of my childhood - so I just have a warm fuzzy place in my heart for tarot cards. Which is evendent by my collection of about 20 sets of cards, all different themes and sizes. My favorite for the last, hum...about 10 years has been the Authrian Tarot deck, that husband bought me for Christmas.  I have always loved the Authur Legend (traveling to Tintagel last year was the fruition of a long quest of mine) so they just speak to me. I am sure that someday a new set will take my fancy, but for now, if I give readings.  That is the deck I use. I used to read them during our Halloween party, but it ...

I won the drawing on the lovely  Amethyst and Lily Pads blog .....she included this lovely frog statue.  She saw it an thought of me.  How thoughtful is that. She has a great blog that I love reading.  She has a great sense of humor and a fantastic outlook on life.

We start with a model of the idea Have your engineering friend make a 3-D version Start building the frames Attach foam to frames Start building and shaping the panels Stack the panels as you build   Set up the first story and start drawing the stones View from the front of the yard  Start drawing the lines on the next 2 stories Mess up drawing the lines....and clearly mark which lines NOT to  dremel Stones for the top story front Supplies for the back and left side of the abbey for building this weekend  We are going to be busy this weekend!!!  What are you all up to? 

here in the rainy Pacific Northwest we are having our own Halloween gathering.  FrightFest NW  (look like the page has not been update, I think the FB is more current ) - it happens every year at Champoeg (pronounced shampo-ey) state park.  It is a great gathering for home haunters.  There are great people that will show you how to make all kinds of cool props and you get to hang around and socialize! Attend if you can.  We cannot. A good friend of ours is getting married in the yard this next weekend and we are building a new abbey....so we just cannot take a whole weekend off at this point. And there is the camping thing....the FQ does not like to camp.  I go with the "hotel with no room service is camping" deal.  Yep, that about sums it up.

This almost looks like a homemade Halloween prop....anyone recognize "peaches"?  Or is that a store bought piece...yes, any excuse to post a cat pic. :)

see more Lol Celebs Now I love them both....but tell me....honestly, who can compare to the magnificence that is Vincent Price?  ...I am not really asking...that is a rhetorical question :D

but not weird enough....looks like I have to go to St. Paul Minnesota to see a Terry Pratchett play.  FQ is not happy :( Seems The Mounds theater is doing a production of Mort!  I love the death books....almost as much as the witch books....almost :) A play based on the novel by award winning writer Terry Prachett Adaptation by Stephen Briggs Director: Caitlin Hammel Performed by the Mounds Theatre Community Players! Death comes to Mort with an offer he can't refuse -- especially since being, well,  dead  isn't compulsory. As Death's apprentice, he'll have free board and lodging, use of the company horse, and he won't need time off for family funerals. The position is everything Mort thought he'd ever wanted, until he discovers that this perfect job can be a killer on his love life. How cool is that!!! Here is an image of the skull mask they made for death....perfect!

I found this on one of my clipart sites. I collect frogs and husband collects robots......so this picture made me smile....had to share.  Not Halloween related in the slightest.  That happens sometimes!

they are evil plans.....but they are plans none the less!!! For better or worse....likely the latter.  We have sold the old church so we have to build the new abbey....someone stop the madness. Actually....I kinda like it never mind....go about your business :) What crazy things are you up to today?

skull.  Oh, and shiny and colorful too! The skull is 16.9 inches long, from front to back. We specially saved a large piece of high quality fluorite for caving this titan skull, and were all amazed by its beauty when all the caving and polishing were done. It has a rainbow of colors all over its surface. When putting it under the sun, the light will get through it and be refracted into uncountable particles, which resulte in the glow with amazing colors. The best camera will still fail to freeze all the colors in one photo. So you get to see it with your own eyes. You have to check out their website www.skullis.com

until I get to go see Evil Dead the Musical! Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!!!

when the zombie apocalypse occurs.  Check out this ultimate zombie survival gun. He has a great walk thru on the build on his website.   Check it out.

I know...I am always looking for a reason to post an LOLcat...and this one is one of my favs. So...anyway...speaking of voices.  The super talented Chris Baker and Revenant from Hauntcast have teamed up to create a voice over company that can help you with your "creepy" voice needs for your haunt!  Check out Vox Noctis  and be sure to get your order in early so you can get that uber cool talking skull or video ghost effect ready in time for Halloween*!! *Who am I kidding, we all know we are going to be working on our props right up until the first TOT stops by!  But every year I tell myself I will not do that again next year :)

for things that glow in the dark.  Could be from when I was a kid an my uncle showed me his room (no, nothing like that, we were close to the same age my grandparents remarried....several times, so I have an interesting assortment of step/half aunts and uncles....anyway) and the walls looked normal until you turned on this black light he had and he had all this writing and pictures on the walls in chalk - so cool. So....long explanation for why I think this is so cool and we might have to try it this year....since my cool friend over at  Merlin's Magical Mistress got me searching for a vegetarian jello and I found one!!! The recipe requires gin....which I am not a huge fan of except for the gin they use in the recipe (Hennricks) - so I think that is another sign that I need to make these!!! Click here for the recipe . Check out more of her work....including the glow in the dark shot martini at her Instructables page.