Making props days before setup

is something we do not normally do. That is "prop hospital" time. But I am so behind that this is the first time we had to finish the new tombstones for this year

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Maybe if we look at it

from this angle.......yeah looks cool still. This is the view from the side driveway

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If gold was not so expesive

I would so get this in gold.......

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Who does not like pizza?

Especially this pizza......pass me a glass of wine....we got dinner covered!!!

I forgot to take pictures today

so here are more of the black and white ones that I took originally.

We are almost there...as soon as the rain stops we will get out there and finish the last of the painting.....then we set up this Saturday.

Happy Halloween everyone!!

We could have just marked that

as "broken" and call it good. But the graveyard crew is a creative lot. Thanks Dan for making me smile and reminding me we have the best crew ever :D

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Husband asks me

Did you mean the set the camera to black and white?  

Really?  You know me.....I take terrible pictures.....do you think I even know how to set the camera that way?

So all the pictures I took of the abbey set up are in black and white....here are a few of them.

More to follow and I promise to have someone reset the camera and head out tomorrow to take more pictures.....in color this time :D

Hal hates

dogs.  He is not particular.....he hates them all.

Why?

He came that way....he was a stray before we adpoted him he adopted us so we are not really sure what his life was like before the gushy food and the warm bed to sleep on became the norm.

But if I had to bet......I would say there is an unpleasant dog experience in his history.

We know this because what happens when a dog enters the yard.

He turns into Hal the Dog Killer.  (At least I am pretty sure that is what he is thinking in his mind.)

He looks at the dog like he is going to eat them for breakfast.

I don't care how nice your dog is or how well he/she gets along with cats.

Hal will have none of it.

It has been a source of amusement and fun stories about him defending the graveyard for years.  One of the many reasons we keep him....he is entertaining.

And the other day he got even more so.

I have always seen him stand up to one dog.....proud and sure of himself.  King of his domain, no one is going to mess with him......unless

....there are two dogs.

That was funny.......and suprising.

Got to see Hal climb a tree I have not seen him climb in years.  If you asked me before that day if he could get up that tree anymore, I would have said no.  Living on canned cat food has made him soft.....and a little, lets say....larger.

I have seen him try to climb the tree.....and in all those previous cases, gravity won.  As gravity does.

But the other day the two dogs were chasing each other through the yard, I don't even think they were aware that Hal was there....but he saw them.

He did his best "Halloween Cat" (arched back) impression and headed for the tree.....which I was sure would...well, I believe he believed he wanted to be up that tree......but I was not sure he was going to make it.  I was worried that this was going to involve an expensive vet visit.

I was wrong......the will to live kicked in and he was up that tree, straight up that tree - I believe it is about 8 feet to the first branch and the second is a foot or two higher.

He stayed there and tried his best kitty Jedi mind trick to will the dogs out of existence.....or to explode.  It is hard to tell by this look........but I am sure he would have been satisfied with either of those solutions.

I think this second one is directed at Dan who took the picture.....Dan, I would be worried.  I know that look well.....that is "How dare you photograph me in this compromising situation.....I will kill you later, petty human" face.  

Dan, I will try to talk him out of it......but just just to be safe....I would bring cat treats for him next time you visit :D

The white is like magic

Husband was teaching me how to pour my own tiny skulls for my follies, and me, being easily amused was just giggling about how it works.

You pour the two parts together and they are both clear, so measuring is difficult.....must remember to wear my glasses when casting....but I got it down. When you pour it in the mould it is still clear....but like a little cloud forming.....it starts to turn white from the middle of the mold out. I found that super fun to watch. Kinda like magic.

So when I went to pour black plastic I was really looking forward to little black clouds!

Imagine my disappointment then I go to pour the parts and they are both black, not clear.... no black clouds for the frog queen :(

Although the black skulls are cool. I like casting the white ones better.

Back to abbey building!

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Living with me is not fun

I have to give husband a lot of love for putting up with me this past month.......

Husband....I promise once the yard is up.....I will be much less stressed....but for now you are going to have to live with this version of me :D

How many days until Halloween? :D  Wait that is silly....we set up on October 1!!!!

We are insane, just incase any of you were wondering! :D

Where did she go

okay....the FQ should have more time these days.....but the time I do have is spent building a freakin abbey.......really, I spend all day outside on that thing.....working for a living was easier.

Not complaining.....if someone would pay me to build Halloween props all day....I would quit looking for a new day job instantly.

:)

That said.....still looking for a job, in between building the abbey....I promise once this thing is up....you will see the FQ on the blogs again....not ignoring you....not even a little.

And I miss you all like crazy!

Hang in there......I shall return....with paint stained hands.........

Cheers my friends and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

The very tippy top

window in the back of the abbey. Just two of over forty panels. This is madness!!

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When it is done

we can ask her how much fun it was to hand paint an abbey. Elyssa is doing a great job painting practically each stone in the abbey by hand......looks fantastic! FQ has the best friends!

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Nice paint job

I should have known better than to trust the weather person

No rain on Monday night.....that is what they said....so it should be okay to let stuff stay outside to dry.

Apparently not.

Last time I make that mistake! :(

Sorry they are fuzzy.....but they were all black last time I saw them on Sunday night........those black patches underneath them is where the paint ran off.......never trust a weatherperson......my new motto.

Unhappy frog queen!!

I would sleep with this teddy bear

and you can too....it is for sale on this cool Etsy shop!

Yum, body parts

....this is quite possibly the perfect lunch! :D

Some of the cats in the neigborhood

were acting strange....I knew i should not have let Hal outside. :)

I love this series of zombie plushies..... especially the cat :D  Looks like my Dor cat.....she is already insane would not take much to turn her into a zombie!!

I am just making sure

They build it correctly. Can't leave those humans un supervised for too long.....they tend to mess things up when I am not around.

- Hal

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He tells me this is the year

the preacher ghost effect might work, for more than a day......footstep que up with the video and glow in the dark footsteps!!!!

I don't really go for the miracle thing....but  if this works.....it might change my mind :D

.....now that I see the guts ....and is that yet another EFX-TEK controller in there? John & Jon might be messing with me and trying to get more of my money! :)  (JK - love those guys!!! and they know it!)

Cross fingers that after 4 years of having this prop it might be able to make its "out of the local" area debut!

I would love to share this impressive effect with all of you.  It is actually the only thing in the yard that is "scary" AKA makes you jump.  That is if your are 10 year old..... :D

No one outside of our visitors have seen it in action. hope to share it with you all this year!

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Best bar sign....ever

Starting with a zombie apocalypse reference got my attention......but they get extra bonus points for the Zuul reference....anyone care to join me for a cocktail?

I would never be caught dead in this

but it is a cool shirt.......and he is looking for votes to help get it made.  Check it out.....from a distance.  I am typing on my keyboard with a yard stick....yeah, that is as close as I can get to the monitor without screaming.

Thanks to my friend Steve...for the heads up....thanks, yeah that is what I am feeling..... :D

I am in this picture

and I can tell you that in my head I am saying....well, a lot of things....but mostly......that is smaller than I thought it would be....(which I have been know to say ;D)

......but really......I am thinking....this better look a lot *&*^ better when it is up and painted.

Oh crap....did I just type that in my blog!??!!

I am sure it will look fine, all painted and installed.....I bet the people/slaves/monks/ that built Holyrood did not have this in mind.....poor bastards!

I can tell you know....that I did not build abbey's in my past life....no, I am sure I was royalty....cause this sh*t is too much work!

On that note....anyone see or read Pillars of Earth?   (I am starting to feel like the Waleran Bigod character - BTW  LOVE Ian McShane as an actor!!!)

(actually a better movie, if you are willing to follow the FQ down that rabbit hole........but unrelated is Agora - Pillars of Heaven)

Yeah, this thing is likely to fall down and kill us all..........heaven help us!

spider cat....spider cat

If I did this to my cats, I would not live to tell the tale.....or take the picture.......nope.

They are bound and determined

to help me with my Etsy orders. What to do? I did not plan for the weight of Dor when I estimated shipping costs! :D

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Can you believe that in all the crap

that we have laying around the graveyard I cannot find a single (*%$ black witches hat?!? in our costume box!)

Nope.....so here is the new TOT (trick or treater) with just her mask (thank Lys) and ....yes, she will soon have have a black witch hat and a candy bag.

Expect to find her and her older brother at the graveyard this October :)

Trick or treator by the light of the moon

She looks very creepy in the moonlight. Halloween is on the way my friends.

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My what a big

Window that is going to need. This is a pic of most of the back of the abbey. The opening is where the frame of a long gone stained glass window will be....off to work on the design.

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I did not think it was possible

for Bruce Campbell to get any cooler.

In a full Highland dress, holding a sword,  in Scotland, in front of Edinburgh Castle.....that is so awesome the world just might explode!

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and yes, I have printed this out and put it on my fridge.... right next to this one :)

If you would like to make a donation

put it in the box.

Our donation box got a face lift this year.

Just in case you forgot....here is the original design.

The old design just could not handle the abuse by the public.  It was almost destroyed in 2009 and although not as badly damaged....it was damaged enough last year to need major repair.

We realised that although we liked the design....it was just not good for the purpose.

So, it got a redesign....after a bit of discussion and a brief sketch by Toph....Lys got working on what she does really well....tree trunks.

Here is the new donation box with a really strong base (we forgot to get pictures of the under structure) that we made sure had extra support for the "root" system to see if it would fair better in public.

I have some finish painting and we have some new water resistant lights from Minispot Light to add to the mix and then the this project can be crossed off the list.

One project down....a whole abbey ruin to go!

It is finally summer

in the Pacific Northwest.....and this is about how Hal feels about it :D

...and Dor wants me to leave the sink running....and put ice in her water dish...every time I think I run the joint....the cats put me in my place!

Is this creepy or what?

Apparently it is made of some gelatinous substance.....no matter.....it is freakin' cool!

Funeral meat by *EvanCampbell on deviantART

From cute to...

...almost creepy.

Why yes, I took a heat gun and bent the skeletons neck to simulate it being broken when he was hanged.....it is all about the details my friends.

And I should admit it now that the frog queen is a bit on the twisted side :D

Duh!

I have been parting with my Frog Queen follies......it was a lot harder than I thought it would be :)

This one (finished) will be on the Etsy store tomorrow.

Enjoy!

There is a new trick or treater

that showed up in the graveyard.....can you see her....just outside the garage door?

Sssshhhhh....be very quite....she scares easily.

:)

We picked it and moved it

about 4 inches to the left.

If you have 9 people that can all grab a post it is not as hard as it looks. Now if the panels were on it.......that might be a different story!

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What could be creepier

than an abandoned underground crypt....nothing.  In case you were wondering....yes, that was a rhetorical question :)

Really....these photos are nothing short of spectacular!  Check this out......you can thank me later :D

http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/news-crypt

Head full of

concrete.

 Making some concrete skulls for the Etsy store!

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We will use just about anything

to texture foam....especially silly dangerous stuff.

Just for the record I do NOT recommend you try this at home.

The first version of this tool we made looked so dangerous that husband destroyed it.  Literally cut it up in the chop saw and threw it in the burn bin.

But it takes more than that to stop a stupid idea.

So the next version we labeled with a warning message - not that it would hold up in court or anything.

Just to show you what it is like working at the Graveyard....you actually have to label things as "not a toy" or "not weapon".

We are a silly group....and we do go through a lot of band aids :D

So here is one of our latest foam texturing tools.

Carefully labeled to avoid confusion.

Just to avoid any more mis-communication....one of the crew added further clarification on exactly what kinda of toy it was, in fact, not.

I could go on to explain the further conversations on how we assured ourselves it was indeed not a sex toy.....but I don't want to post a warning message on the blog because of the content :D