Strange things afoot!

Besides the usual disappearance of my scissors and glue, there has been rather a lot of faerie activity about the place over the past week or so. I keep catching glimpses of  movement at the corner of my eye (most certainly a sign of faerie activity) and hearing odd noises in odd places. There is a general feeling of anticipation around 'the hill' not diminished by the winds of change that are blowing through and making all the trees 'creeeeeaaak'.

Today, the chickens were being particularly loud and when I went to investigate I spied something in the back field. I quickly grabbed the dog and took a jaunt across the little bridge.

Upon closer inspection I discovered a small camp on the mossy lawn next to the poison ivy!

This seems a rather different breed of fae than our usual inhabitants. The camp was not well hidden at all and provides the most basic shelter. The trees just to the left would surely give more protection than those little tents.

I'll keep my eyes open and report back any findings.

xoxo

October Workshop

Want to make a mess with me? Come on out on October 3rd to The Gates of Presqu’ile! I'll be hosting a mixed media workshop, creating altered art artist trading cards. It'll be a load of fun. Call 613.210.0851 to reserve your spot :) Bring your own scissors and the workshop is just $5.

Shrunken shrunken heads

I made a few shrunken shrunken heads the other day. Those glass domes measure around 1.8" tall so they're pretty tiny.

 

I think they need some proper specimen tags but you get the idea ;)

The abandoned house is done!

I have no idea what sort of time warp I hit but I've managed to get the place done!
 

 

The crate in this room opens... this fellow is in it. For now he can stay but he'll probably be replaced one day with something more interesting.

 

I love this shrunken head. He's made with a bead, paperclay, thread and wool.

I sliced my thumb open making all the books in the house.

There's the cause of the stain on the first floor ceiling.

 

That portrait's a bit creepy...

Eesh! What is going on here?!?!

 

Peep holes from the next room! True story... when we were looking for houses we went through one which had a sort of strange glass pirate ship picture in one room. When we went into the adjoining bedroom we found that the port hole of the ship was actually a peep hole! Creepy!

This is kind of a nightmare room. Chains, a skull mask, doll parts, snake skin....

... and evidence of something gone a little bit wrong.

P.S. Here's a reminder of the before which was left on the side of the road, waiting for the garbage truck.

I loves my town

I absolutely believe, with all my heart, that I live in one of the best little towns in the whole wide world. Sure, I wish we had public transit. A good pub would be a nice addition. If there was Canadian Tire and a Dollarstore and I'd never have to leave the town limits. BUT even without those things it's a great place to live with fantastic people.

Here's Rick Mercer visiting Brighton Speedway last year as video evidence of the greatness of this place ;)

 

More abaondoned progress pics

It's been rainy and sort of grim looking outside today. What better time to creep up the house a little bit more.

I probably won't post too much more of the house until it's done now. It wouldn't be at all fun to know every last thing that's going on would it?

Maybe I should post progress pics of the mess I make instead.

Don't judge. If I wasn't surrounded by this mess I wouldn't be at all productive :P

Progress on the abandoned house...

This morning I've been making dollhouse kit furniture with Big D. It's all a big ugly but that's ok because it'll be going in the abandoned house.

Here's some progress from the last day or so...

Inside, the floors have been worked on a bit more and the walls have been given a thin layer of messy plaster. The walls will probably have stains and potion splatter eventually. At this point I start shoving things inside to see if they fit and to wrap my head around what will be going where and to generate ideas.

I covered the exterior of the house in a layer of sewing paper tissue. I really like the look that it gives... a sort of wrinkly, crinkly skin.

 

When that set I applied layers of paint and wiped them off to gunge up the joint. This will be refined as I continue to work on the place.

It's coming along quite spookily!

Spooky Moon Shrines

I was sent this fantastic set of coffin boxes from and came up with these...

The boxes were faboo to work with. They're big, super sturdy and do come with lids (but I'm using those on a separate project).

The Abandoned House

I've started work on my next little house. This one isn't so little. At around 20 x 21 x 10 it's a monster compared to my other wee places. This one also differs in that it's a reno.

This house was salvaged from the side of the road by my mum and granny. My (almost) 80 year old gran was kicked out of the van to scoop it up before the garbage men sentenced it to certain doom. Part of me wonders how on earth people discard things like this, as though they've got no worth. I can't imagine anyone would deny most little girls would jump at the chance to love on a nice big doll house. Heck, most of the grown women I know would kick me in the shin to get at this house!

This one also differs in that I've only got two weeks to get it ready for showing off! Eek! Thankfully I'll be going for a sort of Halloweeny look so wobbles and imperfection will be just fine.

I've started by ripping out the interior. Notice that blue carpet in the upper right room? When pulled up it revealed a red carpet which had been installed by Satan's minions, flying monkeys and Voldemort because the damned thing would not come up.

After hacking,  pulling, blowing up my hair drier and very nearly breaking the whole damned thing this was the best I could manage. What to do with a lumpy floor? Egg carton stones!

I know a stone floor on the second floor of a cottage doesn't exactly make sense but sense is highly over-rated... especially when you've got a two week deadline.

I'm waiting for it to dry up a bit before I go any further with the inside but I'm pretty pleased with the transformation so far :)

Now if I can just figure out what the heck to do with the exterior....

E is for Edward

That's Edward Gorey not the sparkly fellow.

Here's a wee Ghastly I created for the Wicked Children Altoid Swap on craftster.org.

The bed is made from an Altoid tin, little Edward is paperclay with wool hair, the foot and head boards are coffee stir sticks.

The little guy is surrounded with his sketchy pencil and Ghastlycrumb drawings. There's also a skeletal hand reaching from beneath the covers (who needs a teddy bear?!)

I'm not ashamed to say I was sad to see this one go. I am very happy to say that he's found a nice home.

Witch Portrait Wips

I was asked if I'd like to have a show at Impresario Artisan Market in Cobourg. Specifically, would I like to have one in October. Heck yeah! Are you kidding me? A chance to celebrate Halloween, art and craft all in one kaboodle. Wheee!

One of the projects I'm working on for the show is a series of witch portraits. A coven of 13 ladies, mixed media collages, 5 x 7 on canvas. Here's half the brood.

I've still got a few to go but I'm pretty happy with how they are coming along *knocks on wood*.

Will post the whole lot when they're framed and gussied up :)

Happy mess making!