Well it's already July and I'm just now posting for the year.  What a year it's been already.  In March I did the Los Angeles Marathon-which was brutal.  End of April, we bought our first house!!!  Re-did most of the inside - new paint, new floors, new doors, new windows - pretty much everything.  Moved in on the end of May.  June - unpacked, still working on the house.  July - still working on the house and recuperating.

Now I'm trying to get back in to the forum and get the juices flowing.  My husband has kind of banned any new projects and moving the crypt was a *&*($% joke.  He basically cut it into four large pieces and he's getting rid of all but the front.  We don't have the space to store it whole.  So we (*he*) will build a smaller back for it that can be dismantled and stored every year. 

My only project for this year (by me of course and besides all the stuff from the past years) that I've been able to think about is to age a skeleton that I would like to sit on the roof and make a static ghost (no crank) for my upstairs bedroom window.  Hopefully more time on the forum will give me more plans.  I'd love to hear from everyone and their plans for the year.  I know I've been very absent, but I'm baaaaack!!!

Well as of today, my fundraiser was a huge FLOP.  A little discouraging, but I'll figure out something else.  I'm trying to get back into the forum and posting on my blog and others.  After Halloween, I usually end up completely checking out of Halloween for a little while.  I checked out the forum today, posted a little.  I really dig skullandbone's website and his grave diggers are an awesome idea. I think I'll work on that once I pump him for information....

I hope everyone is doing well and had a great Thanksgiving.  If anyone has any good fundraising ideas, I'm all ears!!!  I'm walking 12 miles on Saturday for marathon training and planning next Halloween in my head - LOL!!

I've started a fundraiser on halloweenforum.com to raise money for the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society.  Check all the details here:

http://www.halloweenforum.com/showthread.php?t=9693

Big news - I am entering the L.A. Marathon in March to raise money for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society.  Anyone who would like to donate or if you have any suggestions for fundraising, I'd love to hear it.  Any donations you make are greatly appreciated.  Please see my website here for donating or getting more information:  http://www.active.com/donations/fundraise_public.cfm?key=lrella

I know what big hearts the Halloween community has, so thank you in advance!!!

I had to post this picture, just because I think it came out really well.  Probably my best pic ever of the ghost AND the crypt.  Check out more of my pics on PhotoBucket at http://photobucket.com/albums/b314/PANDORA9393/

j

Well came home from work today and started right in until 11:00 p.m.  Got most of my set up done: tombstones, FCG, Fred, lights.  Still missing sound and some more lights.  The half coffin (buried alive style; can't see it in this pic) needs lights inside, sensor and a shiatsu massager.  My change up of Madmax's idea.  I want it set up with the sensor so when it's tripped a light shines up from inside and the massager will have a pvc pipe with chain attached that will start banging and clanging inside.  We'll see how that works!!

Well, I was moving along well, but kind of got stalled.  I've been feeling really lousy all week/month, so I was home sick on Tuesday.  Monday night the winds started up and haven't stopped yet.  Gusting all day/night about 30-40 mph.  Pillars keep falling over and Fred (my big monster mud guy) fell and scared the crap out of me this morning by hitting the shelf on the outside of my bedroom window.  So, I can't really put anything else out (particularly the ghost or tombstones) until the lousy wind quits.  Like the fires weren't bad enough!!!  Oy vay!!

So the crypt, fence, Fred (the big guy) and the buried alive coffin are up.  All need cosmetic tweaking, especially the crypt.  The step got snapped off in the move.  But it's coming together.

Keep that crypt-a-rollin'!!!!  This is my husband, brother-in-law and his friend rolling out the crypt on Sunday using two motorcycle jacks.  Later they transferred it to PVC pipe and rolled it "caveman style".  It took a few hits, but it's up and in place.  YAY!!!!!!!!!

This is this year's FCG head.  I followed someone's (not sure whose) advice and used UV LED's with uranium marbles (eBay).  You can't tell very well from the picture, but it looks great in person.  They glow a yellowish green in the center and an odd blue around the edges.  Very nice effect.  Dressing her all up on Saturday when the crypt rolls out.  Beers all around for all the men that have to play caveman and roll it out!!!!  (Worth every penny, though).

As you can see, Mr. Bucky's had a hard day.  California's burning (again) and he just had to have a cold one.  I aged him last night with the gel stain (Walnut color) and he came out pretty good.  Not bad for a couple hours work. 

This is my first stab at "corpse hands" from Merlin on Haunter's Hangout.  This is only the first coat.  It looks much better in person than in this photo.  But you get the general idea.  I've never worked with latex (outside of makeup) before.  It's very cool to work with.  If I was just a little more artistic, I could be dangerous with this stuff.  I'll post finished pics soon hopefully.

I finally got to work and re-did my cemetery fence pillars.  This is just the first coat (base of latex house paint and then fleckstone spray paint over that).  I need to age them a bit and seal them and they should be done for this year.  I'm going really basic on them because this is the 3rd year I've re-done them.  I'm sick of dealing with them at this point.

This weekend I worked on my projects (for the first time in a while-read post below).  I have to admit though, I had nothing but problems.  I'm making a Grim Reaper with an oscillating fan head.  Finally got my husband to help build the frame, mounted the fan head, mask and started on the clothes.  Boom-the damn fan dies.  Pissed me off big time. 

Painted two of my cemetery pillars with a base coat of grey on Saturday (with my daughter's help).  I made a stencil to try and make this a fast project and spray it with the fleckstone stuff.  It's OK to work with.  I was planning to airbrush them, but I can't find any place locally that sells the airbrush paint and I also need a filter and regulator for the compressor.  The effect came out alright with the fleckstone, it's just messy.  I'm not sure how well the stencil will hold up.  Tried starting LED spotlights and have the wrong PVC and forgot my materials list from Ugly Joe. 

At this point in the game, I'm kind of taking things off of my to-do list (like making a new FCG head).  I've gotten back in the mood a little bit, which is a good thing.  I just keep running into walls at this point.  It's always a learning process.  Hope everyone's projects are going smoother.  Cheers!

Well, it's been forever since I posted.  The last two weeks have just been a disaster.  We've had some serious family problems with one of my nieces and my in-laws and it's just been utterly depressing.  So needless to say, I haven't done jack (for Halloween).  I'm really hoping that I can get myself going very soon.  I've actually thought about doing the bare minimum this year, I'm in such a funk.  I know that's a bad sign for myself when I consider not doing it.

Sometimes it makes you soooo happy and other times the world seems to be pressing so hard on you, you just want to watch TV all night and turn into a vegetable.  I guess this is a test of how much I can control my own mind. We'll see if I pass on 10/31......

This will probably come out huge - but this is my tattoo (first and only so far) that I got in January.  There's a bit of a glare on it and the top of the rose is cut off.  That's what happens when I let other people use my camera!!! 

OK, I actually got busy today. I cleaned my workbench, dug out my pillars (2 of the 5) and sanded and painted them.  Actual progress!!!  It's been a while since I've done any Halloween work.  I planned on skinning my pillars in foam, but the 1" thickness makes it difficult (the face would be thicker than the top trim) and I'd need to spend about $50 more on foam which I don't want to do.  So, I will be painting them instead.  We'll see how it turns out.  I'm going to try and do most of the detail work with the airbrush (which I've just barely learned to use).  I'm not sure how well it will work out, but I'm willing to try it. 

I also re-wrote my "to do" list.  Of course the list is the easy part.  It's so difficult after a hard day at work to get the energy to "work" more.  I know I'm whining but oh well.  This bloody heat seems to be dropping a little, so I'm hopeful.  I hope everyone is up and running.

Ok, I had a great weekend.  I met FontGeek and UglyJoe on Saturday for an airbrushing class.  I'm really going to have to try airbrushing.  The possibilities are endless, and contrary to Ugly Joe's blog-yes this is the first time I used one.  He's being generous with the praise.  I'm going to try it on my pillars after I skin them with the pink foam and dremel the grout lines and base coat it.  Then I'm going to airbrush the bricks to give them more realism - hopefully.  There really are so many things to be done with the airbrush.

The best part though, was meeting FontGeek and UglyJoe.  To finally meet people in the forum in person was really priceless.  We all could have talked forever.  I meet so few people that share my addiction, that it really was incredible.  I also got to see Ugly Joe's famous skeleton marionette and it is awesome.  He said he'll whip me one up in no time -for free (right, right?-Just kidding).  It really was impressive, being hand-carved.  I know I will never have the patience for that.  But I'm looking forward to seeing it airbrushed!!!  I know he can do it.

Another good part of meeting them is I think I can get going again.  I've been in a Halloween funk for about a month now and time is slipping away.  The project list is not getting completed and then I get bummed out, and then I do nothing.  It's a vicious circle.  I'm hoping this is the impetus to get me off my ass and get building.  It';s time to get in the garage - with the heat or not.  Sweating means more weight loss right!??  4 pounds down - 26 more to go before Halloween.  Time to work it baby!!!

P.S.  My husband cleaned my crypt up this weekend!!! How cool is that?

Well, again, absolutely nothing Halloween completed, started, worked on.  Bupkus.  I had a good weekend anyway.  My husband and I spent the day on the motorcycle.  Went to Ventura, had breakfast toured some thrift/antique stores.  Then drove through Montecito (Wow-beautiful, where Oprah and others live) and up through Santa Barbara.  We saw Kid Rock driving the other way in the "General Lee".   I guess he bought one of the original cars and he was passing the opposite way of us on Highway 192.  To everyone in So. Cal., particularly if you ride motorcycles, it's a beautiful ride.  Sunday was just filthy yard work in 100 degrees.  Loads of fun, but I got something done.  Hopefully next weekend will be prop filled work, or maybe weeknights this week.  It's hard to get up the energy to do crap in this horrible heat and no AC (swamp cooler - gag).  Hope you all are staying cool!!

OK, got my LED's today.  modsthatglow.com is great.  Had a slight hiccup with the order which I'm sure will be resolved quickly.  No excuse to not get started.... I guess.  Have to go buy "helping hands" at Harbor Freight (Ugly Joe's suggestion) and then I'm off and running.  Going to try tonight to re-make Grim Reaper frame.  It's just so damn hot here, even at night right now.  100 degrees every day and takes forever to really cool down.  I'm looking forward to fall already!!!