Halloween 2020

 So, I didn't make it in time with Goliath.  He made it out to the display, but he isn't Goliath, he's a faceless winged demon looking thing with a monochromatic greenish gray paint job.  Bird Girl also didn't get done, but I put a red spot on her and she was fine.  We had a decent turnout for our culdesac considering the circumstances of the world these days.  We had about 50 kids come by.  Pictures on the left in the navigation pane on the website, under 2020.  

Or, click here:  http://theghostess.com/2020.htm

Will I make it in time??!!??

 I'm getting closer, but I am afraid that I won't finish Goliath in time!  I scored a day off today, and worked on Goliath for most of the day so far.  I have 2 fans on him right now trying to aid in the drying time.  Once he's fully dry, I can sand him down some and get his head and hair done.  I'll probably get his loin cloth done today too.  I am getting ready to start on the wings now, but here is the progress so far:

10 Days!

 There are only 10 days left until Halloween.  Gotta admit, I'm feeling the time crunch now.  Goliath is no where near complete, Bird Girl still needs to be painted, and this whole "work" thing is getting in my way!!  I did take Sunday off from projects to work in the front yard trimming trees and bushes and stuff, getting it ready for the cemetery to go up next weekend.

I finally got started using the paper clay on Goliath now.  I covered his legs, giving him better shape and smoothing out the strips over the duct tape.  It'll take a couple of days to dry thoroughly, even though I tried not to make it too thick.  I had to make a new page for the progress of this project as the first page is getting really long and I don't want the pages to take forever to load.  The link to the second page is on the bottom of Page 1.  :-)

Stiltbeast Studios

 If y'all wanna learn how to do some cool stuff, check out Allen Hopps over at Stiltbeast Studios on their Youtube channel!  Good stuff, and entertaining!  He's got some great videos on how to make cool Halloween props very simply and VERY cost-effectively.  Check it out!

StiltbeastStudios

Hump Day! Goliath V.2 progress

 Worked on getting that important base layer of strip mache on top of most of the duct tape.  Now I can see better what I'm working with and my future mache clay has something better to stick to.  Good times!

Goliath is looking like something finally!

 Got a lot of the "fleshing out" part done, and he has a head now!

Follow the progress here:

http://theghostess.com/goliathV2.htm

Goliath V.2 Progress Sunday, October 11

 

So, it's moving along.  I have the frame done and attached to the base, and I have the duct tape top and bottom on and am trying to get it stuffed tonight.  It doesn't look like much now, but he will be magnificent when he is done!

Progress on Goliath as of Friday, October 9

This evening, I finally have been able to get back to work on Goliath.  We finished up the duct tape part  and picked up a couple of supplies yesterday, and today I took measurements for the frame and got started on that part.  I ordered a couple of male wig heads off Amazon that should be here tomorrow or Sunday for this project and another one I have in mind later for next year. 

Here's my progress so far:  Goliath V.2

Happy weekend!!

Wicked Makers

 So, I mentioned before that I have been spending a lot of time on Pinterest.  Well, I've also been spending a fair amount of time on other sites too -- ya know, for research purposes -- and I stumbled on to the Wicked Makers channel on YouTube while perusing some glowing embers tutorials.  Jaimie and Jay have some pretty cool projects, both for Halloween and non-Halloween things, and they make their videos fun and entertaining.  Y'all check 'em out!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsxpEPfEgqyXC6jaFKQSKVQ

Slow-going.... but going.

So, work for my husband has gotten in the way of my duct taping a copy of the rest of him so I can get rolling on Goliath V.2, plus I lost a day to cooking and cleaning for Tom's birthday, and I have been a little under the weather, but I have managed to get 3 coats of mud on Bird Girl and am now ready to sand most of her.  I still have some spots to add mud where I was holding on to her to keep her from falling over while I spread the mud on her.  I have tomorrow off from work, so I'll be trying to get some good progress going on that.  I have house projects that I'm also trying to work on at the same time, so I get distracted a lot from the Halloween goodness.

Speaking of distractions.... I have wasted so much time looking at Pinterest lately!  I have so many new ideas floating through my brain, and it's not helping me focus at all.  Most of my website traffic these days comes from Pinterest, so now I feel obligated to check it out.  There's an article on FabartDIY.org that I get a lot of visitors from for my Grim statue.  I also started a hubpages account, and have published my first article!  I got a notification today that it's been featured and selected for a Hubpages Network site, so that's cool.  I love to write, but I always find it hard to come up with a good topic, so tutorials will be my main go-to there I think.

Time to get some work done on Bird Girl.  Hope y'all are having fun with your projects, haunts, and decorating!

Goliath V.2 has begun!

 

So, some of you may know of my Goliath prop that I made back in 2005.  He was pretty impressive, took  me 17 days to make, and was my first papier mache prop.  Goliath is a gargoyle, the leader of the gargoyles, from the animated Disney series, "Gargoyles", from the mid '90s.  I watched it with my son, who was a little guy back then, and I loved it.  I had inspiration from another haunter's gargoyle prop, and decided I needed a life-sized Goliath for my display.  He was a lot of fun to make, and I will admit, I was quite obsessed about working on him.  I worked day and night, every second I could.  My house was a wreck, my kids ate a lot of take out, and I got very little sleep.  I didn't want to go out, and I almost took him with me when my tenant at the time forced me to go to a poker night at some friends' house.  I do not play poker, so I don't know why I had to go!  I had to work on Goliath!!!  Anyway....

We had a LOT of continuous rain and gusty winds in 2007, thanks to our tropical weather here in sunny Florida, and Goliath was one of the casualties of that deluge of the wet stuff.  He was so badly damaged that I had to make the hard decision to let him go.  It was heartbreaking.  There has been a huge hole in my display that nothing has been able to fill since his departure.

But now, I am going to rebuild him.  My husband graciously agreed to be my model for the duct tape dummy for his body, which is great, because my husband is a big guy and perfect for this project's beginning stage.  Tonight, I taped his top half, but I ran out of tape, so tomorrow I will pick up more tape and finish the bottom half and get started on creating a better, stronger version of my beloved Goliath.  I have learned a lot about papier  mache in the past 15 years, so the process should be easier for me.  

Wish me luck!

Too many ideas, too many projects to finish!! GAHHHHH!!!!

 My brain is on Halloween overload right now.  I have so many projects that I want to work on, but I'm having a hard time deciding on what to grab and get to work on!  I still have to caulk my tile job in the hall bathroom that has taken a month to complete, why am I thinking about Halloween projects before finishing the house project I am almost done with??

I'll tell  ya why...  All my fellow haunters have been posting their projects and other fun Halloween things and distracting me!!  I have found my Halloween spirit after having lost it when I decided to cancel the party this year.  I just want to make things now, and put all of my time and energy into feeding my passion for the best damned day of the year.  I walk through my garage and see all of my bigger creations that are in desperate need of repair, and think of all of the things I want to create, or recreate in some cases, and it just makes my head spin.

I just pulled Bird Girl out of her corner, and gave her a good spraying of bug spray on her insides to get rid of those pests that have made her their home, and once that has dried, I will bring her into my office and start repairing her yet again, but this time I will actually attach her new bowls that I made like 3 years ago and finish her.  I'm thinking she will get a really good coat of spar varnish once I am done, and a fill of Great Stuff on her insides since she is mostly hollow.  Perhaps some sort of flat barrier on the bottom to keep future critters from getting up in there.  

Time's a wastin'!  Better get to it!

What are YOU working on today?

The Home Depot Halloween Style Challenge - Stolloween killed it again!!

 Guys and ghouls, if you haven't already seen it, get on over to Home Depot's blog and check out Scott Stoll's submission for this year's event.  It's fantastic as always!

https://blog.homedepot.com/haunted-mine-dragon-lair-scene/

More updates to the site finally!

 This beautiful Saturday morning, I am sitting by the window in my breakfast nook, enjoying the sunshine and a cup of coffee, while working on updates for the website.  I have 2018's Halloween pictures up and ready for viewing for those who aren't Facebook friends.  I'm currently working on updating the Invitations page to include the next couple of sets of invitations that aren't  yet on there, plus and update here or there on the Projects pages.  I may not be having a party this year, and ToT may or may not be happening (though I'm leaning toward it not being cancelled), but I am definitely in the Halloween spirit.  

Oh yeah, we also now have 2 more additions to our fur-family.  Tom came home from work and heard a kitten in the hedge in the front yard, so we caught the little fella and decided to keep him.  Tom named him Ash before this decision was even made lol.  Then I decided that Ash was so sad and lonely, seeing as how the dogs are too big and rough, and the other 4 cats are assholes and don't want anything to do with the baby, so I found a sister for him.  I named her Mazikeen.  (Lucifer fans will know.)  She is feisty!  Ash is mellow.  They are polar opposites, and perfect together.  Are we crazy for taking on not one, but TWO new kittens?  Yeah, for sure.  But we love them, so .... 

Updated:  I've added a few new pages on the years past, plus invitation and project pages and updates!

What to do when you're offered VTO at work due to slow warehouse work? Website updates!!!!!

 I have been seriously derelict in my duties of webmistress for the Dead End the past few years.  A lot of the issue is software related, new computers, Windows 10 being a huge pain in the ass, my old versions of the software I'm used to and know how to work easily, etc...  Today I decided to sit down and make it happen.  Found my key to Dreamweaver buried in a text file on my old laptop after much sifting, so that's working now!  Photoshop is not movable from the old laptop to the new, and my good haunter friend and PS source passed away a few years ago, so I am stuck either using GIMP, which doesn't work with my old templates that I made myself for my staples, or going back and trying to use my old laptop and dealing with the incredible time-killing lag.  But hey!  I am back in business, and rolling along with what I do have working.  

(I'm very resistant to moving all my stuff over to social media, even though it's much easier and free... I still just can't let go of my website, that I created all on my own and have had for so long now.)'

Anyway, I have finally moved the photos from Halloween 2017 to this laptop and uploaded them and created 2 new pages for the decor and the party.  The yard and house aren't anything new or exciting, just the usual stuff, minus a few things.  The party pics are fun, though dark, but at least my photographer took photos this time.  Link to the 2017 pages is on the left navigation pane on my website.  

On to 2018!

Gee, THAAAAANKS 2020.

 So, this year was supposed to be the BIG year for The Dead End.  The big 20th party blowout.  I was so excited, had so many ideas, so STOKED for it that I sent out virtual invitations back at the end of January!  Then March rolled around, and the Covid pandemic hit here in the US, and now it's in full swing, which means a lot of people are paranoid about attending parties.  I get it, I understand.  People are scared.  Some people are vulnerable to the virus.  I myself am not worried about it.  Disease and death is part of life, and I won't hide in fear because of it.  I was going to have my party anyway.  If you're that worried, then just don't attend, right?  

On top of that issue, we have the Presidential election the Tuesday before my party would have been.  Now, we all know what politics does to family ties and friendships, and this election is probably the most heated and nasty topic around today, even moreso than the Covid issue, which also is also political if you ask some people.  I decided I don't want to deal with the conversations about politics at my party.  I just can't deal with that after seeing and hearing it EVERYWHERE, nonstop.  The hatred is just sickening to me, and I don't want to have any of it here at my house.  I keep my political and pandemic opinions to myself mostly, because I would rather keep my family and friends on good terms.  

So, with all that in mind, I chose to cancel my party.  It was a very hard decision for me.  But I factored in things like the fact that I just started a new job and am still in the 90 days probation period, so I won't have the PTO to take a week off, which would make it impossible to get all the work done that can't be done well in advance that week prior.  We have a ton of remodeling in the works inside our house that I'm doing myself, and I can't work and get it all done at the same time.  I have a crapload of props that need refurbishing, that can't get done before Halloween even, so the yard setup won't be on point.  Plus a host of other things that are working against me this year.  My dumb ass would try to do it all anyway if this year wasn't the year of the plague, in more ways than one, but the stress would get to me and I don't want to put my family through that, especially my husband, who is always incredibly supportive and always take most of the frustration from me.

Next year, I WILL have my party.  I WILL make it the biggest, best party to date, and it will be amazing.  I just have a lot of extra time now to get ready for it.  Silver lining and all.....

The [first] Great Garage Cleanup of 2020

My garage is now clean!!  Cabinets are organized, old useless stuff thrown out, everything is in its place and I can even fit a car in  there again!  (No cars allowed, though, this is my workspace!)  I am excited to start on projects.  First, I need to continue the revamp of my office space so that I have my inside workspace organized and cleaned, and then I will be completely project-ready.  Very exciting time for me, and I'm happy with myself for once, for finally making some headway in my goals for this year.

Now, I just need to win the lottery, or have an angel investor notice my dream of owning a campground with community ties, programs,  and small sub-business ideas within it, and I can put my ideas into motion to have ALL of my passions included into one hardworking, fulfilling, and fun business venture.  Hey, a 49-year-old girl can dream, right?

I can't remember where or when exactly the inspiration hit, but it did.  I've already decided on a costume for both myself and Tom, and the invitations are the inspiration for that.  Can't wait to get started on it all!  We may even change up the decor for the party to follow the invitation theme, who knows...  in any case, the party is a go and I am excited.

I started a new job back at the very end of September, and as a result, there was virtually no Halloween at my house this year.  Depression set in for a bit due to that, but I am back to just my usual anxiety and low energy days.  I love my job, the company and my coworkers are great and i get 3 or 4 days off a week, which is nice, especially for project frenzies.

I also started a new online store called "Baubles and Bibelots", which is currently in the construction phase again.  My Etsy store is still going, and anything on the baublesandbibelots.com site can be bought there for the time being.  I'm planning on adding more product variety to both sites in the next few months before I get too bogged down with Halloween prep.

This year, I turn 50.  I started a vlog on a new channel on my YouTube account called "Five Months to FIFTY" to chronicle the next 5 months of my life until I hit the big day.  It's mostly for me, but if ya wanna take a gander, feel free.  Warning- it is very boring!  Starting with video 1:
 https://youtu.be/MvAps20nKMI

Lots of good things to come here at the Dead End.... can't wait to get to it!!