Haunted Design House Guest Designer - June-bugs, Gems and Gewgaws

 

This week I was asked to spend a little time in the dungeon over at Haunted Design House
and to be a Guest Designer.

 

This month's theme is

June-bugs, Gems and Gewgaws.

 So we were to feature insects/bugs (moths, spiders and creep-crawlies are also ok), OR gems and jewels, OR gewgaws in your creation this month. (A gewgaw is something showy and flamboyant that has little or no intrinsic value but serves a decorative purpose.) And as always, remember to keep it creepy, dark or macabre.

 

I think I accomplished this in my creation of my Red Beaded Spider.

 





I used these items to create my Red Beaded Spider:

 

24 gauge wire

bugle beads

seed beads 

1 oval  bead, about 1" long  

 

 



In this picture you can see that this is no teeny tiny spider...it is actually just as a big as my hand, even bigger if all of the legs were straight.

 



 

I think this is the perfect spot for my Red Beaded Spider to spend her nights...

sitting amongst some of my other

creepy creations.

 

 

Thank you so much for stopping by and checking out my Red Beaded Spider. Now I ask you to join us for the challenge over at Haunted Design House and create your own

June-bugs, Gems and Gewgaws. 

Haunted Design House - Going Green Challenge

 

Today I bring to you a project that was extremely time consuming but I think very worth it. Here is my Mandrake. Don't know what a Mandrake is? Well according to Harry Potter WIKIA a Mandrake, also known as Mandragora, is a plant which has a root that looks like a human (like a baby when the plant is young, but maturing as the plant grows). When mature, its cry can be fatal to any person who hears it. I think having a Mandrake around will be quite useful to any witch or wizard. Apparently, their leaves can be used in Potions and the Mandrake, forms an essential part of most antidotes.

I  was inspired to make my Mandrake because of  the challenge over at Haunted Design House. The challenge is titled Going Green. You can interpret that in many ways. You can use the color green, up-cycle, or re-cycle something. I choose to give new life to a thrift store doll...plus, it includes something green.

I first began to glue Styrofoam peanuts to the body to build up some bulk. I then wrapped the limbs and body with some stretched out 4x4 gauze. Then I inserted 2 faux flower bushels (minus the flowers) to create the leaf tops.

I then drizzled hot glue all over the face. Once the glue was dried I decided to wrap the faux flower bushels ends with yarn. Later I also wrapped the hands and feet with that same yarn...it gives a root look. I then painted the entire doll with black spray paint and let that dry over night. I hot glued raffia to the hands and feet. I then brushed over the entire doll with a tan acrylic paint. I thought it was too light and needed a more orange/brown added to it. I mixed together orange, gold, and brown acrylic paints and watered them down and washed it all over the doll. I let him dry and put him in a flower pot...Done!

It was a lengthy process but I am so thrilled with the way my Mandrake turned out. I hope you like him too!

I am entering my Mandrake in the following challenge:

• Haunted Design House - Going Green -

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my Mandrake!

Ancient Evil Mummy Head/Countdown to Halloween Day 4

I am super thrilled to share with you today my Ancient Evil Mummy Head on the 4th day of Countdown to Halloween. My inspiration came from the challenge over at Haunted Design House - Macabre Monday - Ancient Evil. You are to create a project that is inspired by old, very old evil  and I immediately thought of mummies. I personally love mummies and going to Egypt is one of the first things on my bucket list...someday I hope see the pyramids and a real mummy.

So here are couple side views of my Ancient Evil Mummy Head:

I used these items to create my Ancient Evil Mummy Head:

• 1 Styrofoam wig head
• 1 Cotton Bandage Roll 4.5in x 4 yards - cut into 8 x 2 inch strips
• leftover coffee and tea - to color and age the bandage roll
• equal parts water and white craft glue - mixed

It was real simple. All I did was dip the strips into the coffee/tea, wring them out and set them aside. I then dipped each strip into the water/glue mixture and began layering them on the wig head. I purposely left some hanging and torn to give it a more weathered look. I let it dry over night. Lastly I added a necklace that I actually had hanging in my jewelry cabinet. I think she turned out beautiful and is going to make a wonderful addition to my Halloween decorations.

I am entering my Ancient Evil Mummy Head in the following challenges and Linky Parties:

• Haunted Design House - Macabre Monday - Ancient Evil
• Divas by Design Challenge - Spooky Creations
• (Pin)spirational Challenge #125 - Anything
• Decorate to Celebrate Challenge #85 - Anything Goes
• DL ART - October Linky Challenge - Anything Goes

I hope you liked my Ancient Evil Mummy Head and thank you for stopping by.

Steampunk Junk Hat and Bracelet

Finally, I am getting a chance to get this out. I have been trying to finish this project all week and now I can say it is done. Haunted Design House has a Steampunk Junk challenge going on. To be honest I originally was not going to do this challenge because I am not familiar with Steampunk, but that made it all the more interesting for me to try this challenge.

So I had all of these items on hand and they were just waiting to be made into something:

I used these items to create my Steampunk Junk Hat and Bracelette:

• large coffee can
• lid from ice cream bucket
• outside case to the First Aid waterproof adhesive tape
• Antique Gold spray paint
• Brown spray paint
• white lace (that I stained with coffee and tea)
• metal keys (Michael's)
• metal buttons (I had in my stash)
• paper flower (Michael's)
• black velvet ribbon
• metal bits (Michael's)
• brads

The Bracelet:

The Hat:

 And here is me wearing the hat and bracelet:

I am entering my Steampunk Junk Hat and Bracelet into the following challenge and linky party:

• Haunted Design House - Macarbre Monday #186 - Steampunk Junk.
• DL ART - April Linky Challenge

After all that, I really enjoyed this challenge and I can now say I learned what Steampunk is and I have to say, I like it!!! Thanks for stopping by and checking out my project.

John Wayne Gacy Jr. aka Pogo the Clown Altered Skull

Alright I know this is a little dark and creepy but inspiration comes from all places. Today I am sharing with you my altered skull which I happened to paint like the well known serial killer John Wayne Gacy Jr. aka Pogo the Clown.

My 1st inspiration came from the challenge over at Haunted Design House, the theme is skullduggery. The word 'skulduggery' is a noun, meaning underhanded or unscrupulous behavior; trickery. The challenge though is about skulls but to try to incorporate skulduggery would just be a bonus. So I knew I had a Styrofoam skull in my Halloween decorations but had to find it. Well I think the Gods were with me that day because I only had to look in 1 box and there it was!!! At this point I still didn't know what I was doing with it.

Then last weekend I watched Killer Legends on Chiller. I found my inspiration when they did the story on the killer clown. I felt that John Gacy's story fit the challenge. Clowns on their own are known for trickery and John Gacy would use skulduggery to lure his victims into his house and do horrific things to them before he killed them.

This is how my skull started out:

This is how my skull finished:

I used these items to create my John Wayne Gacy Jr. aka Pogo the Clown Altered Skull:

• Styrofoam skull
• craft paint
• black Sharpie
• red felt
• yarn

 I am entering my John Wayne Gacy Jr. aka Pogo the Clown Altered Skull in the following challenge:

• Haunted Design House - Macabre Monday Challenge - Skullduggery

I hope you enjoyed my project and thank you for stopping by.

Evil Fairy Wand

Tonight I bring to you what ended up being a family project, my daughter's Evil Fairy Wand.  My oldest daughter is dressing up as an Evil Fairy for Halloween this year and every fairy has to have a wand. Well since she is an Evil Fairy her wand needed to represent that too.

The scull is Styrofoam and I bought it last year on clearance at Walmart, in fact I bought 2 with no idea in mind as to what I was going to do with them. My mom found this fantastic lower arm with a hand attached to it and a bag of (plastic) bones, I believe 50% off at Savers. My oldest daughter had the gems in her craft stash. I had the tulle and ribbon in my stash.

So it went like this: my husband attached a bone from the bag of bones to the lower arm and attached the scull to the hand. He used hot glue and floral wire, then some craft paint to make it all look cohesive. Then we chose the gems for the scull and glued them into place. Lastly I made a head band for the scull with the tulle and ribbon.

Here is a close up:

Here's the back...you can see the scull resting on the hand:

It now rests by the front door until Halloween night, when my Evil Fairy can take flight.

I am entering my Evil Fairy Wand in the following challenge:

• Haunted Design House - HDH #178 - Macabre Monday - Zombies and Creeps - You are to create a dark, Gothis, or Halloween based art piece that showcases Zombies or Classic Creeps in some way. I believe this to be a Classic Creep because of the scull (skeleton)

Thank you for stopping by and checking out my Evil Fairy Wand, I hope you enjoyed it.

Zombie Parts - HDH #175 - Halloween in your Face

Well it is getting closer that time of year again, my favorite holiday, Halloween. So of course when I saw the challenge over at Haunted Design House - Halloween in your Face, you are to create a dark, Gothic, or Halloween based art piece to start celebrating for the upcoming holiday, I knew I would be participating. A couple of weeks ago I had acquired some dollar store treasures: a plastic foot and hand and I knew that I could improve their appearance.

I first started with a base coat of gray spray paint. I then decided it needed a more fleshy look, so I took some gauze and just started pulling it in every direction and covering the foot. I then sprayed it again with red, white and black spray paint. Lastly I hand painted the bones and toe nails with craft paint. I repeated all of this for the hand as well.

I am entering my Zombie Parts in the following challenge:

• Haunted Design House - HDH #175 - Halloween in your Face

I had to add just one more photo. Does it resemble a very popular horror movie?

Pretty close...you get the idea though.

I had a blast making my new Zombie Parts for this Halloween...who knows where they will end up but know for sure they will be out for all to see on Halloween night.

Spike - HDH #174 Macabre Monday - Nailed It!

Well it has been a very long time since I created anything. The Summer months have been extremely hot in Arizona and just cleaning the house really takes all of the energy out of me, not to mention that my craft area is in my kitchen which gets the full setting sun in the afternoon and evening. So since we have been finally getting some rain and lower temps I was able to get a project done.

Meet Spike. He is a Goth Zombie Baby, well just a baby head! A couple of months ago while at the local Savers my oldest daughter found 2 baby doll heads for just .99 cents each. We are always on the lookout for items that can be repurposed and/or created into art. With the most recent challenge over at Haunted Design House titled Nailed It! I knew that I wanted to use one of my baby doll heads for it. I also knew right off the bat I didn't want to do the well know and well loved row of nails down the middle of the head because of fear that everyone would do it. So then the idea came to me, a Goth Baby and I thought the neck was the perfect place for a spiked collar. From that point on more ideas like the nail ear ring and the lip ring came to life.

But since I like a little gore this had to be a zombie baby and I had to create the bite mark, which you can see is right on the head.

I'm surprised I actually got this done because it seemed like everything I tried was screwed up, my spray paint was clogged, I dropped the head after painting it, and the nails were too small so they didn't stay where I wanted them to go. This was a project full of compromise but I am happy with the final outcome!

I used these items to create Spike:

• baby doll head
• White spray paint
• Black, gray, brown, yellow and pink craft paint
• Fake blood
• Glossy accents - eyes
• Part of my daughters old belt - collar
• Nails - collar and ear ring
• Silver paint marker - nails in collar
• Chain ring - lip ring

I will be entering this in the following challenge:

• HDH #174 - Macabre Monday - Nailed It

Thank you for stopping by and checking out my Spike hope you enjoyed him.

Altered Composition - Hocus Pocus inspired - Spell Book with Hangman

I am super excited to bring to you today my Hocus Pocus inspired Spell Book with Hangman page saver. I've been wanting to create this for a very long time. I recently found an amazing designer,  Dave Lowe, and I have started following his blog. He creates so many different and interesting things, especially inexpensive things. I took his Old Creepy Books design and interpreted it to suit my Spell Book.

I covered the entire book with the watered down clear glue and crinkled paper towels all over it. Let it dry over night.

I painted the entire book with the blush craft paint and then brown craft paint.

I then marked the suede paper with red and brown sharpie markers, cut the suede paper, and then stitched the paper with the hemp cord. I glued the Styrofoam ball to the book. Covered the front of the book with watered down clear glue and began to lay the suede paper down. Let that dry. Then I applied some watered down brown and blush craft paint. I then attached the eye lash.

Finally I added my Hangman page saver. I did actually watch a YouTube video to create my noose around my hangman and was pleasantly surprised how easy it was...scary! I am so please with the way this project turned out and I hope you like it too!

This is what he looks like saving my page:

I will be using this "Spell Book" as a sketch book for future ideas.

I used these items to create my Spell Book:

• Composition Book (unused from my daughter's last school year)
• Paper towels
• Clear glue (watered down)
• Sponge brush
• Suede looking pattern paper (to look like skin)
• Brown and Blush craft paint (watered down)
• Red and brown Sharpie markers (cut skin)
• Hemp Cord (stitches)
• Styrofoam ball (cut to create eye lid)
• fake eye lash
• Jute twine (hangman's noose)
• Plastic skeleton (Halloween decoration)

I am entering my Hocus Pocus inspired Spell Book with Hangman page saver in the following challenge at Haunted Design House - HDH #168 - Hangman's Handiwork.