Hiatus

Today I have lost my sweet baby boy Arthur.
My heart is broken.
He was such a funny, sweet and tenacious little thing.
I miss him so much already.
I do not care what some disgusting people may think, but just because dogs and cats are not human does not make them any less important to the people they love and who love them. I have lost a family member today. We are grieving.

I will not be posting for the foreseeable future.

HallowFest: Literary Fixation- Something Wicked This Way Comes

As a child I watched The Halloween Tree cartoon every year that it came on. It helped to shape my love for Halloween. This month for Iggle BookWorms The Halloween Tree novel by Ray Bradbury is our book club pick. I am still currently on the wait-list for this book I decided that for this month's challenge to read another book by Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes.

I wish I could say I like this book. If a book has really short chapters it throws me off. In fact, in this book one chapter only had one sentence. It just stops the flow during reading. I have had this problem with some classic novels, like Dickens' works, which were written to be printed a chapter at a time.

The story itself is interesting. Small town America becomes the battle ground for a fight between good and evil. Evil being represented by a traveling carnival that uses peoples wants and fears to lure them into their soul stealing traps.

Good being represented by the carefree innocence of two young boys, one of which is being pulled towards the darkness.

And of course the sage wisdom of the older father, who would like nothing more to be young again but understands the cost of such greed.

I never felt like I knew the characters well, only superficially. Even the evil carnival people seemed to be caricatures, hardly fleshed out. The constant descriptions and comparisons throughout the novel drown out the characters themselves. It was all style and prose without substance.

Towards the end of the book it starts to flow a bit better, but it felt like a labor to read. I really wanted to like this book. I still have good hopes for The Halloween Tree. 

Sorry if this sounds disjointed, it is really late and I just finished the book and wanted to write down what I thought quickly.

Kind of a disappointment for #HallowFest15

  

HallowFest: Universal Monster Nails

I love nail art. I love old monster movies.

Put the two together and you've got Universal Monster Nail Art.

I apologize for my lack of nail art skill.   

Yup I misspelled Frankenstein. 

I used black acrylic paint on these, it is just easier to draw details.  

Black and white paint for the details 

These actually came out better than you can tell in the picture. The black polish has flecks of reddish gold. 

Really, black acrylic paint is the way to go with nail art. 

Water marbling on the green nails and sponging on the red and orange ones. Kind of turn into the Eye of Sauron. 

With the Wolfman nails I wanted to try making my own nail polish transfers. It completely shocked me that it worked. Of course I ended up putting them on upside down.

I am really bad a taking pictures of my hands for these nail polish pictures. My hand looks all "Hulk Smash".

Funko Friday: Once Upon A Walking Dead Funko

It is still #HallowFest15 but the lovely ladies at kimiwho.com and dePepi.com have started a new blog together all about Funkos. 

Funko Fridays

Each week they have a prompt for their fellow bloggers.

This week it is "Once Upon A Funko", meaning how us Funko addicts got started.

This works for HallowFest because my first funkos were THE WALKING DEAD.

I had never heard of Funkos before I won a Walking Dead prize pack from Nerd Fu.

Prior to that I had one or two Doctor Who mini Titan figures.

The prize pack came with two 7 inch Walker pops and three mystery minis.

The minis I got were Meryl, bicycle girl and girl with teddy bear.

This is where my obsession with mystery minis began in full.

Right now I am working on the Game of Thrones sets. 

Of course I am prone to collection due to being a kid of the 90s. Beanie Babies and Pogs anyone? I miss pogs for some odd reason.

 The season premier of The Walking Dead was last Sunday. This show and Game of Thrones are my nerve wracking, masochistic watching shows. I love them but I spend most of the time in a fetal position while watching. At this point anyone one could die.

I love that the Walking Dead has veered away from the Graphic Novels and made the show its own entity. It makes it where no one knows what could happen. So Sundays are the most stressful day of my week and I love it.

Also they killed the guy from Empire Records...aka Rusty Griswold...aka the guy from That Thing You Do. 

Don't mess with the Ricktatorship, especially if a Walker TRAPPED in a tree is able to take you out. Weak

HallowFest: Iggle Cards

I love that The Geek Girls Pen Pal Club has quite a few activities for Halloween this month including a Halloween Card swap.

Perfect for #HallowFest15.

I wanted to try and make my own cards. So I have been gathering stamps, pens and stickers. I have never really made anything like this that has come off well.

Honestly after I finished the cards and sealed them in the envelopes I thought of different things I could have done to make them so much better...pity.

I seem to always forget to decorate the envelopes, but this time I was prepared.

I see you Slithering Sam.

Perfect...Nope

But I think that the Iggles that get these may like them.

I wish I had waited to sealed them up so I could add to them as I thought of things.

Next year!

HallowFest- Thoughts I Had While Watching MAY

I decided to watch May (2002) again for #HallowFest15 and write down thoughts I had while watching. It has been at least 5 years since I watched this film. I forgot a lot of things...eek 

• I forgot it starts out with a "Gory Scream"
• Childhood trauma alert: Good idea to make your kid even more self conscious of her eye patch
• Uptight mom, don't give your kid a doll she can't play with.
• That doll is disturbing
• I understand wanting to stalk Jeremy Sisto
• And there is Anna Faris stabbing a jack-o-lantern in the eye
• That is some impressive hair Jeremy Sisto (Adam) is sporting
• Hate the animal hospital scenes
• I do feel bad for May's sad attempts to get "Adam" to notice her
• Don't do it! Don't use your face to touch a stranger's hand while he is passed out.
• Anna Faris looks a bit like Posh Spice from a distance
• Jeremy Sisto is hot, stop focusing on just his hands May. Appreciate the hair!!
• That laundry mat scene was hard to watch
• That's right May, literally run into your stalkee but don't speak when he talks to you
• Cue gross lunch date conversation (muted)
• "Do you think I'm weird?" No May, you just keep touching or staring at his hands
• This whole film could have been an anti-smoking PSA
• I can't tell if Anna Faris is messing with May or being genuinely friendly
• Too many random shots of that scary Suzy doll
• That's a good idea, hold up your red bra in the laundry mat like it's man bait
• May has turned the stalking level up a notch
• I've been standing on your porch for 2 hours...just kidding...maybe
• I must have repressed Adam's film within the film. Must try to repress it again
• Awkward sex scene ends badly. 
• Come on Adam, you inspired her with your cannibal movie. It was just a little lip biting
• Screaming at Suzy the Doll while Adam is in earshot, way not to look crazy
• If you eavesdrop May, you may not like what you hear
• Honestly if May had just one real friend to talk to most of her problems would have worked out
• May is less awkward around kids. She is still that bully little girl just wanting a friend
• Adam change laundry mats already. Your just making it worse
• More scary dolls
• Poor kitty. All cats reject humans, come on it isn't personal
• The cracking doll case is May's mental state
• Blood & Doll Parts- an alternate title
• As a contact lens wearer this is giving me the creeps
• Hello Donnie Darko's Frank with massive hair
• Dude, you go to someone's house 5 mins after you meet them and are shocked they are messed up
• And May have lost it. People are not parts
• Adam, seriously, just stay away from May
• May becomes Suzy- The living killer doll
• "Can't find a friend, make one" 
•  If someone held knives at my throat I would not assume they were just playing
• Mean girl with nice legs, should have been nicer
• Killer Doll May is almost socially "normal"
• Bad move Adam's new girlfriend
• Crafting-Horror Style
• Yes, that's what is wrong with your Franken-Doll of dead people, it can't see you O__O
• X__O Now "Amy" has an eye...
• Last scene. Hallucination from mental break down or is she dying?!

Welp, that is it. Disturbing yet oddly fun
Has anyone else seen this? 

HallowFest: A Halloween Tree

It isn't Halloween without a Halloween Tree.

As a child I watched the movie The Halloween Tree every year. It is one of the reasons I became obsessed with Halloween...and oddly enough Archaeology.

Since I am too poor to actually go out and buy ornaments for my tree I must make them from what I have available.

(Disney store, why must you torment me with your Nightmare before Christmas ornaments?)

These are the bottom halves of plastic Easter eggs painted with acrylic paint.

Blue and Brown circles with a smaller black circle in the middle and boom, you have eyeball ornaments.

Leftover poster board + silver and black sharpies + a little red ink = Bloody Butcher Knife ornaments.

I also bought some plastic skeletons and a $1 pumpkin garland because even though my tree is pretty small it needed more. 

But what to use as a topper?!?

Why how about a Weeping Angel mask!!! 

Now there is a Weeping Angel's face at eye level when I am sitting on the sofa watching scary movies. 

It is both disturbing and awesome. 

DON"T BLINK SAM!!!

#HallowFest15

HallowFest: Nightmare Before Xmas Tee-Shirt Pillows

Really getting started with #HallowFest15 means decorating the house weeks in advance. A whole month of Halloween, yes please.

One of the first things I wanted to try included making throw pillows out of some old Nightmare Before Xmas tees. I have had these since at least Junior High. Vintage Hot Topic.

I thought by safety pinning the shirt together before I started cutting would help. Not so much. In the end on both shirts I had to do some trimming. 

At first I though I had cut the red shirt too small. Luckily the material is really stretchy and plumped with the filling.  

Also sewing shirt material is a massive pain. My sewing machine kept trying to eat the material. The struggle was real. 

Sewing the squares together inside out. I almost forgot to leave a hole big enough to turn it right side out again and fill it with stuffing. The newest thing I had to learn for these throw pillows was the "Ladder Stitch" a way of sewing up the pillows after filling them so that you cannot see the stitches. I looked at a few tutorials online and it turned out to be pretty simple. 

Comfy

Despite some problems these came out great. At least Slithering Sam likes them.

The HalloweenFest decor has begun!!

Halloween Fest: Making A Mascot

I decided that I needed a Halloween mascot this year. So I gathered up my polymer clay and paint and set out to make a little monster.

In retrospect using toothpicks to hold the head and arms on was a great idea. If only I had though about trying to use them on the legs. You will see why soon.

I wanted him to be a bit weird but kinda cute too. So horns and a pumpkin seemed appropriate. Polymer clay and I have a difficult relationship. I can never make it look the exact way I want it too. But I thought I had this lil guy the way I wanted him.

Then a post-baking disaster took place. The moment I took him out of the oven a leg fell off. 

Then to add insult to injury, one of the horns fell off too.

I knew I could glue the horn back on, but the legs were a lost cause. I gathered up what remained of the camo green clay and made a new plan.

Meet Slithering Sam.

Discord's Halloween Fest 2015 Mascot

You will be seeing this guy quite a bit this month. 

5 Fandom Friday: People You Want on Your Side During an Apocalypse

It's Fandom Friday time again w/ The Nerdy Girlie, SuperSpaceChick and Kendall Ashley. This may be the only 5 Fandom post I write this month because of #HallowFest15, but this prompt works so well within the Halloween theme.

5 People you want on your side during an apocalypse.

1. Alice (Resident Evil)

If the zombie apocalypse begins Alice is definitely a person you want to be fighting beside. She kicks all sorts of ass. She is a superhero, a living weapon. She will make it through to the other-side of the end of the world. It would be a smart idea to be by her side.

2. Daryl Dixon (The Walking Dead)

Should the apocalypse be zombie related you have to have Daryl Dixon by your side. Not only does he kill zombies with impressive skill, he is also a true survivor. He knows how to do all the things a person needs to do in order to survive a world without modern technology. Really, how many of us can hunt and prepare our own food. I doubt I can start a fire without a match.

3. Helena (Orphan Black)

Helena is just amazing. As long as she likes you, you are pretty much taken care of in whatever apocalypse occurs. She is clever, strong and has a mean sense of humor. Just remember to call her "Sestra".

4. Selene (Underworld)

Another kick ass lady. As a death dealer she has all the skills to fight any threat be it lycans, vampire, zombies or whatever apocalypse comes first. She has vast knowledge of weapons starting from the middle ages on. Selene is also a vampire herself, which means super strength and quick healing.

5. The Doctor

It doesn't matter what the apocalypse has in store, the Doctor will either save the day or if he can't you might just be lucky enough to score a ride in the Tardis and escape a potentially dreadful fate. I hope it is 11 who appears and save the day. Fez optional.

To the Tardis...