Happy Thursday! (GHDP part 2)

Well another week is almost gone....Monday, I was thinking "I can't wait til Friday". And BOOM! here it is. How is that possible?
That means only 3 more days til Halloween! YAY!
Just heard the weather report...cold and possible rain on Monday. NNNOOOOOOO!!! Cold I can deal with...but no rain, please! Maybe Mother Nature will wait until after all the lil' critters (I mean children, of course) go home.

*Now for a GHDP update*
Before I begin the update, let me share with you a FLASH I had (I'm sure this will come as no surprise to anyone who knows me). I have recently discovered that......I am a procrasitnating, semi-perfectionist with no patiences at all. Why am I telling you this? Well, one, I think as an artist it amazes me that I accomplish anything. I have been "artistic" for as far back as I can remember. And I have realized that the older I get, the less patience I have. And two, because I wanted to use molds that I made a few years ago for a couple of the faces for these dollies. I wanted to try using Celluclay (an instant papermache). I followed the directions, added the water, mixed it thoroughly and proceeded to fill the molds. The directions say..."20 minutes to demold and 24 hours to completely dry". That was 3 freaking days ago. They are still too wet to remove from the molds without completely destroying them. Which I do not understand...my molds are plaster. They suck the moisture out of materials. Or at least that's the idea behind using plaster molds. And it worked great on the latex that I used the last time. Now, seeing as I have no patience, this is making me crazy(er). I may not be able to demold these things until sometime this weekend. So, needless to say, there is no chance in hell that I will complete this project (let alone, mail them out) by Halloween. I'm really bummed about this. I will however, be creating new ones (faces) from scratch...probably this weekend as well.
Boo-hoo, boo-hoo....ok, I'm done crying and bitching now. Just needed to get that out. :)
In the mean time I have been working on their little bodies...So far, So good!! Wanna see? Sure you do!

my two molds ~ that are truely working my last nerve.

wish me luck ~ so I don't throw them on the floor. :)

here are two that I have added decorations to. they are little plastic pumpkins

that I found at Michaels. and I added some 'swirlys' around them.

close up of the green & white vines

close up of the black & orange glittery vines

and this one, just did this prior to this post.

a black & orange 'button bow'

So, three out of 4 have additional "bling-y" things added to them. I think the fourth one is going to have a bow as well, but I think I want to do more of a ragged bow. Frayed edges and such. Not sure yet....that may change (a hundred times) before I get it completed.

Has anyone been watching American Horror Story? Wow! This has been a fantastic show. I'm hooked! My neighbor, Amy, is too! Just when you think it can't get any stranger....yeah, right. This is definately an FX show. If you haven't seen it, I encourage you to watch it. I'm lost in the story already and it's only had four episodes. The house is amazing....I would so live there! Haunted or not! :)

The last episode (wednesday night) had Zachary Quinto in it. It was weird because he just came out like two or three weeks ago and he played a gay charecter that the house got. It was strange that this would be the first character you see him portraying right after his announcement.....planned? Makes you wonder.

wonderful, creepy and highly entertaining

Zachary ~ I wonder if my daughter was 'beeping'

(funny story ~ remind me to tell you about it sometime)

the 'Murder House' ~ when can I move in?

I guess that's all for now....my dogs are asking to go out. Nature calls!  :)

I'll leave you with this......

my daughter's california pumpkin  :)

TTFN

GHDP & Metal Men

Good Sunday Morning Y'all!
Hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend. :)

Guess what?
I finally got some night shots of my decorations. Yippee!!
I actually went out after last week's post and took them.....it's only taken a week for me to get them posted. Hahahaha. I took two sets...one without a flash and one with. That way you can actually see what you're looking at. Without further-ado.......

the whole yard (from the street) with flash

the whole yard - in the dark - this is what drive-bys see (i get a lot of slow down traffic in front of my house)

looking up the steps - with flash

the steps - without flash

this is off to the right side (didn't get one without flash)

going up the steps - with flash

the steps - without flash

the porch (so far. this is where the table and fog machine will go, just behind Bart) - with flash

the porch - without flash

Not too shabby, huh? Can you believe it's only a week away? Wow that went fast. I can't wait to see all the lil' trick or treaters. We usually get a good mix of kids...young (some even in strollers), slightly older, middle schoolers and high schoolers. Some show up without a costume.....this year I think the ones you show up 'undressed' are gonna have to do something to get candy.....dance? sing? I don't know yet. I put a lot of time into decorating, so if you're 'undressed' be prepared to earn the candy. :) HA!

Yesterday I made some CrockPot Chicken....it was yummy! Easy too. That's always a plus! Here's the recipe I used....

I have a small crockpot and this still had enough left over for another meal. Don't say I didn't warn you!

3 chicken breasts (mine were still frozen)

4 potatoes

onions (I used pre cut from the freezer)

peppers, red and green (again pre cut from freezer)

sweet potatoes (small, pre cut bag from freezer)

water (1 cup)

Put everything into the crockpot (i usually put the chicken on the bottom) and turn on high. Cook on high for a couple of hours. Then stir the whole pot and reduce to low (you can use medium if you have a larger crockpot - mine only has two settings). Continue to cook, stirring once every half hour to hour. I started mine at 11 am and served it at 6 pm. The chicken was fall apart tender.

That's all there is to it!

Of course, you can add or substitute whatever ingredients you like. That's the nice thing about crockpots, you can cook whatever in them!

I finally got a picture of Alex's metal men. Alex is a friend / coworker of mine and he does some amazing metal  work. He saw my post about my sculptures and told me about his stuff.....so I got him to bring them in so I could see them. Wow! They're really great. I don't think Alex has a website (I will find out for sure, though). So for now if you would like to comment you can do it here and I will make sure he gets them.

these are two of Alex's metal men. I will have to get a close up of the one on the right.

Each finger is seperate and moves independently.

I started a new project this weekend too. Actually I guess it's a revamp of sorts. I redesigned a pattern for one of my dolls. Why you ask? Well, a new found friend made the comment that she wished they celebrated Halloween in her part of the world. I was shocked! No Halloween? What's the world coming to? LOL!

So I said "we'll have to get you some decorations so you can start a trend in your hometown".

We all know it will catch on like wildfire!!

Anyway, I decided that I would make her a Halloween doll to get her collection going...so begins the Great Halloween Dollie Project!

some pieces cut and ready for the sewing machine....

then I decided to 'tye dye' some of my own material...ORANGE of course.

here's the second stage..all wrapped and ready for.....

the BLACK dye! (what were you expecting? red and green?)

Roxxy gaurding the freshly dyed material. I wouldn't try to take it from her....would you?

this is what it looked like after I ran it through the dryer to set it (I think I like it better 'wet')

and here are two of the semi-completed revamped dollies.

I want to use my paperclay for the faces. That way they will be strong but lightwieght. Gotta get started on the faces....hopefully today I can work on them. I will post more as soon as I get some more work done on them. I don't know if I'm gonna make a Halloween deadline. They have a long way to travel. They may have to be for 2012. Wish me luck!!

I guess that's all for now.....

TTFN

p.s. ONLY 7 DAYS!!

Tick~Tock, Tick~Tock.....

Hi Everyone!!!
Wow! Where did the time go?
I can't believe it's been two weeks since I've posted. It gets away from you quickly!  :)
I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying October.
It is most definately October in Georgia....40-50 at night and still in the 80-85 range during the day. They did say that Tuesday night it is supposed to rain and then a cold front is coming in....the highs will only be 55-65. BBBBRRRRRRR! Time to break out the jackets! HaHaHa!!

Let's see, where to start, where to start......
A friend of mine at work, Carma, told me she had to take another photo of me...she's been telling her trainer how good I've been doing and bragging about my progress. I was shocked, since I don't even brag about my progress. Then she sent me a pic she took about 8-9 months ago. Wow.....I'll let you decide for yourself.

This is 8-9 months ago. Black shirt makes it hard to see......

this is me about a week and a half ago. The jeans I have on I haven't worn in

about two years. They're a 36. I know that doesn't sound like much but the previous

photo is a 40. Yay! *Look at the belt...it's the same one*

I started working on a project that I had set aside a while back. It's Roma Clay - Hard. I like they way you can sculpt and then 'carve' the clay. However, getting it to a point where it's pliable is a royal pain. I tried using a double boiler with boiling water....apparently, that wasn't hot enough. The clay was still 'clumpy'. I'm going to see about getting a small hotplate. Hopefully that will work so I can use this clay......

This is where I left off.......

This is how far I got before the clay started working my nerves...

I went candy shopping this past weekend too....I can't believe it's only 2 weeks til Halloween. I wanted it to come but wow, it's just flying by. I got full size candy bars this year. Thought I give the kids something more than just the mini candy they seem to push at this time of the year.

gotz da good stuff!  :)

I still have to find an outfit for my lil' one.....maybe a little black dress or black pants and shirt. She'll sit in the corner of the porch to freak the kids out when they're leaving. ;)   She's wearing Jenifer's nurse mask from a couple years ago. I made it for Jenifer when she was at Psycho Shack. It turned out really well for a paper-mache project.

needs some clothes and a pumpkin to carry.

My friends at Psycho Studios had their opening weekend this past Friday/Saturday/Sunday. I hope everything went well. I'm sure from what I've seen and heard so far they had a great opening weekend. If you're in the Conyers area in Georgia go see them! Here's the link to the website.....13 acres of hell.  They have a house on 13 acres with their own lake. I'm hoping to go next weekend? I hope, I hope.  :)

I got my second Bart out on the porch as well. I like the way he looks at you...daring you to come up the stairs. I can't wait to get the fog machine set up. That will be Halloween night. My neighbor got me some corn stalks for my coffin too!! Thanks Amy!! Everything looks good so far. I have a few more things to put out when it gets closer. And then set up the table and fog machine. Yippee!! I'm so excited.

here's Bart #2. Ready to greet the lil' trick or treaters. Socks to keep him warm on the cold nights.  :)

and here's Bart #1 all tucked in his coffin with corn stalks to add to the spooky! Ha!

AAARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!! my wireless connection has gone out 3 times since I started typing this post. I'm gonna throw the box against the wall in a minute. Time to call the cable company and have them send me a new box to replace this piece of junk I currently have.

I guess I'm gonna call it quits before this box makes me crazy (crazy-er). I think I will go out and try to get some night time shots of the lights so y'all can see how pur-dee they is.  :)

TTFN

are you ready? time's a wastin'!!

Lost in the Corn....

Hi Again....Hope your Sunday has been wonderful!

Guess where we went today? Give up?
We made a trip to Rockmart, Georgia. We went to visit Carlton Farms......
For the Corn Maze. Had a blast!! I've never been to a corn maze. We were there about 3:30pm.
As we made our way through the maze all I could think was..."we're gonna have to come back for the
haunted maze"....."in the dark". I never realized how truely creepy corn was until today.
They gave us a "map" to use and there are stations through out the maze to punch your map....12 punches to collect. We got them all. Granted we got some help from a foursome of kids that were there. They found 2 of the stations that we couldn't find and we found 2 that they couldn't....so we shared. That's not technically cheating, is it?? :)
Me, Sally and Amy had a lot of fun wandering through the corn. Hollering back and forth......"Ron, where are you?"......"I'm in the Kern!"
"I found number 3!"......."where are you?"......"I'm still in the kern!!"
They had some pretty amazing pumpkins too. That's where we got our pumpkins a couple of years ago. They didn't have as many this time but they had ones that were much bigger. Unfortunately, they price by the pound, so a large pumpkin comes with a large price.
I think we're gonna go back for the haunted maze. Sally says she's not going. Too scary. LOL!

This was from the top of the 'site bridge'. So you can get an idea of the layout.

Does it look like it helped? NO! it didn't.

Children of the Kern!! Hahaha. Sally hiding in the corn.

Amy on the bridge....Kern as far as you can see.

and the offical Carlton Farms photo. :)

I got a couple of photos of the yard too....However, I tried to take them with my phone and needless to say the night photos are really bad. I will have to break out my camera and take some better ones. So I am only going to post a few here. I will use my camera once I get everything set up. The large decorations are up and the lights (I have to add at least one more flood light, maybe two). I still have to set up the porch - table decorations and the fog machine. Be patient, it will be worth the wait. :)

this years addition. the coffin I made and Bart. My neighbor is trying to get some

cornstalks for me to go around (and in) the coffin.

a wider angle of the yard

the coffin at night. can't wait to get the cornstalks put up

I have already had the 'slow down' of traffic in front of the house. It's funny cause I can hear the cars creeping by. Pixie (my rat terrier) hates it...she thinks they are all going to pull in the driveway. She goes running to the door or window everytime. I like knowing that people slow down to look at what I've put up. I need to find someone who needs window decorations done.....anybody know any stores that need Halloween deocorating help??

That's all for now.......Have a fantastic week!

TTFN

p.s. Don't get lost in the Kern! You never know what's out there with you!  ;)

OPA! and the void.

Good Morning All!
What a day, What a day.....

Fell out of bed at 2:30am (not literally...but it felt like it). Got dressed and stumbled into the living room....Hallway lights are on, living room lights are on, kitchen lights are on....
"Can we leave yet?"
"Yeah, as soon as my eyes open".
"My bags are in the car already".....
That's how my day started. My daughter's flight to California left at 5:30am. My youngest is on the west coast again. I miss her already. Everything went smooth at the airport....should by now, we've done it enough. There were no tears this time around.
She's getting her esthetician license in California. Soon she will be a working young lady. It's hard to believe....they grow up so fast.
I miss you! And I hope you find everything you are searching for!

Arrived back at the house about 5:45am.....still way too early. No words, just straight to the bed. Crashed until 9am. "Is it really 9 already?"
Up and moving....COFFEE!!!
Decided we were going to the Fairburn Festival (instead of the Cotton Picking Festival).
"Where'd your mom go?"
"She decided she wasn't going with us"
Out the door and into the car...
"Did you call Connie?"  No? well, why not??
Out of the driveway and down the street. Man, I feel like I've been dragged by a horse.
Five minutes later arrived at Connie's........*ring, ring*  "You ready?"
"Uummmmm, wait, let me get my shoes on" Out she comes smiling and all happy to see us. :)
Off we go, Fairburn is about a 45 minute drive.....
There it is! I see lots of people. LOTS of people. Streets are blocked off, pedestrians everywhere.
Around the block three times to find a parking place. The backside of an insurance company. Only a couple of blocks to walk. YAY, not too bad.
Damn, theres a lot of people out here. Dodging people on the sidewalks, working our way through the crowds.............
Stood there with our mouths hanging open......
ALL THESE PEOPLE AND THERES NOTHING HERE.......
It was a block long. Up one side was 'crap' booths, newspaper vendors, insurance agents, etc. trying to sell things. On the other side was food vendors. That's it. That's all there was. Oh wait, I forgot the half a dozen Corvettes that were set up in the middle of the street.
We just looked at each other.....'We drove all this way for this?'
What a let down. Back to the car......'Next'??

Off we went.....into Atlanta to find the Georgia State Farmers Market. Fairburn had the roads blocked so it was quite the round about trip to get to the highway. Finally found it though. Another 40 minute drive....

"There it is!"
Quick left turn.....Damn, the enterance is the next light. U turn. Almost got hit sitting at the light....some guy making a left turned in front of oncoming traffic that was not slowing down. If the other guy hadn't swerved they would have landed right in our laps.
Round the corner and into the Market. I've never been here before, all I can say is WOW! This place is huge....huge to the point that you don't get out of your car. You drive around and stop when you see something you want.
Up one isle, Down the next....back and forth. Of Course, the Pumpkins were all the way on the other end. What?? Why did you think I came to the market? Fruit? Vegtables? Yeah, right. I came for Pumpkins. And I was not disappointed. They had lots to choose from.....little ones, medium ones and GREAT BIG ones.
So we parked and got out (except Sally, she's a party pooper) and dug thru the bins. All you could hear was "look at this one"
"No, look at this one!"
"OMG, look at the size of this one"
Green ones, white ones, blue ones, yellow, pink, multicolored, and ORAGNE ONES!!!
We found at least a dozen that I wanted to take home. The prices were really reasonable too......However, if you use your card (credit or debit) they want to charge you an extra fee.....Not happening. I will wait and come back with cash. Even though I didn't want to go home empty handed.
Oh well, we kept looking.....Pumpkin Butt!!! HAHAHA. You gotta see this......

Stole this from Connie's FB

we laughed!!

Back in the car.....'Now where?'

The Greek Festival is going on today........'OK'

Back to the highway. 'Does anyone know where we are going?'  Of course not, that would be way too easy.

After not being able to find the location of the Greek Festival we stopped for food. If that's what you want to call it.....McDonalds. I knew it was a mistake when we got out of the car. Within 15 minutes of eating I had a screaming headache ~ All the cutting down on sodium really makes me 'aware' of how much is in the food we eat.

Back on the highway. Wrong direction, turn around......CLAIRMONT ROAD! HURRAY!!

Got off the exit and there were cars as far as the eye could see. People walking up the side of the street.

Pulled into the enterance...nowhere to park. So I asked "where do we park?"

The man said "go back past the highway and park in the Continental lot, theres a bus that will bring you back"

Off we go again....got to the lot (about 2 miles down the road). People driving aimlessly trying to find a place. "LOOK!! someone's pulling out". We don't have a large car...but the spot was small.

Pull in, back out, pull in, back out, pull in, back out.....finally. "Do you have enough room on your side?"

Opened the door a crack and squeezed out.....then I realized that at least a half a dozen people thought I was leaving and they were waiting for the spot.....HAHAHAHAHAHA.

Off to stand in line and wait for the bus. There was a steady stream of buses.....short vans, cruise buses and ours.....school bus. I sat in the very back on a one seater. It was broken and aimed towards the floor. That brought back memories...ones that I would just assume forget.

Back to the Orthodox Greek Church....."I swear we were just here........"

Lots of people.....and the smells......MMMMMMM, greek food smells so good. It made me hungry even though I was stuffed from McDonalds.

We wandered around and looked at all the food and shops (that were inside the church, looked like class rooms). Then we heard "they're going to start dancing"....off like a shot to the band / dance area. Found a seat about half way back. Then Sally and Connie left me....they went and sat on the ground about 10 foot from the dancers. They started with the kindegarden / first grade kids. They did a great job. Then we moved up to the middle school kids. Wow, they were really good and actually looked like they were having a good time......not like it was a chore. Then came the highschool kids.......I was thouroghly impressed. They were very good and took it very seriously. I managed to get a couple of pictures (from my phone). I got plenty of the rude woman in front of me who couldn't decide if she was gonna sit or stand or sit......

then we went back inside to the shops....there was a lot of jewelry and clothing. I guess it counts as clothing...it was more along the lines of gypsy dresses (the kind the bellydancers wear) and lots of the coin chains that jingle from the women's hips. Some of the jewelry was really nice but overly priced (way out of my range). I did get a couple of tee shirts. A short sleeve tee and a baseball jersy.......it was the only one and everyone standing around me looking kept waiting for me to set it down.....Not happening. :)  Even the woman running the stand said "don't sit that down if you want it. It's the only one here".

Back on the bus....got a short van this time. Much better ride.

These are the middle school kids. Large group broken into two.

These are the highschool kids. Did an amazing job.

And then we went home. Had a great day! Except for my daughter leaving....she would have liked the Greek Festival. But I know she was eager to get back to what she knows.

My Halloween decorations are up. I haven't taken any 'night' photos yet. Maybe later on today I will. When I do I will post them.

Have a great Sunday!

TTFN

p.s. ONLY 28 DAYS! YAY!! Did you notice my new header and background? Hhhmmmm? Betcha did now.  :)