Halloween 2009

Hallween isn't the same without some home made treats. I wish I had time for carmel apples, but I made some home made cup cakes instead. These were baked with unbleached wheat flour and vanila butter cream frosting, colored in a light tinted orange. I also added some Halloween sprinkles to give them a bit of variety to each cup cake. I think they turned out well.


Halloween isn't complete without a really big candy dish.


You must have candy corn!


This is part of our spooky village that we put up each year. This year my 3 year old was big enough to help and he did all the "fallen" leaves around the black trees. This is our "Haunted Tower Tours" is next to the grave yard. I wasn't able to include all the village buildings, but here are three of them. Each building lights up, or in this case the gargoyle flies around the top of the tower counter clock wise.


The House of Oddities. It seems like some of the moster's might actually escape...lets hope not.



The Gave Yard with spooky purple lights in the mausoleum. I think we may have an infestation of vampires living in there.

Birthday Card: steampunk

There is something special about making, receiving or giving a hand made card.

Below is an example of a hand made card I created. I did this card in "steampunk" style for my friend, D. L. White's birthday. I tried to include some steampunk elements like cogs and old fashioned type-writer keys, along with hand made paper, twine, and ink stamps. It was a blast creating this card for my friend.

The outside cover:



The inside:

First watercolor.

My son and I have been spending time doing some fun watercolor painting and this is his first creation. He had fun trying out the different colors on his pallet and playing with the water and brushes.



In this post is also my second attempt at my "Crazy Cricket" painting. I like how the shading on the big mushroom house came out, but the background blue just isn't as vivid as my first attempt. In this picture the cricket is actually playing his guitar.

What the heck is Steampunk?

(Mod computer case that looks like it came out of the 1800's by Jake Von Slatt)

Recently I have become interested in "steampunk". What is "steampunk" you ask? Well, it's a sub genre of fantasy from the 1980's where steam power was used in the 18th and 19th century. It's a combination of modern technology and Victorian design. It's the way some people wish the past was. What if the world was powered by steam in modern times? It is inspired by things like Disney's "2000 Leagues Under the Sea," and TV shows like "Wild Wild West" and "Firefly."




This is Captin Nemo's quarters inside his ship, the Nautilus.


The Nautilus:


Followers of "Steampunk" like the idea of making new things out of old. One of the leaders of this movement is Jake Von Slatt, who made his bus into a steampunk camper. It is complete with a homemade gas lamp over the dining room table and custom woodworking and staircase banister inside:

Watch video about bus camper

Watch video of Jake Von Slatt introduction to "steampunk".

There are many fantasy books involved in this genre, and those include: "Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters," "The Eyre Affair," "The Coral Thief," and "The Affinity Bridge." These are but a few of the items on the top of my reading list right now.

On the video game front, there is the new, "Epic Mickey" which is a game played in a Dystopian Disneyword and the concept art is eye popping.


I especially love the zombie goofie:



Here you can see the Mickey ears and Epcot Center sphere:



What a fun movement! This is an example of a steampunk Victorian bustle dress. Now all it needs is some goggles, a parasol, and telescope.




Example of a steampunk couple in full over the top costume at an event:



If you have a chance, visit D. L. White's blog because she has a really nice post written there "of clockworks, cosets and iron horses". I highly recommend reading her blog. She is a fantastic writer.

The Crazy Cricket: water color

Yesterday I had a bit of fun creating my first attempt at a water color illustration. This was for my "Crazy Cricket" poem I wrote for my son Gavin. I actually like how this first painting turned out. I am hopeful to try some more water color paints soon enough. I hope to frame my painting and then either cross stitch or do some calligraphy for the poem that goes along with it and hang the two together. Gavin was most impressed with the "mushroom house" when I showed him the painting and told him the poem of the crazy cricket again.

Pirate Boy

I had a little fun today making a scrapblog entry for my three year old. We took the little guy to Long John Silver's and had so much fun playing with the paper pirate hat, I couldn't help but take a few pictures of his adorable personality.

Do something creative today.

Each day would be more beautiful and fulfilling, if we each did something creative and good.

Today I did a word-play project using Wordle. First you make a list and write down a lot of words that can be used to describe yourself. Then randomize it, verticle, horizontal and in various order, font and colors. It was quite fun to make and turned out nice.

I think I'll start carrying a notebook with me to jot down my ideas and thoughts. Sometimes I think of things on the spot and if I don't write them down, then I forget them later.