Friday, October 31, 2008

Nacogdoches Nonsense, and new Ornaments

You probably had to be there, but Steph and I thought this was hilarious. Keep in mind we live in a small town of about 30,000. The town's been building a Chick-Fil-A, a restaurant who's slogan is "eat more chicken," said by a cow mascot.

The new Chick-Fil-A is right across from a pre-existing Sonic. The grand opening was yesterday, and hundreds of people flocked to the doors, but Sonic had a defense:

A hot dog and a chicken saying eat more Beef. LOL.
Like I said, you probably had to be there!

Surprised Snowman


This is one of several new snowmen ornaments to be available on Etsy soon. I just listed this one today.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Elf WIP

It's amazing how many times I changed my plans for this piece before it ended up where it is now. I first made the package with the intent of having an elf sitting on it. Then I decided to have him standing on it. As you can see, I crossed both of those ideas and decided to put him in the package!

Friday, October 24, 2008

Santa WIP

As far as I can remember, I have never made a themed Santa. This one will be my first.
My dad owns a clock shop and has always been fascinated by time, and the mechanisms that measure it. I guess some of that rubbed off on me. Plus he has a lot of spare clock parts and stuff that he doesn't need, great for artistic inspiration.

What better first themed Santa to create than one inspired by time. Here's how he looks so far:
In his right arm, he will hold a porcelain pocket watch face. I'm thinking this one will also be my first Santa wearing white. Not sure yet. Anyway, time to paint!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

New Ornaments

I just made this new Santa ornament, and I'm pretty happy with the way he turned out. Hopefully I'll find time to make some more of these guys.
I think he needs some elf and snowman companions. Better get back to work!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

The Haunted Crescent Hotel

A lot of people will immediately dismiss the possibility of ghosts, saying "NO, there's no such thing." I'm a bit of a skeptic myself, but the door is certainly not closed.

Ever heard of the Crescent Hotel? Yeah, I know a lot of hotels say they are haunted just for the publicity. If any hotel is truly haunted, it has to be this one.

I visit the Crescent Hotel at least once a year, in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It's one of the most historic and beautiful hotels in one of the country's most beautiful towns. I've tried to convince my fiance to have our honeymoon there next spring, but apparently she's less of a skeptic than me. Last year, we had the pleasure of taking a "Ghost Tour" of the hotel, where we heard tons of fascinating stories about the place; some very, very disturbing.

We were told about a man by the name of Norman Baker who took over the hotel in the 1930s. He was a self-proclaimed doctor who believed he had discovered a cure for cancer. In those days, it was harder to know some one's background, so as far as his patients were concerned, he was a real doctor.

People flocked to Baker at the old hotel for a chance to have their cancer cured. They had no idea that Baker's "cure" was only a combination of watermelon seed, brown corn silk, alcohol, and carbolic acid. Baker's patients, not having any real treatment would only get worse. When the patients got to the point of crying out in pain and agony, Baker put them in an area of the hotel where people near by couldn't hear their cries of pain.

The tour guides also told us that the cruel doctor would do autopsy-like experiments on people who had not yet died. We were told that hundreds of innocent people died agonizing deaths, trying to be cured of cancer by Baker. Some say that years later, when the hotel was being renovated, human remains were found in some of the basement walls. Baker hid his victims there along with his corruption.

If that's not enough reason for a hotel to be haunted I don't know what is.

A few years ago, my brother, my dad and I were all on the 3rd floor of the hotel. All three of us suddenly felt a bit dizzy, only for a second or two. This could have been our imaginations, but I thought it odd that we all felt the same way at the same time!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDYnU-oMPVI

http://www.prairieghosts.com/cresc.html

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

I've been Tagged....

I've been tagged by the talented Melissa of Honey Girl Studio.

These are the rules:

#1 Link to the person who tagged you.

#2 Post the rules on your blog.

#3 Write six random things/unspectacular quirks about yourself.

#4 Tag four people at the end of your post and link to them.

#5 Let each person you have tagged know by leaving a comment on their blog.

#6 Let the tagger know when your entry is posted.


And here's the six (very) unspectacular things about me:

1. I have a one-eyed cat named Thomas.

2. I play the hammered dulcimer (music instument you may not have heard of.)

3. I'm obsessed with westerns. Clint Eastwood is probably my favorite actor.

4. I have a 75 gallon fish tank. This is one of my favorite pass-times.

5. I'm semi-ambidextrios. Some things I can only do with my left hand while other things with the right.

6. My favorite pizza is that of Pizza Hut.

There you have 'em. Six very unspectacular things about me! Now here's who I'm tagging:

Candy of Howling Moon Designs.

Annette of Huckleberry Arts.

Marie Patterson.

Laurie of Monkey-Cats Studio.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

"Candy Corn-aments"

Just finished these little guys.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Frank N. Stein WIP

Like the new look!? Annette gave my blog a face lift and she did a wonderful job. I couldn't be happier!

I haven't been able to get myself in gear this month so things may be looking a little sparse on Etsy and Spookytime Jingles.

Speaking of STJ, the update is just around the corner. I had considered passing on the Halloween entry this month, but seeing how it's in October, I couldn't resist. Below, you'll see the beginning of my take on everyone's favourite monster, Frankenstein's Monster.

Vist STJ on the 13th for the finished product!