Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Decay and Spiders! BEWARE!

Hello friends!  Well, I hope we'll still be friends by the time you're done looking at this!  My project is more than on the dark side, but really made in good fun! Chris, you might not want to go on...

What's lurking in your backyard?  Or maybe in your basement, if you have an old house like ours??!  After all the recent flooding here, things got a little soggy in our garden...and this is what popped up!





It all started innocently enough with a styrofoam skull I picked up at Michaels.  I REALLY would love to win some DecoArt media products, so I thought I better have another go at  DecoArt Mixed Media Haunts Challenge.  I only have 4 DecoArt Media products-Media Gesso in black and white, Media Crackle Paste and Media Modeling Paste, so I thought I would make the most of them.  Lucky me, a friend lent me some of her Liquid Glass, too, so really  5 of these wonderful products were used on my project. And after using what was left of my Modeling and Crackle pastes,  I can now say I have only two DecoArt Media products left!  So I have all my fingers, my legs and my eyes crossed that Mr. Skinner will not be too creeped out by my project. Tee Hee!



 I wanted to do something just a little different with my skull, so I got out my hot craft knife and got to work with  a little oral surgery. I found a set of kiddie vampire teeth in my Halloween stash, and thought that might jazz him up a bit. Not quite skilled at using my knife (ages old, but only used once), I really made a mess out of my skull. Should have taken a photo, because it was really horrible what I'd done to the poor fella.

I glued in the fangs and did some repairs around his mouth using a mixture of  DecoArt Modeling paste, black gesso, acrylic paints and soft gel medium. Not too bad; my malpractice insurance might not go up after all!


I gave my skull a good coat of DecoArt black gesso, and let that dry.  I added Decoart Crackle paste in thin and thick layers and got this fantastic crackle. I like the way the black gesso shows through the thin areas and the cracks.





 I  headed back to my local craft store, because I remembered they carried DecoArt  Creme Wax.  None of our local stores offer products from the Media line, and it's too late for an online order, but I do love how the Creme Wax shows off the cracks while giving my skull an aged look. This was taken in progress.


Next I made a mud out of Modeling paste, black and green acrylic paints and a tiny bit of water and added some cut up medical gauze.  This makes really incredibly gross rotted hair and rotted eye sockets. I molded this to the.skull and when dry, reinforced it with some glue. I added a little glow in the dark paint to the socket, and that ups the gross factor.


I started out using a styrofoam eyeball (party favors left from a past party), but felt that was lame, and I wanted the look of it hanging out of the socket.  I made mine from paper clay and acrylic paints, and gave it a coat of my friend's Liquid Glass. The iris is from Tim Holtz Regions Beyond paper stash.




This poor skull looks so lost without a body, and I wanted to use a little wood on my project so I could join in the fun at Mixed Media World's Anything Goes with Wood challenge.  I found these 3 pieces of wood in my stash, and a few wood discs.  I piled them up and thought they resembled a spine.



 I gave them a coat of black gesso, followed by Crackle paste and the Cream Wax as I did on the skull.  I used black gesso on the discs, as well, but they just didn't look like the cervical discs I was going for.



 I found four wood rings in my stash already coated with black glitter; leftovers from another project.  I added regular gel medium mixed with a couple of drops of Dylusions sprays in  Fresh Lime, Chopped Pesto, and Black Marble and slathered that on for the look of rotting cervical discs.  I also used this on some plastic cord for the nerve roots.  By adding a little blast from the heat gun, which makes it bubble, I was able to make this extra disgusting.  I mixed up more of the gel medium, modeling paste and black gesso, leaving out the green paint for some rot on the vertebrae, and when dry, added some of the gel medium/spray mixture. A little glow in the dark paint was added randomly to the spinal discs and nerve roots.



Not too bad, but a spine can't just hang there.  I found a wood plaque that looked just like this (a slightly different shape because these are real wood slices) in my stash. I gave it a coat of the same blackish mixture used on the vertebrae and added some rubber worms. I thought it looked a little flat, so I added some antiquing cream to bring out the texture. No kidding, after our flooding, I found a real worm about 9 inches long, and fat!!! Yuck!





A spider web die cut (Tim Holtz) out of wax paper and a few plastic spiders coated with black gesso finish off this horrible anatomical section. The web looks so lifelike when it blows in the breeze.





 I took a few shots of him hanging out with some of the guys in our front yard.



 

Looks like they shared a few good laughs...


And at night he parties...


Look me in my one good eye and tell me you're NOT terrified!


Wwha!ha, ha, ha!

I would like to enter my repulsive project into the following inspiring challenges:
Thank you for visiting today and for all your heart warming comments! I promise I won't be so gruesome with my next project! 
Hugs and Blessings!
Sara Emily

UPDATE: They like it!


And so does Mixed Media World!!!
WINNER

And Emerald Creek Dares!!!

47 comments:

  1. Crazy, funny, spooky! Great creativity Sara! Great photos too xx

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  2. OMG, I think I am going to have a sleepless night haha! Seriously, my dear, this is amazing! You are definitely the queen of spooky creations! I am pretty much speechless! Your fantastic creativity has no limits! I am really impressed by these awesome pieces you've created for Halloween!
    Huge hugs and lots of love to you, my dear friend! Branka xxx

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    1. Thank you, Branka! You made my day, AGAIN! Lots of love and hugs to you!

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  3. My goodness, they awesome and scary and awesome some more!! I know I've said it before but you are the queen of all things halloween. Everytime I see a new piece I am just blown away hun, you need to be doing video tutorials of these - I wanna see this in action :) xx

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    1. Ha! Ha! Ha! on the Videos! I can barely figure out how to read my e-mail! Thanks for the great compliment, though! This has got to be the weirdest thing I've ever done! Big hugs!

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  4. Ha, ha, when you said you found this in your garden, I believed you!! (so glad you didn't find him there). This is a fantastic piece of art, right up my street, your transformation is incredible, I just love the spooky eyeball, the fangs are superb - and he lights up too - wow!!! I am going back now for another look...

    I think a certain Mr Skinner will really enjoy seeing this creation... Hugs, Anne xx

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    1. Oh, no kidding, Anne! I may love Halloween, but I don't like to be scared! I had such a fun time making this, but he sure did give me a lot of trouble and used up a lot of my supplies! He doesn't light up, but he does get a glow about him at night. Ha! Ha! Hugs to you!

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  5. Now that truly is a monster! Thanks for joining us at Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge!

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    1. Well, I guess that's a good thing, since that's what I was aiming for! :):)

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  6. Wow!! Or should I say EEEWWW!! You are definitely up there on the "Creepy and Gross" scale with this project - fantastic! And I hope you win - would love to see what else you do with Deco Art Media! xx Lynn

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    1. Awe, Lynn, you are so sweet! I hope I win, too! I think I could really have a blast if I had some more of those products! So many ideas, so little time and money! Hugs!

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  7. I was intending popping by for a coffee sometime but now….EEEEEK!!! You can come here instead!! Seriously, this is so cleverly creepy! Thank You for the warning but I got through to the bottom of your post before I screamed!!! Hugs, Chrisxx

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    1. Oh, Chris, I didn't want you to see this...I almost didn't link up to TIOT because I know you don't like creepy! Thank you for the really sweet words, though! Hugs!

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  8. Oh my gosh, spooktacular!! Wow!! The details you've added to him are absolutely amazing!! I love Halloween and spooky and creepy and this is just perfect!! The glow-in-the-dark eyeball - fabulous (and scary!!) I just love this!! It's on the scale of Hollywood horror effects amazing!! So fantastic!! Have a great day :)

    Lisa
    A Mermaid's Crafts

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    1. Wow, Lisa! You just gave me the highest compliment! Doing movie sets and props is on my bucket list...looks like I had a good chance at it too, but the movie industry has really taken a turn for the worse here. But this might be for a "B" movie at best! The eyeball came as a pleasant surprise to me when I saw it on my photos...happy to hear you love Halloween like I do! Hugs!

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  9. That thing is horrible- in all the right ways! That is so spooky and creepy. I love it.

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  10. I looked at your blog by choice and whoops!.....didn't even know you had entered at TIOT! Sarah, your art is always amazing and it's a pleasure to see you there. ...I just pulled my big girl pants up a little higher, lol! Hugs, Chrisx

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  11. Fantastic!!! WOW!
    Thank you for joining us at TIOT's!

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  12. I loved reading this! and the eyeball is genius! Decoart will be thrilled with how you have used their products - its fabulous! Cxx

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  13. Loves this disgustingly gross piece and your vertebrae is genius! You totally rock the Halloween and creepy designs Sara doll! That worm on the base and those delicious spiders are superbly done! I can definitely see this as an accent background piece for a movie set. (It's on my bucket list as well) Do you watch Face Off? A friend of mine was the winner of the entire show and he gets to work on some amazing movie sets. Your attention to detail sends chills up my spine and makes me want to see more!

    I am with you on the DecoArt products! I need some more crackle paint! I sure hope Mr. Andy will come take a gander at this and be so disturbed he can't get this design out of his head, resulting in you winning the Haunts challenge.

    Wowzers on so many levels! What a genius use of the gauze and glow in the dark paint. Your eyeball is fantabulous and so life like! We do share the same thoughts about so many things! Awesome sauce dearie! Hugz to you muffin!

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  14. That is super-scary!!!-and very creative! I will probably have nightmares tonight! Thank you for sharing your amazing work with us at Crafty Calendar.
    Chris
    x

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  15. Wow an exciting, spooky project. Thank you for sharing [scaring] it with us at TioT's.
    Yvonne

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  16. What a funny and spooky project, Sara! The transformation is amazing, and the eyeball is really astonishing. Great technique and textures!
    Thank you for joining us at Try it on Tuesday. Mar. :)

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  17. ROFL, this is gross and disgusting and as far as I'm concerned, you have WON the challenge at F&F. I positively LOVE the creepy bulging eyeball and that spider makes me want to run away screaming! And your spine is beyond brilliant. The worms, the coffin and the glow-in-the-dark, really...the whole thing over the top. You totally rocked this one, Sara Emily!

    Hugs,
    Linda

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  18. Absolutely disgusting! Perfect for our Horror theme at Our Creative Corner, thanks, Sara Emily!

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  19. This is disgusting...I LOVE IT! I love how your mind works! Can you submit this to the Emerald Creek Dares Tricks n' Treats Challenge? It needs to creep them too!

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    1. Oh it did and all I could think was how exited you would be.

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  20. this is soo cool!!! Love how you did all the spookiness especially the neck :-) Thanks for joining for our Halloween Emerald Creek Dares Challenge

    Karon DT

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  21. Sara, what can I say but "eeeee". This is spectacular! Thank you for watching our blog and entering this piece in.

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  22. Wow fantastic piece. Love your idea and this is beautifully executed. Love the eyes and teeth and the texture you have incorporated . Thanks so much for joining in the We Love to Create Challenge. Tracy x

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  23. Spooktacular and good luck on the deco art challenge. Great take on the challange and thanks for playing with us at TIOT.
    Hugz Z

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  24. Brilliantly revolting... or revoltingly brilliant! Halloween round your way must be truly spooktacular!
    Alison xx

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  25. He is so creepy!!! Well done!! The eyeball is so real looking! Thank you for entering him into the Emerald Creek Dares Tricks and Treats Challenge!

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  26. Oh my gosh, that is terrifying! Amazing work Sara, good luck in the Deco Art challenge. Deb xo

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  27. Now that's my kind of creepy!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE this!!! Thank you for joining us at LOC this week!!!!

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  28. Hi Sara, This is one creepy/scary project but it's absolutely fabulous!
    Thanks for sharing with us at TioT
    Avril xx

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  29. Absolutely sinister and Ghoulish!!! I love this!! Those worms are just the yummiest and your skull is the creepiest of all I have seen thus far!! Bravo,my friend!!! xoxo

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  30. Wow....that's so gross and scary! Great job! Thanks for joining us over at the Emerald Creek Dares Challenge!
    ~~julia~~

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  31. I am NOT terrified.... I am NOT terrified.... I AM, I AM, I AM terrified.... ooops - I just couldn't look you in your one good eye at all........ dear me..... YOU are the ULTIMATE of a SPOOKAHOLIC HORRIFIC NIGHTMARE fixin' to happen... you mixed media monster you. And YOU think you can win some kind of contest.... WHAT's up with that? Do you honestly think someone would think you are unique enough to win a contest????? It's obvious your hollow brain is malfunctioning. But hey... I'm all for you winning because if Mr. Skinner picks you - at least you will have some media textures to put yourself back together again. Lord knows you need HELP. Whew. Oh and hey - if you win - you might ask that crazy lady that lives with you named Sarah to help you to your remodel... I hear she's WAY OVER THE TOP INCREDIBLE at creating stuff. YOU POOR SOUL... good luck with your winner dreams. j.

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  32. And back again to say thanks so much for playing along at Country View Challenges!
    Alison xx

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  33. This is super fun and spooky, Sara!! I love it! Thanks so much for sharing your art with us at the Frilly and Funkie Challenge!
    Hugs,
    Nancy

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  34. Truly, truly incredible Sara Emily!!! Words absolutely fail me!!! Lifelike, inventive, creative and luminous!!! Thank you so much for joining us at Frilly and Funkie. Jenny x
    Huge congrats on your Craft Stamper spotlight too!!!

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  35. this is so cool! Very scary indeed! Love all the textures and it lights up! Brilliant! Thank you for sharing it with us at the Mixed Media World! Ingrid x

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  36. i have no words for the utterly creepiness of this piece!!!! holy moly seriously brilliant!!!

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  37. BIG CONGRATS on your win at MMW, my dear Sara! It's soooooo well deserved! Yay, I am so happy for you!
    Huge hugs and lots of love! Branka xxx

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  38. And huge congrats for your win over at Stamps and Stencils for your 3D book and you win for this design at Emerald Creek! You are on a roll darlin!

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