Archive for the ‘Rants’ Category

Kimily’s missing mind has been found! In fact it wasn’t actually lost, the mind had wandered so far into the Imagination that it only appeared to be lost.

The mind reports finding some fun, yet disturbing, things within the Imagination. The mind can’t seem to keep itself away from this fun disturbing place and Kimily’s brain keeps complaining that she needs to do other mundane thinking type tasks.

The mind has also contemplated mutiny against the brain. Upon hearing of this the brain caused a reflex reaction in the leg, which caused the leg to kick out, striking the toes against a hard surface. Needless to say, the pain response gave the brain the upper hand…for now.

Kimily can’t come to the Blog right now, she has currently lost her mind and is off in search of it. If you have seen said mind please leave a comment below with a time, date and location of the sighting. We miss the psychic apparatus terribly and want for its immediate return.

Thank you,

Brain

I’ve had a very relaxing yet productive weekend. Although the production part hasn’t seen anything finished, I still have gotten a really good start on things that have been tickling my brain.

We have had a weekend of 70+ degree weather, which for Alaska is 10+ degrees above normal for this time of year. I still watch the weather in Bend, Oregon and we have been warmer than them for over a month now. Crazyness!

So I’ve had this master plan of making art to sell. The plan, although going very slowly, is moving along. The plan has always been to have a separate blog to show the wares, the main reason is that not all the wares will be ‘spooky’ inspired so I wanted a less spooky blog theme for them. Plus, my mom may want to sell birdhouses and her more girly stuff so that was also a determining factor.
The plan is to have the blog to show off the wares and then sell through Etsy. Now I’m thinking to maybe sell through both. The idea of having a shopping cart on my website makes me cringe…only because I’m unfamiliar with how to go about doing it and the research involved in it. So I figured I could just show off the stuff on the blog and have users that are interested email me for payment through Paypal, which will be my only form of payment for now.

I need some input from those of you that have done any of the above or have any brilliant ideas. I take criticism very well, so please tell me if I’m off my rocker. If you would rather email me feel free: boospooky (dot) com AT gmail (dot) com

So far I have:

- Purchased the Domain name for the blog – The Whimsy Attic
- Grabbed the Etsy account for The Whimsy Attic
- Grabbed the Twitter account for The Whimsy Attic
- Setup the Facebook Page – only grabbed the name for a Page associated with my own.
- Getting ready to build the actual website presense
- Paypal is setup for Business

Want to give a BIG Thank You to all of our military, both passed and living. You guys ROCK for what you do for us everyday or have done to serve our Country. Rock on and stay safe!!!

As for my three day weekend… I plan on getting creations started and may get a few things re-painted that I’ve been setting aside. Can’t tackle the big stuff due to my shoulder still causing me problems, so re-painting the barrister is out for this weekend…dang it!

Off to the Skullery with my bad self…

I have been neglectful of this here blog again. Sorry to everyone that may have or tries to follow along.

I have been trying to pull myself away from the TV and the computer to instead stuff my butt in the chair in the Skullery. That goes something like this… walk in, sit down, play with a few things, start painting on canvas, get idea and take it to the living room to work on it, realize what time it is and put it away to go to bed. Hope for weekend to come sooner so I can play more, weekend comes, yard needs to be tended to, laundry, dishes, do something with parents, weekend is gone. Go to work…

I have decided that having to work is just plain evil and getting in my way of fun/play time. Yes it pays the bills and feeds me and the dogs, but dangit ::: stomps foot :::

Back to reality… Since I have to work to get the money I need for daily life, I have since decided that instead I will just find me a man. One that either has money or has the ability to make it. Sounding a bit Gold Digger’ish, yes, but not intended to. This man must also adore me, run at my beckon call, buy me flowers for no reason; other than he adores me, adore my dogs and buy them toys; just because he adores them…and most importantly… he must love Halloween!! Not loving Halloween is a total deal breaker people. Him having the ability to build stuff; because he likes to and welding are a huge plus. There is one more thing… no kids. I do not and will never want children. Ahem… not to mention you must be single ::: rolls eyes ::: .

You can send any applications to boospooky.com@gmail.com. I will look them over and may or may not get back with you.

Now that that’s out of the way… and my pretend A.D.D is put away, I will get on topic. What was that again… Oh look shiney!! ::: rolls eyes :::

Have you ever typed out whatever popped in your head? It can be freaky and make you want stay away from Asylums, for fear they would find out. Yes I am rambling it seems but I’m going to make a point here…I think.
The point is, my head lately will not stop with ideas. Once I finished the Reapling, which gave me something to focus on, my head is running in circles, chasing its own tail, trying to figure out what is next.

• I want to paint a cabinet for my jewelry to go in the bathroom.
• I want to paint the barrister cabinet that I keep all of my curios in.
• I want to start making fridge magnets and little pins to sell.
• I have two canvas’s started that quickly halted once I got the backgrounds painted.
• I have 8 very large canvas I want to do something with but need to get the airbrush setup…still.
• I look outside and think I need to make spooky garden art.
• I have witches I want to make.
• What about Halloween props…!!

So as you can see… I have artist A.D.D. If you can picture the scene from Wizard of Oz where Dorothy is in her bedroom looking out the window watching the witch ride by on her bike and Toto, etc., that is about what it feels like. Then suddenly by brain will go… Oooohhhh shiney!! and off I go onto something else.

So the blog has suffered due to all of this head clutter. I would do spring cleaning but all these ideas actually keep me entertained, especially when sitting in the lobby of the doctors office. You just have to be careful when you giggle out loud, always keep a magazine in your hands just in case. :: wink ::

So I’m sitting here watching the television show House while I’m waiting for the Reapling to bake in the oven…funny thought is that it’s his own version of hell :::giggles:::.

Anyway, I’m half watching the show and the actress catches my eye finally, thought process goes something like ::: Oh, she looks familiar. Oh yeah, it’s whats her face from That 70′s Show :::, then I start paying attention to what she is saying. Her and her boyfriend are at the hospital, her being the patient, and they are discussing the fact that she has a Blog and blogs about everything…yada yada. One statement catches me, he says to her something about the internet has made people feel less alone and like they belong with others of like minds.

Now for the ‘bink’ moment… I was/am a late bloomer when it comes to creating art. I didn’t truly start my addiction until I was in my late 30′s. The thoughts on creating things and loving certain types of art were always in my mind but behind a very think fog of daily life, taboo’s and other life teachings/social acceptances. Yes, I took drawing, leather, pottery and other assorted crafty type classes in high school but it really ended there. I tried my hand at odd and end craft things, hook rugs, needlepoint (bleh to both) and other ‘kit’ style types of crafts that non-crafty’ness people tend to lean on. I hated them all and never completed any of them.

The internet happened… I didn’t get my first computer until I was 28′ish and the first several years were filled with chatting online and PC Games. I did searches here and there for whatever peaked my interest at the time but since I was married and in a horrible place emotionally my brain wasn’t… on, and neither were my emotions. I literally walked around just doing things in routine, never exploring.
So we jump forward several years to the divorce and awakening. Having been the one doing the divorcing it turned my confidence and emotions back on. My world literally opened up, having fought my first fight on my own and won, my brain did an amazing thing, it turned on my creativeness. It didn’t only turn it on, it friggin flooded me. I was utterly drowning with ideas and things I needed to make. But how? and not only how… once I do create, what do I do with the creepy spooky things I’m coming up with. Ok wait… I like creepy and spooky things, what are people going to think? Who’s going to enjoy this stuff besides me? People aren’t suppose to like creepy and spooky things, at least per society and comparatively to my family and friends…they don’t like creepy things.

The thought process went on…I settled on Halloween. Halloween is safe for people that like the spookiness in art right? So I will focus on that, we will keep it to Halloween. I went with that for a few years… I just love Halloween so much that I like it all year long, that is what I told people that would be closed minded to imagination and art and I still find myself settling for that explanation at times.

Now back to the statement originally made about the internet. I hit the internet like flies to a bug zapper. I found my family of creepy art loving friends!!! Woooo Hoooo… I’m not insane or alone anymore. ::: dances a jig ::: OH WAIT!! Not only is there like minds, there are How To’s and Tutorials!!! OMG! ::: brain explodes :::

The first couple of years I hit digital art and I hit it like a rabid dog. I showed myself that I could do it, created a few things and wasn’t satisfied. Yeah, I was proud of what I did and other people loved it, but I wasn’t really happy. My hands weren’t really happy. So discouragement set in again.

Couple of years go by…

Then one day I hear that voice in my head say: “Wait…creepy art = Halloween right?” Lets start there… I had made a couple of Halloween props in the past, simple things really, a cloths stuffed body with a store bought mask. That evolved into a duct tape body double and so on.

Finally one thing led to another and I was making actual paper mache props. Wow!!! I can do this and surprisingly it came naturally AND my hands were happy!

Now I’m going for smaller versions so I can ‘maybe’ make some extra money off of what I love. Learning all of the little techniques of Poly Clay, etc.

::: phew ::: Life story here… you still with me? I’m loosing momentum so the end is near…heh.

Besides the divorce making me find myself and showing me that I actually enjoy who I am and the things I’m interested in… The Internet Rules!!!!

So to all of you beginners out there… don’t fill overwhelmed and remember that even the professionals are constantly learning. Life sometimes happens.
If it isn’t fun and satisfying…don’t do it!! Find a different technique that is yours. Paper mache is NOT just for kids. PVC is NOT just for plumbers.

Play you silly adults, PLAY!!!

So I have gotten the prop building bug finally. Watching the Garage of Evils Drink and Think today helped quite a bit.

I have several ideas for what I want to build, to name a few:

• More pumpkin spooklings like Mauly and Cucur
• Ghosts
• PVC Trees

Having the idea is the first step, now doing it is posing to be a tad difficult. I think the Daylight Savings Time and being under the weather with some health stuff, has bitten me in the creative energy butt. My evil little minions, that is what I call my slothness, laziness, procrastination’ness and sofa sitting attitudes, that seem to arise and put a damper on my imagination and creativeness are what I blame mostly.

Believe me, I have kicked and screamed at the minions to no avail. I can literally walk past The Skullery, my craft room, look in the doorway at something I have going, sigh and walk back to the living room to the couch.

I have recently had a discussion with myself and have agreed with myself to not feel guilty over the procrastination and lazies. I’m working on a new theory to overthrow the minions. They prefer us to feel the guilt and whatnot, but not anymore.  I’m going to chalk it up to needing the rest and ‘dead’ time in my brain. Re-charging if you will. I will not let the minions win, no sir’ee.

I will be back soon, very soon, and cool things will come of it.

I love funny looking little creatures. I actually find the ones that most people label ‘ugly’ as very adorable. Probably why I love Chinese Cresteds and Xoloitzcuintli dogs. I am currently owned by a Chinese Crested “Whisper”.

I also have a thing for Sloths, Flying Fox Bats, Fruit Bats…ok, many different types of Bats and other little things I can’t think of at the moment. Did I ever tell you guys I tried my hand at Little Brown Bat rehab? They have a very LOW survival rate once in rehab so I stepped away from it. That’s a story for a different time.

The reason for this here post is because of the Aye Aye. I’m sure many of you have seen the pictures of the Aye Aye floating around the internet and may have wondered what it is, like I did, or maybe you didn’t, heh! You can find the official explanation on Wiki, that the Aye Aye is a species of Lemur from Madagascar.

Here are a few pictures of the mysterious creature I speak of, I’m thinking I may have to do some creature creations in Poly Clay…

Photo by David Haring – Baby Aye Aye

Below photos found on Daily Artisan

I know I have mentioned this before, but it’s always worth mentioning… I love spooky tree’s. My first spooky tree love started when I was a child living in Alabama. My grandmother had a HUGE pecan tree in her front yard. Now maybe the tree seemed huge because I was small, either way… it was my tree. I played beneath it, ate it’s pecan’s, gazed up into it’s branches.
In the early 90′s a Tornado came through and took it away. When my family called to tell us about the damage to the property, we had been in Alaska since 77′, the first question I asked was “Did the tree make it?” She didn’t, all I could do was cry.

I don’t have any pictures of that wonderful tree, but I am going to ask mom to look for some since she is down in Alabama helping her sick brother, sister and brother in law.

This is the closest picture I have found so far:

I found the picture on this website.

I don’t believe this next tree is a Pecan but no matter the species…its awesome! Found the pic on this website.

Man this winter has kicked me in the teeth when it comes to doing anything after work/on the weekends, except sit on the couch and watch TV. The older I get the more I hibernate in winter and get a very bad case of the lethargics.

So what am I going to do about it? I have decided that to get me out of my non-creating rut I’m going to bring Super Sculpy to work with me to get me going on making the miniature Halloween props/art dolls that I have wanted to start on.
I have also decided to go and buy $20 in Lottery tickets to see if I can get out of Alaska sooner than the summer of 2012 date I have decided on.

I will get back to the art doll explanation in a minute, money tends to trump things at the moment.
What would I buy with the lottery money? Well, after taxes I’m looking at around $350K, its a $500K lottery. First thing is to get the current home I’m living in remodeled for selling, I’m thinking around $20K for everything. The house is in my parents name, I never bought it from them but instead pay the mortgage every month. While the house is having some work done we, we being the fam and I, would zip down to Bend, Oregon to have a look around and I would start looking for a house. I’m thinking I would keep the house price around $200k, 4 bedroom, 2+ baths, 3 car garage (have to have room for the studio and Halloween props). If I find a house at that time, I would buy it, then come back home to get ready to move. We would sell the house and  my parents would keep all the profits from it. Once moved I would buy a brand new GMC truck in Oregon, and my old truck, that would still be here in Alaska, could either be kept by my parents or I would sell it.
Thats about it, besides paying off bills and making sure I had a bit left over to live on before I found work.

Now to the art dolls. I have never been a doll kinda gal. Ok, I take that back… I use to blow up Barbies when me cousin and I would attack her with his GI Joes. Total Tom Boy as a kid and I still have quite a bit of it remaining. With that said… I have found a new appreciation for dolls as I have gotten older and realized that all dolls don’t have to be little Princess’s or Drama Queens or even be owned by little Princess’s or Drama Queens.
I love Halloween such that I have found that I need to scale down, not scale back, on my Halloween creations. Why not make smaller versions of the props I have built/want to build? I’m aware that putting a 12″ sized rendition of Cucur or Mauly (to name the most current full sized props I have built) in my front yard isn’t going to scare anyone. What it will do though is: 1) Get some of the overwhelming prop ideas into physical creation 2) Hopefully make me some extra money.

My main problem in starting anything new is: researching it until I’m blue in the face… no, make that red in the face. By then I have had so many other ideas hit me that something entirely different is what I want to focus on and off I go researching. The funny thing is… I know that if I just start doing something, I get into it and the research didn’t do me much good anyway… but I still find myself in that same cycle. I also think I have a fear of failure gnawing at my subconscious. Yes I have given it the finger and it persists to keep gnawing.

So besides being an A.D.D artist, I am now attempting to jump into an area I know very little about…erm wait, I have researched the hell out of art dolls and should by all rights be a professional, heh!

I would like a push though by any and all that have found the tips and tricks of working with Poly Clay for making Art Dolls. That and air dry clay will be the materials of choice. I do worry about air dry clay not being strong enough for items that may be pose-able though.

Any input is greatly appreciated!!!

** Update **

Here is a picture of the head I started. First miniature head…wooo hoooo!!