It's begun....

So tonight I started to put the display up... Just positioning the tombstones, but still it's a start...

 Angel statue

 Bird bath & Skelamingo/ memory garden

 Creepy statue

 another creepy statue

 Grave marker

 Another grave marker

 Annie's Stone

The Smith's stone by Jen

So to recap.. I think by the "big day" I should have a total of  5 home made stones/markers completed... the rest of the display will be filled out with store bought stones... I will be adding more details as the month progresses..more pics to follow....

Happy Haunting

~Bill

Annie Voorhies Tombstone Finished.....

I think... Well, at least for now it is... So to recap, this stone is for Annie in Colorado Springs...(my wife says she is as close to a sister in law as I will ever have.) And what better way to show someone that you love 'em then make a tombstone...hehehe... So with what like 47 days left until Halloween here it is....

Here it is with the Monster Mud Coat and I did the initial background painting on the design and the lettering. I actually have to give my wife (Jen) credit for doing the Monster Mud coat while I was at work today. I apologize for the blurriness... I suck at taking pictures.

Here is the first layer of paint. I used a watered down dark grey. There was no method to what I did. I just haphazardly painted away. i left some of the lighter grey showing... I figured that later on in the finishing process it would add another layer of color/dimension.

In this one, I've already dry brushed with a very light grey. I am highlighting the raised letteringon the name... if you get really close to it the letters look carved in granite.

Here is the finished stone. I am hoping that the stone looks weathered and is showing "years" of being out in the rain.. I may add some moss or lichen later on, but I think for now I will go ahead and say voila... it's complete.

I decided that it would be really bad karma if I used her actual birth year so I did it a hundred years earlier. If you notice there's no death date... again I would hate to jinx her... I hope you like it Annie...

Until next time.....

Happy Haunting!!!!

~Bill

Update: First Tombstone Completed!!

So I finished my William Compton tombstone. Here are my pics:

This is the stone with only two coats of Monster Mud. (I know I said I wasn't gonna do it...But I did.)

This is the stone with the final painting complete. This was my very first time ever "tea staining" and "dry brushing".

And here it is at night with some mood lighting and a few prop candles. I think the only thing that I want to add is some moss, and possibly some stains from rain. So tomorrow I should finish my tombstone for Annie... I'll post pics when I have it finished....

Until then Happy Haunting!!!!

~ Bill