Tag Archives: painting

Remains: Mannequin Transformation Part 1

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WP_20160731_11_15_32_ProFrom my past posts you all already know that I have an amazing mother in law. Judy is always thinking of me and always supporting my craft. She is a thrifty shopper with a great eye for stuff that I can use for up-cycling into my latest creepy creations!

She  knew I was on the look out for a female mannequin. My goal was to find one in decent shape and paint it to look like the Bride of Frankenstein.  I had multiple visions on how I planned to use it once I got my hands on one and transformed it….

  • Unique eye attention display for my art show vending table
  • Incorporate it into our Frankenhearse display for car shows and events. With our Frankenstein display already in the back of the hearse (yes that is a real body bag he is in) who better to display in the driver seat.
  • When not on display at shows it would be up in our house with all our other horror movie memorabilia.

Well Judy and some of the family were on a flea market travel expedition and she came across a woman who had a “traveling mate” in her trailer and was willing to sell her. She brought her home and I could not have been more thrilled. Not only was she in excellent condition but she was EXACTLY what I was looking for.

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This past weekend I took her apart and got to play Dr. Frankenstein and totally transformed her. She started off looking like this….

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Then once I was done with her she came out looking like this………..

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Goodbye Barbie! Hello Elsa!

The wig and necklace are actually ones I wore when I dressed as the Bride for Halloween a few years back. As you can see in the background I also painted her arms and legs to match. They look hilarious hanging from the ceiling in our basement. Which I guess is not as crazy as all the mannequin body part pieces that were all over the dining room before I finally got the paints I needed to start this project. My next step is wardrobe for her. I already have ideas for doing it on the cheap that are going to still look spooktacular!

Keep an eye here in my Eulogy (blog) for update posts on this project and many more! I got another one in the works and there will be no more Mr. Nice Guys left when I am done with it! 😉

See more of my misc. art projects in the Remains section of my official portfolio site!

Stay Spooky!
LDG Nicole

Remains: 1962 Aurora Dracula Model

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So remember that box of Aurora Universal Monster models my husband brought home for us to reconstruct and bring back from the dead? Well we finished another one…… Dracula.

This is how it was when we got it….

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This is how it looked after I cleaned it, sprayed it with a primer and started to paint it….

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And this is how it looked after I finished painting it and my husband played Dr. Frankenstein and put him back together. I then did a few paint touch ups and then he did a nice spray laquer over all of it.

And here it is displayed in our dining room next to the Frankenstein one we finished earlier this year.

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We gave the Creature from the Black Lagoon away as a gift to one of our tattoo artists so we plan to be on the look out for another one for our own collection. The last one we have in the box to reconstruct is the Wolfman!

Stay Spooky!
LDG Nicole

Remains: Turrise Wedding and Gifting

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I had posted photos a couple of months ago from my cousin Nellie’s bridal shower. Well the big day was yesterday. For October in Chicago they could not have gotten a more beautiful day. Everything about the wedding and reception was beautiful. You could just see how in love the 2 of them are and how perfect it all fell into place for them. It’s really neat knowing that they started dating in high school and stayed together all these years just like Frank and I. The kicker… the same high school. BT love stories I tell ya ha ha.

I have been sick for the past few days (digestive disorder is a bit out of control) so I was just happy to be able to attend, support them and witness how memorable it all was. Starting to finally feel somewhat better today and taking it easy the rest of the day while editing photos and laying around.

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Frank and I decided to join forces and make them a wedding gift. I am so happy we got a head start on it with me getting ill. The idea came to me as I was thinking how well we did working together to make our great niece Violet a wooden Marie wall hanging. I thought it would be rather symbolic if we joined forces again to make another special gift together for Nellie and Vince’s special day. Even more so it being from one married couple in the family to another. I had a vision of sorts in my head because I knew Nellie loved owls. You all know my appreciation of owls comes from my Mom so when I have a chance to use them to make something special I am all over it.

I thought this time it would be fun to not just share the finished piece but to also share some photos of the work in progress.

I sketched it out with different ideas and versions. Frank got the wood and had me draw the final idea we both agreed on directly on to the wood. He then cut it out by hand with a saw and hand sanded it to make sure it was a smooth surface.

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I then did my thing and painted it. This shot was taken during the painting process.

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When it was all dry I painted the sides and back and then Frank put a nice clear coat on top of it. Then I wrapped it along with an picture hanging kit in cellophane, attached the card and added a cute polka dot green ribbon (Nellie’s favorite color).

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When we got to the reception we saw my Dad also made a artistic gift for the couple (now you see where I get it from ha ha). He drew a caricature of them and included a mat for all the guests to sign! Our wall hanging set perfectly next to it and the other gifts that people brought.

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For fun here are a few photos I got at the reception (before we had to leave because of me not feeling well.. ugh)….

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Frank and I with the stunning newlyweds Nellie and Vince

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Me with my beautiful cousins Nellie (the new wifey Turrise), Chelsea (the maid of honor) and our awesome Aunt Maureen

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A photo my Dad took of Frank and I at our table

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My new favorite photo of me and my Daddio 🙂 Not only my Dad but my artistic inspiration.

Stay Spooky!
LDG Nicole