Remains : Daria “I Hate It” Bookmark

So now that the surprise is over I can finally share another art project I have been working on. This is a handmade bookmark I contributed to the group gift for my dear friends Heather’s 40th Birthday….

Heather loves to read and she was totally bummed about having to cancel her milestone Birthday party (due to COVID), so her husband Mike reached our to her friends and family asking if we would each make her a special bookmark.

Since she is the Daria Morgendorffer to my Jane Lane I knew right away where I was headed theme wise. Especially since one of the things Heather and Daria have in common is their love of books and reading. Plus who better than her Jane to paint it!

My husband Frank took me to the hobby store to find the right wood. He cut it out and sanded it. I painted, clear coated and added the tassel. Mike collected them all and presented them all to her in a book he made with special pages made for each of them. We may not have been able to physically celebrate with her this year but Mike found a fun and creative way to make it happen! Major hubby points for sure and this was so much fun to make and be a part of!

Dig this? Make sure to check out this bookmark and other misc. creations on the Remains page of my portfolio website!

Stay Spooky & Magical,
LDG Nicole

Life Of A Dark Artist: 2017 Milestones

I just wanted to thank all of you for supporting my work. 2017 has been a year of many milestones for me as an artist. Even though I have health setbacks I keep trucking along and your support helps to keep me doing what I love.

Here are just a few milestones I am grateful for in 2017…..

• I marked a TON of Art Bucket List items off my list this year. I created so many things that I have put off for way too long. Knowing this makes me feel so accomplished as an artist. Thank you to those who always give me feedback on my work and inspire me to keep creating!
• I enjoyed creating custom and commission pieces from both return and new clients this year! Thank you for believing that I could make your visions come to life! Thank you for all of your Freaky Fanatic photo submissions and reviews! You guys have no idea how much happiness I get from receiving these and being able to share them with the world!
• I participated again in Woman of Horror Month which helps bring awareness and supports the woman that make the horror genre what it is today!
• I started selling my portraits as Ghoulish Garments which have been a hit. I have been wanting to do this for years and finally found a DTG Printer that fit all of my needs. To know that you guys want to display my art is one thing. Knowing you want to wear it is a compliment on a whole new level. Thank you for all of your t-shirt orders. 2018 may open doors to even more products so stay tuned!
• I got to meet the very talented and fun Kelly Doty at the Villain Arts Chicago Tattoo Convention and give her a Dead Girl Decay Barrette inspired by her. While I was there I was able to network with other artists. I also got my Captain Spaulding tattoo done by my very talented friend Dave Togtman of Black Devil Tattoo.
• My “What Nightmares Are Made Of” Tim Burton and Jack art piece was selected to be put on display at the new Beetle House Tim Burton Bar in California. As scary as it was to mail off my original work, it made it there in one piece and is on display in their dining room! I am still in awe of this and hope one day I am able to travel there to finally see it on display in person. Thank you to those of you who have shared photos with me of it on display. I love living vicariously through all of you!
• I got to finally meet Art Alexakis and the rest of the Everclear band. Even though this doesn’t directly have to do with my art it was a dream of my since the 90’s and their music has inspired me in so many ways!
• I vended again with my fellow hearse collectors at the big Hardcore Hearse Club Show and sold double the amount I did last year! For those of you that were not able to buy something but visited my table, you are important too! You took a business card to spread the word, ordered from me online later or even just gave me positive feedback to keep me doing what I am doing! Thank you for bearing the heat with me again this year. And to my husband and my friends and family that help me each year with set up, watching my items when I need a break or making sure the weather doesn’t destroy anything.. you are my rocks and I couldn’t do this without you!
• Thanks to helping out the hearse club, I was able to attend Days of the Dead in Indy where I was able to do more networking. I also was able to give more of my work to my dear friend Sid Haig for his birthday and catch up with him over dinner and drinks. Sid is not just a guest and not just a friend but a true inspiration to me.
• I was “crowned” Best Horror Shop by Morbidly Beautiful Horror due to the massive support of my Freaky Fanatics who voted, posted and did everything the could to see me outbeat the big guys! I am still in awe of this and in all of you! This also allowed me to give back by teaming up with Morbidly Beautiful to give away my work to one lucky winner. And that winner didn’t just win the item. They proudly posted photos and video of what they received! Including their logo pin displayed on their bad ass vest!
• You helped me raise money for the S.O.P.H.I.E Lancaster Foundation. The limited edition 10 year anniversary barrettes I made were sold out in only a couple of days!!! I even had a friend of Sophie’s contact me directly to reserve one so she could wear it for her wedding day!
• I painted the 3 largest canvases of my life after being in the ER and out of work for a couple of weeks. This technically falls in the above category of commission pieces but I feel it stands alone as it was a big artistic milestone for me. They were not just large canvases but they were of a landscape which is not something I do on a regular basis. Thank you, Uncle Lou, for believing in me. Thank you to my husband for putting the canvases together, putting up with me and all the basement space I hogged up to get it done. Thank you to my Dad for all his advice and my brother and friends who kept telling me “you got this!”
• I finally accepted Amazon’s invite for me to start selling on Amazon Handmade. I was nervous about doing this and knew it would take me forever to get my items all set up in my shop. However, my cousin Pat who is also my Accountant gave me the advice to push me forward and I am so glad I did. Since opening my shop I have had consistent orders coming through including return clients. During the weeks up to Christmas, I was packaging up orders every night after work to the point I had to stop and post a thank you. I am so happy to be able to reach more Freaky Fanatics through another outlet.
• I entered the Rick and Morty Hot Topic T-Shirt Contest, and even though I did not win, I am still in awe of all of you that took the time to vote and comment on my submission. Some of you even followed up asking when it will be a shirt so you could buy it. I threw together a quick sketch so I could enter before the deadline. It was a vision I had for quite some time and I am glad I was able to participate. Stay tuned as I have plans for that design in 2018!
• Frank and I did a lot of networking at Days of the Dead Chicago!! I was also able to give Sid Ghoulish Garments for him and his wife Suzie. I was also honored to give my work to Felissa Rose, Fairuza Balk, and Lisa Marie. To top it off I was able to finally meet the Soska Sisters (Jen and Sylvia Soska AKA The Twisted Twins) who remembered me from the American Mary barrettes I made them.
• Frank upgraded my printer/scanner for my art studio for Christmas. This was something I wanted but also needed. With me getting more print orders it just made sense for me to be able to do more of them from home vs going to a printer all the time. The much larger scanner also saves me from going to a printer to scan larger art pieces. Next goal… a DTG printer of my own (a girl can dream)!

With 2017 being such a great year for me artistically I can’t wait to see what 2018 brings. One of the gifts my goddaughter Ava got me for Christmas is a really nice hardcover notebook that says “Enjoy The Little Things”. I plan to use it to jot down all creative ideas. So get ready Freaky Fanatics and……… Happy New Year!

Stay Spooky!
LDG Nicole

Loves: Michael Graduates 8th Grade and I Finally Get Out of The House

With all that has been going on these past few months I feel like a hermit. I really haven’t gone out of the house to actually do anything except run to the store and work. Between taking care of Sabbath and now myself with my newly diagnosed medical issues I finally got a really nice day out of the house. It was even more worth it because it was to celebrate my nephew Michael’s 8th grade graduation. I can not believe he will be going to high school. I feel so incredibly old ha ha. You guys might recognize Michael from my previous posts including some during Halloween when he let me practice my makeup skills on him. This kid loves letting me turn him into a zombie 😉 Either way here is a picture from yesterday. It was kind of funny because everyone was making note of how hot it was and since I have been cooped up in the air conditioning for so long the heat actually felt good to me. I really feel I just needed the fresh air in a  no stress environment to relax and rejuvenate me. It still really sucks not to be able to crack open a beer ha ha. Thanks to my sister in law who always makes a ton of food I was able to get plenty of low fat options on to my plate to follow my strict diet right now. I also talked to one of her friends who has been following the eat for your blood type diet which I am going to look further into.

This kid makes me incredibly proud to be his aunt 😉

For those wondering who may not follow my gofundme.com website I will be having my ERCP on July 15th and then gallbladder surgery is August 1st. My Etsy shop will remain open during the ERCP but may be closed temporarily during my surgery. I should be able to fill premade item orders  but I might have to put a hold on customized orders. Future posts to come.

Stay Spooky!
Living Dead Girl Nicole