Hardcore Hearse Club Show 2019

Saturday was our Hardcore Hearse Club‘s big annual hearse show at Brauerhouse.  Despite it being a rainy day the show was still a big success with lots of people coming and going throughout the day into the evening hours. But then again storms don’t scare us strange and unusual folks!

It was great to see familiar faces who came out specifically to support us. As you know I have been working endlessly on creating and getting my inventory ready and Frank has been working hard at getting Frankenhearse running smoothly and looking sharp! By the time the show started, we were exhausted. At the show, we were exhausted and after the show, we were even more exhausted ha ha. So to have our friends come out to support us means just as much if not more then the sales I make at my table. It’s like my favorite episode of The Office when Pam decides to do the art show and Michael Scott comes out and supports her. I literally cry EVERY time I watch it. I know exactly what it feels like to be afraid but still, put yourself and your work out there. And how much it means to have people you care about come out and show they believe in you.

I was vending solo this year (my volunteer partner in crime had to go to a wedding) but I was kept busy with all of the people who visited my table. It was great to hear “oh wow you made this?” or “you drew this?” and to know that so many of you chose to purchase some of my art or handmade creations vs. other things people were selling that you can get retail at the store or online. It speaks volumes! So many of you purchased art prints this year and it has really got me itching to pick up my drawing pencils because when life gets in the way, it’s the people like you that keep me inspired!

Here are a few shots of my table set up. This year I was between 2 other vendors who I befriended.. of corpse!

The incredible dress I am wearing is from my all-time favorite clothing line Sourpuss Clothing! As soon as I saw they had a GREEN and WHITE HEARSE dress I knew I had to have it. Not just for the show but because it totally matches our Frankenhearse! I even wrote to the company and told them I really wanted to wear it for the show and they made sure it got to me on time! This dress is gonna get a lot of use at future car shows!

And speaking of Frankenhearse.. here are some shots our friends took of our beast outside on display during the show.

And last but not least, here is a great Freaky Fanatic photo posted by Ashley who purchased one of my “Friends Til The End” portrait prints at the show and gifted it.  So awesome to see how much he loved it!

Did you buy something from me at the show? Let’s see your pictures! I would love to feature you on my site as well! Also, keep an eye out on my Amazon shop as I will be adding some unique items that were left over from the show!

Stay Spooky!
LDG Nicole

Remains: Bathroom Bride Decor

I absolutely love ornate frames. The more victorian and gothic they look the better. I am hoping to one day re do all the frames in our home to only be this type of frame. I have gradually started but right now we have soooo many things framed it would cost a small fortune to replace them all. My Mother In Law always keeps an eye out for them at garage sales. She had found me a silver 5 x 7 one a while back when I was upcycling frames for my limited edition framed art prints. I decided not to use this one for the project and keep it all to myself. 🙂 I just wasn’t sure when or how I was going to use it until today.

First I painted it. I mixed a plum purple with a hint of hot pink to make the color I wanted. While it was still wet I brushed a dry cloth over it to get some of the silver shine to come through. After it dried I printed one of my favorite photos of Elsa Lachester on photo paper. It is of her on the set of the Bride of Frankenstein applying her makeup. Perfect to hang in our bathroom! I just love the way it looks with our Be Your Own Kind Of Bootiful sign (that I got for $2.50 during Halloween at Dollar General)! On our other wall is the Sourpuss Clothing Beauty Is Only Skin Deep clock that I recently picked up on their clearance for only $6!!

See more of my misc creative ventures by visiting the Remains page of my portfolio site!

Stay Spooky!
LDG Nicole

Dead Girl Decay: Bridesmaid Freakshow

This has been quite the creative weekend. I have been in such an artsy mood. After completing my LeeLoo and Angelique portraits I have been itching to put down the pencil (temporarily) and get my hands dirty and full of glue gun burns.

My husband, Frank knows the way to my heart and how to talk me into going somewhere….. art supplies! So on Saturday he dragged me to the hobby store while we were out running errands so he could get Traxxas parts. While we were there he bought me a nice fresh bottle of liquid latex!  While I did start some new undead creations with it already, I am unable to show them to you just yet. They go through stages and are not finished. I am excited about them though and will post them as soon as they are done!

Frank and I are standing up in his brother’s wedding in April. I have been debating what I plan to do with my hair so that it doesn’t cost too much and decided to do what I do best.. make a hair piece! So we also stopped at another store and I got really lucky and found flowers that match the dress perfectly. Which I thought I would have more difficulty with because the dress is “guava” (not typically a color in my wardrobe or in my supply stash). Since there is no yellow in the wedding colors I kept to the colors of guava tones and white and hid any yellow tones in the lilies with layering. I topped it off with a beautiful silver and coral vintage cameo that I had in my supply stash (thanks to my Mother In Law who always knows when to spot the best stuff at garage sales). I am really happy with the way it came out. I texted a photo of it to the bride to be and she approves and loves it.

I am also excited because I commissioned Frank’s Aunt Bonnie to make me earrings for the big event. She makes jewelry and I own a couple pairs of her gorgeous chandelier earrings. Since I don’t normally wear guava/coral she made them in beautiful AB crystals! Look how beautiful they came out!

And the rest of the flowers didn’t go to waste. Not only do I now have stash supplies but it dawned on me that I could make a barrette to rock with my Sourpuss Clothing Sideshow dress!!

Now this is a dress that I still have not warn yet. I got it on a steal thanks to my fashionista- deal finding friend, Heather. She saw it on sale and immediately thought of me. As some of you know already, I have quite the obsession with all things Freakshow/Sideshow/Carni/Circus and Sourpuss Clothing is by far my favorite clothing line. I love the dress but there are a few reasons why I have not worn it yet.

1.) My hair has been every unnatural color of the rainbow and all of them have been ones that have clashed with this dress ha ha

2.)  I didn’t really have any events to rock it to this past summer and when I did it was disgusting out.. muggy and gross.

3.) I don’t normally rock bright pastels so I don’t have much to wear with it and didn’t want to put the expense into buying say shoes I can only wear with 1 dress in my wardrobe. Everything I usually wear is either black, grey, lime green, purple, orange, fuschia, red etc. I have quite the macabre wardrobe ha ha.

Well my hair is black again, so I decided to take the first step by making myself a barrette that I could wear with this dress. I am now hoping I might be able to find a way to wear it to the bridal shower at the end of the month. Maybe my black Mary Janes will bring some of the black out in it. And with some tights and the right cover up I might be able to winterize it and pull it off. The trouble finding the right cardi or cover up is the way the top is cut. Hmmm…. Heather’s Pants Blog! Help! 😉

Want to see more of my Dead Girl Decay barrettes? Check them out here in my portfolio site or visit my Etsy shop! If you have a dress you want a custom piece made to match.. Contact me! I love doing custom orders!

Stay Spooky!
LDG Nicole

Remains: Turrise Wedding and Gifting

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.

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.

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

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).

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.

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

Frank and I with the stunning newlyweds Nellie and Vince

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

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

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

Stay Spooky!
LDG Nicole