Lost Skeleton Tribute begins tomorrow!

The waiting is almost over. For the next two weeks I'm hosting a tribute to the Lost Skeleton films. I've had some great art submitted from a variety of artists, so I hope you'll stop in and have a look. If you would like to be part of the Lost Skeleton tribute, you can email me at scbilbrey@hotmail.com. If you are interested, please contact me before 11.13.11, so I adjust my posting schedule. Thank you! And if you haven't seen the Skeleton films, what are you waiting for? Here's a taste of what you're missing...

Happy Halloween Everybody!

I just wanted to say Happy Halloween to all. And for my final post, here's a few little cartoons. Thanks to Caffeinated Joe, for turning me on the this Felix cartoon!

I hope you all have a wonderful time!

A little bit of Halloween Music...

Hey all!! This will be one of the last posts that I make for this month. I didn't get nearly as much done as I had planned, and now Halloween is upon me! I think that I may have come up with a plan to make next year's countdown go more smoothly, and have more frequent posts. Yes, I'm already thinking about Countdown to Halloween 2012! Today I will be carving some pumpkins with my siblings and then watching The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror later this evening. Before all that, let's set the mood shall we? How 'bout a little Halloween music?

First up, a podcast I've been listening to for awhile now, 'Music From 100 Years Ago' with host Brice Fuqua. Here's a link to all of the Halloween shows (and one called Autumn Songs). Also he has a short podcast featuring Berlioz 'Witches' Sabbath'. I enjoy listening to this show, not just on Halloween, but on other holidays as well. And throughout the year.

Next, one of my favorite new artists that I discovered earlier this year, Zack Bellissimo, has been posting his own Halloween mixes on his blog, Snaggle Toothsalad. Each volume is illustrated with Bellissimo's super art and as of yesterday (Sat. 29), he's posted 11 volumes. Maybe he's going for 13? Anyway, I'm a big fan of his work and I had originally planned to do a post about him in an 'Artists I Love' feature, which is something I did in my 2009 countdown. But I've been busy at other things. I will say that I love his art and you should check out his work. Go get some of his Halloween mixes or at least go look at the great covers. Here are 3 of my favorites he's posted this month.

Well, I'm off to do some pumpkin carving. I'll have a post prepared for tomorrow, as a final farewell to October *sniff*. Also have to figure out what I'm going to wear tomorrow. Ack!

Halloween Cat & Jack

This is one of my favorite new pieces that I made this year. I also did two versions. An 'old paper' style (which ended up being very subtle), and the regular clean version. I couldn't decide which one I liked best, so I just decided to post both.

Autumnal Skull

Hey Everyone! Here's a little skull piece I've been working on. I've come down with flu or something, so I don't know how much more original art will be posted. I've got one other piece that's finished and a few sketches I was hoping to get done. I had planned to make a new costume this year for Halloween, but it looks like I may have to pull out some old thing from the closet.

Posting this skull is also a good time to issue a reminder: Lost Skeleton Tribute coming soon!! Don't forget! It's going to begin on Nov. 5 and run for two weeks. So get me your skelly stuff!!

Boo Berry 2011

For the past few days, we've had the most amazing fall days here. Clear blue skies, mild temperatures, very breezy with the most beautiful fall leaves you could ever see. I've been trying to embrace these fleeting moments, because I know it will be over way too soon. Much like this month. Jeez, where has all the time gone? October is half over!

Anyway, I finally finished up my Boo Berry piece and thought that today was a good day to post it. These fantastic autumn days have been giving me flashbacks to my childhood. I remember on Saturdays like these, getting up and watching cartoons, eating a big bowl of sugary cereal, and then going outside to play all afternoon. Ah, the good ol' days.

Two years ago I drew Count Chocula for the Monster Cereal blog's fan art month. (I'm disappointed to report that the Monster Cereal's blog is no longer available. It was a fun site with all things Monster Cereal related.) I decided that I wanted to do my version of Boo Berry this year. He doesn't necessarily 'go with' my old Count piece, although I suppose he could. One year I'll try to take on all three characters at once and in the same style. My new Boo Berry borrows heavily from the actor, Peter Lorre, who undoubtedly was the inspiration for the original character in the first place.

In addition here's the first ever Boo Berry commercial:

Also: To those of you who may have been worried that I might have Monster Cereal deficiency, never you mind. I've been eating it for the past two weeks!

Oooh! New Pumpkin Spice Marshmallows!

So I happened to be at Wal-Mart this week and I just happened to see these:

At first I thought 'neat', but I wasn't going to buy them. But then I thought, what the heck, I'll try them out. They're pretty good as far as pumpkin spice flavored food goes. The taste is mild, not too overwhelming, which is nice. But be warned, you might get choked:

Although I must say, I was not seated, nor supervised during said marshmallow tasting. In addition to the 'choking warning' there's a handy little 'Tips & Ideas' feature. Here's some other things you can do with these new mallows.

I already had the idea that I would have some hot chocolate with these, but it is actually one of the suggestions. Still taste just like marshmallows, but with a hint of spice.

I also made microwave s'mores, but the pics didn't turn out. Those were okay. the mild spice of the mallows is kind of lost in the chocolate & graham crackers.

So I like these new flavored mallows. I'm even thinking that I might make some Rice Krispy bars with them.

Me & the husband went out to the movies this afternoon to see 'Captain America'. The theater was all decorated for Halloween and on the way out I took this shot:

When I took it I thought there was too much glare and that it wouldn't be a good photo. There is a lot of glare, but I like that in that glare, you can see the reflection of the fall trees. And that ghoul's face and the fall leaves are both the same mixture of red & green. I thought it was pretty cool. I'll have more original Halloween art coming soon! Keep a look out!