Face Off Episode Three

Hello Everyone! Sorry I've been pretty absent lately. I've been feeling really really lousy lately. I actually woke up with another migraine today. However Face Off was on last night and I *really* wanted to do my post. Have you been enjoying the season of Face Off as much as I have? Last night's episode was not one of my favorites. While body painting is cool, it really isn't anything amazing, I like the monsters better.

Rock your body. Yeah I knew from the get go this was going to be a body painting challenge. Shame Nix got the ax last episode. This would have been a moment for him to shine.

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The foundation challenge for this episode was unique. Each randomly selected team were given a model with amazing contacts. Each artist got 15 minutes to work on a character based on the contacts the model was wearing. After the 15 minutes were up the artist ran back  to their team and tagged in their team mate. It was a very very odd sort of relay race. Each artist went through twice, trying to create this character. The models were hidden behind a divider so the other team members couldn't see the creature in progress. This meant the first artist had to make the vision clear form the start. The four looks were a zombie, a "star princess", an alien, and a demon. Can I just point out that Brea was a complete fail with her "star princess" concept? This was the only picture I could find. Now imagine this with a blue bob wig! It looked like my 6 year old playing dress up. *shakes head* The alien won, and Beki scored immunity for the spotlight challenge. 

The spotlight challenge was to create album cover art for hip-hop artist Asher Roth's upcoming album, Is This Too Orange? (side note I have *no* clue who Asher Roth is...) Each randomly selected team of two were given a background to choose with two nude models. Each artist could only work on their model so the concept had to be solid. One model was going to be a blend job, while the other was a 'character' interacting with the backdrop.

Tara & Jerry: They chose a black and white backdrop. The concept was a tagger painting the line "Is This Too Orange?". Yeah... no color, no contrast, and Tara's paint job was really transparent.

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Sue and Heather got the weirdest backdrop of all, a skateboarding elephant? They created another elephant handing the skateboarding one a peanut, while the blend is supporting the elephant.

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Race and Beki had a very dark and dismal scene. It's a dank, secluded barn, with a noose hanging in the middle. These two went very conceptual with a bright orange character trying to rescue the background from a dark fate. Honestly? I don't get it.

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Ian and Miranda had a very simple back drop, a park bench. They had a really hard time coming up with a concept and I think they seriously flopped. This was a vague attempt and being very safe, and they didn't even manage that. Ian's paint job was good but Miranda's blend was awful.

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RJ and Athena also went very conceptual with their pool background. Their models are throwing chakra balls at each other. (I actually got this one) I love their paint job.

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Brea and Matt ended up with the most complex backdrop, a wall full of shoes. Matt simply blows me away with his blend job here. He fashioned a stencil for the shoes and you actually lose his model in the background. Admittedly I was not impressed with Brea's basketball player. It wasn't anything to write home about. 15 minutes before the challenge was over Brea's model collapsed from dehydration and had to be rushed to a hospital. She got a second model and a second chance but that meant another 6 hours painting for a very long 12 hour day.

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Needless to say Brea and Matt took the day. Matt ended up winning the challenge for his amazing blend work with the wall of shoes. Ian and Miranda were the worst group of the night and they sent Miranda home. I honestly felt Jerry and Tara's was far worse. Oh well... that's two weeks in a row for Matt. His work is impressive.

Rumor has it Tom Savini is the guest judge next week! I simply cannot wait. I love his work. Here is a sneak peak of next week's horror monster challenge. Have a Terrible Thursday and hopefully I'll be feeling well enough to get a couple more posts in this week.

BOOTS!

Hello My Children of the Night.

Sorry I missed yesterday. Honestly I've spent the last few days feeling rather under the weather. I'm still not at 100% today but I couldn't justify another day off.

Today I'm going to share with you a little alteration job I did. As you know (or may not) I am a Plus Sized Princess (PSP) and this, at times, can make buying clothing difficult. It makes buying tall boots damn near impossible. About two years ago I had a lovely woman offer to sell me a pair of thigh high boots fairly cheap. She couldn't wear them and so wanted to get rid of them. Knowing they didn't fit her I have *no* clue what possessed me to say I'd buy them. These became an obsession. Over two long years we traded jabs and pokes, Facebook messages, and only heaven knows what else over these damnable shoes. I finally bought them off of her, got them home, and *shock* they didn't fit! I was not to be detered though. I am the queen of alterations. There is nothing I can't fix so i set to fixing these.

Here is what I started with (sorry no actual before picture)

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and here is my after!

 

As  you can see I did some alteration. There was a seam down the back of the boot. I took a *very* sharp pair of Gingher sewing scissors and split that seam. I then inserted a panel of stretchy lace 7" by 12" into the opening creating a rather sizable gusset. IN the picture you can see the lace peeking behind the laces.

After I inserted the gusset ( I own a Husqvarna Viking machine that went through that vinyl like buttah) I started to add the eyelets. The eyelets are large 1/4" eyelets. There are 15 up the sides of each boot, so 30 per boot.

Finally I bought 3 yards of ribbon and laced it up the back of these boots. They are insane. Why a 5'11" woman needs 6" thigh highs I have no clue but I cannot wait to wear them. They have become a source of joy and pride. I'm the only one who owns a pair that looks just like this.

Have a Terrible Tuesday and thank you for reading. Leave a comment with the craziest alteration you ever did to a article of clothing.

Vampire Mani

Hello to my Children of the Night!

I am  very glad to hear that the blackout protesting SOPA/PIPA was so successful. Today I added a little something to my http://originalzombiemadam.blogspot.com/2012/01/oh-black-polish-youre-still-my-favorite.html mani.

I love... no I ADORE vampires. Everything about them. The myth and legacy, the movies and books, after all who wouldn't want to live forever? I will put the note here that I am a fan of the Anne Rice style Southern Gothic vamp. This also includes your True Blood vampires as well.  *ahem* Vampires do NOT sparkle!

I originally saw this concept as a tribute to True Blood and I really can't remember where (I mean no disrespect) and knew I just had to try it. The lips should have been a true red but instead I went a little brighter with a mini of Lancome Vernis Absolu in Extrovert. The teeth were done with a Sally Hanson nail art pen in white. I am very proud of this one. 

I went to dinner with a girlfriend that night who had to have a picture of it. She asked my why I don't work in a nail salon *blushes*. Honestly folks I've been doing the nail art thing for about 6 months. I highly doubt too, I could find myself a salon where I wouldn't have to paint pretty little flowers and I don't do (as of yet) pretty little flowers.

I probably won't post again until next week so y'all have an amazing weekend and I'll see you again on Morbid Monday.

Face Off Episode Two

Greetings Children of the Night!

Last night was episode two of season two of Face Off. Can I just say this entire episode was a hot mess! I love the concept of the underwater creature. I spent a little over a year working for an aquarium and have lived near the water all my life. I am a fish nerd! I have never been to the Aquarium of the Pacific but now I'm dying to go.

Each team of two (which was chosen at random) had to go into the aquarium and find a creature that inspired them. I was amused with many of the choices and saw some real promise in the Zebra Shark and  The Leafy Sea Dragon. I was rather confused at first with the choice of the sea turtle by Jerry and Nix and the lyretail fairy basslet by Tara and Matt. They both seemed very safe choices. Here is the breakdown:

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Jerry and Nix: They chose the sea turtle. During the previous challenge they were at each others throats. This time they acknowledged the others strengths and managed to work well together. I think Ve Neil said it best though. Their creature was a turd-le. The paint job had a cartoonish quality and once the model hit the water the shell fell off leading the entire creature falling apart. 


Ian and RJ: They chose the Zebra shark. These two took a different angle and turned it into a character. They created a shark/lawyer (get it? Yeah, I know, lame). They too fell apart when they hit the water. The judges also questioned the decison to cover the body with a suit instead of painting it. 


Beki and Miranda: These two... oh someone let out the b*tch this episode. They were attacking each other the *entire* episode.  They were one of two teams that created a leafy sea dragon. While it appeared to be a total fail on land, in the water the extra fabric fluttered and looked amazing. 


Rayce, Sue, and Brea - After winning last week, Brea got to choose the group she joined. This was the other team to do a leafy sea dragon. I personally found their creation dull and completely unimaginative. 

Heather and Athena - They went with a lion fish. Heather has a background in Marine Biology and is in love with the lion fish. This team kept it simple and created a lion fish instead a fish/human hybrid like the other teams. When the fins they had created weren't working, they scrapped them. Both members of the team were concerned it would affect their score negatively, it didn't. 

Matt and Tara - This final pair went with a fish called a lyretail fairy basslet, a small fish with a striking magenta color. Their sculpting job was incredible but the edges of the appliances were rough and Tara covered them with swatches of iridescent fabric, cut to look like scales. Matt wasn't sold on the idea but the judges loved it. That was one of the selling points of their winning design.

Matt and Tara won the challenge and Matt eneded up winning this round for "contributing the defining conceptual piece." Sadly, Nix was sent home. Guess I'll have to find a new favorite. 


I was intrigued by the amount of drama they left in this episode but I was a bit disappointed they didn't go into more detail of the actual mechanics of making make-up and prosetics water proof. 


Here a clip of next week's episode.

Going Black against SOPA

The freedom, innovation, and economic opportunity that the Internet enables is in jeopardy. Congress is considering legislation that will dramatically change your Internet experience and put an end to reddit and many other sites you use everyday. Internet experts, organizations, companies, entrepreneurs, legal experts, journalists, and individuals have repeatedly expressed how dangerous this bill is. If we do nothing, Congress will likely pass the Protect IP Act (in the Senate) or the Stop Online Piracy Act (in the House), and then the President will probably sign it into law. There are powerful forces trying to censor the Internet, and a few months ago many people thought this legislation would surely pass. However, there’s a new hope that we can defeat this dangerous legislation.

http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h3261/show 

Oh Black Polish, You're Still My Favorite

Greetings my children of the night!

I know, I know it's a bit cliche but I adore black polish. There is just something vampy and sexy and mysterious about black nails. There is just a little tinge of bad girl about it too. After all, black is not exactly your grandmother's polish color. 

For Christmas my mom gave me (in addition to a beautiful set of nail art brushes) a set of three Orly mini polishes. These were all from the new Orly holiday soiree collection. I got a mini Ma Cherie, Oui, and Androgynie. Oh how much I really adore Androgynie. Eventually I’ll end up doing posts about Oui (a purple jelly base with a gold shimmer) and Ma Cherie (a jelly red) but this… this… oh it takes black to a WHOLE NEW LEVEL. 

Sun

Shade

It has silver and gold micro-glitter and larger multi-colored hex glitters in a smoky black base. These pictures are two coats of Nail Life Gripper, two coats of Androgynie over one coat of Sinful colors Black on Black. Then one coat of Sally Hanson Top Coat.  While this color can stand alone, it takes three or four coats. I found it a smidge hard to work with because all the lovely larger hex glitters settled to one side of the bottle and I’m having a hard time getting them out. However if that is the worst I can say about this color… I’m sold. The polish itself has a beautiful texture, not at all gritty. That's why I only needed one coat of Top Coat.

In the shade picture you can really see all of the hex glitter. It may be a few days before I do another nail post. I'm not taking this off for awhile.  


Have an amazing Terrifying Tuesday.

Zombie Toes

Hello Everyone! Happy Morbid Monday and  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. day. Today is going to be a *really* short post. I'm working on another project that I'll post here soon and it's taking longer than I thought.

Here is the final pictures of the pedi that I did to match the zombie crackle nails. As you can see the rest of the toes are black. I'm rather pleased with Sinful Colors Black on Black, it's a good basic black without spending too much money. I really like the effect. I think it emphasizes the 'cracked' look.

Take today and do something good for someone else. :-) Pay it forward