Visit www.gothtober.com and click on Day 13
Ms. Nockels brings to us this fine 13th of Gothtober an instructional on how to make your very own enchanting, creepy little paper souls out of office supplies.
Offices can be places for roiling productivity, but more often than not, offices inspire naps, or checking one’s Facebook, or visiting the break room about 20 times in a half an hour. In offices, hard work is expected to be demonstrated through measurable, tangible results yet sometimes… you just gotta do something else. The protestant work ethic can only take you so far, and access into the more abstract world of the mind is a haven. The conceptual narnia of an office is a place where stuff from the supply closet can be so much more, it can be art.
The lines that come from Christine’s pen are fed from a netherworld of passion and heart that fortune 500 companies will never understand or harness. Her work is not meant to be part of a pivotal piece of a company’s continued growth and success, her work is meant to exist and be seen. Art is undervalued in our society, but the expression of human mind and senses is always what people cling to when times are tough. Luckily, artists can’t help themselves and keep stubbornly making art, even while also working day jobs.
Here then, is a way for you to blow off some office steam, stop processing papers and start making things out of papers! Feeling lonely? Make a paper friend! If you don’t like them, you can always incinerate them later. Christine Nockels makes lots of great art, go see some of it, we are especially fond of her series of US Presidents eating hot dogs.
By the skin of our teeth no less, and with a few glitches here and there, but hey: The calendar is here! Big thanks to our programmer, Jesse, wooooo!
So already we have a fabulous project in store for you, visit Gothtober.com and click on DAY 1, you’ll have opportunity to download a needlepoint pattern for you all the way from Louisiana! Nicole LaBranche, a graphic designer for film and TV, who also runs Spot Colors, a shop in New Orleans, makes needlepoint patterns for the 21st century. If you are frightened of clowns eating you in the night, maybe this needlepoint will ensure that you’ll never sleep again. Who could forget the menacing and utterly terrible Pennywise the Clown?
Nicole made this Pennywise pattern especially for Gothtober, she’s been so busy with her shop and freelance projects, she hasn’t had a moment to actually sit down and stitch Pennywise, but that’s where YOU come in! If you sew this creepiest of clowns, will you send us a photo? Nightmares made REAL!
I grew up with my grandmother, mom, and aunts all crafting around me and so I was taught early on how to cross stitch. I res-erected that knowledge about a year ago when my mom gave me and my sister all her old supplies. I wanted to combine graphic design and cross stitch and I wanted to make more modern designs. I just started making my own patterns and kits but I am loving it and I think they are getting better and more fun as I get into the swing of it. The Pennywise Clown is a hand drawn illustration, drawn by me, I think he came out really cute and I got my inspiration from my sister and her love (and almost obsession) with Stephen King novels.
This October 17th-19th Nicole will have a booth set up at the Fear Fete Horror Festival in Biloxi, Mississippi which she’s very excited about. As for her store, she has lots of cute and unique halloween handmade items and gifts. So if you’re in the area, go check it out, lots of gee gaws for your hee haws.
Happy Monday! To start off the week, Dianne Chadwick made you a BOARD GAME!!! OmigoshOmigosh how fun is THAT?!? All you have to do is visit DAY 7 on Gothtober.com and download the game, follow the instructions, and you’re ready to experience the thrill of victory, or the agony of defeat. The game is called “Trick or Treat” and it consists of three pages that you print out, cut and assemble. It’s for players 5 and up, Dianne used her very own 5-year-old as her test subject, and said that
He loved it, but mostly just wanted to eat the candy.
Dianne wanted to make a game that you can pretty much play anywhere, all you really need is access to candy and coffee container lids (to serve as “cauldrons”) Here’s some info from the official “box instructions” of the game
It’s Halloween and mischief is in the air! Collect as much candy as you can and return home before your house is trashed by marauding tricksters!
One of the great things about this game is that if you lose game pieces, no worries. Just head to the snack bar and purchase some more jelly beans. Dianne hasn’t played this game with four people yet, so if you want to give feedback or tell us how you did playing “Trick or Treat” with four or more players, let us know. You should be able to extend game play by acquiring more candy. “Trick or Treat” can be played at the park, at recess, during your lunch hour, on the train, practically anywhere, it’s made for travel. We’ll be playing the game at CraftNight (at Akbar) this week, thanks Dianne for giving us this very clever and beautifully designed diversion for the Halloween holiday!
From world famous internationally known and celebrated graphic designer for film and television comes Dianne Chadwick’s excellent downtrodden and hopelessly gloomy needlepoint project! Is your mausoleum feeling too cheery? Are lighthearted and gleeful sentiments seeping into your sarcophagus? Well banish the warmth and joy once and for all with this absolutely capricious and morosely lovely craft project! This wonderful design contains a “down home sophistication” with its swirls that harken back to a more ornate time period, while also staying focused on the important things like skulls, crows and bats.
We made sure to launch it on the Calendar on the 3rd, to give you plenty of time to download the pattern by clicking on Pumpkin #3 on The Gothtober Countdown Calendar, then geting your supplies and sewing your heart out before Halloween!
We’ve even given you enough time to make this if you’ve never done needlepoint before. Now is a swell time to try a new hobby, start today! AND if you want to see more of Ms. Chadwick’s awesome Halloween-oriented art, take yourself to October Shadows on October 13th Mountain View Mausoleum, 2300 N. Marengo Avenue in Altadena, CA 91001 It’s a big fat showcase of artists from the worlds of fine art, comics, film, TV and animation! The show will run each Saturday and Sunday from 10am – 3pm through November 3rd.
And, speaking of Halloween, it’s time to start thinking about your Halloween costume! Have you been brainstorming? While you sit and work on your needlepoint, have a conversation with yourself about what you’re going to wear at all those costume parades you’re sure to march in this autumn.
The hot ticket predictions (According to the National Costume Prognostication Society) you’ll be seeing this October 2012 will be (of course) Obama and Romney lookalikes, followed by PSY, the Korean Rapper who hit the big time with “Gangam Style” and you’ll probably see a lot of Lady Gagas, Nicki Manajs or Kim Kardashians. If you’re looking for big cash at the costume ball, avoid these, they’ll already be everywhere. Of course, if you’re going to rock Gangam Style, show up with the entire cast of characters (or even just the dude in yellow with the bowl cut) from the video and blow everyone away with your awesome dance moves. Bring 12 blowing fans to make it authentic!
It is also a fact that pet owners nationwide spend about $370 million on costumes for their furry friends. If you have somehow gotten yourself embroiled in a high stakes pet costume contest: steer away from the hot dog, devil or pumpkin, as those are the most popular. Go for robot, taco or “Alpine Girl” and you’ll have more luck.
Anyway, get back to your “Gloom Sweet Gloom” needlepoint, and we’ll discuss this more later…
If you’re on a diet, or 3D gives you a headache, then Day 4 is for you! Need some choice material for your next book report, or just looking to curl up by the fire with a good read? Check out Xochitl Oliva’s “Scary Stories for Monsters Large and Small,” a comprehensive reading list compiled by an ACTUAL LIBRARIAN. Yes, this one’s professionally certified! From spooky picture books for your tiny tots, to chilling tomes for the grownups (including a certain popular zombie book), Xochitl’s got your literary needs covered.
But wait, there’s more! You can also download cut+color Monster Mash Puppet Crafts designed by Juliana Sankaran-Felix. You get TWO features in ONE day! Now, that’s the value-added service you’ve come to expect from Gothtober. Enjoy!
Go to Gothtober now!