Carey Burns

After deliberating for a few days, I decided the optic lens wasn't right for the feel of this piece. I grabbed by last bit of Aves Apoxie Clay and created two moon shapes. While they cured, I put some of my favorite chunky vintage-style glass glitter into a plastic bowl and added Ranger Alcohol Ink in Pitch Black. I stirred the ink into the glitter but the color wasn't black, it was more of a purple. I added Teakwood and Indigo and stirred until I was happy with the color. I let it dry. Once the moons cured, I added two coats of white acrylic paint. While the paint dried, I added Distress Collage Medium (matte) to the inside corners of the coffin. I added the dry glitter and pressed it into place. I dumped out the excess glitter onto waxed paper and transferred it back into the plastic bowl. The bits of brown in the glitter make me think it is grave soil. I played around with Distress Stains in Hickory Smoke, Brushed Pewter, and Picket Fence until the moon l...

I've got another project in the works and of course, it will be perfect for Halloween or for fans of vampires. It all started with the Tim Holtz Vignette Coffin and watching Dracula (the Bela Lugosi version, of course!). Van Helsing not seeing the Count in the mirror and the Count's violent reaction were the little spark that triggered my imagination. I envisioned a grungy mirror inside the Vignette Coffin with the rays if the sun, bats, a cross, and stake... It all begins with a coffin... After thinking about cutting glass and how clumsy I am, I looked at different sheets of glass at the craft. A nice antique glass called to me and as I held it in my hands, I spotted a sheet of plexiglass. I carefully returned the glass to its niche and snatched up the plexiglass. Pinterest inspired me and I put the plexiglass over the coffin, tracing the interior edge onto the acrylic. The material was thin enough to cut with scissors. I removed the protective coating from one side an...

Shortly after Christopher Lee died, Michael DeMeng issued a challenge to create a vampire-themed assemblage piece and of course, I jumped at the chance! If you don't know who Michael DeMeng is, visit his website and behold his creations. Swoon over the details of each delightfully dark piece. Go. Now. I will wait. You're back! Good! I decided to alter a 7Gypsies tray I snagged on sale. I'd have a fake vial of vampire blood, maybe a wooden stake, and a Shrinky Dink rendering of Christopher Lee in all his Dracula glory. A not-so-scary Dracula What do they say about best laid plans? I bought a paper doll book of vampires (really, check it out ) and traced him out onto the Shrinky Dink paper. I colored him in and then popped him in the oven. He did not turn out so well. That scrapped the Shrinky Dink idea. Back to the drawing board. I had bought some buttons at the craft store that had hearts with a blade piercing them. Rust was on my mind so I painte...

So, the other day I was working on an art shrine piece and needed to use a razor blade to remove some Mod Podged tissue paper. All went well until a burr on the safe end of the blade decided it wanted to become one with my skin. My finger bled and stung and bled and throbbed. I may have made that weird sucking/hissing noise an injured person makes as they wince and I'm pretty sure I muttered a few spicy words too. I washed and bandaged my poor index finger (on my dominant hand) and kept on crafting because nobody likes a quitter. Who knew I could craft left-handed? At the end of the day, I had this lovely backdrop completed--perfect for a grisly Vlad Tepes shrine. Oh, the ideas I have! I'm very pleased with the color and "slickness" it has. This isn't my blood...honest. I can't wait to get started working on the rest of this piece and hope it is as cool as it is in my mind's eye. In the meantime, it has sparked me to pick up where I left off in m...

I think my 20K challenge for this week was a bit...optimistic.  I neglected to factor in real life, which tends to get in the way of writing a lot.  Anywho, I have made progress by finishing a short story, nearing the end of another, and creating a scene in my vampire novel where my main character meets...wait for it...Vlad Dracula.  The real, historical Dracula, with impalements and all.  I've been doing quite a bit of research on Hungary and Romania and well, it all just seemed to fit.  We'll see how it rolls in the final draft, of course. For a while I've been wanting to make PMC Silver jewelry but lacked a kiln to fire it in.  Since there's no kiln in my future, I enrolled in a continuing education class and made 2 pendants plus a bead.  I get to pick up the fired pieces next Tuesday and brush/polish them.  Once I get them home I will definitely post pictures--even if they look like silver crap. Taking the class has given me a few inspirat...