Only better. There is nothing better than prop building with your best friend.
We have these huge metal work benches, and set them up facing each other. So while I am busy carving tiny intricate details on a tombstone, he is usually doing who knows what.
But he almost always has that smile on his face, and I'm just grateful to share this awesome hobby with him. Even when we butt heads and argue, its still the greatest time in my life.
Thanks Jaybo, you make this whole thing so worth it.
So last year I watched so many people cranking out some amazing tombstones. 2010 was the year of the "Structure" so I called it, adding 4 new columns, about a million more miles of fencing, etc. I only got to make ONE all year!!
So last year, I watched and watched, all these kickass tombstones showing up on the forums one by one.
Here are some of the ones from last year that I drooled over, that have now become my inspiration for this year:
Haunt Forum's SKAustin, this one just made my fingers itch to grab the Xacto blade! 
Kevin242 (aka Brewster Yard Haunt) has several from last year that I really liked, no surprise there, though. Brewster Yard Haunt is probably the one haunt that truly got the obsession pumping in my veins. I think his was the first one that I found years ago, then Davis, and between the two, I was sunk ;)
There is a lot of inspiration in this ONE thread from Halloween Forum, a place for everyone to show off their stones.
Fellow Texan StevesHauntedYard always has something interesting going on in the tombstone department... 
Terra is an amazing tombstone artist, and has tons of stuff to see. This is one of my all time favorites of hers: (and yes, that's a Barbie doll. genius!)
And no picture gallery from 2010 would be complete without the HP Lovecraft stone from Urak-Hai, aka HectorTurner.com. I would have to say he is one of my topmost tombstone makers. I absolutely love his pieces.
Then there was Spooky Sam's popular weathering technique... My friend, JohnnyAppleseed kicked out some really good stones last year, THEN RoxyBlue did a post about her trip to Gettysburg along with amazing pictures, then after finding out what a huge Civil War buff I am, sent me a CD in the mail with ALL of the pictures! (Thank you again Roxy and Spooky1, that was the thrill of my YEAR!), and last but certainly not least, Davis Graveyard. When you actually asked to teach your own class on Making Tombstones at Hauntcon, I don't think you need much else by way of introduction.
But in case you missed some of the vacation/UK graveyard pictures, start here, and just spend all day perusing. Go to here to see the Davis stones.
A lot of inspiration. I have been chomping at the bit for over one year now. So, let the pink snowstorm begin, this will be my year of the tombstone!
Normally I go to my huge folder of stolen internet pictures of tombstones.... I have them categorized by shape size, there's a special folder just for interesting textures and weathering differences. Some are from forums, some are from blog posts, some are from all of Chris Davis' holidays to the most exciting hauntish type places I could imagine.... but no matter how big the folder is, sometimes I need new meat to chew on.
I have tried every Google Image search term I can think of to get new and interesting results. Old tombstone, crumbling gravestone, churchyard markers, old obelisks, tombstone carvings, etc.
But today I came across something I had not seen before, and after a good chuckle, knew I had to share it.
From the Sears and Roebuck catalog - I don't see a date. But after about 5 minutes of squinting to read all that I could - I can tell ya that at $46.78 for the large column style up there, I would say that back then, they could build them out of "The World's Best Royal Blue Vermont Marble" for only slightly more than I can build them out of "Home Depot's Best Pinkish/Purple Foam" now-a-days.
Love it.
Just came across something from Google that I am no doubt in love with...
It's kind of like Google Maps, only instead of interactively moving around city streets, It's called Google Body and you are interactively looking at bones.
Click on the picture to go to Google Body, play with the sliders and have a blast. This will come in handy when making bones, yanno?!
Sorry, I just realized I posted boy bits up there. Interestingly enough, Google chose to put little daisies over the girl bits, but not the boys. Hmm. I don't know what I think that means!
Happy Building, folks!
Image source: Jason Grant Photography
See that gorgeous building up there? That’s the Baker Hotel. The heart of my small hometown, Mineral Wells, Texas. It no longer beats. It was built in the 20’s and has sat vacant since the 60’s. You see my town used to be a thriving resort town. People from all over the country would come to drink the miraculous healing mineral waters. They called it Crazy Water, because it could heal the insane. The story goes that a female member of one our founding families was cured of insanity when she drank the water. Curious enough, years later they actually found lithium in the water. A compound used to treat the mentally ill. 
Image source: Jason Grant Photography <--------(Cool slide show with more photos)
That huge monolith of a building sits right in the middle of the small town. To say it’s an odd site is an understatement. The town only has a population of about 16,000. The entire county only has a population of about 30,000. So, it has a tendency to stop people in their tracks when they drive through our small town. Everyone wants to know how this huge ornate building came to exist out here in the middle of nowhere.
Middle of nowhere. Nowhere. That’s where I’m from.
*SIGH*
That’s the problem. When the Baker Hotel died, my town slowly started dying. Our heart quit beating. People left and didn’t come back. Other people forgot who we were. Then they opened up the new Interstate 20 Highway, which bypassed our town. Now people even forgot where we were.
Middle of nowhere.
Why am I telling you guys about this? How is this Halloween or Haunt related? Well, it’s a nice story for any haunt and it has a lot of inspiring haunt related scenery. Call it inspiration if you want. Anyone ever rode the Tower of Terror at Disney? Well, you are looking at a real life version. Supposedly, the place is haunted now. Really, the place just means a lot to me and I want to spread the word.
Good news! There may be hope for the Baker. A group of investors wants to restore the hotel. I’m not jumping up and down about the news yet, because our town has been burned in the past. So, I am cautiously optimistic and will be watching closely. A high school classmate is producing a film exploring “ the unique history & characters of Mineral Wells while also focusing on The Baker Hotel’s rise, demise, and much-anticipated present-day restoration.”
Take a look at the preview of the film below:
Do you hear that?
I swear I heard the faint sound of a heartbeat.
Hi all, Dawn here. (I have to make that VERY clear, due to the nature of the next sentence) Just getting home from the fabulous after parties, removing my diamond earrings, stiletto heels and furs.... downing the last of the champagne and.... oh wait. That's one of those HOLLYWOOD after-the-award-show party nights. This was an awards show given on the internet, and attended by Jayson and myself, sitting on the couch barefoot, and the after party was washing the dinner dishes.
What awards show, you ask? Noooo, you didnt really ask that, because you, my friend, already know. You read the forums, follow the blogs, especially the blogs by these fine folks
and of course,
So, if you have been following them, you knew that tonight was the big night. (Click the link below if you have not gotten your copy of the Home Haunter DVD Collection yet, they are back in stock.... for NOW, anyways!)
And let me just say. Zach and Jeromy did a kickass job on this award show/vlog/thing. It was thoroughly awesome to watch!
What a killer way to announce the winners. Absolute anticipation. I loved it!! I think it should be the mandatory style of announcing the winners from now on. (Of course, I didnt have to put in the labor to produce the video, I just watched it, haha)
OH. And they had an amazing cast as well! I would definitely say there is some star potential here.........
There's a green arrow pointing to the fabulous Envelope Presenter Zombie just because she was so darn awesome. They even had Chris Baker doing the intro voice over. Star studded, I tell ya.
If you haven't seen the video yet, you must not be home. If for some reason you ARE home and still missed it, click on any of the screen shots above and go straight to the Bloodshed Brothers youtube. Make sure you are wearing your diamonds.
As for the judges - thank you. All of us thank you for your consideration, and the time involved in such hard decisions.
And Chris and Jeff, Mr. and Mrs. Davis, I have gushed all over both of you in the last few weeks, but it's just very touching to me, everything that you both do for the community. Your constant encouragement to so many of us, help, generosity - the time it took to do all this, and the program that you are doing to help get these DVDs into the hands of haunters that would otherwise miss them.... it just amazes me, and I am very appreciative, and glad to call you friends.
Last but certainly not least - to the winners. So well deserved. I would have hated to be a judge, because my number of FAVORITES well outweighed the number of awards. There is a lot of talent out there in our little haunting community, a lot. Congratulations to all of the winners, your work has really paid off! Several of the winners are folks that I talk to regularly online, and are really good people, I could not be more pleased with the results. Well done!
I swear, this night was ALMOST as exciting as 10-31 for me - I'm still on that high from watching it 2 or 3 times. Now I'm going to go try and wrangle the DVD set from Jayson and start over again with Disc 1, and go from there!
