The Match Factory

New Photos

2008-10-04T13:45:00.002-05:00

When I was in Ottawa I got smeared up in some crazy grease paint and took some new pictures of my wigs for Etsy.

The pics turned out pretty well. I'm going to be able to use these for a lot of things.

I linked to Esty over in the side bar there.... check out the new pics.

Ummmm.. Yeah, they are

2008-09-30T17:32:00.000-05:00

GO READ THIS!

2008-09-29T14:07:00.001-05:00

Seriously, go read Yarn Harlot's blog post for Sept 29, 2008.

http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/

Yep, one ordinary Canadian here as well thinking that Mr. Harper seems to have lost his freakin' mind.

I'm back....

2008-09-28T09:32:00.005-05:00

I'm home... and it's Fall! Crazy. Some of the trees in my yard are even naked and I missed the entire thing. Some look like this.

This looks like what may survive of the harvest of the mystery plant of '08. Every year there seems to be something sprout in the compost. This year it was pumkin with the biggest, craziest vine I have ever seen. It was HUGE! Most of the fruit got blossom end rot but I did save this four beauties. I wonder if they will ripen? If they don't, they still look like a whole lot of chicken food. Of course Garm is home with me and demanding as ever. I missed him too.

When I checked on the 'Girls. I found the most amazing brown egg ever. My friends who looked after them for the two weeks said someone had started laying brown eggs. Wow, they are super pretty. If I figure out who is laying these, she may be a candidate to over winter. I'm thinking it's the Moran, she's the only odd one out, and she hadn't started laying yet.

More of the Same

2008-09-25T09:26:00.002-05:00

We're done. There will be tech run through and set up but that's not my gig. Today is clean up my gear, get organized and do some shopping. This is the winter stock up, I may not be back to the city for a while. Casual trips are seriously curtailed with the cost of gas these days.

I am supposed to get some pics sent of Saunders up and running. I'll be sure to post them here as soon as I get them. So, I leave you with a parting shot... I'll be back next week, back working in my own studio.

A Day Outside

2008-09-24T09:09:00.009-05:00

Sort, clean, finish. That was yesterday and should be our day today. We finished the Pirate Cove, The Chainsaw Cabin and the Train Platform. If you ever wonder what needs to be drug around to achieve a day like this, have a look.

Today, before we head out, we're cleaning the car!

The Pirate Cove was updated with a few things like this.

Then there's a Train Platform. The gag being the train that is bearing down on the wagon a little way's down the road.

Then, there is a Chain Saw cabin. I don't think a haunted ride can happen without a chainsaw scare? Not for the faint of heart, we started out kind of plain, still daytime friendly. Then, not so much....

More of the same today.....

And now for something completely different...

2008-09-23T08:32:00.007-05:00

What's the title quote from? Does anyone remember? I'm thinking Monty Python but I'm really not sure.

We finished up in the barn yesterday. There are a few technical things that are going to have to be gone back over, but the dressing is done. It looks FAB. Of course, all the great stuff is impossible to get pics of, but trust me, it looks really good.

The end of the afternoon was sunny and beautiful. So to try and blow off some of the dust and unmentionable dirt from a day in the barn, Matt and I spent a little bit of time decorating the courtyard. I think it's a good transition into the Haunted Barn, a little bit of Halloween but still cute for the families who are still walking through. Of course, the fact that I consider putting a silly hat on a skeleton cute may reflect some over exposure to gore on my part lately! I'm not sure if I should be disturbed or not, as I'm laughing at the string of skulls I just put together.

Fresh air Tuesday, back to "Zey Pirates". Fun stuff planned for there.

The Haunted Barn

2008-09-19T20:17:00.004-05:00

We have put in some long hours on the haunted barn. Things are looking really good, but not quite done yet. The plan was to get it done today. That just didn’t happen. Things always take longer than what you think.

I’m at my Grandfather’s for the weekend and outside on the line are a couple of shredded sheets I dyed in a dip bath. They weren’t dry when I left the farm so I bundled them up and brought them here to dry. I wonder what the neighbours think they are?

These pics are of the barn interior, they aren’t the best. Things are lit with a lot of coloured floods, flickering lights and strobes on hidden switches. The overall look is really effective. There are also alot of different textures and levels to walk on that are disconcerting. All in all, people are going to be scared!

Ze Pirates, zey are coming!

2008-09-18T08:38:00.005-05:00

I spent the entire day yesterday in hip waders working on the Pirate Cove. It really is amazing how much work it is to walk through knee deep water all day lugging heavy bits and going up and down ladders. I feel like I've entered one of those reality work out and loose weight quick shows. Don't I need a 'target' dress or something? I think my hip waders will have to do!

Things are looking good though.

Fluorescent Paint is a Wonderful Thing

2008-09-17T08:49:00.007-05:00

Two scenes are done now on the outdoor Haunted Hayride. The Toxic Dump and the skeleton playground. The playground is really some drive by interest on a quieter stretch of road. The skeletons on that section are 1/4 scale, something that's not obvious in the pictures. The Toxic Dump is full scale. That was a lot of fun, climbing on the irrigation pipes they have assembled, hanging around throwing paint on things. All of this will be lit with black lights so the fluorescent colours will sing.

Saunders Farm

2008-09-16T07:45:00.002-05:00

Well, I'm here in Ottawa for a two week stint working at Saunders Farm with my friend Matt Ficner. I have to apologize for not getting any good pictures yesterday, the place is HUGE and I was working to take everything in and still get work done. There are now, about 4 finished scenes in the haunted barn. I'll try and get pics today.

Beading Workshop

2008-09-10T17:40:00.005-05:00

Last night I went to a Beading Class held by Connie Boyd of the Silver Moccasin. Our teacher was Hank Rodgers whose beadwork is just beautiful. Check out some of his stuff. It's going to be a long time and a whole lot of practise to even begin to live up to his work after one little three hour class. Thanks Hank and thanks to you Connie for putting this all together.

This is Hank and Connie hard at work.

These are some of Hanks moccasins. (Photo credit goes to Connie at the Silver Moccasin.)

and really.. what's a fun class without sharing it with friends. Thanks for getting me out of the house for this one Val!

Etsy

2008-09-05T01:04:00.003-05:00

I haven't put much up about my Etsy shop lately. Mostly because I haven't had much time to work on it. Back to it though, it's September, time for a fresh start. Check it out.

Etsy
Buy Handmade
TheMatchFactory

Fall Fair Time

2008-09-03T18:09:00.002-05:00

I can't believe it's September! I guess the only thing to do is get ready for the fair. I always try and enter a few things in hand crafts area. I enjoy looking at what everyone else is up to so I should contribute as well, right? Umm.. yeah, see that picture, the one with the wet afghan pinned out and drying? I'm about to go get a fan to speed up the drying process so I'm sure to have it ready to enter tomorrow. Nothing like doing things ahead?!

An update Shot

2008-08-27T13:35:00.006-05:00

It seems like I am getting some interested people checking things out since I did the Talk of the Town on CBC radio. That's great! I've never thought that having chickens was that unusual but if the exposure means that one more person is willing to try it, that's great. That would be one less household counting the days back to see if they can expect to be very very ill after eating something bad.

A couple of things, I'm not an expert but I've been smart enough to pick the ear of some people that are. My Dad kept chickens when I was growing up, he's been the major source of support for this entire project. I'm sure he has pains whenever he picks up the phone and hears, "So, what ya doin' tomorrow?" The other wonderful source of information for me has been a man named Jim Hopkins. Jim has forgotten more this week about birds than I even know! He has been a major force in resurrecting the Chantecler which in all the photos are the white birds. I also got my Moran and the Wells Summer Cross birds from him. I figure, why start trying not to eat factory meat by buying chicks from a factory farm?

So this is part of my flock of 16. Front and centre is the female W/S cross, behind her is her hatch mate and rooster. I can't get over how beautiful he is becoming. I think he's going to be one of the birds I overwinter for sure. He's beautiful, and HUGE! If there's a baby-daddy in there, he should be it. To the left, the black and white barred chicken is a Moran, which I know nothing about really. The group on the right are the rescue chickens I got when a local lady wasn't able to look after her flock anymore. They are 'barnies' really. I would think Araucana crossed with Bantam birds. Most of them are quite small but the colouring is similiar to the Araucana and they lay blue eggs which is pretty distinctive of that breed.

The other thing I am working on is their run. See how they have stripped it entirely of anything green. I really should let them out to free range but I'm just a little too nervous of the local critters. I have a few of everything (coons, fox, local house cats to name a few) and the other thing is that my property is not very remote and quiet. I really don't want to annoy the neighbours (I think they already think I'm a little crazy?!) So, I try and feed them something fresh everyday, greens from around the yard, the cabbage in the crisper that looks kind of suspect. It's into jelly season so they have been getting a fair bit of jelly leftovers like chokecherry seeds and such. Next summer I hope to have a second run that I can alternate back and forth to. This year, I'm pretty happy with what I've gotten done.

So, short version, pretty birds. I'm happy with them and don't believe all the negative stuff. They don't stink, they don't peck each other to death. They are quite fun to watch really, each of them have a little character of their own. Give it a try!

CBC

2008-08-25T06:38:00.001-05:00

Hey everybody! I'm going to be doing Talk of the Town on CBC radio this morning. Coolio! It really is amazing to see, even with the little bit of effort, what this blog has brought to me. Contacts and conversations with people completely outside of my everyday sphere.

I like the interwebs.

Wish me luck!

D'oh!

2008-08-22T12:24:00.003-05:00

I have seen the error in my ways. Not having a link to my favourite place to hang out, the best coffee in town and the unending supply of entertainment is horribly remiss.

Check out Chat Noir Books. Owned and run by the fabulous Jennifer Fournier and Paul McClaren this is a place of sanity and some damn fine coffee. Also, for a fun time, check out their blog. You never know who is going to be coming through town and available for general adoration and swooning.

and please leave a message at the beep......

Zombies are fun...

2008-08-15T16:02:00.000-05:00

It's Done!

2008-08-07T11:23:00.006-05:00

Tadah.... I would like to show off the awesome new chicken tractor my Dad and I built over the last two weeks. Otherwise known as the little red tractor and the MPU (mobile poulty unit).

I'm really pleased with the whole setup. For the first time in this entire chicken adventure I did have to go and buy some lumber. Six whole 2/4's. Of course, I am already lined up for several days working on the saw mill this fall to replenish the lumber pile over at Dad's house.

Right now there are three very freaked out chickens hanging out in there. I was going for four but, I gave up on catching another one. Just too stressfull for every one involved.

By the way, those ladies don't look any bigger than last time I put their pictures up, but take my word for it. They are signifigantly bigger.

So, what project next....

What I did today

2008-08-04T21:48:00.002-05:00

-laundry, it was nice and sunny out to dry on the line
-fed chickens, gathered eggs
-brought an entire load full of garbage to the dump out of my basement. I'm sorry, it went to landfill but just because there is too much stuff in the world does not mean it had to live in my basement
-got more sand for the chicken run (grit)
-worked on the chicken tractor (it's almost done!)
-pruned the tree over the driveway (finally)
-visited with a friend
-lunched
-fed the chickens their greens (dandelion)
-poked at the compost (does this count as productive?)
-dined on local bison and fresh homegrown veggies (thanks Jenn & Paul!)
-squished my dog (mental health time)
-didn't feel like writing a real blog post... goodnight!

Pretty.....

2008-07-30T11:03:00.000-05:00

Etsy and Me

2008-07-27T01:32:00.000-05:00

I have been working to get some more things up on my Etsy site. One of the definite challenges is photo editing. I'm not very good at it but I'd like to think I'm getting better. Currently I'm using GIMP which seems to be a really decent open source software. (Down with microsft!)

First step, what to shoot. I had this waspie I made a while back to test out a pattern and it's prototypes like that which I intend to clear out of here. So I found the closest, cheapest, most available model and got myself dressed and cleaned up a bit.

Second step, figure out the timer. HA! At the time I only seemed to be able to set a 10 second delay. So I spent a while screwing around, hitting the button on the tripod and leaping back and trying to get stationary before the flash. Yeah... sure. Much leaping about being a goof ball, laughing my butt off. But finally I figured there's got to be a shot in there I can edit down to something. I had no intention of this shot really being about me but rather edited down to show the waspie.

Third step, download and laugh. One shot, I looked so stunned I laughed and laughed out loud at. So, not being particularily proud I sent it on to my friend Matt so he could laugh as well. Now this is Matt Ficner of the Creepy Puppet Project, so he is swamped with the fabulous response he's getting from the latest, Dusty Zombie.

Fourth, open mouth in amazement. A couple of hours later I checked my email to find me, 'touched up' and looking rather fab if I do say so myself. Fierce. I may just use this photo for everything....

Unbelievable

2008-07-25T13:25:00.002-05:00

Dusty Zombies has made it past 10 000 hits. Freakin' awesome!

Check it out if you haven't seen it.

Creepy Puppet Project

2008-07-22T20:00:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone. Look at what's up! Watch for Tubbs, he's the best.

Etsy!

2008-07-22T17:49:00.001-05:00

So, I finally did it. I opened an Etsy shop. Etsy is a venue for people to sell their hand made goods. The quality of craftmanship that can be found on Etsy really is astounding. I grovel at the feet of some of the artists who's work I have oogled. I'll try and link to some of the fabulous stuff that is available.

However today, I would like to shamelessly promote myself. For my grand opening, I have listed three, one of a kind funky, fun wigs.

Have a look.

Or here.

I'll leave it at that for now.... but this won't be the last of this!