Dia de la Abby #44: Shrunken Skeleton Earrings

These are inspired by anatomical skeleton and skull diagrams. The torso is inspired by a heavily corseted ribcage, which is similar to my own ribcage shape...only mine is natural.

I have lost my old pair of long skeleton earrings, so I decided to make some replacements, using shrink plastic. More commonly referred to as "Shrinky Dinks". I've worked with shrink plastic before, but this was different than past projects. There are a lot of pieces to drawn, shrink and attach, but it was worth it for a pair of great anatomical skeleton earrings. These are about 8 inches long, which was longer than planned, but they are fabulous. If you would like to make a pair of these, other jewelry, or scrap-booking charms using shrink plastic, see tutorial.


Every week in the 4.0 year, I will post my own Dia de la Abby posts as well as a tutorial with instructions on how I made my piece. Hopefully you feel inspired by my posts just as I was by Noah's Skull-A-Day 1.0 daily project. Need more of me than just a weekly dose, follow me on Twitter and/or Facebook. 

Tree Skulls Please

Misha from Cincinnati, OH, of 365 Trees Please, submitted this piece titled "Twigs". She explains her reasoning behind creating the piece, "Today, our middle school students enjoyed a presentation on forensics from the Cincinnati Museum Center's outreach program. To document this fascinating learning experience for our yearbook, I was asked to stop by and take photos. It was so interesting that it wasn't until I was on my way home that I realized that one of the skull photos I took would make for a fun addition to my 365 ~ Trees Please project, a nod to Noah and all the inspiration he has spread through his Skull A Day project and book."

I love the use of the tree pattern with the skull. The limbs remind me of fusion lines of an adult human skull. The coloration reminds me of ancient skulls that have been dug up from their buried afterlife. This can also happen in forensics, when recovering victims. I remember the first time I saw a forensics presentation. I don't recall a skull, but I do remember being really interested in fingerprint and ways to capture the prints.

Skull Poster

Mike Mancuso wrote: “This is a three color screen-print gig poster for an upcoming gallery show that I am curating. Day of the Dead meets Skeletor seemed like a perfect fit for the poster.


Garth C says:

No Waaaaay! What an awesome idea for a show, and an even better idea for a poster. Thank you for sharing this work with us and I will be watching your show page to see if any of these posters make their way to your future shop, edition of 40, probably already sold out. Party on! Excellent!

Skull-A-Day Sponsor: iconify.it

I just wanted to introduce you to and thank the latest sponsor for Skull-A-Day: iconify.it

You really do need to check out the amazing set of free icons that is being given away on the site.

And hey, if you'd also like to help keep Skull-A-Day running, we'd love to have you as a sponsor as well. Details are HERE.

Tied Up & Dyed Skull

Straight out of Psychedelic Studios on Gabriola Island, BC Canada Scott Shane sends us this trippy skull tapestry for your mind altering pleasure.



Of course this reminds me of the Skull Master's own "Tie Die" skull shirt from his original 365.25 year. Scott's site has tons of great designs that are as colorful as they are unique. There's shirts, bags, and even tapestries for sale including the above Skull & Cross Bones. Thanks for opening our skull's third eye with your wild design, Scott!

Skull with Bees

Jon MDC, UK, submitted this piece. Limited edition prints are available on his blog.

I love the elegant beauty of this piece. The theme of death is relevant in both the skull and the bees. As we all know by now, the bees that we rely on for polination of our foods and flowers, have been dying. This has been linked to pesticides. This is a sad fate. The same pesticides that can kill the fragile bees, can harm us. Life is fragile. Though some may parish, as the above phrase states, "You can't kill us all". I'm hoping that natural selection perseveres and the population of resistant bees increases. However, I'm not looking forward to our yearly invasion of ground bees, in our ivy.

Sunday Simulacra - Version 4.43

I don't know what it is about the combination of adult beverages and the appearance of skulls, but this week the two go hand in hand with another round of superb finds from our skull hunters.

Abi Sweigart of Dayton, Ohio writes, "Some time ago, my best friend and I went for a girls night out... which, with us means beer, wings and chocolate cake :) At one point I look down and see that there is a skull in the remaining head of my beer! I was so excited that I took the picture with my phone!"



Jon Presson recalls a strangely similar encounter, "Strange things can happen while at the bar. I lifted my beer and found this fellow hanging out underneath. I'm just just glad I didn't see him thru the bottom of the bottle."

And Ainslee Lara found this skull hiding on a wine bottle. She highlighted her find to help show the elusivenss of these sneaky characters.



Once agin I raise my glass to those brave skull hunters out there capturing their prizes to submit to us. I promise that if you keep them coming then we'll continue to display them. Thanks!

Skull-A-Day Press: Passport

Passport Magazine recently wrote up a lovely article about my hometown of Richmond, Virginia and included a nice mention of me and the Skull-A-Day project as well!

Read the entire article HERE.

Super Articulated Soldier Skull Saturday

Saturdays have become my chance to showcase artists who appear to have "skulls on the brain", no pun intended. Today's skull lover hails from the U.S., but sends us his submissions all the way from FOB Wilson in Khandahar, Afghanistan. PFC Rupert Valero has sent us some outstanding action figures and other skulls with his email: "I started assemblage toys here while I am deployed in Afghanistan with the U.S. Army. I love skulls and incorporated some on some of my assemblage toys.





"As a former oil rig engineer, I'm big on 6" super-articulated, well engineered action figures. I never really saw skulls as more than a brain pan. Then when the recession hit, big oil went down and I needed a job and the Army seemed the next step."



"As an artilleryman, I did my basic training at Ft. Benning with the infantry. They are big on skulls and war. Being here in Afghanistan in the thick of things, getting shot at, having to take lives for freedom's sake- I can see why the infantry is big on skulls as a symbol of selfless courage and knowing death could be around the corner, or literally your next foot step. I ran across your site and it just clicked in me. I'm hooked."



And I have to belive that next to their weapons, this is a soldier's best friend...



Rupert has tons of more assemblage toys to check out on his flickr stream here as well as more pics from FOB Wilson. The reuse of common items in your characters will definitely strike a chord with our collection of upcyclers that visit our site, Rupert.

As much as we all agree that skulls can be reminders of death, and to live each day fully, we certainly hope that your tour of duty results in zero deaths on either side and a peaceful resolve comes to everyone involved. Thanks for your awesome submission, Rupert, but more importantly thank you and all of the troops over there for risking your lives to making a commitment to freedom. Godspeed to you all!

p.s. You can buy Rupert's action figures on his blog HERE. 

Sand & Snow Skulls

Today’s skulls are running hot and cold.

The hot was done by body artist, Keegan Hitchcock, in Fort Lauderdale Florida.


The cold was done by David Brawley in Pikesville, Maryland who made this skull one morning while he was shoveling out his car.


Southtown C says:

cue music here... ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ Yes, I couldn’t resist it.

Just when I thought winter around these parts was going to go away, it looks like it’s not going to let spring win without one last fight this week. I dedicate today’s skulls in honor of this epic battle for the season and my sanity. Maybe making this burnt offering to the mystical forces around me nature will finally make up its mind.

Sorry, I digress. This isn’t about me, this is about the wonderful art from our wonder readers who take the time to submit their creations as they interact with our world. Thank you both for the taking the time to submit your work and I am sending you both well wishes on any future skulltastic adventures.

PS. It wouldn't be Friday without a little shout-out to some of the Skullmaster’s own sand & snow past.

[Flashback Friday] #363 Skullusion

Welcome to another addition of Flashback Friday.** This year the guest editors, Citizen Agent, Azurafae, and myself, Tatman, are taking turns counting down our personal favorite 17 skulls from the Original 365.25 Year. So please join us as we visit the archives and add our additional commentary on some of the original pieces.

10. 363. Skullusion



Starting off my top ten favorites is the Skullusion. Like other skullusions from the past Noah skillfully crafted the scenery to deceive our eyes with two images made from one. What impresses me most is that in all of my googling for skullusions it seems that Noah is one of the few to have used live models. The setting for his photo had to include perfect placement of stiil objects AND the models to acheive the desired effect. Kudos to all three of them for putting together a smiply wonderful skullusion.

**Flashback Friday was a weekly countdown of the fan selected top 52 skulls of Skull-A-Day 1.0. Each week during year 3.0 The Skullmaster posted the original skull along with some additional commentary in order from lowest to highest rated, with the #1 skull appearing in the last week of year 3.0, all 52 can be found here.

Skull-A-Day Press: Richmond Times Dispatch

The Richmond Times Dispatch included a nice photo and mention of my United Skull of America installation in today's paper...

You can read the full article online as well.

The Skull Quilt Project: Sun and Robot Skulls

I put both of these in the same post, because they arrived on the same day and the colors coordinate. They will definitely be going in a quilt together.

Tara Raymo of Sun a Day sent us this mesmerizing sun skull.

Chris Zeliff of Robot-A-Day sent us this sparky robot skull.

Here is some information on the Skull Quilt Project:

The quilt blocks need to be 12"x12" in total size. This includes 1" around all sides of seam and ironing allowance. This means you have about 10"x10" of art space. Since these are art quilts, feel free to use any medium you wish that will adhere to a 12"x12" cotton square. Just decorate one side of the square and don't worry about finishing the edges. I will be sewing your square to other squares, to make a quilt. I'll be making multiple quilts, so I will match yours up with other participants squares of similar colors or themes. Each quilt will be three squares x three squares, a total of nine squares. If you want, get together with your friends and make nine blocks that have similar colors, so I can make one quilt with them. Need more inspiration, check our other submissions.

Send your finished skull quilt squares to:

Skull-A-Day

PO Box 73236

Richmond, VA 23235

On a note sent with the piece, please include:

Your name

Your city, state and/or country

Your email - I will email you when your block arrives

If you have any questions about the project, feel free to email me at abby@skulladay.com

The deadline for us to receive the skull blocks is Saturday, May 28, 2011. This is so we can sew the quilts in time Skull Appreciation Day. The quilts will be auctioned off at and after the June 4th event. Proceeds from these quilts will go to Becky's Fund, which is an organization that helps victims of domestic violence.

If you aren't the quilt square type person, or want something to do something a bit different for the event, make a piece of Mail Art. These will be on display at the event.

Dia de la Abby #43: Splatter Void Skull Dress

For the upcoming Skull Appreciation Day, I wanted to make a special painted dress. Also, this means I get to use this dress as a weekly project, since of course it would have a skull on it.

Close up of skull on dress

Me wearing the dress in bright sunlight. There is so much glitter, that you can't easily see the splatter in this photo.

Inside my house, you can see the splatter and skull void better.

This is the wax paper skull I used to create the void. It's neat to see the splatter on a transparent paper. I got two pieces of art out of this project.

I brainstormed to think of an idea that would work. I didn't want to just paint or sew a skull onto a dress and be done. I decided to cut out a skull from wax paper, pin it on the dress and splatter paint all over the dress. By having that wax paper skull on the dress, a void would be left in the shape of the skull. This isn't a perfect technique, since it does allow for bleeding at the edges. However, it was still effective. If I could have found my masking tape, I would have used that for the skull. Contact paper would work too. I made the dress, though you could use something ready made. I covered my dress form with a plastic bag. I put the unpainted dress on it and pinned the straps in place, so it wouldn't slip off while turning the dress. I used a large bristled paint brush (large splatter and drips) and a toothbrush (fine splatter and drips) to create the splatter with watered down paint. I chose a couple "extreme glitter" acrylic paints to mix with the red and black acrylic paints, in small cups. This dress is covered in glitter. I definitely recommend doing this splatter project outside. There will be a large mess on you and everything around you. However, the mess and time (about 2 hours of heavy splattering) is worth it for a one of a kind item.


Every week in the 4.0 year, I will post my own Dia de la Abby posts as well as a tutorial with instructions on how I made my piece. Hopefully you feel inspired by my posts just as I was by Noah's Skull-A-Day 1.0 daily project. Need more of me than just a weekly dose, follow me on Twitter and/or Facebook.

Skull Rings

Sofia Fitzpatrick is a Sydney, Australia based jewellery designer. She explains, "I hand make skull jewelery pieces by carving them out of wax then casting them in silver." This technique is also called, lost wax carving.

I love jewelry, especially skull jewelry. I love the ornate and macabre nature of it. These rings are no exception. I like the combo of the wolves and skulls. Reminds me of how primal we still are, even though we have evolved. The lost wax casting makes these all more unique in their individual casting. I doubt any two come out exactly alike. For more information on Sofia's jewelry, follow her Facebook page and group page.

Skull for the Birds

Long time fan ~ Kerosene shared with us some pictures she did for a daily project that she is doing with her friend.

She wrote: “It seems like a theme after the skull & crossbones birdhouse that has already been posted ~ here I am feeding the birds. I was inspired by Noah's Mountain Retreat Skull.”

First set


Second set

Bodega Bay C says:

Looks like you got a little ‘Tippi’ on us here. I love the ephemeral nature of this work. I love the play here on what is true nature of art, is it the beginning or the final product that is the art? Is the art in the documentation of it's demise? Thank you for sharing your work with us and I look forward to seeing more of your daily project.

ps I just couldn't stop thinking about this song.

"The Lake" Skull

At the end of the river Styx there's a lesser known place where the evil pools together called "The Lake". uberkraaft has been there and back to submit his rendering of the black sludge pit that's home to unspeakable acts of weird imagery.



"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children." I don't know if Jules was a God fearing man or not, but he spoke true words to live by for those who wish to avoid the abyss that is unending pain and suffering. Thanks for the illustrated message, uberkraaft!

Skull Appreciation Day T-Shirt Help

In honor of the upcoming Skull Appreciation Day AND the beginning of year 5 of the Skull-A-Day project we thought it would be nice to make a new commemorative T-shirt so you can better express your own skull love. We're almost ready to start making them, but we need your help. Would you rather have a gray shirt or a black shirt? Take a look at the mock-ups below and place your vote in the comments. At the end of the week we'll tally up the responses on the blog and Facebook and let you know what we're going to do! Thanks.

City Skull

Josh Damaso submitted this skull drawing to us.

I love the smoky shading of this skull piece. With the motif, it reminds me of the many burned out cities from wars and the occasional cow. I was looking at old historic photos of Richmond from when it too was burned out in areas. I had never seen the photos before, but I'm aware of the fact it burned during the Civil War. It's interesting to see the old photos compared to current ones, where newer building stand in their place.

[BONUS] The Gift of Skulls: Memento Mori

Designer William Lebeda kindly sent me a copy of his lovely new book Memento Mori. It contains 48 of the hundreds of skull & skeleton doodles he made between 2003 and 2010. Each of his sweet drawings has its own unique character and makes for a wonderful collection.

More images can be seen HERE.

And if you'd like your own copy of William's book you can get it (for only $4.99) HERE.

p.s. Since he William wanted to know, my favorite is the one on the right above.

Sunday Simulacra - Version 4.42

Today’s simulacra come from the dirty underside of our lives.

Long time friend of the project Jay Butler from Richmond, VA said: “Saw this bony fella in a stain on the loading dock at work!”
Tom & Frances Fraser in Australia told us “My husband spotted this skull on our driveway after we had been cleaning. We're both big fans of your site, so we're happy to be able to add our own skull.”
Katie Morrill Fontenot wrote: “This unexpected find came while mopping the kitchen floor. I had been gone and the puppies have their own door to the back yard. ”
Beatle C says:

♫ Picture one on a dock that's for loading,
Another one shows on a driveway during cleanin’
Finally you find one in a kitchen while mopping,
A skull with laser beam eyes. ♫

Thank you all for your submissions.

Keep sending those pictures in to our submissions address. Just keep in mind that since we only post simulacra once a week it might take a little longer than normal for it to be posted.

Fish Head Skull

You know it's a party when some skull wears a fish on his head. Ramon Rodrigues returns from Brazil with another submission. His other work was posted here, and now he's back with this crazy woodcut print.



Usually the crazy guy at the party winds up with the traditional lampshade on his head, but that would seem kind of lame for a party of skeletons. Although I might be worried that the Dos Equis guy in the background is getting jealous of the new "life" of the party. Thanks for sharing your good time with us, Ramon!

[Flashback Friday] #347 Skulledelic A.K.A. May Cause Seizures Skull

Welcome to another addition of Flashback Friday.** This year the guest editors, Citizen Agent, Azurafae, and myself, Tatman, are taking turns counting down our personal favorite 17 skulls from the Original 365.25 Year. So please join us as we visit the archives and add our additional commentary on some of the original pieces.

11. 347. Skulledelic A.K.A. May Cause Seizures Skull





This skulledelic piece makes it into my top favorites because of it's simplicity. The lines are skewed just enough to make your eyes see the skull yet it has real depth and looks almost 3D(depending on your altered state of mind). This would obviously make a great album cover for any stoner rock band, but Noah beat them to the punch for his League of Space Pirates album. This design was also crafted into a variety of sweaters made by Sibling London. I only posted 2 of the original pics so be sure to check out the original post here which includes an animated gif, made by me, that will surely induce some seizures.

**Flashback Friday was a weekly countdown of the fan selected top 52 skulls of Skull-A-Day 1.0. Each week during year 3.0 The Skullmaster posted the original skull along with some additional commentary in order from lowest to highest rated, with the #1 skull appearing in the last week of year 3.0, all 52 can be found here.

Calavera Plush & Maracas

I am just in a plush mood this week and since it is Friday lets flashback to a past contributor who has some more work for us to share.

Artist Pierre Sauvage, from Reims, France said: “I've already had the honor to appear on the site with my calavera skull plush and I would like to submit some other works I made.”

“This is my first calavera plush I made, cute and big enough to hold it in your arms.”


“My plush calavera maracas, they actually make sound thanks to bottle caps that are inside.”


Nursery C says:

Thank you for sharing this additional work with us. I really like how you staged the photo of the plush skeleton it reminds me of this song. Speaking of music your maracas are amazing, I am glad that you were able come up with a solution so that they would actually make sound.

The Skull Quilt Project: Night of the Living Sock Hop

Jamie Rhodes mailed us this Skull Quilt square called "Night of the Living Sock Hop". I really love the layering of fabrics to create the skull. This is a great use of the applique method. It does remind me of a sock hop and all those horror movies about the date that died on the way to the dance, so their ghost wonders the stretch of road they died on. I want to wear my polka dot dress and some red accessories now...and go for a drive...

Here is some information on the Skull Quilt Project:

The quilt blocks need to be 12"x12" in total size. This includes 1" around all sides of seam and ironing allowance. This means you have about 10"x10" of art space. Since these are art quilts, feel free to use any medium you wish that will adhere to a 12"x12" cotton square. Just decorate one side of the square and don't worry about finishing the edges. I will be sewing your square to other squares, to make a quilt. I'll be making multiple quilts, so I will match yours up with other participants squares of similar colors or themes. Each quilt will be three squares x three squares, a total of nine squares. If you want, get together with your friends and make nine blocks that have similar colors, so I can make one quilt with them. Need more inspiration, check our other submissions.

Send your finished skull quilt squares to:

Skull-A-Day

PO Box 73236

Richmond, VA 23235

On a note sent with the piece, please include:

Your name

Your city, state and/or country

Your email - I will email you when your block arrives

If you have any questions about the project, feel free to email me at abby@skulladay.com

The deadline for us to receive the skull blocks is Saturday, May 28, 2011. This is so we can sew the quilts in time Skull Appreciation Day. The quilts will be auctioned off at and after the June 4th event. Proceeds from these quilts will go to Becky's Fund, which is an organization that helps victims of domestic violence.

Dia de la Abby #42: Skull and Heart Necklace

This piece is inspired by love...heart and head (skull). This is represented by an elongated Nazca skull and an anatomical heart.

I have been hunting for inexpensive glass microscope slides for a while, but have yet to find a small amount of them that wasn't overpriced. I like that these from Inkssentials come in different sizes and have ready made frames in different metals to put them in. Before now, you would have to use copper tape, flux, solder and wire to wrap the edges of the glass. Though, I can do this, I don't want to. I like this faster method better. I used 2 different papers, bridal tulle, water colors and india ink for the pendant art. Since these frames are meant to use two pieces of glass, I made the pendant reversible with two images. I used crocheted the necklace with wire and beads. To learn more about how I made this piece, read the tutorial.


Every week in the 4.0 year, I will post my own Dia de la Abby posts as well as a tutorial with instructions on how I made my piece. Hopefully you feel inspired by my posts just as I was by Noah's Skull-A-Day 1.0 daily project. Need more of me than just a weekly dose, follow me on Twitter and/or Facebook.

Checker Skull

Matt Johnson from Antioch, IL, made this with a  "homemade stencil, airbrushed on illustration board, done in 2008."

I really like the use of black and white in blocks. It's like seeing the negative and positive of a photo. The details of the image with the change in tone, makes this piece quite striking. I like the crispness of the lines, which I can assume was achieved by using a home made stencil and an airbrush, vs paint and a brush. It reminds me a bit of the checkerboard land in Alice in Wonderland. This needs to be a hedge maze in Wonderland...or this land.