Huichol Skull

Jake Maughan recently finished his 1st Huichol Skull. He explained "We saw this beautiful artwork in Mexico and it was one of the few things that we could not barter on. I decided I would save several hundred dollars and make it myself. It is done by covering something in Beeswax and then pushing seed beads into the wax with a needle, one at a time. In the end it took 4 months, and approximately 25,000 seed beads to complete." A Huichol Skull is on my art collection list. Because it takes so long to make one, they are expensive to purchase. I appreciate that Jake took the time to do this correctly and learned a new craft.

We want to share your skull art! Be a part of the Skull-A-Day project. Details are HERE

Burning, Rotting Corpse

This mixed media piece from Ed Preater came to us untitled, but I figured that the title of today's post pretty much summed it up.  Ed tells us that it's made from "matches to build the bones, epoxy clay, shiny beads, seashells, bits of colored glass. It’s about 2ft high."  It's also one of the most awesomely grotesque pieces of art that I've ever seen.  A vicious way for any person to meet their demise.  The Gods did not smile favorably upon this soul.  Thanks for making the rest of MY day look a lot better, and seriously, thanks for sharing your excellent work, Ed!

Bead Covered Skulls

Cathy Peterson in Bellaire, MI created this collection of skulls using different types of beads.

Headliner C says:

While some may argue that three is a magic number, one could then say that four heads are better than one: four horsemen, four apostles, four Beatles... and certainly now your quartet.  Thank you for sharing your creations with us.

Wooden Skull Army

Artist Bruce Tuckey based in Newcastle, UK told us: “I had turned and carved a total of 55 skulls from sycamore and ash wood. The skull army were then assembled to form a sculpture based on Tibetan prayer beads, and are displayed in Elemore woods, Easington, Durham, UK.”
 

Major C says:

I guess when you can't hire enough skulls to make an army its best that you create enough to cover your shortfall.  I found your final sculpture to be quite interesting in the way that you have displayed it.  It invokes an image of a serpent almost as if you are warning the view with the skull image to lookout for it.  I also find interesting the juxtaposition of deadwood carved into skulls intertwining itself with the live wood of the tree you have positioned it in.  Thank you for sharing this amazing work with us.

Dia de la Abby #74: Spilled Skull

Today, while looking for something, I bumped into my box of sequins and seed beads. The box hit the floor, spilling it's contents. While cleaning it up, I decided the sparkly pile deserved to be a skull. It's a symbol of the death of my tedious organization of the box contents.

Every other Thursday in the 5.0 year, I will post my own Dia de la Abby creations   Every Thursday in the 4.0 year, I posted my Dia de la Abby creations and occasionally tutorials with instructions on how I made my pieces. 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  Facebook, Google+ and/or Twitter.

Beaded Skull Bracelet

Carolyn Oord, from Canada, made this beaded skull bracelet on a bead loom. She even included the pattern for it, in case any of you want to make your own.

Hopefully you are familiar enough with using a bead loom to follow Carolyn's instructions. "It's about ½" an inch wide and the skull & crossbones measure approx. 1¼", depending on the size of the beads you are using. Start by measuring your wrist to determine how long the bracelet should be and then decide how you would like the skulls to repeat."

I love crafts that include instructions. Thanks for including the instructions and pattern Carolyn. Though I have no clue where my bead loom is, this pattern would also work with beaded single crochet. Though, that would require you slip on all of your beads, in their correct pattern before starting. Both are options though...just to give you some ideas. If nether of those seem plausible for yourself, you could sew beads onto fabric or leather in this pattern. The effect is the same with all of those ways of making a beaded bracelet.

Skull Beads Skull

If you recently saw the awesomeness that is the Skull Master in action figure form then you've seen the creative talents of BetsyEtsy. Before stuffing 365 of these teeny brain toters in with Noah's mini-me she used these 600 to make a "'skull' skull" of her own.





The sequined background really jazzes up the blank deathly face of the skull beads. It's almost like you're telling them, "Hey, this party ain't dead yet!". Thanks for jazzing up our weekend with your skull of skulls, Betsy. Now let the par-tay begin!

The Skull Quilt Project: Skulls in Reds

We've received a variety of quilt suares. I've noticed that there are a lot of repeating colors, which is a good thing. These featured ones use various shades of red...and some other colors too.

Ann Scrags from Camarillo, CA used fused plastic bags, recycled plastic pieces and ribbon to create this skull.

Sue McGuire made these skulls with appliqued fabric and beads.

Amy Whitehurt from Richmond, VA of Snow Globe 365 made this one using fabric and hand stitching.

Sarah from Swindon, Wiltshire, England of Are You Flowin' made this one from fabric and embroidery.

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 #46: Floral Skull Quilt Square

This week, I've been busy working on my quilt square for our Skull Quilt Project. It was inspired by my #12: Skull with Flowers.

I'll be adding more details to my quilt square, but it's close to being done. To create the skull, I cut out a skull shape from a flower print fabric and used free motion machine embroidery to sew it to the black fabric. I have a large fabric stash, but most of it is printed fabrics. To create fabric in the colors I needed for the yellow flower and leaves, I painted beige fabric with acrylic paint. This changes the color of the fabric, makes it stiffer and controls fraying. To make the red flowers sparkle, I used an extreme glitter acrylic paint. To cover the center of the yellow flower, I used black PVC, sequins and beads. To cover the center of the red flowers, I used sequins and beads.The pink flower and vines are made with ribbons. The butterfly is from a printed fabric. I cut around the butterfly and painted it with a clear matte acrylic varnish, to prevent fraying. The purple flowers at the top, are French knots made with embroidery floss. The reuse of materials and fabrics through out the piece, helps tie together the different elements. I am enjoying using some old skills for a great project.


If you would like to participate in The Skull-A-Day and Becky's Fund Quilt Project, please mail us your 12"x12" skull quilt square. I recommend using cotton as your base, just so when I sew the blocks together to make quilts, sewing will be easier for me and I won't melt any fabrics while ironing the seams. Please leave an inch unembellished boarder. This is also to make sewing and ironing easier. This means you will have a total of 10" x 10"of working space. If your piece is anything like mine or the other submissions, that does give you a lot of room to be creative. Thanks for participating. We all really appreciate it!

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.



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.

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.

Dia de la Abby #24: Beaded Skull Broach

I've been making jewelry and hand sewing for many years, but I hadn't tired doing nice beading until recently when I made a bridal veil for a close friend. Though the process of beading isn't hard, it is precise and time consuming. Still, I like making those type of projects. I wanted to take my basic knowledge beyond well basic. Though I knew how to do the skull part, the rest of the details (of which I have explained it all in the tutorial), I just learned to do Monday and Tuesday. Of course like any hand sewing project, I'm a quick learner, so I took the basic instructions and added to them to make what I thought to be a better constructed broach. I still want to challenge myself with hand beading, so I know there will be other more intricate projects in the future. Maybe Skull related...but that is for later.

Every week in the 4.0 year, I will be 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.

Dia de la Abby #19: Dia de los Muertos Shrine

I made this shrine in honor of my paternal grandparent, who have both passed away. The shrine contains favorite elements from their house. I had planned on making clay skeletons, but it seems my clay skills have not improved over the years, so I settled for just skulls. Those, I can do.

Close up of skulls. I made the skulls different sizes and shapes, so they would represent two different people.

The two skulls are sitting on a bench that has a grape vine above it. This is one of many of my favorite things that used to exist at my grandparents' house.

Since this piece does contain so many different mediums to make it...paint, beads, wood, clay...etc., I wrote a tutorial for it. It will explain how I made it and why I chose to make certain elements. You can learn a little bit more about my family as well as view close ups of each section.

Every week in the 4.0 year, I will be 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.

Bead Skulls

Today Tatman is gonna take a page from radio DJ's and give you a 2 for Tuesday. In my best Casey Kasem voice, "Here's a little double shot of some skull bead action".

This first bead skull from DameDEATH in South Africa is sending out a love song to Skull-A-Day readers.



Next up in the rotation comes from a long time and good friend of Skull-A-Day, Abby Davis. She writes, "I thought while you were waiting to see my finished intricate sugar skull, I would make you one out of some of the supplies. These are size 10/0 seed beads, which are tiny, that I poured on the back of the canvas that I will be using for the intricate sugar skull."



Thanks for keeping the good times rolling with your submissions, girls. Abby, we're still waiting to see that sugar skull, but I have a feeling that you'll be back. Until next time I'm Tatman signing off.

[CONTEST] Win a Set of Skull Beads

The nice folks at eebeads.com have kindly offered to give away some of their lovely metal skull beads to two lucky readers of Skull-A-Day! Each randomly selected winner will get two of each of the silver and gold plated beads.

To be entered in the drawing just leave a comment below describing where you would take a skull on vacation. [NOTE: If you're reading this on Facebook, be sure to leave your comment on the actual Skull-A-Day.com post if you want to be actually entered in the contest]

IMPORTANT: Don't forget to include a way to contact you (either an e-mail in the post OR make sure your Blogger profile has an e-mail link for you on it).

Everyone is welcome to enter, but please note that if you're out of the US you may have to pay a shipping fee.

You have until just Midnight Eastern Time January 24th to enter so don't delay! [UPDATE] The contest is over, thanks to everyone who participated the winner will be announced soon!

And of course you don't have to wait til the end of the contest to get your own beads from eebeads.com!

Good luck!

Abacus Skull

Adrienne Yancey, who was featured here, sent us this picture saying: “Adding skulls to my collection.”

Magic Number C says:

10 times 10 = C. This is a wonderful piece. I really like the tension that you have captured here. It looks as if at any moment someone may pick it up and the skull will be gone. Thank you for sharing your work with us.

Beaded Skull: a meditation

Author & Artist Rachel Nelson-Smith from Santa Cruz, CA sent in this piece.

Title: Meditation on Life, Death & Beads
Completed: 2009
Materials: glass, nylon
Dimensions: 8" (20.3cm) wide x 10.5" (26.7cm) tall
Framed Dimensions: 11" (27.9cm) x 14" (35.6cm)

Rosary C says:

An outstanding proficiency in your medium is displayed in this piece of artwork. Looking past the image I am drawn to the construction of this work. Is it an optical illusion or is this really made up of interlocking circles? Thanks for submitting this and giving me something to meditate on.

337. Solar Skull

Sun Print (8in x 8in [20cm x 20cm]). Thanks to my friend Coryndon who gave me this Sunprint kit several months ago (I believe my friend Carra gave me some of this paper later as well). I arranged an assortment of beads (from my friend Mimi) directly on 4 sheets of the light sensitive paper and then exposed it to the sun for a few minutes. I was actually adjusting the beads while it exposed, thus creating the more ghostly appearance. This was definitely one of those educational toys that were popular when I was young, and I remember getting a few of these kits as gifts over the years, though I never did anything this complex with them.