[BONUS] The Gift of Skulls

I love sharing the wonderful skull gifts that I'm given from time to time. This pieces was sent from my friend Nashaili in Mexcio. It's hand carved from slate gathered in the mountains of Oaxaca and I'm told the artist who made it was inspired by the prehistoric iconography of her ancestors.

The Gift of Skulls

Just wanted to share a few lovely skull gifts I was given recently.

This beautiful cup was made by Bruce Gholson of Bulldog Pottery...

I got a set of fun duct tape bookmarks from Lauralyn Sciretta as part of her Bookmark-A-Day project (which I featured recently on my other blog MakeSomething365.com) which she sent along with a fun collapsible skeleton...

Thanks guys!

[BONUS] The Gift of Skulls: Skateboard Pez

During my recent trip to Sandusky, Ohio I was given this wonderful gift of art from R!ch Cihlar, who was inspired in part by Skull-A-Day to create his own daily Pez art project! This piece was made on day 233...

You should definitely check out the other pieces R!ch is making as part of this project on his blog HERE.

Thanks again R!ch!

[BONUS] The Gift of Skulls: 365 Skeletons?

I was the keynote speaker at the recent Virginia Arts Education Association annual conference, and a craft party following my talk I was gifted this lovely creation by one of the attendees Ruby...

On the back she wrote "I'm challenging you to make 365 Skeletons!" While I appreciate her enthusiasm, I definitely won't be taking on that challenge anytime soon, but hey is anyone else out there is up for it? I'd love to see what you make!

The Gift of Skulls: Mail Art

Wenchkin (one of the artist's behind this week's giveaway) recently sent me a couple of great pieces as part of her daily mail art project...

You can see more of her great work HERE and follow her mail art progress HERE.

[BONUS] The Gift Of Skulls Extreme!

I received several great skull items for my personal collection recently...

Artist Ted Reiderer, whom we've featured previously, made me this skull from a white vinyl record that I sent to him to use...

Herbert Hoover, creator of the Ring-A-Day project that we featured recently, sent me this ring he made inspired by my 8-bit Skull...

And my friend Josh gave me this wonderful souvenir of his trip to the Sedlec Ossuary in the Czech Republic (which I have yet to visit, so I was extremely jealous!)...

Thanks again guys!

[BONUS] The Gift of Skulls - Santa Skull

Thanks to my friend and former teacher Chan Chandler for giving me this fantastic little piece by his friend Sam Hurt, creator of the terrific Eyebeam comic strip, when I visited them during my trip to speak at SXSW in Austin, TX...

[BONUS] The Gift of Skulls - Tank Skull

I had to share yet another incredible gift I got from Skull-A-Day friend Wenchkin and her partner Scott Krichau. They created a set of upcycled metal tank lamps for Halloween and then very kindly made a special one just for me, featuring a skull based on the one in my own Skullphabet!...

If you haven't already, definitely spend some time checking out their work online, both are very talented artists who have some extremely affordable work for sale online. Wenchkin's work is HERE and Scott's is HERE.

[BONUS] The Gift of Skulls - 365 Spiders

I found this wonderful surprise waiting for me in my mailbox the other day from Amy Kopperude creator of the amazing 365 Spiders project!...

I've been coveting the amazing handmade beaded spiders she's been creating as part of her project so I was delighted to finally get one of my own. If you haven't been following her project do yourself a favor and scroll through the nearly 300 spiders she's already created!

And then hop over to her Etsy store to see what she's got for sale.

Thanks Amy!

[BONUS] The Gift of Skulls - Seattle

During my recent trip to Seattle I was given several lovely skulls:

First from Ben and his 3 year old son Sagan...

I was staying at their house and I discovered this Lego quartet waiting for me when I got back from a long day out and about. The little white skull to the left is actually a musical shaker that Sagan likes to carry around and call Mr. Skull!

Then from internet friend Camel...

A lovely painting he made that came in a handmade box.

And a homemade skull mold with plaster cast. Now I can make my own custom skull chocolates!

Thanks guys!

[BONUS] The Gift of Skulls - Papercuts

I ran into my friend Corey Marie at a wonderful local street fair and she gave me this awesome little recycled notebook with her original illustration on the front...

She sells this design and many other awesome things at her Etsy store so be sure and check them all out  HERE.

[BONUS] The Gift of Skulls - Wenchkin

Just had to share the wonderful package of goodies that arrived at Skull HQ from Wenchkin this week. Along with the original hand drawn version of my calaca portrait, she included silkscreen prints of Frankenstein's Monster and The Bride of Frankenstein, along with a set of silkscreened note cards and a bunch of great little magnets...

See more of Wenchkin's wonderful work on her Facebook page HERE or even better, get some for yourself on her ArtFire page HERE.

[BONUS] The Gift of Skulls - Noah Calaca from Wenchkin

Special thanks to Wenchkin who made this special skullified version of my face!

She explains, "these are all ball point pen and sharpie. 8x10 they're loosely based on calaca from day of the dead as opposed to just straight skulls. The calaca is the painted skull, the one that celebrates death and is not intended to scare. I live in new mexico and paint my face and march in our parade every year. I have always painted or drawn skulls so it was not shocking I also started adding in the culture around me. I scan them all before I black them in as my ultimate dream for this particular project is to later turn it into a coloring book. I also have a bi weekly coloring page listed in the notes on my fan page for fun and have gotten some really interesting pieces back colored by kids, moms, grannies and other artists and I love seeing what they do with it."

Check out more of Wenchkin's work HERE. 

[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.

[BONUS] The Gift of Skulls: Pirate Booty

I got two wonderful packages of skull gifts from friends new and old this week!

First up, this awesome hand printed T-shirt sent by my good friend Jen Primosch. It's her personal pirate flag, featuring a schooner based on the Pioneer and two butterfly knives, which are her signature weapon in Kung Fu! Hopefully she'll make more of these for sale, in the meantime you can check out her other work on her site HERE...

And then I got a fun package from fellow 365er Crazy Rebecca. She knit this lovely hat as part of her own daily stash use up challenge! Also included was an appropriately skully "anti-Valentine" mini crazy quilt, a photo of a crazy quilt in progress, a found skull image, and (not shown) a CD of her music, which is really very lovely! Find out more about Rebecca and see what she's up to on her site HERE...

Thanks again for the wonderful gifts!

[BONUS] The Gift of Skulls: Quilled

I was delighted to get some art in the mail the other day from Elena T Geezer, who sent me this beautiful quilled skull!

It's a great companion to my own 312. Quilled Skull. Be sure sure to check out her site to see the other beautiful quilling she's been doing.

[BONUS] The Gift of Skulls: Skully Birthday

I had a birthday recently and since I'm now part of the Skull-A-Day crew, I got lots of skull presents...which of course I loved. This one below, is one my best friend, Kit McSmash, made for me. I love the combination of the different black, white and grey fabrics with the bright stitching, colorful sequins and beads. Now, I have to figure out how to frame it, so I can hang it with my growing collection of skull art.

[BONUS] The Gift of Skulls: Birthday

Inevitably I'm given skull-y gifts on my birthday, but this year I got a particularly impressive one! My friend Robert made this giant wearable steel construction that looks like it would fit in well on some ancient battlefield! Now I just have to find an appropriate occasion to wear it out...

[BONUS] The Gift of Skulls - ReCaptivation

My new friend Ellen, who actually attended my recent Gel conference workshop, just sent me one of her fun recycled bottle cap pendants, which of course features a skull...