Second office finally started

After months of talking about it we finally began work on the 2nd office for Jeff. This will be his own office just for his stuff and the original office will be exclusively Chris'.


This is our current office with both of us in it.


The basement office was originally what we used as a craft and hobby area but was mostly ignored. We tore out the storage cabinet, ceiling tiles, light fixture and drywall on the walls including the door. Our plan is to install a new vinyl double pane window and a 32" pocket door. We will frame the concrete walls and finish it

with drywall and then put down new

vinyl tile and paint it all. We'll add

outlets and lighting and move the desk pieces from the office along with all of Jeff's stuff into the basement office where

Jeff will become a cellar dweller.

After tearing it out all day we took several trips to the dump. After doing a couple other things we were done for the weekend. Next up....get the vinyl tile removed.

Our long term goal is to add a 1/2 bathroom with a toilet and sink. And finish the area outside the office as a living space for wine drinking and music. We need to frame a dividing wall between the area and laundry and storage area.

Molding and Casting

We are starting work on a bunch of molding and casting this year. We are holding a workshop in August for 15 lucky people who will create a mold of a skull and cast it in rigid foam.

I put 1 coat of rubber on the skull so far. I'm waiting for the pigment to come in so I can color each layer.

But first I have a couple of other projects I wanted to to do. The first was a couple of new accents molds for tombstone workshops this summer. Chris brought home a couple of cherubs she wanted me to make molds of so I went to TAP plastics and bought some rubber and made the molds. I broke both of the originals getting them out of the mold but the foam casts came out great. I also used a good portion of the rubber for another project which left me a bit short so I created voids in the rubber with some clay on the square one.

The other project is 48 resin votive candle holders for Chris' luminary. We need to have holes in the bottom for the LED's and wires and drilling glass just isn't smart. So I suggested we create a mold of the original glass holder and then cast them in clear resin tinted red. I'm on my third one and they are turning out pretty good. The resin takes longer to set than I would like (about 36hrs) but that might have something to do with the shop feeling like a walk in cooler. The one on the paper plate is the copy and the one on the table is the original.

Holiday Decorations are up

We setup Calvin and Hobbes Thanksgiving weekend and the reaper and scrooge tombstone last weekend.

Ghost effects in the display

It is often hard to photograph the ghost effects in the display for two reasons. One, it has to be dark to see the effects well but that makes taking pictures hard without a flash. And two if you use no flash the effect is blured when using long exposures.

So we solved the issue the night after halloween when we ran the effects one last time. We paused the video effects so we could photograph them. I think they came out nice.

New Effect this year

We added an new ghost effect of children walking in the graveyard. It turned out to be the simplest effect to do but had the biggest impact on all our visitors.

What we did was string a cable from the back of the house to the shop at about 9 feet high. We took 3 10x10 cotton black muslin photography backdrops and sewed them together and strung them along the cable like a curtain. We then filmed our friends kids in white doing stuff along the curtain. Then created a ghost video using the same techniques we always use. Then stuck a projector behind a tombstone at the same place we filmed from and projected it onto the curtain. We created six 5 foot long tube sandbags to hold the curtain down in the wind. We would bring the curtain out at night and setup the projector and just let it run. These photos were taken one night when we paused the projector.

26th Anniversary

Yesterday we celebrated our 26th Wedding Anniversary by going out to our favorite restaurant Plainfields. The best indian food resturant in the area with Chef Craig Plainfield. We brought our bottle of 1999 Opus 1 for our special night and half way through the evening Craig offered to cut us a deal on another bottle he had in his huge cellar. We had a great time as always and enjoyed some great wine and the best indian food as always.

Halloween a big success

We had the largest turnout ever for Halloween. The weather was great and it was a Saturday night. The Graveyard Dancers performed all night. We saw some of the biggest crowds we have ever seen.

A wedding in the graveyard

We had a young couple get married in the graveyard on Halloween. They contacted us a month ago and asked if it would be alright and of course we said yes. Just a short little ceremony with a few guest at 11am. They were done by 1pm in plenty of time for us to get ready for halloween.

Special Awards

We gave out a few special awards at the party this year.


The sketch artist award (Etch-a-Sketch 60's packaging).
















Best Assistant award. (dirt devil vacum)














Messiest Creator Ward (just a bunch of paint and mess on plywood)

The Damn that was close award for standing right next to Andy when he fell.

Party Dedication

At the party we dedicated the struture in front of the shop the Westerman Abby in honor of Andy and his sacrafice of his foot to the display.

The Party

The annual party was a big hit. We think everyone had a good time.

Sexiest Costume.

Scariest Costume (Jesus)
















Most Elaborate Costume. (hand made holster and replica gun)





















Peoples Choice Award.




















Best Couple.

Best Costume (Jack)

artMOB makes tombstones

The Milwaukie Art Commitee came over on Sunday and carved 12 tombstones and painted them black. We cut them out, shapped them, and applied the epitaphs Saturday morning. Made for a busy weekend. On top of the full crowds that showed up for the display.

Big Friday night turnout

We had a lot of people show up last night. The weather was nice. No wind and a bit warm. The fog looked good. Everything was running pretty well with only a few minor hiccups. We kept things running after 11pm so we could take some pictures and video.