I've been a mess lately. Work has not been stellar and life in general is chaotic. Most of the time I feel like I'm running full speed just to keep up and barely achieving that. It leaves my blog neglected and that makes me sad. It also leaves me little time to create which leaves me feeling somewhat lost all the time. I'm hoping that with Spring coming, it will bring a change in my life as well and give me space and time to breath again. Hopefully.
The upside is that my job at the arts and crafts shop surrounds me with creativity, even if I'm not the one creating it. Most of the time I'm just providing the paint and the brushes for others to create. But yesterday I had a chance to indulge! I had given my boyfriends 15 year old cousin a trip to the shop for a day of creativity and finally was able to act on a concept I have been playing with for months. Back in December (I cannot believe I didn't share this) my shop had these adorable Gingerbread man ornaments to paint.A shear stroke of genius struck me and I created this: The Zombie Gingerbread man. He was awesome. I used a puffy paint to give the appearance of brains hanging out of his head. We have a speckle paint called "Princess Party" that I used on top of the puffy to add more detail. And since he had a hole for the loop, I just went ahead and made it a bullet hole.
My zombie was a hit and I love him. I was saddened when Christmas was over because it will be a year before I can use him again.
There are several cute things to paint in the shop and although I would love to paint all of them, it's hard to justify. I loved the little penguin but didn't really need a conventional penguin hanging around the house. I loved my zombie ornament but the holiday season is over. BAM! One day it hit me. Zombie penguin! It's cute, it's fuzzy, it eats brains. So yesterday was my day. I spent two and half hours painting him. I tend to seriously over thing things. The Gingerbread zombie took me almost as long and was only 3 inches tall. With my penguin it was about making him look believable and still adorable while somewhat horrifying. I kept him black but gave his white parts a green hue. I again used puffy paint with the "Princess party" overlay to give the appearance of bulging brains and a gaping neck wound. I messed up his eyes so he looks bloodshot and read and gave him some blood splatter. On the left side which is not pictured, I used puffy paint to make it look like he had bones sticking out from his hand but I failed to check the Google for Penguin anatomy beforehand. Penguins don't have individual hand bones. Never the less, he looks amazing. I have even had offers from friends who want to buy him! But he's mine. I am toying with the idea of making two more for a three set. So without further ado, I present to you The (Unfired) Zombie Penguin!!!!! 
Side View
P.S. Fun Fact: I'm absolutely terrified of zombies.
