[crafter]

I've finished almost all of my tombstones for this year. I've been working on some of these since before last Halloween, "Deverney", and "Crewler", but they didn't have bases of any tea staining for last year. I posted a few of these stones on another thread but I've added some moss since then and I have some pictures of the backs as well. I pretty much learned everything about making these from watching Terra's videos (thanks so much!) and got other ideas from looking through all the awesome stones on here.

I'm still trying to decide if I should put moss on the stones that have none as of now, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

My yard has a decent sized tree in it that I usually have about 20 of so crows and black owls in for Halloween so once I decide which stones I'll have going on that side I'll add more poop drips. Lol

 

[Frankie's Girl]

Oh my - these are lovely!! Fantastic job on all, and really love the level of realism you've achieved.

 

[xLawfulevilx]

Very nice. Was there a tutorial you looked up to achieve the script text on the stones?

 

[crafter]

Very nice. Was there a tutorial you looked up to achieve the script text on the stones?

Thank you

I did the script writing the same way that I did the rest; I printed out my lettering and taped it to my foam, then traced the letters with ballpoint pen to imprint on the foam, going over everything with pen again after to darken it. I used my dremel with the router attachment to cut everything out. I actually found the script lettering went way faster than the other way.

For laying out my designs I used a program designed more for scrapbooking/other paper crafts - Silhouette software. I have the cutting machine so I have the design edition software but there is a free basic version as well. I found that helpful since it let me "weld" the letters together, taking away the intersecting lines. I'm sure that you could still trace them easily without doing this though.

 

[JCO]

Nice result on all of them. Great job!

 

[blackfog]

Nicely done! They are time consuming but the end result is all worth the effort!!!

 

[dbruner]

Those stones are amazing!

 

[Clown]

Great job!

 

[Tavisteam]

WOW! Killer Stones! You're a master!

 

[crafter]

Thank you SO much everyone! I appreciate you all taking the time to check them out I can't wait to set them up in the yard to get the full effect. I wanted to put them out this weekend just to see but thought the neighbours would think I was crazy lol

 

[cai88]

Fantastic!! Favorites are the ones with the pictures. They are nicely done and eerie.

 

[kindo]

Super nice job on these!! everything from the lettering to the paint is outstanding!

I'm in the process of making my first stones right now. These give me some great inspiration. How did u achieve the skull with wings if u don't mind me asking? i love that look. Looks like it's been carved right out of the stone.

 

[margaret]

Awesome job on your tombstones! ... love the way you did your cracks and the details! I have tombstones I need to finish and I will be using yours as reference. Thank you for posting ...

 

[crafter]

Super nice job on these!! everything from the lettering to the paint is outstanding!

I'm in the process of making my first stones right now. These give me some great inspiration. How did u achieve the skull with wings if u don't mind me asking? i love that look. Looks like it's been carved right out of the stone.

Thank you!

For the skull with wings I did actually carve it right into the foam. I drew my outlines on and then removed the excess foam all around it with my dremel with router attachment. Then I used an xacto knife to cut along the deepest lines around the skull and wings, like the eyes, nose, and wing creases. To smooth everything out and shape the wings and cheeks in the skull I used super fine sandpaper, I don't recall the grit but I can check later to let you know. I've got a picture pre paint that might make things easier to see.

 

[lisa48317]

Thank you SO much everyone! I appreciate you all taking the time to check them out I can't wait to set them up in the yard to get the full effect. I wanted to put them out this weekend just to see but thought the neighbours would think I was crazy lol

Pfft, who cares what the neighbor's think?? I can tell you have a Terra influence - they look awesome!

 

[GeneralZod]

These are terrific! What is the paint finish you are using? Are the cracks and such all done with a dreamer as well, or are you using heat?

 

[spookydave]

Super nice work on those, but it reminds me how far behind I am,lol.

 

[crafter]

These are terrific! What is the paint finish you are using? Are the cracks and such all done with a dreamer as well, or are you using heat?

For paint I couldn't actually find drylok anywhere around here so I used Valspar brand masonry sealer, I think it's pretty much the same thing though. It has the sandy texture and is latex based and comes tintable. I tinted mine to the colour wet cement by behr. When I started painting them I was just using a brush to paint the black inside the letters but I got an airbrush to do the last 5 or so and it was a life saver. Then for the decorative painting I tea stained them all to various degrees with the same two colour mixes. I had to remix the paint a few times so there's definitely some variation but basically one black/grey and one brownish green.

For the cracks I mostly just did them with an xacto knife, the parts I wanted larger I went over with the sharp end of a dart to widen the crack. The larger missing pieces of stone I made by cutting the perimeter I wanted with the knife then chipping out the foam with the knife and a wire brush. I did go over parts of those areas with acetone as well as in some random places over the stone.

 

[crafter]

I forgot to post this one but the finish painting was different on this one. I sprayed water onto the stone and dripped the tea stain on in big and small puddles and let them dry in between coats. Spraying the water on there first lets the colour spread out more naturally.

 

[Centigrade]

Wow, these are awesome. Great job!