Happy New Year!

I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and a delightful New Year!

It has been very busy over the last several weeks, but as things begin to calm down and the weather turns gloomy here...I am able to sit more and more at my craft table to focus.

One project that I had a great deal of fun creating were these racing pigeons:

During the holidays, two of my other creations found new homes!  My Itty Bitty Santa Cthulhu and my miniature Koi Pond both traveled to their new owners.  I am so thrilled that they arrived safely!

I am trying out a few new techniques, at the suggestion of my fellow polymer clay artists.  So far, I am liking the effects, but you will have to stay tuned to see what those changes will be!

A Day Full of Love

This summer has been full of ups and downs.  There have been plenty of scares, but we are still holding on and moving forward.  Sometimes, our path leads in a different direction.  Perhaps one that we did not anticipate or expect, but we still continue onward, waiting to see what is around the next corner.

In the meantime, I have been working on a major project over the last month.  We just came home from a beautiful wedding of two of our dearest friends.  It was such a happy occasion and everyone was bursting with joy for the couple.

At the beginning of the summer, the bride approached me about making a bride & groom sculpture for the occasion.  She gave me plenty of notice, so I had no problem planning out the project.  Many sketches and redesigns later, I give you the Happy Cthulhu Couple!

This was the first time that I had to fix a standing figure with legs into the base.  This was a challenge, but I am more confident than ever in moving forward with these types of sculptures, due to the structural integrity that I was able to master.

I bugged the bride and groom for as many details about their wedding day as possible, so I could match the color of the bouquet, the style of wedding dress, the groom's suit and boutonniere.  I made cherry blossoms, to match the design of their wedding cake.

I added a few Swarovski crystals to the train of the dress to add a bit more flare and sparkle.  

Oh, and speaking of the wedding cake.  You have got to check this out!  Made by my friend, Mike, over at Baking Better.  If you have not checked out his blog, you must for some of the best dessert recipes around!

Seriously, the best wedding cake I have ever tasted.  Ever.

And a big Congratulations to the happy couple!  It was a beautiful wedding, full of love and joy!  We are all so happy for them and it was the loveliest wedding that I've ever attended.

Exciting Things Are Happening...

Things have been so hectic lately, I have barely had time to keep my head straight!  My day job has kept me on my toes, with training new personnel, helping with projects and trying to finish up my own.  My SO and I also just celebrated our tenth anniversary this past week. Appropriately enough, part of it was in the local craft store, picking up new supplies. :)

If you have "Liked" my Facebook Page, then you will have seen some big developments occurring in the world of Bewitching Dreams.  If not, then I'll give you a quick rundown! :)

Located in Cary, NC, The Gamer's Armory is an awesome game store that has been very supportive of the local gaming community.  The owners are amazing people and I was honored when they reached out to me a few weeks ago to inquire about my little Itty Bitty Cthulhu sculptures! They carry several local artists and were looking to expand their selection of gaming/geekery items.  I was thrilled to receive the email and met with the owners to show them some of my latest creations.

First, I had to show off the Sentimental Cthulhu....Cthulhu has a softer side.  He enjoys stopping to smell the roses...before eating them.  

(Psst!  This was my first attempt ever at making roses...I had a lot of fun with them!)

Then, I wanted to show the Gamer Cthulhu.  You just know that he's screaming all sorts of insanity-inducing expletives over his gaming headset, don't you?

Then, there is the Romantic Cthulhu.  Cthulhu has a heart...truly...it might not be his own, but he is still presenting you with it. Aww...so romantic...and messy.

Then, there is Cthulhu...holding a brain.  Because, why shouldn't he? Where does the yummy soul lie....in the heart, or in the brain?  That is the true question...and the true connoisseur that Cthulhu is, has to try both to find out.

Which is your favorite?  If you are in North Carolina, stop by The Gamer's Armory to see some of my work, along with other great artists and check out the wonderful gaming groups that meet up there on a regular basis! They have a wonderful selection of miniatures, tabletop, card games and more!

Edit: After much deliberation, my friend ColtPixy helped me narrow down a name for these guys! Thank you so much!  I love my Itty Bitty Cthulhu!

March of the Earrings

Here are some of the earrings that I finished over the weekend.

This first group includes a snazzy pair of pumpkins with green Swarovski crystals, two festival red holiday light bulbs and a dashing pair of golden witch's hats with fire opal Swarovski crystals to set them off.

This group has a pair of jet black raven feathers, hand sculpted and adorned with denim blue Swarovski crystals.  A pair of evil Cthulhu post earrings are next, along with a pair of dove feathers with blue undertones and light blue miniature Swarovski crystals.

A pair of gray earrings, featuring a heart sunburst in the center.  Two Death Star pendants sit in the middle, both featuring a tigereye polished bead.  The final piece is a pair of hair barrettes, featuring a rainforest tree frog sitting amongst colorful foliage.  The perfect accessory!

Painting of All Types

I showed you one of my works in progress earlier this week.  Well, these peacocks have received their colors, like their larger cousins, now living in their new home with the happy couple married today!

That is not the only painting that I've been doing recently.  If you follow my Facebook page, you will see earlier today, I finished painting one of my displays for the upcoming craft fair.  What do you think?  A little while ago, I busted out laughing as I realized that I was looking at a very warped version of Hollywood Squares, featuring the multiple personalities of Cthulhu!

I need sleep. I realize this too.

Finally Looking Like Peacocks...

After getting the texturing in the tail feathers down and the basic shape of the wings and back feathers, the next day, I started the task of filling in all of the details.  Each tail took me a little over an hour to complete all of the feathering detail.  Thankfully, the bodies and wings did not take as long...I think I averaged about forty minutes per sculpture.

I really had fun creating these textures...it was tedious, but very rewarding as I saw an abstract design become more and more refined with each detail that was added.

Standing side-by-side, these peacocks are finally looking like they should.  If you've noticed, they were promoted to a bigger base.  The one I started with was about half this size and could not accommodate both birds and their gorgeous fan tails, so I had to find one that would work properly.  

A close-up of the wings and body detail.

The final step for these guys was to make their head feathers and bake them all together.  Here's a closeup of the head after baking.

Come back soon to see the painting that went into these fellows, along with the details in the base.

The Peacocks Continue to Flourish...

When we last left off, the peacocks were just starting to plump up.  They had grown wings, a tail and were definitely starting to look more like birds and less like scarecrows.

I took nearly two weeks away from the peacocks, debating on what I would do next with them.  When I started to work on them some more, their tails developed nicely...well, except for the one on the left.

Oh, how I disliked that first tail.  I looked at the pictures again and again after I went to bed, nearly going back downstairs at 4am to work on it some more.  I forced myself to take a break from it, though...and tackle it again the next day.

This definitely worked to my advantage.  Had I gone with my first inclination, I might have redone the entire tail, but I figured out how to trim off the bottom layer and re-shape it to my liking.  Then, the real fun began!

Here, you can see the tail on the right has been textured with feather detail.  The one on the left, having been reshaped, is untextured, besides having the 'eyes' of the feathers put into place.

Both tails are now fully textured, as are the bodies of the peacocks, if you look closely.  If you do not look so closely, you will see my poor Cthulhus, lying painted and abandoned, ready to be given toys to play with. Soon, my little ones, soon.

In this image, (ignoring the glare of the Cthulhu), you can see the wing and body details that have started to develop on both birds.  Check back as these peacocks gain all of their feathers and their head feathers too!

My Latest Project

For those of you following my Facebook page, you'll have seen the finished design of my latest project.

I created these peacocks for a friend's upcoming wedding.  Their colors are blue and green, with touches of peacock feathers used for decoration. I could not resist trying my hand at these colorful and elegant birds. My friend, Mike, also took a much better picture of the final product than I was able to, so I am borrowing his photo with his permission.  You should also check out his baking blog, bakingbetter.com.  He has wonderful recipes!

But, these peacocks all started nearly a month ago now...when my muse, the perverted thing, came to me in the shower.  I was tossing ideas around, trying to figure out what to work on next and what would a nice sculpture be as a wedding gift.  Then these came to mind...so the first thing I did (after drying off, of course) was to rush downstairs and start working on the shapes.

Doesn't look like much, does it?  Armatures never really do...they just provide the skeleton to hold the clay together and provide it with strength and integrity.  I do have to admit, I was giggling maniacally while I was shaping the postures and heads.  (Forgive all of the photos that you will see over the next few days...they are WIP photos, thus not pretty and touched up). :)

The next day, the peacocks got their base coat of clay.  They look a bit better now, right?  Not so crane looking and more peacock-y.  

A couple of days later, they started to get even more definition.  Their tails grew, as did their wings and feet.

In the next post, I'll show you how frustrated I was at one of the peacock tails, as well as the detail work that began to include all of the feathers.  So, check back soon!

Super Bowl/Work Table Sunday!

(insert standard NFL football music here)

Makes you just want to grab a plate of wings, some very unhealthy dip and plop down to laugh at the ridiculous commericals and watch two teams fight it out for a chance to be Super Bowl Champions!

It doesn't? Oh.  Well, that's okay too!

For us, we are rooting for one team, but really we sit to watch the commercials and have an excuse to eat really unhealthy food. :P

Tonight, the plan is buffalo wings, chili dip, buffalo chicken dip and hash brown casserole.  Wait...I think we are missing something...oh yes, probably a defibrillator.  Maybe I'll throw in a vegetable to make ourselves feel better.  It will probably be breaded too.

But, besides watching two groups of men beating each other bloody, I will also be working on more clay!  I did want to show you a couple of finished or nearly finished projects :)

That's right...more Cthulhus!  The top one is a birthday gift for a friend...I just need to make him a base tonight and finish him up, then he'll be ready to go. :)  I'm only a couple of weeks late at this point.

This little guy is part of my Valentine's Day gift to my boyfriend. Shhh...don't tell.  ;)

I also have several WIPs (Works in Progress) that I have been doing...I started five more sculptures at a meetup on Friday night, while sitting in a coffee shop, surrounded by friends.  It was really fun and helped me not focus so much on the little details, but the overall design. I'm hoping I'll get those further along too, so I can show you on Wednesday.

Have a great night!
(end typical NFL football music with crash of helmets)

Pirate Crab!

So, my dad requested a special sculpture from me for Christmas. He wanted a pirate blue crab that had taken up residence on Blackbeard's sunken ship.

After baking, before painting:

We brainstormed for quite awhile on all the different options before settling on a crab with an eyepatch and missing claw that was replaced by a fishing hook, of course!

After baking, painting and giving:

Argh...I'll guard yer parents' kitchen table with me broadsword!

Seriously, I forgot to take his picture before wrapping him up and traveling home for Christmas.  So, enter beautiful green tablecloth backdrop :p

Oh, and did I mention my Dad also wanted an oyster..."with attitude"..this one turned out more like a muppet...

But, he had such a hilariously cute expression, I couldn't bear to smoosh him back up into a lump of clay.  That happens sometimes..what you start out creating, might not turn out like you envisioned him...but maybe something better.  He even got a pearl!

Holiday Gifts

Ah, the holiday season is fast approaching and everyone is scrambling to finish their last minute shopping, baking, wrapping and gift making!  I took Friday off from work in order to finish up my holiday shopping and to finish up some holiday projects.

Since we are celebrating the season with one family today, I will go ahead and share their gifts with you.  As the upcoming holiday approaches and the gifts are given out, I will reveal each one to you.

Some of you might remember the pendant I made earlier this year, using image transfer, clay and Magic-Glos?  Well, I decided to incorporate that into my gift making this year.

This heart pendant featuring primroses will be going to my boyfriend's mom for Christmas.  It uses a combination of clay, watercolor, mica powders and resin to create an eye-catching piece.

 

While his sister will also receive a pendant, featuring a more artistic style flower.  I hope they enjoy them.  Stay tuned for more projects!  What are you making this holiday season?