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!

Busy Busy Busy!

Another weekend has finally come to a close and I have been frantically working on several projects, both for the Central NC Pagan Pride Days Festival, as well as for home and work!

One of the projects that I worked on this weekend was a large assortment of magnets.  I had a lot of fun creating these and will probably try my hand at a few more before the end of the week.

Butterflies, dragons and unicorns, oh my!

Celtic crosses

My pumpkin Cthulhu was also finished this weekend.  All he needs is a pumpkin chai latte and he would be the perfect fall accessory! 

Check back later this week to see more of my creations, specifically some earrings that I finished or you can follow me on Facebook to see more of my WIP (work-in-progress) pictures and sneak peeks at finished projects.  

Mini Peacocks

Have I bored you enough with peacocks yet?  Well, that's too bad, because I have another peacock project to share with you.

Here are some mini peacocks that I made the other day. They were just baked tonight and will be painted tomorrow.  They can sit on the end of your finger!

The final touches...

And here, the peacocks begin getting their final touches...layering of paint to bring details to life.  The tails and back of the body were first...using a beautiful green-gold metallic paint to bring forward all of the detail work.

The front and heads were painted with a glorious sapphire blue, which I stole off of my boyfriend's miniatures work table.

I finished the details off with pearl white and a metallic black, enhancing the face along the way and adding definition.

The wings were painted white, then washed over with a thin metallic black to make the details really pop, while allowing the natural blue to shine through as well.

The final touch for the tails included placing Swarovski crystals in the eyespots of the final row of tail feathers.  This really added an extra dimension and I'll give credit where credit is due...it was entirely my boyfriend's idea and suggestion.  He was right, it really gave the sculpture that extra pop of color.

Their large base was covered with clay, baked and then painted in a mixtures of browns, greens and taupe. This cannot be seen, but I know it is there and it added depth to the ballast, which was added next. Following the addition of the ballast was green moss and grass, carefully glued into place to create a natural scene for the peacocks to roost.

Here they are at the wedding shower. :)  They do not look as brilliant of a blue under the natural light, but I will share my friend's photo once more, which really captured the colors nicely.

This Tooth Only Looks Sharp

You might remember from my last post that I picked up a couple of Megalodon teeth at a local fossil/gem/mineral show.

The one on the left will be opened by my Dad later today as a birthday gift.  Ever since watching Discovery Channel's Shark Week, featuring Megalodon sharks years ago, we have both been fascinated by these massive creatures.

This gigantic shark lived for around 15 million years, before disappearing (one could hope) around 1 million years ago.  It has been classified as either Carcharodon megalodon, which would put Megalodon in the same family as the modern day Great White shark or Carcharocles megalodon, which is an extinct family of sharks.  Prehistoric-wildlife.com has a great amount of information on the Megalodon shark, as well as plenty of other fascinating creatures!

The teeth are the only part of the skeleton of a shark that we can find, since the rest is cartilage.  You will also notice that fossilized teeth come in a rainbow of colors...this is due to the type of soil sediment the tooth lands in when it is either shed or the animal dies.

I saw one tooth at the gem show that had a lot of rust colors, streaked with black.  I asked the finder if he had located it in an area with iron and sure enough, he found it in soil that was rich with iron oxide.

Here is the smaller tooth that I wire-wrapped this weekend.  I think I might embellish a little bit with a dangling Swarovski crystal or two...but I like the beauty of the piece itself to stand on it's own.  Who would have ever thought a tooth could be so fascinating?

What's on the Work Table?

I showed you one of my projects that I have started to play around with....the miniature koi pond pendant.  I'm going to work on a few more this upcoming weekend, or at least that is the plan.

Here are a couple of other projects that you might have seen on my Facebook page:

This is a Tree of Life inspired pendant....I carved the tree into the clay prior to curing it.  I was aiming for an etching style...then finished it with clear resin to cause the colors to really pop.

This is the pendant before resin was added.

This little guy was inspired by Cthulhu...I was trying to go for an old relic discovered, but that didn't really work out for this pendant.  Obviously, not every project is a success or even comes out remotely like you envisioned it...but that's all part of the process.  I'm not displeased by him, but I have ideas on how to make this piece better. 

This probably involves not giving Cthulhu freckles in the future...when texturing goes horribly wrong :P

Day after Christmas Shopping!

Even though I am writing this post ahead of time, I am going to hazard a guess that we will be partaking in the day after Christmas shopping.  Last year, my mom and I raided Michaels for leftover Christmas trees...I ended up with two great small ones.

This year, I really don't have anything on my list for after Christmas shopping, but I'm sure I'll find some clay or paint that I "cannot live without." :P

Here is a summary of all the necklaces I made for holiday gifts.  I still have a few holiday gifts to show you, but those will be next time.

Holiday Gifts, Part 3

Ok, technically Christmas is not for two more days, but, I am going to take a gamble and guess that my Mom will be so busy entertaining us, that she will not be reading my blog, LOL!

Obviously, this necklace is for her.  I actually used the same pattern when I created my pendant back in the summer time.  I thought it would be nice to both have the same flower, even when we are so far apart.

Holiday Gifts, Part 2

I am so excited for this evening!  A friend and I are going to see the Nutcracker Ballet!  I have always wanted to see a live production of it and have watched it for years on the public broadcasting stations while usually wrapping gifts.

I am giving her this as a surprise for her holiday gift.  She has made me three beautiful mugs in her pottery studio and she loves cats, having two of her own, so I thought she would like this design.

Surprisingly, it was very hard to get a good picture of this piece.  There are so many colors incorporated, but pictures definitely do not do it justice.  I used multiple watercolors and mica powders to add color to the scene of this cat looking out over the sunrise (or perhaps sunset)? 

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?

Work Table Weekend

Now that I have given some of our holiday gifts out, I feel like I can share the final pictures with you all.  :)

First, the Santa Cthulhu's on their snowy drifts....though, I have to admit, this isn't the final picture.  I added snowballs to each Cthulhu and they were hilarious!  They actually looked like they were having a snowball fight with each other and I regret not getting a picture of that! :) 

I bet you can guess where the snowballs went though ;)  So, just use your imagination.

The finished unicorn went to another friend, who absolutely loves and collects various unicorns.  I used roving wool for the mane, tail and feathering around the hooves.  It was a pretty white, but when I think of mythical creatures, I think of glitter, etc.  After some pondering, I tried out some beautiful violet mica powder that I had and was able to actually "paint" it onto the wool to create an iridescent and glittery appearance.

To commemorate the engagement of two friends, I thought of what better way than interwoven rings.  I used another color of mica powder to create an antique silver finish.

Finally, a friend of ours just recently bought a farm and has been raising beautiful fancy chickens for some time now.  I thought a bird's nest pendant with colorful green eggs (textured glass beads) would be something she could enjoy.

I have several more projects I am going to be working on in the coming weeks before Christmas, so check back to see what is meandering across my work table!

Vacation Creations

Just a teaser of some of the projects I worked on during my travels...

Did you find any fabulous deals on Black Friday or have fun creating something during the holiday? :)

Work Table Wednesday

Well, this cute little guy was on my worktable this past weekend...

Now, I am spending today, while trying to get rid of a really bad cold and migraine attack, how I am going to replace him.  See, I found out the hard way on Sunday evening that UV resin and glass do not necessarily mix.

So...my cute little betta...

is now encased in yellow resin in a cracked bowl.  I do not have a picture of this...it is too depressing :P 

But, that is how it goes sometimes...you never know until you try!  I will be making another betta very soon and hopefully, I can figure out how to make him properly shine!

Work Table Wednesday

I was able to move forward with the next step of one of my projects, as well as start another hermit crab!

I now have three hermit crabs, patiently waiting on me to start painting.  I think they feel a bit naked, even with their shell ;)  The little creation below is also in the beginning stages...I am hoping it will turn out nicely.  You will have to check back to see how it progresses!

Have you ever...

seen snails that are so adorable, that you want to snatch them up and take them home?  You haven't?  Then, obviously, you have not ventured to ColtPixy's Etsy shop or to her blog to see her latest work.

Here is one adorable little snail that steals my heart

Bubba the snail, with his little brown jug

At the moment, amazingly enough, he is the only snail listed in her shop.  This is because every time she posts a snail, it sells within minutes!  Twice, I went to buy a snail she listed and it was gone!  That is how amazing her sculptures are and how popular they have become.  She keeps herself very busy with custom orders.  Below are just a few of her amazing snails!

ColtPixy is working very hard to have several snails added to her shop next week in honor of her 100th snail that she has made.  She will be doing a giveaway on her blog, so definitely check it out as well as all of the new snails she will be surprising us with in her Etsy shop! 

Check out the latest creations on her blog:

 Sally and Tommy Snailsberg...look at the tiny little glow worm doll and the pet frog!!!

She doesn't just make snails though.  She also specializes in adorable owls, unique fantasy and beautiful egg sculptures!

The Results are In!!

We made it to the Fair and had a blast!  I buy our tickets early so we get a discounted price, but it can still be expensive, so you want to make the most of your time there.  We paid a little extra for parking, but it was worth it since we were right across the street from the fairgrounds and everyone was SO nice!

Of course, you have to sample the fair food...in all of it's fried glory.  One of our favorite vendors does amazing cheese sticks/cubes/melty goodness.  Here is a jalapeno pepper jack with jalapeno ranch dressing.

So worth the calorie count!  Followed by Italian sausages and more fried foods.

After the food, we decided to walk off all of those calories by checking out some of the livestock exhibits.  Look at the adorable bunnies!

We finally made it to the Handicrafts and Hobbies exhibit.  To my shock and amazement, every single entry won a ribbon!

Here are the results!

My acorn egg won First Place AND Best of Show for the egg decorating competition.

My pumpkin egg won a Third Place ribbon among some beautiful entries!

My Gnome Sweet Gnome house also won Third Place in the decorations division.

As did my hermit crab :)

My miniature Koi Pond received a 2nd Place ribbon in the Miniatures category!

I am so thrilled that all of my entries earned a ribbon of some form.  We also had a great time and won some stuffed animals at the balloon dart toss, as well as the ping pong ball game for goldfish.  I refused to bring home any fish, so the lady let me have a stuffed one instead :)

We also did a turkey shoot for the first time!  My boyfriend did a much better job than I did (his two targets are on the right, mine are on the left and are less..holey) :)  We would have won, but one guy was just a smidge closer to the crosshairs. It was still an amazing time!