Time: Tamed

Wonderful collection

2011-12-14T12:50:00.001-08:00

I was featured in this fab Artfire collection. It features such amazing artists that I was thrilled to have been included!

Fantastic Creatures

Curated By: LornasCreations

ArtFire.com

Handmade Soap

The house is together

2011-12-13T11:14:00.000-08:00

I'm behind in posting about my new Dolls house.

It's coming along nicely. Still a few bits on the outside and well under way on the inside now!

The bricks are a realistic brick effect using a stencil from Bromley Craft products, the Tiles are ceramic from Brentel designs, some lights are from DHE, Matlock Miniatures and Heidi Ott. The fire place was made by my Dad along with coffee stirrer floor boards and the wallpapers are also from Bromley.

Rabbits

2011-11-11T14:49:00.000-08:00

Yes, they were rabbits.

Just listed on my Artfire shop.

Now I'm off to feed some real, rather more troublesome ones. They were very nice and let me measure them for really accurate 1:12th scale bunnies.

Sometimes you get it...

2011-11-01T12:35:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you get it...

I love this little calico cat. It came out almost exactly as I imagined it. The face is cute, the pose is animated and I think the flocking looks pretty good too. She's in scale and I can imagine her in a variety of miniature settings. She's got character. Or at least, I think so!

And sometimes you don't...

Now this little Russian Blue I'm not so happy with. I decided I needed to make some cats for my Artfire shop and you know sometimes when you 'have' to do something, your inner muse rebels. I started off making this russian blue and it just wasn't happening, I let the clay I started with dry out and then added some liquid clay to soften in. I added too much and too soft clay is a nightmare to work with. After scrunching it up a few times I changed over to the calico. But then I came back to this and it still wasn't playing nice. I baked one body, destroyed, baked another and decided to just crack on and see what happened. I got him looking ok, but then stupidly decided to glaze the eyes after I furred him and it got everywhere! I think I've kind of salvaged him. He'll be up at a reduced price anyway, if I do sell him as he's too big for dolls house scale. I thought I'd post since sometimes, things I really like, others don't seem to and something I'm not happy with people like!

There's a lesson in here somewhere, I'm sure.

Beginnings

2011-10-19T15:03:00.000-07:00

Finally finally finally I have one!! Not a huge wait I suppose, I'm only 26, but in the grand scheme of my life it feels like a woohoo moment! All through my kidhood I yearned for a real dolls house. I come from a 2nd marriage family, so my sisters were nearly all grown by the time I was born. I have the strange juxtaposition of having 6 sisters yet feeling like an only child. I looked with longing towards my teenage sisters and ate up books like Louisa M Alcott's Little Women where the sisters had such a close bond.

So when one of my sisters returned home and brought some toys from her childhood with her I was extatic. Here was a connection with a part of my sister I had never known before. One who played and pretended and lived in a fantasy world just like I did. I cherished the Sindy Dolls and an incomplete, but still joyful Sindy House and there the seed of miniatures being wonderful things was planted. The house had seen it's best so didn't last very long, but I've kept the dolls and a horse that came with them. Later I gifted myself another house when I got a 'my first computer' for christmas one year and it was faulty, returning it with my parents to Toys R Us I opted for the ever more pleasing option of a 'dolls house', well, a Sylvanian family house. I suspect in some part that this may have upset my parents, but they respected my decision and all that year I spent my pocket money on a peice of furniture or a little animal. Silently (or maybe loudly, if I'm to be less noble) despairing at not being able to furnish my mansion. That Christmas we went to another sisters for Christmas and my neices (only 4 and 5 years younger than me) got the motherload of presents. But waiting for me under the tree when we got back home were more boxes. I can't remember a single other thing I got that year, but in those boxes was proper dolls house furniture. All wood and old looking and red and copper pots and pans, more than could fill my house. I spent many years rearranging the furniture, marvelling at it's tiny perfectness. Tucking my little squirrel family into bed, checking out the contents of their fridge and laying the table for dinner.

Eventually it grew that it would be embarrassing to have teenage friends round and see my house sitting there, so it made it to the spare room and then the loft. When I was 18 and we moved North I sold it and the furniture on ebay and I felt a little tug on my heart as I wrapped it all up for some mystery person to enjoy.

Truthfully I never grew out of being a child. The mysteries of make believe still grab me in a way that a penchant for shoes or fashion never could. When I was seeking an outlet for my pent up creativities I started sculpting small animals and that led me into the miniature world. I've gotten deeper and discovered things I never knew existed. I've found my childhood dreams can be realised in a sophisticated, adult way. A sometimes, all consuming, bank balance hurting, but very cool, way. Some people may still see it as playing, and that's ok. I think we're secretly all trying to find that childhood happiness again, and I've found mine.

So my journey into Adult collectable Dolls houses and miniatures has truly begun. I hope you can enjoy sharing it with me.

It might not look like much now, but it already means so much!

Work in Bun-gress

2011-10-17T20:30:00.000-07:00

Hehehe!

Beginnings

2011-10-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

... That kind of start in the middle. Rebirths if you will.

I'm a member of the Polymer Clay Smoosher's Guild on Artfire. Whilst not always active I enjoy being able to support fellow clay-ers and get support in return. I met some great people and picked up some great tips. A while ago it all seemed to come to an end. The guild was to be no more spurned I think by our wonderful Guildmaster Star having to hang up her badge of office due to personal issues. Fortunately someone has stepped up to help the Guild continue. Michelle of Creative Critters is now our guild master.

So I present to you the new Polymer Clay Smooshers guild, (it's interactive) and a few handpicked items from member's shops below, just in time for Autumn.

Averil Pam

Creative Critters

Desert Wind Designs (I have the matching earrings for this)

Also, Artfire recently came out of beta and updated it's look, I had to make a new banner and I liked the new look so much I decided to update my website with it too, so it looks a bit more cohesive, hopefully. I did consider restarting the blog and moving to Wordpress, but decided to keep it, for now at least.

metamorphosis?

2011-10-14T14:34:00.000-07:00

LOL!
Sometimes work in progresses make me laugh. This little guy looked really like a bug to me when he first got his eyes, maybe a bug eyes caterpillar?

They were a bit big for him as I was running out.
Once again, I ordered from Glasseyesonline.com
Gosh, my fingers look Ginormous!
He ended up looking like this in the end.

A papillion. (french for butterfly)
Quite apt I guess!

Finally finished

2011-06-12T09:01:00.000-07:00

Well, that took an age!!

I've finally finished the little sheltie. I'm busy at work and life, so not much time for crafts at the moment. I've popped this little fella on ebay incase I start to think he looks too much like Ludo and decide to keep him. lol!

I also had a little play with clay decoupage, just adding layers of clay on top of each other. This is a present for someone. Hoping they like it as it's not a very good gift if not!

Sleeping WIP

2011-04-07T14:10:00.000-07:00

Here's a little sneak peek of my next work in progress.
This started off as one breed, but I think once I start furring it I'll find the body is too thick, and the face not long/slender enough. But then, maybe I'm too used to longer noses American types, Ludo's snout is shorter than theirs. So it might end up another breed. Regardless, it's a herder/collie type and they all pretty much look similar underneath. So could be a sheltie, could be something else!

Haven't quite decided on colour yet! Shall I challenge myself with merle or sable, or play safe with tri colour?

The smudgy bits are pastel by the way. I'm working on painting some on pre baking to the areas where the fur will be applied thinner to give a softer, more natural look rather than painting. We'll see how it works out. I did this on the mini Reilly actually.

Finally!

2011-03-25T15:57:00.000-07:00

Haha!

So I posted about being out of my creative slump, but my surge of energy only lasted a short while. It did last long enough to finish off those two cats from the previous post. But not long enough to photograph and post them! Everything has settled down 'life wise' that was throwing me off track though so I think I'm ready to say I'm back at it! Might even open up for a commission again. :D

Here's the two Birman cats finished. They were for someone but it's been so extraordinarily long that I'm not sure she'll want them, so they're on my Artfire for now.

They are 1/12th scale dolls house miniature Birman cats. Smoke point.

Polymer clay and furred as usual.

A tip and a WIP guessing game

2011-01-20T14:12:00.000-08:00

We've been having lovely sunny days here and going for nice walks with Ludo has cheered me up no end. I've been making a bit of headway on sculpting again and here are some WIP shots. First I'd just like to share a tip for anyone who might be coming across this and just getting in to sculpting with polymer clay. It's taken me a long time to learn this. Too long!

Ok, here it is. If something isn't working out, don't try and try and try again.

I know that seems the opposite to that old saying if at first you don't succeed. But I'll give you an example. I was sculpting a cat's head. It just wasn't going well. I was getting more and more frustrated. Rolling it back into a ball over and over. I have learned now that when I start doing that, it's never gonna work. That particular piece of clay just doesn't want to be a cat's head. So scrunch it up. (use force, maybe some choice words) get a new piece of clay and start again. Even if you had one bit right, chances are the clay has got too warm and lost it's firmness so every time you shape one bit another bit will distort, so just, start again. I am very stubborn and I am learning not to be and to go with the creative flow.

Ok, here's two cats and something for the smooshers challenge. Any guesses what it is trying to become?

The sitting cat had surgery after baking, he's shorter now. There was too much length in his shoulder/neck area.

oh and just to show off the sun. Some seagulls outside my house.

Mokume Gane and getting back to it.

2011-01-15T08:53:00.000-08:00

Before Christmas I decided to do some gift boxes for my sisters and their families. I made little trinket boxes from polymer clay and tried out the Mokume Gane technique, which I've been wanting to do for ages!
I did take a lot more pictures but I think I deleted them from the card. It's such a fun process with very interesting results I think I'll be trying it again! I made some buttons from the scraps and it was very fun just to play with the clay, with no real purpose in mind. Not too bad for a first attempt?

Also in the boxes were some sweets, chocolates and peppermint creams. I tell you, peppermind creams are the work of the devil! I got so frustrated trying to get the consistency right. lol!

I had a big long break from crafting over the Christmas period. First of all because I had an impacted wisdom tooth removed and it was very painful, still is a bit now actually. Then it was all the 'go' of Christmas and New Year and then I got struck down with a bad case of flu. I am feeling better for it now though and ready to approach my miniatures with renewed vigour and get back into smooshers activities. Here's a couple of pictures of Ludo, throwing off the sluggishness of Christmas (portrayed here as a Santa hat)

Ok, I am off to start sculpting two Birman cats!

Winter is here!

2010-12-07T03:54:00.000-08:00

This little Somali kitty looks out the window at the frost.

A couple of days later, his friend, the Turkish Angora Lady goes for a look at the fresh fallen snow.

These two cats are based on semi-long haired breeds and are both dolls house 1/12th scale. The TV is available on my Artfire store.

I've been busy with Christmasy stuff, but am just about to start work on two Birman cat's for a commission.

Meanwhile...

Kitty WIP's

2010-11-22T14:53:00.000-08:00

I recently lost my cat Pepe. He somehow contracted a rare disease called dysautonomia, he became very ill and had to be PTS quite suddenly. Poor guy.

He inspired me to work on some cats. I've only ever done 6 furred cats, all as commissions. I don't know why cos I actually really like doing cats. I think they just form easier. They are so elegant, their lines are soft. Actually if I've ever got a pen or pencil in my hand I doodle a cat.

Here's a WIP shot. They are 1:12th / one inch scale. One is based on a Somali and the other one will be black, like Pepe, although I will be basing it on a Turkish Van.

Scavenger Hunt

2010-11-22T08:01:00.000-08:00

Time for some Christmas fun! The Polymer Clay Smooshers are having a Scavenger hunt and you can win these great prizes! There are lots of ways to win, so pop by the Blog to find out more.

Joy!

2010-11-08T02:26:00.000-08:00

Hurro!

My name be Ludo van Doggy and I hear to talk to you today about joy. I know Mum in this thing called a Polymer Clay Smooshers guild, which pretty boring and encourages her to spend less of her not-at-work-time with me, but I is a good dog so I let her do it. When Mum heard that the word thingy for this weeks blog be called joy, she thought and thought and finally said to me, "Ludo, all I can think of when I hear the word joy, is you. You are the most joyous being I have ever met and you bring me so much happiness that I think you are my joy too."

Well duh Mum. Any dog could tell you the joy the life has, like, stopping to smell the flowers. (or rather, the pee-mail left on them)

JillColmanDesigns

Or, waiting for something exciting to happen, like going for a walk, getting dinner, guests arriving, seasons changing, toys coming out, meeting new friends, even some scary things. But the mostest exciting when you people-dogs get excited, especially about things like Crispmas!! Holly one of the symbols of crispmas, there two kinds, one a prickly leafy kind and one called a holy a people kind which not a plant but still good and can sometime be just as prickly.

Ayarina

Or even, just the simple joy of getting a treat.

Dana's Jewellery etc

Now if Mum ever forgets maybe I should get her this thing.

Called, Love is Blue. hehe! (I a blue merle sheltie, if you didn't know)

ClayItAgain

Ok, bye!

~lickies, Ludo

pee ess: If you want to see my better than Mum's blog, it here.

Lakes

2010-10-27T08:41:00.000-07:00

I live in a part of the UK called the Lake District. Maybe you've heard of it? It's inspired a great many poets, writers and artists... and a lot of tourists! The lakes, especially the smaller, quieter ones make great walks and have fabulous views, they really can inspire your mood, whether they be tranquil, or dark and broody, or full of sunshine.

I thought about the lakes that I go to with my dog when this weeks blogging challenge was set for us Polymer Clay Smooshers.

Here's some photos, and below that, a few items that remind me of them. These were all taken by my lovely boyfriend, I do wish I could claim credit for them! If you want to see more hop on over to Ludo's blog, where he often posts about the lakes.

And here are the items I have chosen.

First, from Gingerbell's gifts, although this one is not polymer clay I loved it so much I had to include it. The colours are all there.

From Imprint Creations, this is a tree of life pendant which reminded me of the trees that frame the lakes.

and this from Kimimela Fae, Again, beautiful colours and I think the shimmer really reflects the sun shining off the water.

All necklaces this time!

~Dee

Nanny dogs

2010-10-24T05:46:00.000-07:00

Recently I've been working on a couple of Staffordshire Bull Terriers. It's something I've been wanting to do for a while, readers of Ludo's blog who've been with me since the start of this artistic journey may remember my first attempt at a dog sculpture. It was loosely a staffie. Very loosely. I think I'm getting to achieve the type of realism I was after, so I gave it another go.

Oliver is based on my sister's Staffie Noah, in particular this picture. (sorry about the sideways, I'm lazy!)

Oliver is my first 'anatomically correct' dog. He is furred with mohair and alpaca and has little individual claws made from wire and painted. He is going on ebay soon. Here's some more pics.

I had trouble with Oliver's sculpt, well self-inflicted trouble. I decided he was too tall and chopped him in half, but all good now. I also made a puppy. The bf chose to call him Wayne. He came out a bit bigger than I intended and was hard to photograph!! No idea what age he is! He is up on my Artfire store. They are both on my website too.

Staffie's get such a bad rap over here. Unfortunately a lot of 'bad types' of people have claimed them as a status dog and train them to be menacing. Like pitbulls we all know they are pure evil!! But Staffies and I suspect pitties, but they are banned here, left to their own devices are big wimps, and are known as a Nanny dog. I wanted to use this post to highlight that so I perused the internet for suitable photos. I hope none of the sources mind!

From here:

here

Animal Instinct

2010-10-13T11:23:00.000-07:00

The Smooshers Guild on Artfire have a new blogging challenge to go with lots of new members! This weeks prompt is 'Animal Instinct'. This got me thinking about animals doing what animals do best, being instinctive! (I know, I'm so literary you'd never guess I have an English degree :p) I think the basest instinct for all animals is freedom.

No matter how tame a wild animal is, it keeps its yearning and it's deep seeded knowledge of freedom with it. Even their cousins, the pets, recognise freedom and the joy it contains. Freedom for animals comes in many forms. The RSPCA in the UK has helped pass through the government the animal welfare act. It speaks of giving animals 5 freedoms, freedom to exhibit natural behaviours is one of them. Ever seen a pet rabbit or guinea pig, given the right environment and enough space, leaping for joy? Or your dog or cat, choosing to come back to you when the wilds beckon. They have the freedom to be happy.

I am a big animal lover and one animal type I will probably never have is birds. They are lovely creatures, but I will probably never have the space to enable them to just be birds, to fly. I hate the thought of clipping their wings and stripping them of that particular freedom. Maybe it's just my human mind, maybe the bird doesn't think like that. Generally if they're well fed, warm, and well looked after an animal can get by very well. But to me, I couldn't think of much worse than having the ability to FLY and have it taken away.

So in honour of birds and freedom and animal instinct, I give you some works from some very talented smooshers!

From Medusa's Adornments

From TH Designs

From Artsy Clay

From Valerie's Stuff

And... Not a bird, but it can still fly. From Phoenixart Studio

:)

Stop by the Smooshers blog to see all the shops in the guild, new and old alike.

What a difference a groom makes!

2010-10-02T07:39:00.001-07:00

I always enjoy/fear doing the final 'groom' on my furred sculpts. Much like getting your own hair, or pets hair cut I'm never certain I wont cut off too much, and unfortunately, with these guys, hair doesn't grow! It requires more careful gluing!

I thought it would be fun to show you what a difference a groom makes. I've been wanting to make a poodle for ages. They're my dream dog in 'pawson' I'd love to be owned by one. I know people think they're all show and no oomph, and that's a big reason for me liking them. I often surprise people, I'm a petite young women and people often don't expect the force of will that hides within my fragile looking exterior. ;) Yeah, I can relate to the poodle, I guess a lot of people can.

Alas, Sensibility means I can only dream for the time being. I've been buying and trying potential wools for poodle fur for a while till a kind lady groomer on the Ruffdogs forum, sent me some poodle, and bichon fur. I actually ended up using the bichon for this miniature poodle who stands at just over 3/4's of an inch at the shoulder. So to scale, she is 10 inches high. :)

Before:

After!:

I think this little girl is going up on Ebay. I want to try and judge if my prices are relevant to the 'market' and Ebay is a good place to let people set their own price. I hope she sells! lol!

I can now set about making my own dream poodle, a standard.

~Dee

p.s. This is furred on the naked sitting dog from a few posts ago.

Masquerade Ball!

2010-10-01T07:07:00.000-07:00

You are all invited to join in the the Polymer Clay Smooshers Guild's annual Mask! Over the next month you will see showcased wonderful masks in a variety of styles from some great artists. Hop on over to the guild blog to join the party and have the chance to win some fabulous prizes by commenting!!

Here are some of the amazing works from last year to whet your appetite.

It starts now, hurry!

Featured Artist - Gingerbell

2010-09-06T06:43:00.000-07:00

This weeks Featured Smoosher is Ginger Bells!

I'm a few weeks behind due to having no internet at my new pad, but I've got a mobile dongle now.

GingerBell makes jewellery, buttons and beads from polymer clay as well as some other things like scented wax melts, I love those!

Here's my pick of some of my favourite items of hers. She is great with patterns and colours! And has some wonderful themed sets which would be perfect to select with a going out outfit.

Ginger says Polymer clay is her all time favourite medium and you can certainly see the passion she has for it in her work.

Check out her shop or blog today!

Featured Artist - Haffina Creations

2010-08-07T07:27:00.000-07:00

Well first I want to say that me and the furbabies have moved house. We don't have the Internet at the moment. *fingers crossed it's soon* I'm using my Mum's comp at my parents to write this but it's slow and the keyboard is sticky! But I wanted to honour my commitment to the PC Smooshers. :D

So this weeks featured artist is Jennifer from Haffina's Creations. She is very active in the guild and seems a lovely and helpful lady. Others have said how busy she is elsewhere so it amazes little old 'can't find the time' me how she does it and yet still makes such professional looking jewellery; like the following.

or lovely magnets.

Or how about something a bit more unusual like this miniature masquerade mask for a barbie?
Well, I seem to have chosen all purple item to feature, but she does have tonnes of other colours! why not check it out for yourself at her shop, or blog.

Featured Artist - CatsWire!

2010-07-31T14:53:00.000-07:00

I've been reading this week's featured artist's blog for a while now. I can truly say it has kept me very entertained. I love her sarcastic humour and her brilliant artwork.

Cat's Wire is primarily a wire crocheter. Sounds scary huh! It's very intricate detailed work and I simply can't imagine being able to do it! She incorporates polymer clay into her work to great effect.

But makes some stunning items without it too.
My favourite polymer clay item of hers is this Raincloud necklace. Maybe it would be good for a certain Princess RainKhloud I know. :)

Stop by Cat's Wire's blog for a great read, or visit her shop for a great buy.

oh and did I mention she's a 'crazy cat lady?'

A Beautiful Princess

2010-07-30T14:58:00.000-07:00

I was commissioned to make another Rainbow Bridge kitty. This one is for a friend of a friend and she is called Cinderella. I hope I have her right, as with all RB pets it's hard to get the photos I would *like* to be able to work from.

She is furred with tussah silk (wild moths) mohair, and rabbit fur. Curtosy of Faline. This is Faline, she was moulting big a while back and I pluck it out and save it). All this makes her nice and soft!

More pics!

In other news me and the furbabies are moving! I'm already behind on commissions and making stuff because of how hectic work is right now. It's the school holidays and I work in a hotel. :( But here I up and decide to move right in the middle of it!

Featured Artist - Valerie's stuff!

2010-07-26T07:15:00.000-07:00

I'm behind again!

Lasy weeks featured Smoosher was Valerie, from Valerie's stuff.

She makes wonderful polymer clay jewellery and each one looks like a little canvas. I love the softness in her work.
This looks like marble! It reminds me of this kit my Mum had when I was younger, she liked to buy crafty things. You dropped inks into a bucket of water and dipped things and they got this beautiful marble pattern. For a while of my young life she got a bit obsessed and even our loo seat was marbled for a while. lol!

She also makes great abstract designs, like this, called 'Along came a spider'.

I love the colours in this cuff bracelet too.

So check out Valerie's stuff for some great items!

Featured Artist - Creative Critters

2010-07-18T10:03:00.000-07:00

Creative Critters's studio name is certainly apt! Owned my Michelle you will find a vast range there from pc sculptures, (fantasy, whimsical and realistic) to plush toys, jewelry, miniature houses and cat toys, there really is something for everyone!

My favourite thing about Michelle's shop is her imagination. Combinations and idea's you just wouldn't expect. Things like this light up 'house'.

Or Melinda, the mushroom sitter!

It must be really fun to be inside Michelle's head. lol!

Of course it couldn't be MY blog without showing off one of her pet creations!

How cute!

Stop by Michelle's blog and shop, a 'something for everyone' kind of place. I guarantee you'll be entertained and amazed!

Poses

2010-07-13T10:20:00.000-07:00

Just a quick snap shot of my latest WIP's, both commissions. The dog is on his billionth baking and just needs a bit of touching up after his final go in the oven and the cat needs to be finished painting and furred.

This got me thinking on poses. The easiest pose is a stand up one for me. I can just copy an anatomy or show pose pic for the breed. Nobody ever requests standing though. Pets are lazy, more often than not, they'll be lying down. So I need to get more used to sculpting laying pets. This seems easier in theory, but it's harder because usually in the photos you can't see all of the legs, so you have to guess where to put them, and then it makes your sculpt lopsided, or squishes a different one. Do you sculpt the whole 'invisible' leg or give in to a bit of artistic license? I like my sculpts to be 'complete' so when you turn them over they have all legs, all paws etc. I'm not sure if this is a fault of mine but it sure makes my life harder!

I've had a couple of people comment that the legs might be too long, I have measured them against my anatomy model and the bones are right, but maybe by eye they look too long. I have taken to trying to arrange my critters in the poses to compare, but they don't seem too keen. I wonder why? lol!

Cats on the whole tend to give me less trouble with posing them, maybe because they are a bit more elegant and athletic?

All part of the fun learning experience!

Featured Artist - Emily Claire Creations

2010-07-07T10:19:00.000-07:00

Emily Claire Creations /Valerie is this weeks featured Smoosher!

Valerie states "I come from a declining industrial area, which I believe has colored my influences and attitude. I find beauty in nature and industrial decay." and I can really see it in her work, the colour tones, with browns and greens and rust colours work really well with the natural subject matter.

This juxtaposition shows really well in this piece, imo.

I particularly like her use of texture and mixed media. Some of her descriptions describe her work as rustic and I'd agree with that too.

Who wouldn't want to own such an unusual item as this, imagine the talking point wearing her lovely jewellery would make!

I've had a read back through her blog and it's a great place to read about her polymer clay experiments! I really want to try image transfers now! hehe!

Lastly, my favourite item from her gallery, because I just adore bees!

Featured Artist - IntoTheDawn

2010-07-06T11:20:00.000-07:00

This weeks (last's actually, I'm so behind!) featured artist is a lovely lady named Dawn. I love how her shop and blog name is a play on her name, just like another Dawn I know. Dawn's are very pretty so I already have a preconception of the store and it doesn't disappoint!

Her stuff is very unique, I love the colours so much! It's pretty, but not overly girly, so everyone can get on board with it.

She makes fantastic mosaics as well as lovely jewellery, this water box has a real free spirit 'hippy' vibe to it. I just love it.

Dawn's work really captures me and my imagination, I could look at it for ages as it has such depth and I think she does colour techniques amazingly well.

Visit IntoTheDawn to see more, or her blog here.

Indiana

2010-07-02T07:38:00.000-07:00

Meet Indy, the long over due WIP. :) I think his head looks a bit too big now. I made him when it was really warm though and was struggling to keep the tiny size from warping in the heat. He is furred with Mohair and alpaca, with a bit of camel mixed into the blend of colours for his face.

Covered egg

2010-06-29T15:13:00.000-07:00

Joining the Smooshers and also taking part in a craft swap elsewhere inspired me to try some new things with pc, kinda like I was when I started out. I kind of bypassed some wonderful elements to this fantastic medium by diving straight into miniature animals. It was good fun to take a few days out to work on my craft swap and challenge entries.
I'll be showing off some of the new techniques I tried in later posts but one of the things I made was a covered egg. I've wanted to try this since I featured Coltpixy a few weeks ago, mostly to see if vinegar really will dissolve egg shell.

I had no idea how to go about this, but figured I should start with an empty egg. I did the old making two holes and blowing out the goo trick. Ludo ate the egg proper and it's free range! (this did go to a vegan, but as I am veggie and very careful with my eggs I hope its ok that I used one.)
I'd purchased some clay in different colours so I conditioned some Premo Green pearl clay, with a bit of metallic powder for added sheen. I made a sheet about #4 thickness and made patterns with the back of a teaspoon, I cut these out and stuck them on, I then made thin rolls of clay and wound them about until I was happy. I was looking at a gardening book and found a pretty unusual clematis so I was using that as inspiration. I then made the flowers and smoothed it all over. (you can still see the lines due to the mica shift effect I think, which is pretty cool) I attached little balls as feet and into the oven it went.

It sat in the vinegar for about 30 hours, at first nothing was happening, I bought some new vinegar and completely covered it and then it worked!The hangy vine bits were pretty fragile so I tried to strengthen them by rebaking, only they fell off and had to be superglued back on, lol. I bought some 'air plants' and glued one in and voila. A little plant in a plant basket!

Featured Artist - CNewcomb

2010-06-26T14:12:00.000-07:00

CNewcomb is the newest Smoosher in the Polymer Clay Smooshers Guild on Artfire, (yay, I'm not the newbie anymore!) and he's this weeks features artist!

His main craft is woodworking and he's really passionate about it. "Creating something beautiful with my hands from a piece of wood brings great joy to me. I love cutting out patterns and sanding and staining my wood creations. Watching a new item begin to look more finished and ready for its owner provides a gratifying sense of calm and peace deep within my soul." I think anyone who's that passionate about their craft is well worth a second look as that passion will no doubt pass on to their work.

He has some great items!

He is a smoosher due to his fascinating technique of cutting out a shape and filling it with pc. As here.
Doesn't it create a cool effect?
He is also having a 10percent off sale to celebrate being featured this week, so stop by his store to see more!

Jasper

2010-06-18T07:36:00.000-07:00

Well, here he is, at long last! My first long haired cat, and my first cat with a 'different' face. I'm not sure he looks very persiany. :S I've never seen a persian in real life. I think he does have GJ's 'look' about him though. I'm not sure what I could do differently this time. My bf thinks his paws are too big. I've been finding the small details hard in this warm weather, the clay gets too squishy.

If you want to see the man himself, he can be found here: Ginger Jasper.

Featured Artist - CraftyBabyHope

2010-06-16T15:01:00.000-07:00

This weeks featured artists not only works in polymer clay, but in wire aswell!

Jennifer is a great artist with lots of lovely variety in her shop. PC wise she creates lots of 'kawaii' things, really kitsch and cute!
You can find jewellery, such as the adorable baby above, or sculptures like this dog. Of COURSE I had to post that!

I recently found out that Jennifer's shop is to support her quest for fertility treatment, hence the name. She is also having a 10% off store wide sale at the moment!

This is my favourite non-clay item. I might just snap it up!

Visit CraftyBabyHope's blog Here, or Artfire store Here.

----------------

In other news I've had to be really busy doing lots of new crafty stuff for a swap I entered a while ago. I'm going on holiday soon and work, which was supposed to be easing off, has got worse with people being on leave. *sigh* Good job I'm a girl and can multi task. Next update will show a finished GJ!
hehe.

Featured Artist - Sassy Clay Creations

2010-06-13T14:12:00.000-07:00

This weeks (actually, I'm a little late) features polymer artist is A lady named Dori and her shop is called Sassy Clay Creations. I've been secretly browsing her store for a while now to get inspiration for other things I could do with clay. Sassy Clay Creations has a lot of really great practical and beautiful items in store.

Things like this covered glass tealight candle holder.

Or this dainty white bowl.

She also makes lovely jewellery like this necklace.
I love the variety in her work, but also that she retains her unique colourful and decorative style in each item, so you can see they are hers from even a glance!

Visit Dori's blog, here or her shop here.

WIP's pt. 2

2010-06-08T11:14:00.001-07:00

Thought I'd include updates on the previous WIP's until they're finished.

The Guinea pig is now done, save for some tidying. He/she measures on my scale ruler 1inch and 4 lines, so 16 inches if it was 1/12th scale. Guinea pigs measure between 8 and 14 inches. So a bit too big. Bit too small for 1/6th though. I guess perfect for 1/9th, if that exists. You can see in comparison to the dogs how big it is. :-S But then they are very small dogs, in rl I estimated them at about 10 inches at the shoulder.

The two dogs have heads now (one baked). Actually they started out as the same dog, but I changed my mind on the pose, (well, chose the wrong pose from the photos I was sent, lol) So the sitting dog is on the back burner till all my current stuff is finished. It's going to be a mini poodle.

The cat (Jasper) is a persian, and I've started furring, about 1/4 of the way there. I'm using a by-my-hand blend of apricot coloured alpaca and honey coloured silk.

edit: The guinea pig next to the dog was really bugging me, so I went and looked up Guinea pigs next to small dogs and found these cute videos. they make me feel better about the size of mine.

WIP's

2010-06-06T10:36:00.000-07:00

For those patiently waiting. :) Two dogs a cat and a guinea pig, though no one's waiting for that one. Just a little bit more furring for the Guineapig, the cat is ready for furring and the two little dog bodies need heads!

Featured Artist - Coltpixy!

2010-06-01T11:13:00.000-07:00

Today I'm introducing a new weekly feature. I recently ish joined the Polymer Clay Smooshers guild on Artfire and will be featuring a member each week.

Today is The Guild Master, ColtPixy.

I don't know much about ColtPixy personally, except that she is wonderfully welcoming, friendly and hard working for the guild. I can see the immense creativity in her work. There is a lot of variety and techniques and she has a real mastery for clay.

Of course, I am a bunny lover and so I am drawn to her Mica shift bunny butts!
There seems to be nothing she can't do, from stunning jewlerry in faux stone.

To sculptural works and miniatures!

So stop on by ColtPixy's studio or Blog to see beautiful works of art and meet a very lovely lady. Whilst you're at it, why not visit the Smooshers guild too?

In other news, work has been hectic! I have two WIP's sitting here with no heads, poor things. Will work on them ASAP!

Stew and Dumplin'

2010-05-18T10:04:00.000-07:00

My two newest commissions, Stew and Dumpling. :D
They are 1:12th scale furred sculpts. As usual they are sculpted over a wire and foil armature with Fimo Puppen clay. Painted with my lovely new Galleria paints and then furred. I've taken to printing off a few angles on some photo paper for when I'm furring so I've included those photos for you to see. They have some more bunny siblings so if their Mum likes them, I think I'll be doing some more.

Obviously these two had very intricate markings, so in places I couldn't get it exactly the same, I'm not that skilled yet, and the small space doesn't allow for it. But I try to get the major markings as exact as I can.

Little Stew has quite the story, she has survived a spinal problem, so I wanted to inject a little bit more specialness into her. I loved how her ears are 'helicopter' meaning they're neither uppy nor downy all the time. So I attached her ears with wires and covered the join with a bit of fur so they can be gently posed to match her mood.

Stew also has some black tones on her, for the flocking I did this by mixing two colours of alpaca together, for the bottom I used my lovely new fabric pens that Imogen ordered for me.

Bailey finished

2010-05-04T13:07:00.000-07:00

A fellow blogger friend, Dawn was the commissioner of the cat in the last post. I shipped him out today. His name is Bailey and he is a replica of a rainbow bridge kitty owned by her friends.

The pictures are grainy, because *someone* changed my ISO settings and I forgot/don't know how to change them back. :(
I am gutted about that because I was pretty pleased with him in the end. Sculpturally I am very happy. It was quite tricky to get his complex markings right and I ordered (or rather got a US friend ;) to order for me) some fabric pens from Marvy for the fine detailing, which you probably can't see because of the ISO. I am very nervous to see what they think though!

Grrr! The grainy pictures are really annoying me, I re-took all the photos for my artfire shop in the wrong setting too. Now, whether to be mad at myself for not checking, or mad at the fella for not changing it back to what it was. hm, mad at him I think.
~Dee

WIP and an idea

2010-04-09T07:33:00.000-07:00

I am in the middle of a cat sculpture of a RB kitty called Bailey, who belonged to a friend of my blog friend Dawn. He is my first commission of an animal who is no longer alive so I am pretty nervous, I hope I do him justice. I'm taking my time and I'm all ready to go with the furring now, just waiting for the last of my supplies to arrive.

I didn't dare try and pain that close to his lovely green glass eyes so I tried applying powder pigment with a toothpick to his eyelids and between his paw pads before he was cured (baked)

If you bigify this pic you can see what pose I am attempting to recreate. Thanks to Dawn and his owners I have some lovely photos to work from.

Earlier in the week I sorted out my craft area, I reorganised my drawers and I can actually find stuff now! I love to be organised but I'm naturally very untidy. My mind's a bit cluttered so is my workspace! lol. I'm a terrible magpie and have a very small living space. So it's easy to clutter up.

In the meantime I've also been working on a couple of other bits. I brought a 'dog encyclopedia' 2 volume set from a second hand book store and reading about the dog breeds inspired me to try and create some scenes. These will be unfurred and I will be trying to utilize some of the stuff I have been finding on the beach. I'm going to call it a 'born for' series, featuring dogs in natural looking settings and poses, exhibiting what they were historically designed for.

Well, that's the concept anyway. They wont be hugely realistic scenes but I can't seem to help making the dogs at least partly realistic.

Here's a basset hound. His sandstone base is in the oven at the mo. (so he wont fall off it) The basset is 1/12th scale, not neccessary since he wont be in a dolls house (although he will be removeable so could be, but it's good practice regardless)

And here is a little scene, made with scenic water, awaiting a little type of gun dog. Any ideas what I should try? I guess this is kind of similar to the lab scene on a stone I created. I used some potting soil rubbed into the clay and textures with scrunched up foil to create a mud look.

A shop!

2010-04-02T12:45:00.000-07:00

Shop open! You can see the little shop window thingy in the sidebar!
phew, this is scary and I have no real idea on how to price things. They're pretty low compared to other artisans out there, and a couple of people mentioned this might put people off, but I'm pretty new too so as I gain confidence I can increase the prices if that's called for. (If I ever sell anything, lol) Besides, people not in the miniatures world might think they're ridiculously high. I feel kind of bad charging people and selling things properly, but the price has to at least in some way reflect the amount of time that goes into my sculptures, they take several days at least.

Anyways. Here's the link.
*eep!*

They'll be some stuff on there you've seen and some you haven't. :)

Feedback would be hugely appreciated! I'm new to all this.
The Ludo graphic was made by a lovely graphic artist, wait while I find the link...

I'm a terrible photographer

2010-03-30T07:41:00.000-07:00

er, yeah.
Meet my first three commissioned rabbits. Made with their own fur. That was hard! Rabbit hair is very fine and fly away and soft, I had to keep wiping my face with a wet towel. lol!
It's a shame i didn't manage to get better photos of them. They're not to scale, and are a loved up trio of bonded bunnies. aw.

Izzy

2010-03-22T09:48:00.000-07:00

Izzy was done for the Bryson's auction at the Ruffdogs forum. The winning bidder was Lesley and she commissioned one of her dogs. I opted for Izzy.

Izzy is sculpted over a wire and foil armature with doll fimo, painted with acrylics and sealed with Arleens matt varnish, she has glass eyes of amber and is furred with alpaca.

Here's some pics. I recently purchased a little personal groomer, designed for nose hair, neck line etc, I bought it purely for grooming models with and it works great! I was a bit nervous about cutting everything off, but I managed to avoid doing that. I was also really painstaking with cutting my flocking. I've found using a little pair of embroidery scissors works best for me to cut it really fine. The result being there's less fly away looking hairs in the pics. Hurrah! Izzy was described as being naughty, stealing things and running off with them and showing off. So I felt the urge to make her with her mouth open in order to hold things. I've made her a couple of toys, the pipe cleaner ones fit in her mouth. But I'm sure she's ready to steal something she shouldn't have at any minute and is offering her paw cheekily. Hey, her and Ludo have something in common!

Whilst I was packing her up I had to guard the table, I had a lemon and a garlic bulb on the table and I later found the garlic with chew marks on the floor and the lemon else where. I wasn't even angry, I just though, thank God it wasn't Izzy! Lol!

She's my first dog with teeth and they were a pain! I baked them then super glued them into her mouth.

Rabbit

2010-03-12T07:06:00.000-08:00

I have lots of works in progress at the moment, so I'm giving myself a little break to post about Bubbles. She was a prize for a fundraiser for Kirby rabbit rescue and went to a lovely lady names Karen, here's the original Bubbles. Aint she pretty!

And here's mini Bubbles. This pic is also pinched from Karen.

I made Bubbles in play scale size, I think, since I can't measure her I can't be exactly sure. hehe.
For once I'm actually not going to moan about her, I enjoyed doing her. The ears are on wires so can move slightly to give a bit of variety in her expression.

Woo?

2010-02-04T13:17:00.000-08:00

Just a quickie, I was browsing through my dog breeds book, wanting something to sculpt and decided on this chappie. He's meant to be a sibe, kinda difficult going from the breed book, since they're all 'stacked' so he's also a mesh of some dogs I know online and some photos I found. ;) I wanted to practice doing the fur gradation, the way it changes shade, I mixed some wools together, so he's a bit of an experiment.

Penny

2010-01-30T08:41:00.000-08:00

My Mum has been wanting me to make her a Penny since I started this hobby. I never wanted to because I knew I'd never be happy with how she came out. I've known Penny for 12 years, so I'd never be able to get her just right. But I did it anyway. It's my Mum's birthday today, and today, she got a Penny.

Just a quick collage for now because the light's dark and my camera doesn't work that well in it.

I need to redo her chest a bit. I was running out of time (had to try and do it when my Mum was out the house, or I was, so she didn't find out, so I forgot what colour her chest was.). I want to adjust her white snip a bit too. But my Mum is very happy with her. She has a little pink collar on too, but you can't see it in the pics. Roll on sunshine!

I have been working on some things, got a couple of completed items, but they aren't photographing well at the moment.

3 kitties

2009-11-18T13:24:00.000-08:00

Further to the sculpting a cat post, here's the kitties finished. They're roughly 1:6th, play scale. Made with Puppen fimo and painted and sealed with a matt glaze, then flocked and furred using merino wool, alpaca and tussah silk.

Their names are Kobie

Sully

and Thurston.

They were done for Moxie's mum. Who is nuts for having faith in me to do her pets justice. These are the only cats I've furred apart from a little head and the first realistic ones I've done. I've only done two kinda cartoony ones other than that. I guess these still look a bit cartoony, I'm not good enough to get them realistic yet. I'm not very happy with Mason but pretty pleased with the other two. Strangely, Kobie was my favourite sculpt, but my least favourite to fur and Mason was my least favourite sculpt but my favourite to fur.

A store?

2009-11-18T13:13:00.000-08:00

I'm considering opening up a 'store' (etsy, artfire etc) to offer a couple of bits for sale. There'd be a custom dog obviously but I've been creating a couple of other bits that could go in, here's a sneaky peak... Or they will sit on my mantlepiece (Ludo safe) forever more.

I've made some more book buddies, the last litter all sold to rabbits united members with profits going to HoneyBunny's rescue, so thanks to everyone who bought one or more! I've decided that any future ones that might sell will also have a percentage go to rabbit rescue.

In my last clay order I got some sculpey 'bake and bend' clay. I had envisioned this being really rubbery and with a multitude of uses but I think I was being too hopeful. I had to experiment with baking temps to get it right, but it needs to be baked hotter than the puppen fimo I use so my plan to use it in conjunction with that might not work. This bunny has flexible ears anyway. And google eyes from Bree!

I've also decided to try and make some christmas ornaments. I found some cute ribbon at my local haberdashery and thought of making some little angels. Their wings aren't big enough to fly yet so they will have to grab onto the stars to keep from falling from the sky.

Speaking of rabbits someone posted a link to a dolls house rabbit hutch on RU the other day and I was inspired to make a miniature rabbit. I asked for models from RU and picked a bun named Rosie, a netherland dwarf. It was tricky working that small! I prebaked her eyes and ears and kept loosing them on the way out of the oven, they were so tiny. lol. I probably shouldn't have started with such a small breed of rabbit. So here's my 1:12th rabbit. I preferred it before flocking, but it's all a learning curve, needed to make it thinner... I'm going to try some 1:6th ones too. Sorry about the poor picture qualities here, It's dark and dreary and I'm no photographer.

Sculpting a cat

2009-11-10T13:58:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd take some progression photos of my sculpting process. This does change all the time though, especially as this is only my third cat.

I tend to do a quick sketch of how I want it to look (unless I'm copying a specific pose from a photo) Since I'm not familiar with doing cats. I printed off an anatomy and I like to have a picute of the animal I'm creating too. I then make the armature bits and the basic body shape. The tool you can see is my trusty blending spatula. I use the bottom end rather than the knifey bit. It came in a kit with my first clay order.

I attach the legs, then create definition, paw pads etc,

I then bake the body so I don't smush it. Usually I will only bake the body if the paws will be on show so that I don't mess them up, otherwise I don't since I am TERRIBLE at attaching unbaked clay to baked clay. I put a bit of wire into the head so I don't need to touch it too much. I make the basic shape with my fingers then mark out the eyes and nose then add the eyes and definition with needle, knife and an embossing tool. Ears come last.

Then I try and attach the head, with much aggro. In this case I made the next too long and it kept on bugging me so I had to saw poor Kobie's head off and remove his neck and reattach and file to smooth. That's the joy of polymer clay. :)

Two naked kitties.

Reilly

2009-10-19T11:49:00.001-07:00

I've needed to post Reilly for a while, but one thing and another has stopped me getting to the post office. He's all boxed up now and ready to go.

Pictures are in read more so that Bree can choose not to click if she doesn't want to see.

Reilly's another real fur plush sculture in 1:9th / playscale size. I've made some slight adjustments to the fur, especially round the feet since these were taken but my camera needs batteries. Bree and I were doing a sort of art swap for Reilly. If you read back you'll see Reilly was one of the first dogs I tried to create and send off to the owner so I was pleased to be asked to make an updated version now I've got better. I hope I've done him justice. Bree designed the whole blog look, background buttons etc that you see here for me. She also sent a hugely generous crafty care package along with Reilly's fur. I was so chuffed with all the stuff! I have some pictures...

I was really overwhelmed by the huge package and the best part was a beautiful cd scrapbook of Ludo, I forgot to take photos of that, but it's something I really treasure.

Reilly is a combination of his own fur and some soft wool for the black mixed with his own. Due to to sheltie double coat the colour wasn't rich enough to use just his own fur. He's sculpted from puppenfimo over a wire armature and painted in acrylics. His eyes are glass. and come from glass eyes online his collar is made from ribbon, and trims and fastens with a tiny hook and eye. I got all the supplies for it from Little trimmings.

The sculpting I didn't find too difficut and I really love the depth the little glass eyes give his face. I always picture Reilly as quite regal and important but also very friendly and down to earth with an ever so slightly worried look about him (shelties tend to be kinda scaredy cats) so that's what I tried to sculpt.

Furring him turned out to be more tricky. He's the largest plush figure with long hair I've attempted, which meant his fur had to be cut longer and so it proved more tricky to get to stick. Once I'd got used to the idea of letting a section thoroughly dry though it was ok and he came together quite nicely. I hope I've got his markings right!

work in progress

2009-09-14T09:22:00.000-07:00

furred cavalier

2009-09-02T15:29:00.001-07:00

Oh, btw, I've activated the post summary thing that was there before, so if you click read more you can see the rest of the post.

My first actual proper sized dollhouse miniature. Hooray, I finally got one small enough. I also got a new (well, second hand) camera and I think it makes the pictures look better. This is a cavalier king charles spaniel in a 'froggy doggy' pose. Made with puppen fimo, painted in acrylics with hand painted eyes (I bought a really teeny paintbrush) and applied wool coat and flocking. Here she is naked.

Her nose is a bit wonky but on this occassion I think that's all I'd change.

needle felting and eyes

2009-09-01T08:44:00.000-07:00

I ordered some more needlefelting supplies so I was able to try a couple of projects from this book that I ordered. One of them met it's end in Ludo's mouth before I could take a photo but this one's still alive.

I need to learn to be more careful with the needle I jabbed it right through my thumb. Ouch.

I love the little rabbit and would highly recommend this book to anyone. I'm a complete amateur and it gave clear, uncomplicated instructions and has a good range of projects which are all adorable.

I think I'm ready to order some better quality wools now.

Also, the glass eyes that I ordered arrived very speedily. I ordered some with loops for needle felting sculptures and some on wires for clay sculptures. So far I've only used them in the little rabbit, but they really bring it to life!

flocking and miniatures and selling?

2009-08-26T15:21:00.000-07:00

I wanted to practice flocking and also working towards getting true scale miniatures. This little dude was going to be 1:12th scale but I sillilly made his legs too big and I'd spent so long getting the toes and paw pad dents in I didn't want to change him. The pictures don't show it well but he has individual pads which you can feel with your finger and fluff in between his toes.

He measures 56mm, or 2 and a tad inches to the tips of his ears. According the the AKC his breed is 9 inches at the withers and so playscale makes him 1.5 inches, according to this nifty site, mine's about 1.2, so maybe he's a she actually. lol. He has ended up being 1:6th or playscale size, so that works nicely. He's in a looking up 'please may I' pose. I had in mind to pose him looking at the bench as though he's ready to jump up, but since he's bigger than intended that looked a bit silly.

I haven't said the breed, though I guess the size gives it away. People keep telling me I should sell these models properly so I'm considering selling this one on ebay or something. I've not got a clue what sort of price to sell them so figured ebay is a good starting place as people can kind of choose their own price then. Anyway, if someone can guess the breed I'll take it as an indication that he's good enough to sell. I've been researching how I'd go about it but it is difficult, there's not too many about. I've found a few on ebay and etsy, but as I've said before the prices really vary. Then there's the true artisans, like a newly discovered (for me) Lucy Maloney (I assume these are polyclay anyway, see this perfect little blue merle sheltie! ) and Kerri Pajutee. If you like looking at my models you should really do visit these two, they are truly amazing! I would love a sculpture from either one of them. But they're out of my budget unfortunately. I'll still keep plugging them though.

Naked!

I've been buying some bits and bobs for the miniatures for making collars and fur and some german glass eyes, I'm excited for them to get here. I've also been thinking about ways to make the more delicate bits (ears and tails) more moveable. But I'll post more about that when I've tried some things.

oh! Also, please feel free to take the little linking button in the side bar if you would like to link to me. :) hehe.

Photo holder

2009-08-20T13:44:00.000-07:00

:)

I'll post more about the individual characters once it is in it's new home.

Cartoony? Morph

2009-08-19T14:38:00.000-07:00

My Dad is my biggest critic. Well only really, since only a few people that see my models are inclined to critique them (though they're always welcome) Anyway, he made a comment about how I always do the same dogs head and that he bet I can only do that one. I thought they were all kind of different anyway but I wanted to try and prove him wrong..

Apparently he's right though, so tomorrow it's practicing some other kinds of faces, he's suggested a pug or a boxer. Watch this space.

I also wanted to try making them quicker, I tend to get carried away worring about the detailing and I've noticed a lot of other artists do this and create adorable cartoon style charicatures (hehe, that sounds posh) So Morph is my take on that. I'm not really comfortable with it. I'm afraid I'm resigned to them taking me a while. :p I know that mine are not that realistic yet, but I think I've settled for somewhere in between for now.

Morph is owned by Emily at Ruffdogs.com and I think of any dog that's gonna be charicatured he's the perfect candidate, he looks so happy go lucky doesn't he?

He's completely painted with acrylics, given a dry brush coat to get all the colours then glazed with Sculpy gloss. His ears were thick so collapsed in the oven, so if I do them like that in future I'll need some sort of armature. I think I've got his muscle toning quite well but the bottom part of his legs irked me soo much. I need some different size wire (which I'll hopefully have soon, thanks to Bree!) I also found I need some much finer paintbrushes for the detail work. I've found some online so I'll order one to try out. There's so many to choose from though! His eyes also caused me bother. I had just not done any 'eyeballs' as I usually do and painted them on. Could not get it right so ended up rebaking some eyes onto him. Was going for the google look but not sure I like it. :/

Morph will be travelling to Emily soon.

I have some more to show that I've been working on recently which I'm really happy with. :D I'll show them tomorrow.

Lastly, Notice the prettiness all about? Massive thanks to Reilly's Mom Bree for designing it all for me.

Boy, can I waffle. No wonder Ludo made me get my own blog!

Book Buddies

2009-08-05T13:51:00.001-07:00

Here's some of the little bunnies from the previous post. I made 5, and have painted 3 of them. They're book marks, or 'Book Buddies'. I like them. :D

The ribbon marks your page and then they guard your book and keep you company whilst it sits by your bedside.

They're also quite at home sitting on top of your books, if you've got several on the go, or just as decoration. This book shelf was custom made for our small hallway, so it's shelves are shorter than average.
All bunnies so far, I like the purply/pink one best. These need names, not sure what to do with them now though.

Trying out clays

2009-08-02T15:53:00.000-07:00

I've worked my way through a few different clays now. Started off with an air drying one, name escapes me. Then Fimo classic, went onto Fimo soft as the woman in the craft shop told me everyone prefers it. So it put me off a bit when I found it more difficult. Maybe because I used some earth kiln baked clay in my early teens (took art just to be able to take ceramics, but alas, time table clashes meant I couldn't carry it on) so I was expecting it to be firmer...

Since then I've tried others that people rave about, Sculpey, original, 3, and Premo. I find Sculpey's too soft and not so strong when baked and Premo too stiff, just seems like it takes me ages to condition it. I think I'm a Fimo girl.

I've recently ordered trial sizes of the puppen fimo doll clay and super sculpey (firm) to see what they're like.

I'd made a proper 1:12th scale miniature guinea pig one day when I was bored, so decided to make one from the puppen and SS to compare. The puppen came out best I think. It conditioned easily, was nice to work with, held it's shape and details well and has a nice finish when baked, it's stronger than the classic too, though a bit more transparent and flesh life for what I'm after perhaps. The sculpey was similar to work with, blended really well (I got a bit bored with Guinea pigs by my third) but I think the puppen just has the edge for me. I think I'd like the sculpy for bulkier things, it's easier to mould and shape.

They look like a little family.
grey: Super Sculpey, beige, puppen fimo, white, Fimo Classic

Result being I'll order some puppen in big size. :D Just got Cernit to try now I think, although reading up on it doesn't make it seem worth it compared with the clays I've already tried.

I went on a bit of a spree with the Sculpey after making one of these little bunnies in the puppen. They've all got ribbon on their underneath. This is something I tried with the air drying clay but it was so much easier with the ss since it conditions so well and is nice and strong. I'll show what they're for once they're all painted, waiting for some acrylics to arrive. After making these I'm now more fond of the SS, so I'll probably get some of that. Actually, I'll just ask my boss if my wages can be payed directly to the Polymer Clay Pit. :p

At the beach

2009-07-31T14:54:00.000-07:00

I made something for me to keep. For several reasons, one is that Ludo has chewed up mini Martha :( 2, is that Faline's (my rabbit) been moulting and I've kept some of the lovely rexy, velvety tufts, and 3 is to try out some new products I ordered for scene making.

He's a labrador, or maybe a golden retriever, something like that anyway. He's mounted to this flat sandstone rock I found at the beach with sculpey bake and bond and seems pretty firmly attached. I was concerned about putting the fur into the oven, but it seems ok.

I attached the sand with pva glue and then used 'scenic water' for the little rock pool. I've found some more slate like stones that'd make good bases, so I'd like to do some more like this.

He hasn't got a name yet, but I'm thinking Sam? He's soo soft because of Faline's fur, but as her fur is two tone, he's also got a weird colouring. It was nice and not nice to work with at the same time, it stuck easily, for the flocking, but it also got up my nose a lot. lol.

I like how it's all natural and 'found', all his scenery came from my local beach, whilst the fur came from my rabbit.

I've got my doll and super sculpey trial clays now so I'll be playing with them for a few days. I'd like to buy some little glass eyes too, so I'll be looking into that for the next 'experiment'.

Moxie

2009-07-23T07:53:00.000-07:00

My second 'commissioned' piece, so to speak. Here is the lovely Moxie...

(photo borrowed from her blog)

And here's her mini-me. I had videos to work from for Moxie to capture her personality, rather than being able to capture a pose from a photo, and she's my first play bow pose, so whilst she's not brilliant, I'm still pretty pleased with her and I hope Moxie's Mum will be too.

Mini Moxie is made with real Moxie hair that her Mum sent me all the way from the US, so she really is a mini version. I've found that dog hair (unless it's the fine undercoat) can be harder to work with, it's coarser, so mini Moxie hasn't got the same lush smoothness as real Moxie, I guess that makes sense though as the hair would need to be scaled down in thickness to match the model. It doesn't stick as well as the wool, so I've mixed between Moxie fur and wool. She's my third plush model and it's a really time consuming task, but very rewarding and enjoyable. Moxie was a pleasure to make.

I'm going to start making notes of things I could improve for next time, so for Moxie my list includes, a better, shorter/thinner?, snout. Improving my flocking technique for the legs, going to try wetting my finger to pick more flocking up, managed it on her muzzle ok, but the legs are tricky to get to. I do think she looks better in person and 3d than in pictures, as they all do really.
Again, Moxie has little clay paw pads. :)

For kicks, and because her new Mum's asked for them, here's some more pics.

Close up

Exploring

Play with me Ludo?

A giant cat!

ok, I'm done... You know, I've got quite attached to Moxie, I hope I don't forget to post her, hehehe.

I've used the last of my premo clay, mixed with fimo classic for Moxie. I really don't get on with premo clay, don't think I'll buy it again, I've ordered some of them puppen doll clays in a trial size now, working my way through them all, lol.

Barney and Penny

2009-07-08T13:34:00.000-07:00

These two are my first 'commissions' so to speak. A forum friend asked if I did commissions and well, I didn't know what to say so offered to do them for the price of materials and postage. £5 all together. :) I am beginning to think of selling them but have no real idea what I'd charge. I've seen a few similar on ebay or etsy, but all seem to be US and the prices vary wildly.

Anyway, here are my pics of them.
First Penny, a crossbreed (lurcher maybe) I have permission to use their new owners pics too, so here's the big Penny for comparison.

I did both of these in white fimo classic (I'm buying it in the large size blocks now) Penny was painted with acrylics and then glazed with watered down sculpey glaze with a little bit of flocking added for a slightly furred effect. She also has a little felt pink collar with a bead button. :)

And here's her brother, Barney.

Made with white and brown fimo. I do prefer to use the clay for colour where possible. I'm not too good with paint and I don't quite trust that it will last a long time. I also like the effect you get blending the colours in. Barney is a plush clay model. I actually looked at the clock for him and including tea breaks he took me 3 hours to fur. lol. I again used wool roving and a bit of Penny and Ludo's fur for that real dog look. I need to improve my flocking technique for the leg areas as they're not pure white, but then I think my wool wasn't pure white.

I made Penny and Barney a frisbee and a ball from scraps and also a bowl of kibble for the journey. I don't like to think of my dogs going hungry during their stay with Royal mail.

:) I think I'm getting a lot more confident in the dogs and I was happy with these two.

Here's pics of them in their new home.

craft swaps and ear rings

2009-07-05T07:33:00.000-07:00

I'd like to try a bit of jewellery making but all the different bits you need work out so expensive. I got a little present from my ex, back when I was trying to 'tame my time' of some jewellery wire, some beads and trimmings. I never really got round to doing anything with them.

I've entered a couple of secret Santa style craft swaps on Rabbits United forum the past few months. I made a rabbit figurine on a name plaque things for the first one (I lost my pics, but here's one from the receiver),

didn't want to repeat it for the second so I had a go at making some ear rings. The receiver said in their form they liked the sea so I used some little shells I found on the beach.

It was an Easter themed swap so I also made a little Easter bunny magnet, a little trinket box/bowl thing (first one was destroyed by Ludo the day before posting *sigh*) I also stuck photos on a gift box to make a bunny box and varnished, is this decoupaging? I dunno.

For the third one, it was baking themed. So I baked some pink cakes with pink fudge icing,

and going on a pie fillings theme (loose interpretation) I made some cherry earrings on a needle felted apple, which I hope will be used to store loose earrings.

Oh, I've also made these cute little skully earrings for myself when I went to download festival recently.

Sadly, I only brought one back with me. One's lost forever at Donnington.

Misty

2009-07-04T08:09:00.000-07:00

Misty's a good example, to me, of why I've started this blog.

She lives at the same house as Oreo, from an earlier post, but I made her two dogs apart from him. I can personally see a difference and I felt braver doing her. I'm pretty insecure about anything I do, thinking it's wrong, or others wont like it. Take Misty as an example. I baked her basic body as an armature, as I do with the long haired clay dogs. Then decided she didn't look right and was going to scrap her. It was only a lack of clay and my knowledge that they really should be posted off sometime soon that stopped me re-starting.

I ended up really liking Misty. I also pre-baked her eyes and I really love how that makes her face look. I do think I captured her sweet expression and I think Misty is a big turning point for me in learning this art form. Not because I got her exactly right (she's too 'thick') but because I was happy and comfortable with my work and pleased with the outcome, and it made the reciever happy. I guess that's the whole point of art isn't it, well, it is for me? She may not be an exact 1:12th miniature like those ones I so envy, but I do think she is 'Misty'.

Chelsea / plush clay models

2009-06-27T06:22:00.000-07:00

Browsing around craftster I found a post on the polymer clay section asking how you would add fur/hair to a clay sculpture like this. I clicked the link and I was so amazed. I really am in awe of her, and the other artisans she links to, sadly, I can't own one at the moment as they all fetch upwards of $100, a fair price though for the skill and time involved, even my feeble attempt at fur and flocking takes hours to do. These people have incredible talent, they makes true miniatures for dolls houses and the like to 1:12th scale. Mine, so far, are a fair bit bigger, about 1:6-8 scale, I reckon. I can only judge by the sheltie's that I've made as I know how tall a sheltie should be and how tall my models measure. Anyway, I just had to try it out.

In a favourite book of mine a character becomes a wood carver, he's been trying to do it for ages but is no good. Until someone presses a carving so hard into his hand it forever marks him, after that he is able to feel a peice of wood and find what it is meant to be. I know a lot of sculptors of all mediums say that something just became something else, almost as though the material has a desire to be a cat or a seal or something. I remembered a picture I'd seen on one of Ludo's blogs and although polymer clay is not a natural substance it seemed that I just had to try and make this particular dog from this particular bit of clay I had.

I made Chelsea.

I was very nervous about sending her off, because I didn't want to cause insult or do injustice to their memory. I keep having to tell myself that these don't have to be an exact copy of the dog, they're a representation. So I sent her, and I think they like her. :D

Chelsea's my smallest dog sculpt so far and I really like her, I wanted to keep her in the end. She, too has tiny clay pawpads, I've painted some on since then but I prefer the clay method as it makes them slightly raised. Chelsea covered two firsts for me, as I also painted her before applying the fur. The fur comes from my needle felting starter kit and is all sheeps wool, with a little borrowed fur from Ludo and some from Kylie too.

I also needle felted her a little bed. I *think* If I'm working it out right that she around 1:9 scale.

I love these little furred ones.

needle felt sculpting

2009-06-27T05:58:00.000-07:00

I read about needle sculpting on Maggie and Mitch's blog. After that had little replica's of themselves made. I stared reading about it and thought it seemed like fun, I like doing little meticulous things and I liked the idea of repeatedly jabbing something with a needle to make something out of a blob of wool.

I ordered myself a starter kit and made this bear. It was fun, although I did stab myself a few times and managed to break my medium sized needle. Ah well. I think I need a book.

I also made a heart out of Ludo's fur and (one of) his girlfriend dog Kylie's fur that she sent him.

Apparently Ludo thinks I shouldn't have hobbies that don't include him directly, since the little bear has now met the sharp end or Ludo's teeth. I repatched it one time, then he got it again, don't know how and the poor thing was totally beyond repair. RIP little orange bear.

2nd post,

2009-06-27T05:39:00.000-07:00

You can click to 'bigify' and of the pictures.

I enjoyed creating a representation of a real dog when I'd made Reilly. So, very cheekily, as part of Ludo's birthday celebrations on his blog I ran a contest. The winners could choose to have a clay model of their dog made. I kind of expected everyone to choose a toy or treat instead of the models, but they all went for that.

First up,
Mason Dixie.

Mason is a pretty golden retriever, so I gave her little bows in her ears Mason's one of those types of dogs with great 'seal' whiskers, I wanted to capture that so I made her some from paintbrush bristles. She has a great large stuffie which she calls Babe the ox, so I made a Babe and a bone for the long journey to the US. The Babe pictured actually met Ludo and didn't fare too well, the second babe's horns were too weak and snapped and the third Babe I think came out best. Mason was my first properly armatured model. I used wire and tin foil for her body. I'm really happy with her and her proportions, I think she's my favourite so far.

Next came Oreo, another American Sheltie.

I love his pose, I think it captures his bouncy personality, I watch a lot of training videos of Oreo's and he definately needed an action pose. I wasn't too happy with his head, but this is head mark two as the first one was too big. I make the heads seperate now and attack once the body is baked to stop me squashing it. He got an agility jump as his accesory, I made it out of clay for the sent off one, as opposed to the cotton buds pictured here, sadly part of it broke but Oreo's Mum Sara was able to fix it.

Rocky:

I struggled with Rocky, he's my first non-pedigree, so I couldn't browse the web for size reference pictures, the photos I had were all taken from above so it's hard to translate that into 3d. I made him a toy too like the one on his blog header. I like to add something unique to each of the dogs, so Rocky got clay paw pads and painbrush hair eyebrows. I like his little expressive face, although I'm not sure he looks too like the real Rocky.

I'll have to ask the owners for permission to post the real dogs photos so I can look back and compare.

First post

2009-06-03T13:41:00.000-07:00

I've created this blog as a place to store all my hobbyist endeavors. I'm a huge procrastinator/time waster. I'm always wondering where the day has gone whilst proclaiming to be bored.

My English Lit teacher once told us that 'only boring people get bored'. Of course I scoffed and was outraged at the time, but as I got older (ok, only 24 so not that old) and learn more about myself I'm begining to think maybe she's right, there's no need to be bored. I hope that I've got a handle on Taming my Time lately and I need never be bored again. I thought a blog would be a good way to keep me going as in months from now I can look back and say, 'look how bad I was then.' Hopefully.

I got into blogging for my dog, Ludo and he gave me a renewed appreciation for all things doggy. I love to make a shape things so got some polymer clay a while back. At first I made rabbits. My first attempt kinda melted... (on right) I named him Melty bun. So, I tried again, result on left.

I made some more bunnies, but then I got Ludo and a few months after a huge life upheaval, hence the need for a hobby, something to focus my mind. I left clay alone for a long while, till a monthly art challenge at Ruffdogs inspired me. I attempted a staffordshire bull terrier.... well, he was kinda cute...

Next, I made a Martha Basset. Named for one of Ludo's blogging buds.

Mini Martha

Real Martha

I enjoyed making the little representations of real dogs, so I made another, Reilly. A sheltie. I gave him to Reilly's owner, Bree, they seemed pleased with him. Bree has suggested that I use cocktail sticks as armature in the legs, so that's what I did. It was quite tricky, I was using fimo soft and baked the base first, then made the head and fur, one of the legs snapped when I did the feathering, but a bit more clay to secure and another bake and it seemed ok. I made the fur by rolling out thin sheets, cutting out v's and sticking on, it was fiddly work!

Well, that'll do for this post.

~Dee