Grow Your Blog Party - Welcome!

Thank you to Vicki at 2 Bags full for hosting this amazing blog party!! I am so happy to be a part of it. Click on the picture above to visit the Grow Your Blog party page. There are tons of links to over 400 participating blogs!!

Hi! Thanks for stopping by my blog. I hope you enjoy your visit here.

Lily 

I’m Debbie, owner of Sunflower House Art and I create fun and whimsical things, well usually, unless I am sculpting a zombie then it may not be quite so whimsical! Mainly I love to create. Just the process of making something new out of the items sitting in front of me is exciting. The figure above is Lily, she is currently at the Buy Nevada First store in Reno waiting for someone to fall in love with her. She is an example of the fairies I make. 

I've raised 4 wonderful children, 3 boys and 1 girl who range in age from 17 - 27. They are the joys of my life. I have 2 dogs that are full of energy and love. One who loves to play ball and the other who loves to eat!

I have one amazing man in my life and I love him greatly. We enjoy our life and the lives we've made together. We like to travel and putter around in the garden. He's pretty dang talented. I can usually ask him just about anything and he can help me make it. Really, here is an actual question I asked him - Soooo, you know in the Frankenstein movie where the creature is laying on the table in the lab? How can I make those little electrical things that look like the electrical current is passing up them. Not only did he know the name of them (Jacob's Ladder - no kidding), he is going to help me recreate one in miniature for a project I am working on - which I will share here once I get it to a recognizable point! 

My blog has been around a several years but it was one of those things that I had simmering until I was ready to share it. Last year I dipped my toe in cyberspace and started to slowly tell people about my blog. This year I decided to jump in with both feet!

The Pumpkin Patch... ready to paint

Sunflower House Art is about my creative journey. I create figurative sculptures, dolls, whimsical pumpkins, fairies and more. I work predominantly in polymer clay but I also do embroidery, paper crafts, scrapbooking, sewing, painting, jewelry design and more.  One of the greatest things about making figures and dolls is that I can use all sorts of fun things in one project. I love that all of my creative outlets can be used together. I've made paper accessories, jeweled tiara's, embroidered rugs and more when working on a doll project. Hubby thinks it's my way of never having to get rid of a single crafty item in my stash :0) I'm OK with that!

You’ll see my works in progress, the products I use and some of the tools I have found that work well for me. 

Treasure Chest Tutorial

I like sharing what I do and offer tutorials. Here you will find one on taming Tibetan lamb wool to use as hair for a doll and here are part one and part two on creating a treasure chest, I did this ages ago so it may be a bit rough! I enjoy tutorials and am currently working on a couple that I’ll be sharing over the course of the next few months.

I also enjoy the challenge of creating something based on a theme and am part of a doll swapping group that often swaps zombie dolls and not just any zombie dolls, no, no they are themed zombie dolls. For instance there was storybook, nursery rhyme, Oz and more.

Coraline

Here is the zombie I created for the animated movie zombie challenge. My partner was a fan of Coraline so I did my best to recreate her! Click here to read more about her.

I am also a fan of blog parties and will be participating in several this year. This is one more of those areas that provide a theme for you to create around. Blog parties always challenge my creatively which makes them exciting. I always learn a new skill or new technique when preparing for a party. Then, once the party rolls around I get to see how others interpreted the same theme. 

This past year I participated in a Mad Tea, a haunted tea and also did a tour of my studio in Where Bloggers Create.

Mad Tea

Click here to see my first Mad Tea party. This coming year I have lots of fun things in store.

Before Picture

I am currently re-doing my children's old play house (above - now a catch-all backyard storage area) into something amazing... you'll have to wait until this year's Mad Tea Party to see the final transformation but I'll be showing additional before pictures and some of the items I am creating for it over the next couple of months. 

My Studio

Click here to see the Studio Tour post I did. In the next 6 months or so my studio will be undergoing a complete overhaul when my hubby expands my current space into the now vacant bedroom next to it. It's going to be a fun project (I keep telling myself that!!!) and I have already started organizing and preparing for the transition. I'll be sharing some of the new storage and organizational ideas I have found and let you know how they are working for me.

Well, that is a glimpse into my blog. I hope you enjoyed your stay and plan on sticking around for a while. 

Fairy Door

Leave me a comment for a chance to win this hand sculpted, polymer clay, Magical Fairy Door. I have so much fun making these!! You do not need to be a follower to win. Winner will be announced February 15th 2015.

Thanks for stopping by!

Pinterest Idea that Worked!

Fabric

I don't know about you but the month of January always puts me into organization mode. Unfortunately that doesn't last too long but this year I actually organized my fabric! Seriously. I saw some great ideas on Pinterest and went with the one that used Comic Book storage boards to wrap the fabric on. It was fast, easy and it worked!

Inspiration

The above picture is from the Smashed Peas & Carrots blog. This blog is full of fun tutorials and how-to's, delish recipes and all sorts of other cool stuff! If you click on the pictures you'll be taken to the article about fabric storage.

I ended up buying 4 packs of comic book boards, there are 100 acid free boards in a pack for around $13 or so each. Keep in mind that I am not a quilter, I like fabric and I use it for my dolls but I didn't realize how many different fabrics I actually had until I did this.

It took me a weekend to do. I didn't use all 400 boards so I do have some extras for my next fabric purchases! Which there will definitely be some of!

Here is what it looks like now

As you can see I can now access the fabric I need without too much trouble. I can also see what I want, mostly. I still have fabric in two drawers and one more shelf but it is all wrapped and I can see what I have.

IKEA KALLAX storage Unit

Within the next few months my studio will be going through a major over hall as we knock down a wall and expand it into the adjoining room (squee!!!) at that time I'll have a different shelving system so theses cute little comic board bolts will be standing upright, like my ispiration picture, instead of stacked on a shelf. 

The investment has already paid off. I shop my stash first and of the 6 projects I've recently completed I haven't had to run to the fabric store at all! That alone has saved me money because when I run to the fabric store for 1/4 yard of whatever I need I end up buying $40 worth of other goodies that I just happened to see!

Happy New Year!

To start this new year... An Irish Blessing

Count your blessings instead of your crosses.

Count your gains instead of your losses.

Count your joys instead of your woes.

Count your friends instead of your foes.

Count your smiles instead of your tears.

Count your courage instead of your fears.

Count your full times instead of your lean.

Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.

Count your health instead of your wealth.

Love your neighbor as much as yourself.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year!

Sincerely,

Debbie