2015 Polymer Clay Challenge - Week 9

This is actually week 2 for me in the 2015 Polymer Clay Challenge being hosted by Katie over at KatersAcres but rather than confuse myself I decided to use the actual week number of the challenge.

This week I chose to do another head. Here she is after her makeup:

Steampunk Girl

Normally I am not so heavy handed with the makeup but she is going to be a Steampunk Explorer and the bronze makeup just needed to be dramatic! 

For the challenge I wanted to complete a head, just the head, which does not mean I need to add hair or makeup... but I had to! So here she is with her hair:

Her makeup looks much better now that she has hair. She'll still be getting a trim and some curls and just wait until I add goggles and all sorts of other fun things to her! 

She is still needing hands and feet then I will be costuming her! I can't wait!!

For week 10 I plan to work on boots/feet for either this little cutie or my woodsy leprechaun! 

Thanks for stopping by

Debbie

Pavelka Project - February

This is my first month in the year long Pavelka Project being hosted by Katie over at Kater's Acres along with Lisa Pavelka and I am so glad I found it! This month's project was a polymer clay clock. There are 3 different tutorials to choose from, 2 in books by Lisa Pavelka and then one that is provided by Katie - it is still a Lisa Pavelka tutorial just done by Katie so you see a completely different style.

I started with an Alice in Wonderland theme but it just wasn't working for me which was distressing since I LOVE Alice in Wonderland. I hope to come back to it later but I had to put it aside and find something else. Previously, if a project wasn't working for me, rather than look for a new color scheme or theme I would just put it in a box, never to be see again, then I would start something new.

The Pavelka Project has a specific theme or item to work on so that made me take stock and find a new way to work within the guidelines. This was a great exercise for me! Now I may have to open some of those dusty unfinished project boxes I have in the studio and see what I can do to finish them.

After some thought, and a look around my studio I decided to go with a Steampunk theme. I love the metallic clays and have lots of gears and things lying around so I thought I could work with that theme.

Here is what I came up with:

Steampunk Inspired Clock

It was fun creating this project. I cut gears out of card stock using my Pazzles diecut machine and then used those to cut the clay gears. I textured each layer as I placed it onto an old CD then dusted it with different colors of metallic pigment powders before baking it

Once I changed gears (pun intended ;0) this project came together quickly!

One more bonus of being part of this is that I get to see all of the fun projects other participants create using the same tutorials on The Pavelka Project Facebook page.

Thanks for stopping by!

2015 Polymer Clay Challenge - Week 1 (Actually Week 8)

This week my goal for the challenge was to create a head. It has taken me all week since I have only been working on him a few minutes at a time but I am pretty happy with how he came out.

Before Hair and Paint

After Hair and Paint

He will be my first Leprechaun. You have to excuse his shiny chin, the adhesive is still a bit wet right now! 

The Burr Oak cap was something he asked for so he'll be more of a woodsy Leprechaun than a cartoony one. I can't wait to see what he looks like when he is finished. I know he'll have a pipe and some decoration in his beard but that is about all I know at this point. 

I am pretty happy that I managed to complete the first week of the challenge (at least since I joined). For the next week I think I am going to make another head. I love sculpting faces, you never know who is going to pop out of the clay!!

I'm so excited!!!

Froud Creations

For Valentine's day my best guy and I were supposed to head out of town but that obviously didn't happen since I ended up in the hospital. Instead, he decided to surprise me with a class that I wanted to take... in Portland... with Wendy Froud!!!!

Wendy taught the very first sculpting class I ever took. She is an amazing, talented, genuine lady, who makes sculpting fun. Her creations are stunning and it is so much fun just to be in a group with her. The added bonus is that her son Toby will also be teaching during the class. He is another talented artist that I have had the privilege of knowing and learning from.

The picture above is from the first class I took. The doll on the left was created by Toby and the doll on the right was created by Wendy. It was thrilling to watch their creative processes in action!

The 3 day class begins April 3rd and I am already ready to go. I am really looking forward to seeing how my skills have progressed since that first class. Once I return I'll be sharing pictures of the class as well as my very first sculpture and the one that I create in class.

The Pavelka Project

As I said earlier this week I joined a couple of challenges being hosted by Katie over at Kater's Acres and this is the 2nd one. The Pavelka Project. I am late so I missed the January challenge but hope to catch up soon.

Each month I'll received a tutorial based on one of Lisa Pavelka's projects and I have to use it to create my project. This is one more way for me to hone my craft! I love working with polymer clay and tutorials = techniques and learning new techniques means I can do more with clay!!

The February challenge is called Time Flies and involves making a clock. I'm really excited about it and will post more soon!

2015 Polymer Clay Challenge

Being home recuperating from surgery is difficult for me! I've had to slow down, a lot, because my body is healing but in those few minutes of energy I have each day I have been surfing Pinterest and the internet for fun ideas.

I found the 2015 Polymer Clay Challenge being hosted by Katie over at KatersAcres on my first day home and thought it looked like fun, then I took a nap. I kept coming back to the challenge because I just liked the idea. Finally today, during my latest moments of energy, I signed up! I also signed up for the Lisa Pavelka challenge being hosted by Lisa Pavelka and Katie from KatersAcers - I'll post about this later!

The reason I decided to join was because I get to set my own goals. The object is to complete one polymer clay project each week. I decide what type of project I want to complete and go from there.

I have been thinking about this a lot and I think I am going to try to complete one of three things - a sculpted head, a pair of hands or a pair of feet. These are the areas of my sculpting that I always want to improve so practice is a good thing. I am going to try to step out of my comfort zone and sculpt things like dragon feet or troll hands, maybe even a goblin face.

This week I have chosen to do a face. Normally when I make faces they are female. I have made less than a dozed male sculptures so this time I am making a wee little male leprechaun face.

Stay tuned to see what I end up with... after my nap!

And the Winner is...

And the winner of my Grow Your Blog party give away is...

Lupe Meter!

Congratulations Lupe, if you would email me at Sunflwrhouseart@ aol.com with your mailing address I'll get your fairy door mailed out to you this week.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by for a visit.

I Have a What?

It has been quite the week for me.

I was rushed to the hospital Tuesday evening for severe abdominal pain and ended up having surgery on Thursday morning for a paraduodenal hernia which I have apparently had since birth. Finding out that only 1% of the population of the world will ever have this type of hernia did not make me feel special! I was fortunate that the surgery was able to be done laparoscopically so my recovery won't be quite as horrible.

I am recovering slowly. I am very tired but the pain is, thankfully, being managed with Tylenol. I'll be home for at least a week. I am hoping to get back to work by the 23rd so I'll be making sure I follow all of the Dr.'s orders!

Check back later today to see who is the lucky winner of the Fairy Door from my Grow Your Blog party give-away. I'm a little slow on the draw here but I'll definitely be posting a winner this evening!! If you haven't left a comment yet there is still time to get in on the drawing :0) All you need to do is visit my Grow Your Blog Party post and leave me a comment.

Have a wonderful day...

Mad Tea Party Project - The Vanity

Here it is. The vanity I scooped up at Goodwill! I am working on my color scheme now. I hope to begin sanding by the end of the month. This piece has so much potential! I am really looking forward to transforming it into something fabulous!

Here are some of the pictures I am using for color and inspiration. I'm envisioning checkerboards, diamonds, stripes and lots of color!

I found this on Pinterest, I have no idea if the link is to the original, If anyone know's who originally posted this amazing picture let me know so I can give them credit!!!

** Update** Thank you to Laura Morrigan for the information on where this fabulous picture came from. The picture now links to the proper website - stunning!

I'll definitely be posting progress pictures as I move forward with this project.

Thanks for stopping by!

Inspiration for a New Project

While working my way through the blogs participating in the GrowYour Blog party being hosted by Vicki over at 2 Bags Full, I found Dry Gulch Beads and while reading through this yummy blog I saw their color challenge and instantly fell in love with the concept. 

Fortunately for me the individual responsible for the super cool color palettes has them branded AND Dry Gulch Beads linked right to her website (as did I below, click on the picture to visit DesignSeeds.com :0) so I was able to explore the beauty of Design Seeds!

Design Seeds is one of my new favorite blogs. I love color. Color can brighten a mood or darken it, can relax a person or excite them and since I have been in a sculpting slump (except for fairy and leprechaun doors) I decided to pick a palette and create a figure from it because color can also inspire.

I had a hard time narrowing it down! There are so many beautiful palettes to choose from but this is the one that I decided to start with:

Nature Brights 5 from DesignSeeds.com

I don't know if I am creating a fairy, human, elf or something else yet. I really won't know until I start to sculpt. It will be a biped since that is the style of armature I'll be making but other than that I have no idea. I am looking forward to shopping my fabric stash (now that it is all organized) to see what I have in these luscious colors. 

Once I complete this figure I’ll be picking a palette that I would not normally use just for the challenge of working with new colors!

I'll be starting to gather my supplies this week and will post pictures along the way. I'll also be posting a "before" picture of the sweet little vanity I picked up at Goodwill. It will be the focal piece of my tea party this summer and I'll be transforming it from a cute but ordinary white to an Alice in Wonderland inspired piece full of color and fun!

Stay tuned!