NEW WORK picture heavy post!

I have been busy crafting away over the last few days. I finally got my custom silver dragon finished. I have named him Kafa Avci, which is Turkish for Head Hunter.(which is the nickname for DH's company) I sculpt my dragons using the method generously shared by Sally over at Kudzu's Whimzy. Now Sally's dragons generally have a wonderful happy-go-lucky appearance to them...mine on the other hand always have an air of menace to them. Now me personally this is fine. But I gotta say, this most recent dragon...well he's kinda scary actually! :-S Kafa is going to be a gift to my DH's outgoing commander. Kafa is actually based off of the insignia gracing out guys uniforms. Once finished he will be sitting on a base with a large painted backdrop. Keep your eyes out for more...if you dare! LOL BTW clicking on each pic should bring up a larger image.

70 Followers!!!!

Wow how cool is that! I think it's fantastic! I have 'met' so many wonderful folks through my blog. And I would like to take a minute to introduce my 2 newest friends. Susie-Q, doesn't have a blog (yet?????) But she does have an Etsy store where she sells the most adorable plush goodies. You should check out the gorgeous pumpkins that she is currently putting up in her shop, The Q Store
Next is Ara, who is a miniaturist with 2 great blogs. Murder at the Bentley Manor and The Addams Family *the mini-mansion* I do hope you will take some time to visit them and check out the amazing work done by both these ladies!

Little things and Big things

The little thing is this matching purse I made to go with the Coral Rose Hat. Orah insisted that since she couldn't model the hat she could atleast show off the lovely matching handbag. I am trying to decide if it needs more embellishment. Any ideas?









And well big things...still pretty small as I am working in 1:12 scale. But I made a Black Satin Chaise for Orah, she wanted gold (any one sense a pattern here? lol) But I told her that black would look much more sophisticated. I looked at several patterns online as well as pictures of various ones in RL (for style and measurements) But this piece is essentially one of a kind. It if covered in black crepe satin, with matching rat-tail trim and silver details. this morning I awoke to find Orah tucked it with a sample of burgundy velvet for a blanket on the unfinished chaise. I couldn't resist a picture as she woke up. I finished trimming out the chaise and asked Orah to model for me. I hope you like it. I'm pleased as punch with it.

Started lots, but...

only finished a hat. Now I have been working on hats using just about every variation of hat tutorial out there. Mind you I haven't had the perfect fabrics to work with so my hat experiences have been...well uninspiring! But last night I found a stash of drapery fabric samples from several years ago, among them was a cream Dupioni Silk. =D Talk about being excited. Using the great tutorial I have finally compeleted a HAT! Oooh and there is a tiny matching purse coming too. Orah wanted to model the hat, but when I explained that it would cover up her gorgeous hair pin (of which she is incredibly proud) she decided to let me just snap a few quick pics of it. It is cream Dupioni Silk, trimmed with coral silk jewelry cording, a custom colored feather, and hand sculpted polymer clay rose and leaves.

Lady Orah McHugh

It seems Orah neglected to mention that she is titled! (although personally I'm thinking giving her gold jewlery went to her head!)But I would like to properly and formally introduce Lady Orah McHugh. She comes from the Swallowhill Finishing School for Ladies (AKA Swallowhill Miniatures) run by the wonderful Parkers. I have been trying to design the perfect outfit for Orah for several weeks now to no avail. I wanted blue, had the fabric all picked out, even have several pieces sewn...but none of them looked right. So I on a whim went back to the gold lace I used to cover her more delicate bits when I first showed off her 'enhancements'. And the next thing I knew she was almost fully dressed. Her sleeves gave me some difficulty, but in the end I am thoroughly happy with her outfit, and better yet Orah is pleased as well. Next came her hair. Which oddly enough I have had laying around ready for her since shortly after she arrived. But I didn't want to give her hair without having dressed her. Finally her thick black wavy locks crown her pretty face.
"No Orah I'm not making you a crown!!!"
Ok note to self...watch my phrasing around Orah! I gave her 3 thin gold bangles, (jump rings)a braided gold necklace (hand braided wire) and a gorgeous gold and topaz hair ornament. (bead cap, eye pin and teeny tiny topaz flat-backs) I planned on making her matching gold satin slippers, but Orah claims that gypsy blood runs through her veins so she prefers bare-foot. And you know what, I think I'll go with her on this one. :-)
I hope you have enjoyed meeting Lady Orah McHugh, be warned though, I have a feeling she will be showing up quite frequently! lol

New Miniatures

It's been a busy weekend, but sadly I haven't really gotten too much done! I have made a few miniatures and finally have my 'doll' almost completely dressed. And she finally told me her name, I guess she was waiting to be atleast mostly decently attired! LOL Meet Orah, she is spunky and not afraid to speak her mind. She is a little miffed at me right now as I have not yet sewn her shirt sleeves or vest. She really wants the long black locks I have ready for her, but until I finish her clothing she stays bald! I have a feeling you will be seeing much more of her as I create more and more miniatures.
And speaking of miniatures here are the few I made this weekend. I had a ton of fun making these items...and Miss Doreen, the UFO is coming to you along with the glow in the dark aliens and the rocket lamp. (which btw has been reworked a couple of times now! LOL) BTW the little toad and lizard are sitting on a cake that is about an inch and a half across.

Back from KY

Ahhh it's so nice to be home. Don't get me wrong...hubby's family reunion was wonderful, I didn't want it to end. But I am thrilled to be back in my home with my stuff. No more tent and air mattress for me! It was wonderful seeing many of DH's siblings and cousins, most of whom I'd never met & hubby hasn't seen in 15-20 years. His family is wonderful, they all get along so well. Camping was an interesting experience...I am sure we will do it again, but I am definitely more of the hotel type gal! LOL
We didn't make it out hiking or to Mammoth Caves, although we did go to see Cumberland Falls. Sadly, my dumb butt forgot my camera in the tent, but Aunt-in-Law brought hers and will be sending me the pics she took. But in the meantime check out the link to see the gorgeous pics they have up.
Of course I took loads of family pics, and I got some awesome floral pics too. I had no idea that Passion Fruit grows wild in Kentucky!!!!! So here are some pics I took of these fabulous blossoms. I think they are so pretty! Hmmm wondering how to re-create them in polymer clay or in miniature. I've been doing some mini-making and will have some new goodies to share real soon!

Off to go camping!

Well all I will be away for a few days in central KY at hubby's family reunion. We will also take a day to go hiking and a day to go see Mammoth Caves. We will be back late Monday, so I will start posting about our trip on Tuesday. Y'all take care and it's a little early, but have a great weekend!

Welcome Friends!

I'd like to welcome 2 more friends to my blog. The 1st is Karina from Kabi Designs. She is an incredibly talented polymer clay artist. In addition to her blog, her work can be found on Etsy, Ebay and in her Flickr account. Next is a wonderful miniaturist whom I believe is in Spain. Her name is Ascension and her blog is called Mis Miniaturas. My apologies as I know very little spanish, but her pictures speak for themselves. Please take a minute to visit their blogs. :-)

Christmas in July

Ok well not really, but I have been making ornaments today. I decided to make a set of 6 custom matching tree ornaments for the auction at my DH's family reunion this weekend. I decided to use a 'traditional' palette of red, green, white and gold. So here are 4 of the 6 designs.



Ok the monstrosity on the right is what this ornament currently looks like. I made some super 'mooshy' (yep it's a technical term lol)creamy gold clay. I spread it all over the baked diamonds to fill in and 'grout' NOTE TO SELF---this is NOT an easy, simple or clean method! LOL The pic on the left is the bottom of the ornament after the gold has been sanded off. This will obviously require more finer sanding but should look really good complete.



LEFT---gift wrapped RIGHT Roses, this is my favorite so far, yes these are teeny tiny roses, this ornament only started out maybe 1.5 inches.


This is the bottom view and the top view of my filigree ornament. This was fun! I will definitely be making more for Christmas.
The 5th ornament is cooling from it's first baking...it's a mistletoe kissing ball. I had to bake one side so I can continue filling the second side in without smooshing (yep another technical term) the other side. I still need one more idea for the last ornament. I have a small round & a large teardrop ornament prepared...any ideas?

Welcome Friend!

Another friend...I just love it! Please welcome Ouiseau DeNim...a fantastic miniature artist from France. There are 2 great blogs to see her work.

And a Few More Mini's From Today

Today I made baked eggs, sausage patties, carrots & logs for sliced carrots, and gorgeous (if I do say so myself) green grapes! What do you all think? (Clicking on the picture should make it larger.)

More Mini Goodies

I am having so much fun with these minis! I spent the last couple days making mini candies, eggs and painting a mini hutch. I am currently working on eggs, sausage patties, apples and grapes right now. I am very happy with all of them so far. My only issue is trying to figure out how best to keep my grape clusters stuck together without smooshing them? I must go do a little research on that, of course if any one has any ideas I'm all ears!

Another Friend and Finished Horses

Please welcome Anama to the blog. She is a fabulous miniature artist...her most recent post shows some gorgeous miniature books! So please stop by and check her out!




I finished my custom horses this morning and delivered them this afternoon. My customer loved them! Hope you enjoy them too.

Welcome Friend!

How about that...another new friend. Please say Hi to Shannon. Shannon has 2 blogs. One about her daily life and the other is about One of a Kind Art. Please take a few minutes to check out her blogs.

More of what I've been up to!

Wow, I hadn't realized it had been several days since I last posted. Hubby was home Friday through today, and my sister drove back to Ohio for the weekend. So he and I got lots done. We rearranged our living room, and made enough room (with taking my 2 large craft cabinets to my area, and 2 smaller cabinets to our bedroom) to bring in our gym equipment. Haven't actually brought it in yet, but probably next weekend! i actually very excited about that. I have done a little mini making over the weekend. Not much just some more little bowls and a few more cupcakes...ooooh and I made some little candies too. I made 'cream soda' sucker sticks, and tri-color marshmallow ropes! I also made some tiny roses that will adorn a miniature hat. The roses are just over a milimeter wide and have 10 petals! I am currently sculpting my 2nd horse. I need to finish it today as I am delivering it to the client tomorrow. So that's what I've been up to. Hope everyone had a safe, fun and wonderful weekend!

What I've been doing lately.

In addition to working on some custom order polymer clay horses (which are waaaay outside my comfort zone! lol) I have made a few little mini dishes, a teapot and some cupcakes)
So here are some pics...my mini items, and the unfinished 1st horse. (it now has all 4 legs and I am currently working on the hooves)