Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Humpty's Fall from the Wall

Since I have all these international viewers who are looking at the January 09 post searching for humpty's fall, I thought I'd take advantage of that and post pics of another Humpty I made a few years ago. This Humpty is in the process of falling as he is a bobber or nodder of a sort. He was sculpted on a styrofoam egg with wired arms and legs and glass eyes. He was mounted on the edge of the wall via a spring so that if touched he 'teeters' on the edge as if he is about to fall. He was so much fun to make, perhaps I'll try another!



Josie

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Zoie is ...One Twisted Kitteh


Ahhhh...the flexibility of youth!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Alfie the Elfie

Just a quickie post...


Yay! He's done. Now with his wool hat he stands over 13" high. Now on to the next project!

Monday, September 21, 2009

Making Progress

Here's a progress pic on ol' Alfie the Elfie. He's about 80% done. He'll be holding a toy to be painted in this hand and in the other he holds a paintbrush. He's about 12". I'm debating whether to fashion him a wool hat or sculpt him one. My original intent was the wool but I'll scrap it & sculpt one if it doesn't look right.



And here's a picture of Zoie at 6 months. Hubby's agreed to let me keep her and she's settling in nicely. I love taking these types of pics where the sun lights up the ends of their fur and throws the rest into shadow.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Latest WIP

I think will be my Spookytime Jingles Christmas entry for October. I'm really excited about this guy. I knew the basic shape of the character I was going for but not what his face would look like. I'm not one to do a conception drawing beforehand so he is evolving around this basic body shape. I sculpted his face last night and at one point he looked a bit like Alfred Hitchcock.



So I was wavering back & forth on whether he would be an old creepy guy maybe carrying a cat for a Halloween theme but after studying his legs I thought wow, they would look really great & goofy painted in red & white stripes, then I pictured the really high old man waistband (think Urkle) with suspenders so I just had to add pointy ears and Voila! An old Elf was born. An elf getting ready for retirement.

Of course, this could change but that's the direction I'm going in for now : - )

Josie

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Latest for Spookytime Jingles

Here's my latest for STJ;

This bust is about 14" high and the base is about 7¼" in diameter so it's a good size. I've combined two different types of dried gourds together; a cannonball for the head and a gooseneck gourd with both the top and bottom cut off for the upper body. I've given the base a bottom so it is stronger and not just a shell. The held leg of the frog is Apoxie Sculpt for extra strength. The candy cup and his hat are made from a heavy-duty cardboard thread cone.


I've also pulled the Cheshire Cat from Ebay and will offer him on STJ as well. I currently have the Mad Hatter up for auction on Ebay and page views/watchers are waaaaay down from this same time last year. I haven't offered anything on ebay in a while so perhaps I'm suffering from that or the bidders just are not shopping. I know money is tight but I feel sorry for those who depend solely on the sale of their art to make a living. But for those with some extra cash it's a great time to grab some fabulous art at bargain prices!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

STJ Sneaky Peeky & Malice in Wonderland WIP Update...

Here's a peek at my latest offering for SpookyTime Jingles for the month of August. I call this one "The Hag Wagon".



This one is a pretty involved piece with the wagon, the two pumpkins, the hag & her hat & broom. I kept wanting to add stuff such as a cat but I would have had to attach her hat to her head so the cat could sit on the pumpkin but I think that would have made the sculpt too high. As it is now it is almost as long as it is high (10"x 11" x 6").

She has some fun little details such as branches made from epoxy affixed to the side of the wagon with copper wire to hold her broom and the use of the vintage easter grass turned out to be just perfect for the bedding of straw. I am particularly fond of the face on the second pumpkin : )














And here is my Mad Hatter and the Cheshire Cat WIP update which are both a little further along than this. Mad needs mounted to a base. He has a hat and is painted but is a bit heavier than planned so the intended candlestick although made of wrought iron may be too tall so I fear it may be topheavy.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Malice in Wonderland...

I am so overdue for a blog post...my apologies to all!

The cat bite finger incision is healed but my finger is still swollen so pretty much unusable for everyday tasks although I can bend as far as I need to now for grasping a pen or a paintbrush. Good thing for me I'm ambidextrous so I can continue to create.

The kitten is still living on my porch although it is now IN the house more than in the kennel. Hubby still will not say I can have her but she is growing on him & I will be taking her to get fixed next Friday so even if I cannot at least she will not be perpetuating the homeless kitten/feral cat problem.

Oooo...we're having a Malice in Wonderland challenge in AHQU! I'm very excited because this was one I suggested a over a year ago. I have two ideas for this theme in my head. Here's one, this weekend I paid a buck for a forlorn 1987 brinn porcelain angel doll at a yard sale. Her one thumb is chipped off and her hair was all tangled so I removed her wig. It's blond and I want her to have black hair so I'll have to do some research to see if it can be salvaged/colored.




I took a before and after pic...after I "bitched" up her features...LOL and she looks pretty sinister so far so she should make a great dark Alice.






LOL...this will be the second angel that I've given new life to (albeit on the darker side). The other one was Belinda, a witch that used to be a blocky blunt-featured Christmas Angel.



Aw Geez, I'm probably offending someone. I'll stop now ; )

Monday, June 29, 2009

Owie Ow!


I just got my first look post-surgery. It sure looks worse from the surgery than it did from the cat bite. At least there's no infection in there anymore. I guess the doctor did a type of running stitch, that's what the 4 indentations are on the bottom. They come out next Monday.
The cat got away from me but at least I was able to observe her for 6 days and she seemed just fine, I was told she'd be drooling by now if she had rabies. Never underestimate the determination of a cat. She squeezed herself out of a slot less than 3" high when I took the tray out of the crate to hose it down. I had newspaper in there but she was just shredding it in her attempts to escape.
Zoey (yes, I've named the kitten) is beginning to act more kitten-like. She's purring regularly, hissing less and starting to play. Hubby still says no to keeping her but I'm still working at it : (

Friday, June 26, 2009

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

So, there is a pretty sizable stray/feral cat population in my neighborhood. Someone abandoned their house before being foreclosed upon way down on the other end of my street the year before last and turned out their unneutured female cat. Well, that year she had a litter of kittens under my next door neighbors' shed and while I was able to trap two of them and take them to the animal shelter, the other two got away. More cats showed up and now they are all breeding & out of control.

We used to have dozens of bunnies hopping through the yard everyday, now it's rare if I see a single one. I've also noticed a sad lack of bullfrog song at my pond this year- I usually can count on about 4-6 of them to call my pond home each summer. The last one was found dead this past Sunday belly up in my neighbors yard. Recently another neighbor complained of a stray cat that had a litter of kittens beneath his bush and showed them to anyone who would look until of course, the mother moved her brood to the property behind my house. I live behind a distribution giant and a long 14 foot high stockade fence seperates the residential properties from the commercial one. The strays have dug numerous holes to pass thru and in the past few weeks two of these kittens have hung around my neighbors porch since he keeps out cracked corn for the squirrels and the birds. Apparently small kittens will eat the corn as well.



To make a long story short, I caught one of the kittens. She's about 8 weeks old & well into eating solid food. I would dearly love to keep this kitten but I'm afraid I am fighting an uphill battle with hubby. Shhhh...don't tell him, but I've named her Zoey. She still hisses at me but I've also had her purring. And she does so appreciate the regular feedings : )

So here's where it got ugly:
I also managed to trap the mother with the idea of getting her neutered and releasing her as she is completely feral and unfit as a pet. Unfortunately she threw a monkey wrench into the works by giving me an unhealthy bite on the finger as I was trying to get food into the cage. I've just spent two nights in the hospital -not, mind you, to get rabies shots, but to have surgery performed on my infected index finger! In fact, the infectious disease doctors are not overly concerned with the possibility I may have rabies even though I told them the mother has a scabbed wound on her head. They are more concerned with me losing the use of my forefinger due to the nasty bacteria that resides in cats mouths. Since I have the cat in a covered dog crate on my porch I am able to observe her. If she not dead within ten days of rabies she was not transmitting...apparently the virus must reach their brains in order to be present in the saliva. I've had her since Monday and so far she is acting fine- xxx crossing fingers xxx.

So a delay in the plans and a word to the wise -Never, ever, handle stray cats with out heavy duty gloves or you may have an unexpected stay in the hospital.

Another sad note: when we got home from the hospital we were out back watering our gardens and this poor tragic squirrel was dragging himself past us to reach the shelter of the thick hostas at the base of our maple tree. My husband thought he might have been hit by a car but I noticed his legs were not smashed just useless and dragging and he was covered in green-headed flies so I expect he had a run in with a stray cat as well. At least wildlife management came & took it to euthanize it quickly instead of it suffering a horrible lingering death : _(

***sigh***

Saturday, June 20, 2009

New Blog Design (thanks Annette!)

WooHoo! My blog's been blinged-up!

Thanks to Annette of Huckleberry Arts, my blog sparkles!

And she was so tolerant of all my change/tweak requests I told her she could charge me a PITA fee (but she graciously declined).

She's very reasonably priced so if ya like what ya see - check her out at www.huckleberryarts.com

Woohoo!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Fabulous Weekend Weather

Today Pap & I took M' Dink (actually her name is Angelé but we call her Dink, specifically My Dink which, since we are a family given to nicknames, has become M'Dink) with us to the river so we could catch some crawdads for the pond. And while I didn't get pictures of that endeavor I did take these few photos to share.

For some reason all the bullfrogs have fled the pond and we are left with one lonely leopard frog so the crawdads are relatively safe & will help keep the pond clean. Most of them will live in the upper pond that is vegetative and is fish-free. The larger ones will live in amongst the rocks below the waterfall. Here is my big lotus sending up a few healthy arials. Got hubby in there to heavily fertilize yesterday (first time EVER for him). Last year I must've been too stingy with the tablets because we got NO blooms whatsoever so let's hope for a happier year so I can share those brief (3-day) but beautiful blooms with you.

The flower below is one of my favorite flowers in the world. They just make me all-around happy with their colorful little multi-color blooms and their quirky fragrance, I've heard some say they smell like gasoline to them but I hate the smell of gas & can't for the life of me associate the two. Do you recognize them? They are lantana of course! They are an annual up north here (PA). I've seen how they grow in the south and I am so jealous!



And I finally got a really good picture of my waterpuppies. Those two big white koi are about 14" and are original to the pond (spring of 2003). The koi bred for the first time last year so that went a long way to evening out the koi-to-goldfish ratio.


And one last pic: a blast from my past. The pond in its humble beginnings, dug Sept/Oct of 2002. And to think the digging-out of a washpole started it all.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Gourd Booty!

SCREAM!!! Did I get booty or what!?!

I did spend about $120 though : - (

Here is my complete stash: $41 worth of gourds -most were $2 apiece. 9 milk bottle, 8 penguins, seven banana, 1 cannonball and 1 warty. 4 of the penguins were 4 for a dollar for having damage or not being cleaned (see the one with the mousie hole and the broken necked one?). The damage doesn't bother me because I will incorporate that into the sculpt somewhere -like the broken neck one, I usually use these for bodies and cut the tops off anyway.



I have gourd holes for the brim of witches hats, the two oddball shaped ones will be the ears for a pink elephant ornie I'm making for a prize for the random winner of our Pink Elephant challenge in BWBA. The other round wooden things are bases for gourds that don't want to sit on their own.



I got a reprint of a 1956 book on gourds called The Garden of Gourds by LH Bailey and a saber saw for gourds, a tool I could have made myself but heck, it was only $2.50.

The rest of the stuff was the salty stuff. Two flocking kits, some braided cord, some (more) metallic pigments, wax sealer and two paintbrushes with parallel heads on them! One with two thin ones for straight lines and one with two thicker for checkerboards - who knew they made these things?? Not I!




And look, the gourd that is one the farthest right is not compleatly dried yet. I am guaranteed FRESH seeds for growing my own penguin gourds next year-YIPPEE!

Friday, June 12, 2009

GourdFest

WooHoo! It's time for the annual gourdfest at the local amish gourd farm so I took off work to attend. Gotta go see what goodies are hidden in those shapes, ya know.
It's awful though...like I don't have enough here to keep me busy for the next year but they're calling me so I gotta go!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Busy! Busy! Busy!

Getting ready for my Spookytime Jingles debut - lots to do. Famous as I am for procrastination (my motto should be: "Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow") I do believe I'm in good shape. Here is a teaser on both my Halloween & Christmas page offerings...

A revisit to Jack the Pumpkin King...


And a Heavenly Angel...
















Please be sure to check me and all the other fabulous and talented artists out on the 13th at Spookytimejingles.com! Lots of GOOD stuff!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

The Fruit of Labor

Finally finished with the pond. We mulched on Memorial day as the last of the filthy whirligigs have just about fallen from the two remaining silver maples in the yard. Here is the view from my deck. I'm in a bilevel and our property is on a small hill so the deck off my kitchen is actually the second story (in the back).


This is the pond from the front. As the sun heads down, look how it lights up the hakone grass beside the falls.



A view from the side.


My husband was working part time for an alarm firm at the time and brought this home to me one day. This statue was part of a fountain at an estate in a nearby town that had been purchased by an organization to be used as a shelter for victims of domestic violence and the statue was not considered politically correct and so was free for the taking.

This is my birdpond. This was created from the depression left behind after grinding out the stump of a huge maple we had taken down. I'd been wanting one for awhile after seeing one at a garden place in Fenwick, Delaware a few years back and this seemed like a natural solution to filling in the depression. The birds absolutely love it & I am adding a feeder this weekend. If I can contain the mess, I'll keep it.



This is my favorite garden ornament - a 2 piece mermaid. She was a "have-to-have" some years back and luckily she was on sale! Isn't she fabulous?


And last but not least - my hubby insisted I take a picture of the columbine in the the front yard. Can't say I remember where this one came from, but it sure is beautiful!

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Latest WIP

This one's an angel bust. She's about 8" tall and currently waiting for her paperclay hair to dry so I may attach stronger Apoxie Sculpt to the ends that will be free-flowing. Her wings are not yet attached nor yet 'feathered'.



Been busy elsewhere, getting planters populated and working on 3 - Square Foot Gardening boxes for some yummy homegrown veggies, got seedlings popping out all over the place. I'm going to get some gourd seeds in the ground today as well and I'm on the hunt today for some ornamental kale & cabbage seeds, they just can't be beat for beautiful fall color.

Mother nature has been busy as well and today there are no less than 5 lillies blooming in the lower pond. Pond area still needs mulching so I hope to have that done on Tuesday then I will post pics of the whole pond.

Hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day and please remember those who gave their lives so we could enjoy ours.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Pink Elephants

A theme challenge of Pink Elephants for BWBA in the month of June. What fun! I already have a few in my head - I better get them out soon -elephants are large animals!

Josie

Sunday, May 3, 2009

I've joined STJ!

...and I was supposed to make my debut in May but busywork at work has led me astray! So June it will be for me. I will be joining a multitude of extremely talented artists there - these very same whose works of art I got to see up close & personal at the Haunters Convention. It is really exciting to be in such company : )




Now I've been challenged (in a very loose sense) to do an angel, certain people (you know who you are) think I may have a hard time doing angelic -we shall see :::wiggling of eyebrows here:::

But I will need a Christmas page offering and she should fit the bill nicely : )
Stay tuned!

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Finally Finished ...

Well I managed to get three things listed at once. My Creepy Clown, a malevolent looking vampire and the kitty of my banner - all ornies. I was pretty proud of myself too thinking I'm getting more prolific, then I realized I hadn't really produced any more than usual, I just hoarded them till they were all done. Anyway, you can click on the pic of Drac to link to them all:



Thanks for looking : )

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Killer Clown

I'm very happy with the way my killer clown turned out! I made him a 'wig' made of needlefelted wool...
If he makes you pee your pants just a little then my job here is done

I'll probably put him up for sale on Ebay Sunday night.

Seriously.

No clowning around.

(hehehe)

Josie

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Soon...

Hey, ya know I mentioned that I went to the Nat'l Haunters Convention? Where I got to see the SpookyTimes Jingles superb booth, up close & personal (bought sumpin' too!) and was exposed to zombies & ghoulies and bloody body parts and crazy animatronics throughout the rest of the convention. Did I come away with some ideas? Oh Yeah!

Here's the most frightening one & he's halfway finished. He needs hair, a hat & a collar yet and I have to dampen down that shine so stay tuned...

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Izzit Multitasking or ADD?

Soooo many things going on at once. I put the dolls bodies aside to pick on some gourds. And then this quirky little guy came outta nowhere...



This is Java Joe. That is a real coffee cup I used for his body and I used the actual lid as the mold (gasp!) for the lid.

Seriously, I don't know what possessed me to make him but another one of my coworkers is giving him the 'eye'. She is my on-the-spot critiquer (izzat a word?) & wants me to do another as a gift for a java junkie friend. Ha! Little does she know, I hate doing repeats so I have to debate with myself...try him out on ebay and see what the interest is like or just flat out sell him to her without ever knowing. Too bad I don't work for a bigger place...I could do all my business with my coworkers...hehehe.

And the two gourd pieces are nearing completion; an ornie and a candy bowl both in the fashion of the cat on my banner so I will have something to offer soon.

The other news was that I went to the National Haunters Convention in King-of-Prussia on Friday to see all the SpookyTime Jingles goodies up close and personal. Such eye-candy!! And a truly fabulous display. Dani (Ambitions Design) really put forth an outstanding effort to make that a success.

Aside from that treat, I met Claire Lavin who was there to appraise vintage & antique halloween collectibles. She wrote the books Timeless Halloween Collectibles and Time for Halloween Decorations.

Also in evidence were lots of zombies and body parts and some really cool animatronics. I'll have to post some of those pics as soon as I upload them.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Unfinished Projects

Oh, poor neglected little bloggie : (

Well, I'm in between projects right now, my monkey in a teapot sold to a coworker. That's ideal...fast payment, fast shipping! If we have a problem with the transaction we can just take it out to the parking lot. ; )

Took an opportunity to cut the tops off 4 large gourds and get them cleaned out. Now to think about what I want to do with them. I also started 2 doll armatures one for my three-eyed man whose head I made over a year ago and the second for a head I made last week, destined to be an albino I think.



I have to lighten up his antiquing a bit and give him eyebrows. Funny, he turned out to look a bit like my late beloved Uncle Ivan (without the third eye of course!).
I always get hung up on the costuming tho', since I'd rather sculpt it than sew it but that would hamper any posability. We shall see...

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Worth the Effort

Sorry for the delay in the picture posting. I did some unexpected babysitting last night. And I'm not one to pass up time with my dink even tho' I have her every weekend.


So I'm very pleased with the way this li'l guy turned out & I had fun experimenting with beeswax. Clicking the pic will link to his auction.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Sneak Peek (continued)

Okay, scratch Dormouse...I sculpted fur on him & he is now too monkeylike to pass for a mouse unless I elongate his face and I am not willing to do that, this face is just too cute. So he is a monkey in a teapot. I'll post progress pics tonight.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Sneak Peek

Here's a sneak peek at a piece I just started.

This was fun because I just grabbed my bag of clay, a coyote gourd and my favorite sculpting tool and started playing without a thought in my head as to what i was creating. I made a wizened little human-like face then played around with what type of ears looked best & settled on mouse ears. I mounted the head on another gourd for a potbellied mouse but he decided to become Alice in Wonderland's Dormouse (after the Mad Hatter & the March Hare stuffed him sleeping into the teapot. He's just awakened and is peering sleepily out of it.

He's actually a good bit further along at this point as his paws are sculpted and he has fur so stay tuned....

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

"Spring" Forward...

As I usually like to do if a piece I create has movement, I made a little video of Chickee's Wild Ride.

.


Click here to view the auction

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Chickees Wild Ride

Ha! Who says I can't do cute?

This guy's big too...his body is a 10" penguin gourd.

"Chickie's Wild Ride"



Hope to have him listed on Ebay tomorrow night.


TTFN~

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Projects...Moving on

Oh, the time between projects is a funny time. Ideas for the next one are starting to gel. There is an antsy-ness to this period when in a creative high. With nothing in mid-creation I pick up and ponder armatures I've started but lost interest in to see if they are ready to be worked on yet. I know there are some that are hopeless but I am loathe to throw them away. Some of my most successful sculpts are those that I've started but didn't finish 'till months later or even mostly finished but have put aside then given a redo upon revisitation.

The ebay Halloween group HA31 is working on a spring time theme ideas so I've got some ideas percolating there. And for BWBA I do have an armature started for a large leaping bunny on a bedspring that I'm eggsited about ; ) and my skull swap for DAG needs finished. The due date is not yet upon us so being the procrastinator that I am I will wait until my brow breaks out in sweat at the closeness of it...LOL. I work better under pressure for some odd reason. Pics to follow as soon as some of these projects are worthy : )

Monday, February 16, 2009

Morbid Curiosity

Edwin is finally finished (Yay!) I wrote a ditty to go with him...
It's called "Morbid Curiosity"

Edwin was a strange little boy
Though it wasn't that plain to see
Other kids avoided him like the plague
Friends just were not to be

One day while out exploring
Alone down by the sea
he spied a furry little dog
He was certain it would flee

But it didn't budge as he got up close
and approached it on his knees
He said, "Hey little fella, you're kinda thin
and I'll bet you're full of fleas"

"But you're also kinda cute 'n cuddly,
Do ya wanna come home with me??"
So Edwin had found a friend that day
thanks to morbid curiosity!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

"Hey Mom! I Found a Dog! Can I Keep Him?"

And now for something completely different...

Hope I don't scare you off but every once in a while I do something really creepy...LOL. Okay, I do it a lot. Anyway...This is...well, I haven't thought of the perfect name for him yet & I still have to think up a morbid little ditty, the Edward Gorey-esque type boy I mentioned in the earlier post. He's almost ready.

He has trouble finding friends to play with. Could be his strange nature...there's something just a little off-putting about him. Maybe it's because he never smiles. Either way, this may be his lucky day. He may have finally found a friend and he's always wanted a dog...he's poking it with a stick just to make sure it doesn't bite...now if only his Mom will let him keep it.




Disclaimer: No dogs, real or implied, were harmed in the making of this sculpture ; ).



Hope to have him up on ebay tomorrow night.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Okay..this one's done...

Here my DAG blog O-W-O-H giveaway. There are 4 of us giving prizes and they are all surprises. I think it is now late enough as posting closes tonight that I can safely post his pic here.

This is the only one of the three I mentioned in the previous post that's finished. But the other two are right behind this one...