Oh Dear...

Have six months really flown by? Yep, there they go! I really should catch you all up on what I've created over the past several months... which isn't much! I guess sometimes an artist needs space to regroup, time to fill up the cup again so that it can be poured into new projects. I was an empty cup! But now I feel filled to the brim again :) I'd like to share a few Victorian Angels I made (you may remember I made a quartet of them last year). As always, my art is deeply influenced by my love of nature. The first angel has a wintery companion. She is the Reindeer Guardian. The second angel is what a white poinsettia looks like when it goes to a Christmas party ;)


Both designs are available at my cafe press shop as ceramic ornaments. I also added some stockings to my shop with angels on them! I love doing collage work like this. I used to cut up magazines but now, I cut down on the mess and use photoshop, hehe.

Let's go back in time a little while to Halloween, shall we? Here are some poison bottles that I made:

No, I don't have a messy craft table, why do you ask? eheheh :) One is for "Resurrection Lilly", a plant that will bring you back from the dead as a vampire! Really! And the other is "Poison Monk's Cowl" a plant with a deadly flower that resembles an alchemist's hood... And here is the strange cat-beast that I transformed into that night...

Okay, back to merry, bright December :)
Hope everyone is having a lovely holiday season!
Allison

Trimming the Tree

Oh dear! I haven't posted in almost a month! Well, the holidays can be like that, right? Wonderfully hectic :) I have committed myself to making a few gifts, not all, I don't think I'm a crafty pro yet! I decided to make ornaments for a circle of girl friends who are all very crafty. Originally I knew I wanted to make things with paper rosettes but I had no idea what they were called or how to make them. That is, until I found two extremely helpful tutorials...
This one required multiple squares of paper that you fold and glue together.
The second one used long strips of paper that you pleat with a fan fold. My poor little hands almost gave out on me with this technique! I would recommend the squared method in the first tutorial to anyone that has tendinitis or arthritis. It's a little bit easier on the hands. So! Here are the results...
This is the Pink Slipper ornament. This poor baby sat unfinished on my desk for weeks before I finally was able to put the rosette on top. From there it only took about 15 minutes to finish! My hubby was stunned and suggested I make another one and "take some time with it" if I wanted to give it as a gift. I guess that's part of my creative process. While it sat on my desk, I was busy "finishing" it in my mind. I knew exactly what I wanted to do... just needed that rosette! I wish you could see the sparkle all over. I did buy myself some silver Krylon glitter spray and this little shoe got a generous dose.

Tis the Season Dear! Or should I say, Deer? I really love this ornament. It has a large rosette, silky green ribbon, tons of glass glitter and a cute baby deer. A lot of this paper came from a scrap swap I did at Swap-bot.com. The deer is a sweet bit of clip art from the internet. I bought the glitter at American Harvest in Pleasanton. Their shop is a true winter wonderland right now! I am not ashamed to say that I was influenced and inspired by the gorgeous art they have in their store.










So, I whipped up ornments #1 and #2 at lightning speed. But what to do about #3? I have 3 crafty friends and I wanted them each to have something unique and special. After perusing Etsy.com to see what the folks there were making, I decided to go with an ice skate design. I found this adorable template on Paper Craft Inspirations website. I liked the curliness of the blade and the high, slim ankle of the boot. I used lavender paper and a whole lot more glass glitter. The "laces" are threaded through white eyelets and the hanger is just silver wire adorned with beads. I intended to make two but, sheesh, one was hard enough! Maybe next year I'll make two for myself :) I especially love the snowflake button. My Mother-in-law bought me a Dress It Up set called Dashing Through the Snow. Boy, does she know how to make me smile!



Right now, all three are on my tree. I want to let each of my friends pick which one they want. I'm very interested to see who will pick what!
My other crafty plans include gifts for my mom... I'll probably post those after xmas so as not to spoil the surprise.
I also have another bottle snowperson to show you! I'll take some pics and hopefully return before the New Year ;)
blessings,
Allison

The last of the spooky stuff, I promise!

Here is a quick pic of my "altar" for both Halloween and Day of the Dead. My centerpiece is Eve. She was created in an art for kids class I took at San Jose State. Her body is made by using masking tape to adhere newspaper to a straw. The straw provides the hollow for the aluminum wire to go through and connect all the bones. The newspaper adds the bulk and give you the shape to paper mache over. The hardest part if I remember correctly was attaching her head! Eve was constructed to show our common ancestor. They say we are all descended from an African Woman. I used the biblical myth of Eve to represent her. The green felt around her neck is the serpent whispering knowledge to her. This is one of my favorite things in the whole world. It expresses so much of me and took many days and a lot of new skills to make.



After my pumpkins were done I had a little fun with them :) You can also see the finished Halloween Tree... well, as finished as it's gonna get this year! I wouldn't ever consider it "done", just like a Christmas tree, every year it will change. I think next October I will add some spider webs and garlands of some sort...
It was a great start and now I get to continue practicing! My dear Kevin got me this cute little mini xmas tree! I guess I'll be creating more ornaments and hopefully taking better pics ;)

Well, Eve says, good bye everyone and remember that we are all connected in one big family tree!