Tonight I made a small army. I haven’t baked them yet, which is why the penguin lacks pupils (those go on post-baking, leaving him looking like a creepy zombie penguin until that time), but here they are, thanks to a friend’s iPhone camera!

Ready to bake!

Yes, the penguin is the same as the one I made before, complete with glow-in-the-dark belly/feet/beak, but that’s because I was selfish and kept the first one for myself.  This one will find a new home. The kitty still needs some work… he was my warm-up. The snowman was a challenge because of his arms, and the top hat turned out to be more of a bowler – but I’m okay with that. The alien was inspired by the minions in the movie Despicable Me, which was absolutely hilarious and everyone needs to see it pretty much immediately.

Now we need more posts by people who are not me!

I have been doing a little bit of brainstorming on goofy Monsters Inc. -esque monsters (despite never actually seeing that movie) since my friend Dan expressed interest in having monster paintings.  Or I remember him expressing interest.  Either way I goofed around and drew things.  So now you get to see the full creative process, which mostly included drawing a bunch of circles and some goofy eyes.

First up we have Princess Ladybug! With her perky princess hat, she is ready to rule her kingdom in style.

And what princess would be complete without a dragon threatening to storm her castle? His belly glows in the dark!

Totally unrelated, I also made my first “Planter Pal,” little buggies that will be right at home in your potted plants.

Not too long ago,  I once again made some tiny critters…

Making this first guy was pretty easy, but I liked all the colors. He was kind of a warm-up.

Colorful caterpillar

Then I decided to make a stark black-and-white ladybug, but I changed it up a little from my usual ladybugs by opening up his wings a bit, preparing for flight.

Ready for take-off

Now this little fella makes me happy every time I look at him! The look of befuddlement on his tiny penguin face cracks me up, and his feet and beak glow in the dark. I’m planning to pop a magnet on his back and keep him for my own.

*waddle waddle* What?

Then someone challenged me: make a praying mantis. Hmmm. This would be much, much more difficult than the tiny, fat-bodied little buddies I usually make. So I pulled up a picture, pulled out some wire, and got to work.

The result is a LOT larger than any of my other works… he’s about 3/4 as tall as a regular coffee mug without the antennae. The work is a little sloppy, as I’m not used to working with such thin and complicated limbs and bodies, and it took forever to get the legs glued on. This was also the first time I did a 2-parter: I made and baked the body, then made and baked the wings separately and glued them on. The downside was that the wings do not fit perfectly. Hmm… they say practice makes perfect, but I’ll be honest: I much prefer making tiny adorable things to making larger fellas. That said, I do like how this guy’s face turned out. The slight inquisitive tilt of his head, and the shape overall came out well, and I’m pleased that he’s still standing on those spindly wire legs.

I WILL EAT YOUR FACE

I think “tiny and adorable” is just going to be my clay forté!

What I meant to say, when I was very little: “I am a complete if not-yet-fully grown person, and wish to be accorded all the rights and dignities pertaining to human beings, particularly in the realm of independent action.”

What I said: “I self it!”

Do you know the percentage of bridal tiaras that exist in a color other than white, silver, or pearl? Like %.000003, or something equally small. It became quickly clear that since I wanted something green and gold, it was not going to happen unless I bellied up to the bead store and made it myself.

So I went crazy with the gold wire and Swarovski crystal, and pulled out a couple shades of green seed beads I had just lying around. I had some idea that I wanted it to look like an ancient Greek laurel wreath, something the bride of Bacchus might wear (Ariadne, for you fellow Greek myth geeks). I rolled up my sleeves and began to do what is technically known as ‘winging it.’ Here is the result:

With the purple, topaz, and champagne-colored jewelry, it’s stunning and actually much more subtle than I had expected.

I was pondering what to use as my first post for this blog, when I stumbled upon a comedy sketch I wrote back in 2003 when I was living in L.A. The piece is based on a character I created for a play writing class in college. Augustus (Auggie) the clown is a Sideshow Bob-esque character. He is tired of being typecast in comic roles, but no matter what other genres he tries to break into, they never have the intended effect.

The sketch was intended as a segment from an action film, which Auggie hoped would free him from the funnyman image.

Yesterday, I found a copy of the sketch lurking in my Google Docs account. After reading through it, I was pleased at how well it held up and thought I would share it with the internet. I would love to re-film the piece at some point. The first iteration has been lost to time.

Here’s the sketch

I don’t understand it but I have discovered that babies love Cthulhu.  And well, who am I to deny a mind fresh for imprinting.  So I’ve started making Cthulhu plushes for the babies in my life.  I found several patterns for knitting and crochet but only one for just basic sewing.  I’m  not exactly happy with the pattern so I’d like to see if you nice folks might have any suggestions for me.  Specifically I’d like feedback on just about all of it, arms, legs, feet, face, tentacles and wings.  I’m guessing that not many of you know much about sewing but I’d like to hear any ideas.  A lot of the trouble I seem to run into is that I have trouble working with small areas since there needs to be room for seam allowance and stuffing, but the other problem is just getting getting things to look the way I imagine with out a pattern.  I tried to make a bow for the second Cthulhu but just couldn’t get anything that looked much like a bow

My first attempt now lives with Odin (who refuses to sleep without him)

My second attempt went to Arissa today.  She wasn’t as immediately enthralled but seemed at least mildly amused.  I liked the hands and wings better, but the wings still seemed a bit off.

And if you don’t have any ideas just feel free to discuss the proper plural of Cthulhu.

After posting about motivation, it seemed wrong to turn around and sit on my couch doing nothing, so I made the Tip Trinkets. I’m not sure these are really the ones I’ll use, as the antennae strike me as too fragile for travel, but they were fun!

Discussing stategy

The off-white parts of the brown ladybug glow in the dark, so he won’t be any good at stealthy night-time attacks, but he is quite the leader. Excellent at rallying the troops!

Hurry up and wait

Lined up on top of the microwave, waiting for their signal… the dark parts of the sparkly silver guy are sparkly dark green. He can blind the enemy in a good bright light.

BATTLE!

Ladybugs vs.  Snerks! Boy, if those snerks weren’t glued to an index card, they’d probably have a better chance…

Size comparison

The antennae are made from staples. I clipped off the sides with wire cutters, then used a pair of small round-edged craft pliers to do the curl. I’m planning to glaze the ladybugs, too, so they will be shiny.

Rene gave me access to this site yesterday, which made me feel like I absolutely had to create something as soon as possible. In the past, I have been known to draw, paint, and knit, but lately, I’ve been focusing on beading (I know, just what this site needs – another beader). True to form, I made a necklace. I don’t know all the fancy techniques that Gabby and Alicia use, but I’m generally pretty happy with what I’m able to create using stringing, the occasional basic wire work, and awesome, unusual beads.

Here is my latest creation, inspired by this site (hooray for inspiration!). It’s made from blue goldstone, sterling silver, tourmalated quartz, and swarvoski crystal. The image quality of the picture is absolute crap because my only camera is currently my iPhone. You can’t see the beautiful detail of the tourmalated beads, but you get the general idea.

I’ve had the donut in my stash for ages. I’m not usually a fan of goldstone because its entirely manmade (and I’m more of a sucker for stones that are found in nature), but I enjoyed this piece because I loved the color, the sparkle, its off-center hole, and the fact that it made me think of the cosmos. I had tried several times to turn it into a pendant, but I hadn’t landed on anything that worked. Finally I found the awesome spiral bit, and it was exactly what I was looking for.

I’m not 100% sure I want to keep the string as it is. It’s very pretty, but I feel like it needs a hint of blue or purple to tie it in with the pendant.

It’s been a while since anyone has posted here… I know the Evil Cold of Doom has been making the rounds and quite frankly, likes to wear out its welcome, and it has the tendency to kill the creative spirit. That said, I’d like to see us use this blog for what it was intended: inspiring each other.

Recently I chatted with David about making clay trinkets to leave at restaurants when I eat out, alongside my usual tips. I know Alicia is working on her bridal headband. Anyone else have any projects going on? Have ideas? Need ideas? Let’s hear from each other, and from the peanut gallery!

Come on, friends, let’s Make Some Art! Anyone else who wants posting rights to this blog should let me know – if you’ve got some form of art you’d like to share in a realm other than Facebook, give me a holler. I want this blog to grow and become a source of both inspiration and motivation (in the form of accountability among friends) so that we can all stay sharp!

I’ll post pictures of my Trinket-Tips once I get going on those… right now they’re still forming in my mind. Hopefully they form just as nicely in my fingers.