Hello California.....

Hello California...

I never thought I would live near the ocean but then then I never thought I would ever live in New Mexico either. After 6 years in the desert landscape of New Mexico we have packed up and moved to California.

It is sooo beautiful here. More my type of landscape with green stuff everywhere. The moss is my favorite. I feel like there are Fairies in every corner. We are up north just 20 miles from San Francisco and just a 10 minute drive to the beautiful Pacific Ocean. It is luring me to its shores every weekend where I am filled with inspiration. I am hoping to glimpse a Mermaid very soon.
♥

Steampunk...

A little mini top hat steampunk style. The best part is the pinwheel works.

Purple

You can never make too many purple treasures.



















This is how it started out...

Visitor

Had this guy out front this morning.

We have lots of wild rabbits in our yard which means we also have lots of predators.
(remember the rattlesnake that bit me 2 yrs ago) I do ! Lol

We have coyotes,snakes,bobcats etc... I swear I even saw a chupacabra ( mythical ? dog like vampire) out my door one night.

This visitor got himself a bunny for breakfast. I have never heard anything like it. Primal and wild. Kind of scary.

Life in the desert is brutal but beautiful.

Green

Green is good !

I met a talented artist on Etsy who creates these incredibly intricate birdhouses. He wanted to do a fairy home at the base of a birdhouse and used my feather fairy portal as the entrance.

What a fun collaboration and I think it turned out beautifully. Vernon is as nice as he is talented so if you want to see more of his wonderful creations here is a link to his Etsy shop.
www.jvernonart.etsy.com

I can just imagine the birds and the fairies have a great time in this one of a kind house.

Finalist

I am a finalist in the Firemountain Gems Creative Clays Contest. There are some amazing winners and finalists. Click here to check them out...
http://www.firemountaingems.com/beadingcontests/contest-winners?WT.ac=WH1

Comic Con

Spiderman shops at Clayworks....

To everyone at Las Cruces Comic Con,
THANK YOU! We had a great show and met so many amazing people and fellow artists.

Zia Comics did an amazing job for a first year show and we appreciate all of their hard work and their wonderful volunteers!

We look forward to next year!








My daughter Quinn won 1st place for cosplay in her category "Anime". She worked for months on her costume and I am happy to see it pay off for her. What a fun experience!

Fairy Garden to go....

 I needed a costume or something fun to wear for the LasCruces Comicon in September that I am vending at so I made a wearable fairy garden.

I love those little felt top hats I have been seeing all over Pinterest and Etsy so I ordered some hats and bought a new "super hot" (ouch) glue gun and got to work. I made tiny mushrooms and flowers to go with my little door and they all turned out so darn cute. It looks heavy but it is not and stays put with two hair clips glued on the bottom. I may start selling the little clay pieces as craft supplies after I get these shows finished and I have some time for experimenting. The finished hat is 4.5" wide and about 3.5" tall so it is a miniature wonderland.

It was a lot of fun to put together and now I can take my Fairy Garden with me.

Wrap it up...

Wrap it up.... wrap bracelets with beautiful silk ribbons.

Dragons...

May the 4th be with you... Geek day at my house.

This is why I love my family soooo much! Who else will joust with you to celebrate "Star Wars Day" which is May the 4th "be with you". We celebrate each year by doing something geeky that we love. We spent all day Saturday making shields and painting plastic helmets to look medieval. We also had an archery contest and a sword battle. ( Using all foam weapons of course). Then we feasted on roasted chickens and veggies. It was a GOOD day!

Art Nouveau Pansies

I have not made these for quite awhile but I am looking at all of the beautiful spring flowers and they inspired me.

I started making the brass paired with clay in 2007 after going through my bead stash and finding tons of brass stampings that I had bought for another project. I love the antique quality that the brass components add to the look.

The Green Fairy

Dragon Mode....

Lovely Lavender

 

Terrific Tangerine

 

Sugar Skulls

I was asked to make a sugar skull by a friend of mine and I have wanted to do one for some time so it was a great motivator to try one.
They are very popular where I live bordering Mexico. The belief is that on October 31, the gates of heaven are opened at midnight and the spirits of all deceased children (angelitos) are allowed to reunite with their families for 24 hours. On November 2, the spirits of the adults come down to enjoy the festivities that are prepared for them. Sugar skulls represent a departed soul and are placed on the home ofrenda or gravestone to honor the return of a particular spirit. They are made from sugar in a traditional folk art style.

http://www.mexicansugarskull.com/  Here is a wonderful site with the history and information on Day of the Dead and Sugar Skulls.

Elf Door...

Ever wonder how Santa visits if you don't have a chimney?

An Elf Door of course!

Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty...

Trying out an idea I have wanted to pursue for quite a while. Storybook, fairy tale doors.
My girls and I love to watch the tv series "Once Upon a Time" and I thought it would be fun to do some fairy tale inspired doors.

Pretties

Premium Beads 3 days in the making....
I only get the urge to make these about once or twice a year due to the labor intensive, time consuming nature but oh my, I do love how they turn out.
Here is the process..
* make canes
* make beads
* cook beads
* sand beads by hand starting with 400 grit then again with 600, 800 and finishing with 1000
* gloss beads and heat set 5 times each

sit back and oogle their pretty glassiness.

These are going to be made into lamp pull/ceiling fan pull sets which I am then going to hang for display at this years Renaissance Faire. I think I will make some sort of display so they can hang from the top bars of my canopy. If anything I think they will look pretty!

Americana Style Door.
Just in case your Fairies are feeling nostalgic and Patriotic.