PFATT December Giveaway!!

Come join in the fun at the the PFATT blog for some wonderful December giveaway items....yes, giveaway items, and I have made a little something to make the holiday season just a little more cheerful!


As you know if you follow my blog, I believe that elves are born from ornaments. Below is little "Onslow" bursting from his ornament from both the top and the bottom with a small Christmas tree and Christmas gift present in the foreground. This is a 7" x 8.75" hand-painted original on 140 lb. weight watercolor paper, signed by me and created just for the PFATT December giveaway. How do you win this you ask? Click on the link above and go to the PFATT blog to register!!

Lots of wonderful things being given away this month by PFATT members (getting in the Christmas spirit) so don't miss the chance to put your name and email address into the giveaway for a chance to win some really lovely pieces!!!!

Good luck!
Laurie

2 New WIPs

It has been a busy week in the studio making paper mache clay, making armatures for hats and then building the hats, building faces, making elf shoes and boots and making bodies. Below is my first ever Pumpkin Elf. He will be a crossover piece from Halloween into Christmas and comes with an elf hat with balls on the tips and elf shoes designed in the same manner. He carries a teddy bear and candy canes and I plan on painting him in striped stockings with a little ornamental vest. The figures don't have much of a personality punch at this point....that will have to come with the paint.

I also roughed in several snowmen this week. The little fellow below has a carrot nose and an over sized top hat. and two "stick" arms. I think he gets a scarf today... he needs it to break up that large body of his.

That's how I work. I sculpt, set a piece down, work on another, then look back on the piece I worked on earlier and let it tell me what it needs. That little bit of separation during the creative process is very necessary for me to keep moving forward in the design of the pieces.

That's this weeks peek into the studio and my artsy little mind.

Have a great weekend!
Laurie

Marques Lumina

Well, in my house Halloween is just about 11 months away, so Marques is smiling as he awaits his assignment for 2010. I'm in the studio today working on some new things sort of spooky and sort of jingly.

Hope you all are having a great week. We have sunshine so it looks like a great afternoon to sculpt and play!

Laurie

Phew!!!!

Just had the last fall show for the season this past weekend and I am very happy!!! (Sorry, I forgot the camera!!) The show started slow and had me a little nervous because often the afternoons are the slowest part of the day....however, the reverse was true at this show. It seems the buyers waited until later in the afternoon to attend the show, which seems contrary to what normally happens. Big crowds in the morning, but hardly anyone was carrying packages versus smaller crowds in the afternoon with multiple items being carried. I guess you just never know.

I will start new pieces this week so as I get things put together I will post a WIP or two! Hope you had a great weekend!
Laurie

SpookyTime Jingles Updates Tonight!!!!!!!

The November update for SpookyTime Jingles is tonight at midnight!!! I have one little jingle, Phineas the "Elf in the Ornie", and two little spooky-jingles....


the "Christmas Count" and "Pumpkin Claus." These three pieces will be available tonight at midnight on that very special marketplace!!

We can all use a little jingle in our lives... don't you think?! Hope to hear from you at midnight Eastern time (11 Central, 10 Mountain and 9 Pacific).

Have a great day!

Laurie

Here Comes "Pumpkin Claus"

Here Comes "Pumpkin Claus", Here Comes "Pumpkin Claus", right down "Pumpkin Claus" Lane.... fa la la la la, la la, la la. Silly little "Pumpkin Claus" loves Christmas. From the time he was nothing more than a bloom on the pumpkin vine there were signs this little guy was going to be different. The elders talked about the strange candy cane markings on his bloom and the jingle bells on the tip of each petal. As his little bud grew they would hear Christmas Carols murmuring around him and shuttered at the strange sight of him shaking like a bowl full of jelly when he was highly amused. This little pumpkin even refused to release himself from the pumpkin vine in the fall...he waited until Christmas Eve.


The other little pumpkins laughed and called him names, and didn't let him join in any pumpkin games....oh oops, that's another story. Anyway, he developed an affinity for anything peppermint (starlight mints, candy canes, ribbon candy, etc.) and begged his Mother for a Santa hat and elf-like attire. Being a good Mom, she succumbed to his requests and also named him "Pumpkin Claus."

Santa heard about this little fellow, and when he met him he loved what he saw! Santa contracted with him so that on Christmas Eve he travels to an assigned area delivering gifts to good little boys and girls.

You didn't really believe Santa could deliver all of those presents all by himself did you? Oh, and if you leave out pumpkin cake or cookies for "Santa" on Christmas Eve and they are still there in the morning...you had a visit from "Pumpkin Claus." It would be like eating a cousin so he chooses to pass on anything made with pumpkin.

"Pumpkin Claus" is made of fastmache and wood and painted with acrylic paints. His candy canes and ornament are removable for safe storage.

Have a great day!

Laurie

The Christmas Count

Here is what has been occupying my time this week, the "Christmas Count". This is little Count Vacula, dressed in his finest Christmas attire carrying two sugar-free candy canes (he is such a health fanatic), and a little present for his sweetheart.


He is full of little details on his hat (striped hat-band and holly), his cape (dots and stars on the front, and holly and a swirled-mint button on the back), his vest (a swirl-mint button, matching trim and kerchief to the hat-band pattern), swirl-mint stud cuff links, 2 removable candy canes and shading to round his form.

He is hoping to sit down for a nice cup of herbal tea flavored by his candy canes with his sweety after she sees what the present contains. Because they are vegetarians, you guessed it, it has "carrots" inside!!!

Have a great weekend all!
Laurie

Update on Phineas

Phineas got a little more paint yesterday and he wanted you to see some of the changes. His red cap received some cream-colored stripes and he also got his shirt painted. He received some gold metallic trim on the edge of the green hat border, and the collar of his shirt as well as a dotted pattern to give the hat and collar a bit more visual interest. There was additional shading added on the face to give his features greater contrast, and he now has teeth instead of a white sliver. He was really happy about that!!

The thing Phineas was the most pleased with was the addition of tiny jingle bells to the tips of his hat trim. Every elf needs a little jingle!!

More work to be done on his ornie, but I need to paint on the Christmas Count today so the ornament design will have to wait until the end of the week.

Hope you like the changes...after seeing Phineas's hat I'm thinking I need an elf hat too!

Have a great day!
Laurie