Polymer Clay Christmas ornaments

   I had a lot of polymer clay left over from making my wedding cake topper so I decided this year I would make some Christmas ornaments. Every year I buy a new ornament for each of my grandsons so I thought I would make one this year for each of them. I also made one each for my nieces.
    This is the one for Liam, he simply loves Batman. I saw an image of this one online but don't remember where or what link I found it on.

Now, my grandson Max has not yet identified any particular character or thing he favors. So for him I may just make a little replica of he himself. For my twin nieces, one takes figure skating and the other is on a gymnastic team.

These are fun to make and a nice break from some of the paintings I have done.

Signature Tree Paintings

   After a friend saw the signature tree I painted for my own wedding she commissioned me to paint one for her. She wanted it to have her and her husbands family sign when they were all together for the holidays this year. So I thought about it a bit wondering what I could do to make her tree special.

   Each tree even in nature is very different. As an artist I have found myself just looking at trees, the way the branches are some times gnarly and and very asymmetrical. Some branches are straight and evenly dispersed, the hues of the bark offering the eye textures. I also thought about, what kind of tree would be meaningful to her. Over the last year we have talked together about her love of nature, wildlife and the time she and her husband spend hiking, horseback riding and enjoying the outside.
   So I decided to paint her a maple tree just after the leaves have fallen off it and the cardinals are enjoying the cold. She asked me to add the date of their wedding to the tree as well. This is the painting I completed for her.

The 'Guest Tree' I painted for my wedding was a conifer tree. Conifer trees are classified as any tree that bares cones and has needles. The size and type of painting is created for each of us are very different. The one I created for my wedding I knew I wanted to hang in a specific area of my house and that I wanted it to be a larger size to accommodate that wall. Hers I made a bit smaller so she had more options as to where to hang it. I still have to take mine for framing but almost all the guests at our wedding remembered to sign it.

I Enjoy painting these signature trees, there are endless possibilities and total creative freedom as far as the tree goes. For weddings I think it is just a much more practical options instead of a guest book that is going to be tucked away into a closet and sit for years. Why not make it a work of art and every time friends come over they can see their signature displayed in a piece of art.

Chalkboard Menu- Vintage Door

I wanted to create a very vintage feel for my wedding and certain elements were very important to me. Putting the dinner menu on a vintage door chalkboard was really important to me. So I bought and old maple door from Habitat for Humanity for $15.00 and some chalk paint from Home Depot.

This is a close up shot.

The brass plate and Crystal handle were missing and I purchased them from eBay. I added the skeleton keys and ribbion to dress it up a bit more.

Vintage Plate cake stand - DIY

Just made this tonight from some vintage plates I purchased at a Goodwill and one from a antique shop.  I love how this one came out. I made three others and have enough to make a few more.

Once I got the correct drill bit for my drill and the hardware online it was a snap.

This blue one cost me about $6.00 to make and $5.00 of that is the hardware. I just watched a youtube video on how to drill holes in porcelain and I was in business. I am planning on using these for the dessert table at my wedding.

Wedding Cake Topper DIY

     Sorry, it's more wedding prep talk.  So, future hubs (fh) decided he wanted cup cakes for our wedding instead of a traditional stacked cake.  I am cool with that.  But, he still wanted the fancy cake top to cut and attempt to plaster in my face (he thinks I am not on to him).

     I went on line and started looking at the cake topper things. I picked out a few generic ones that are nice and present the options to fh.  He mentions that he wants one that is custom or kind of a caricature of us. So I research and find the ones made from polymer clay can ran between $200-400.00 depending on the level of detail.  He nearly choked but was still considering it. On etsy the one we liked was going to be $280.00 plus a good $65.00 shipping from Korea. I told him I would give it a shot.
   I had never touched polymer clay before but thought it might be fun. So I buy a bunch in the colors I need, watch a few youtube videos on it and I am ready to get started.  Really wasn't that hard.  The worst part was the suit jacket for the fh caricature.  The little pocket sash and collar was the hardest part. All in all is was kind of fun but took me about 10 hours.

        Fh is a big golfer and we live on the 9th hole of a golf course.  Hence the golf club in hand and the 9th hole flag. The flag is actually a chop stick I had sitting in a drawer that I painted black and with the yellow/black polymer clay square glued to it. The 'green' is actually a wooden disc I got in some gourmet cheese months ago and thought, "what a perfectly round/flat piece of wood. I should save it in case I ever need it for something". This is actually the colors of his suit, the flowers and the design of my dress.

I am going to have to do a little touch up in the golf club because at this point it looks a bit much like a gun in its current state. But I am happy with the way it came out and it cost me about $40.00 to make.

Okay, so I have less than six month until our wedding on Oct 4th 2013.  I am dealing with details now.  So I go to order my wedding shoes.  Holy crap, the ones I liked are over $210.00. I was looking on Etsy and they are all beautiful but very expensive and I am only going to wear them once.  I am the queen of frugal and only paid $124.00 for my gown so to pay that much for my shoes seemed unreasonable.
So I took a good long look at the shoes I liked and thought, shoot,.... I can make these. I bought a pair a white satin shoes online for about $40.00, went to an antique store and bought a little doily for $7.00 and hit Michael's Craft store for some "Bling". I am going for a vintage theme so the white shoes with the antique doily made a perfect contrast. This is what I created and I love them.