Sculpey Creations Completed

The sculpey creations that I have been working on are finally complete!  Here they are in all their glossy goodness:

Sapelli the rabbit

 A reddish orange pumpkin

 A green and brown acorn

 A whole gang of hedgehogs

 Roly, Pip, and Sally the hedgehogs

Dewbert the mole 

 Irko the monkey

 A yellowy orange pumpkin

A reddish brown acorn

 Petunia the pig

 Hermione the sheep

 A small orangy red pumpkin

 A tall squash pumpkin

Meero the tiger

Ta da!  All done!  Now you can find them in my shop.

Have a happy day!

More Clay Animals, Acorns, and Pumpkins

Remember the little acorn, hedgehog, and mole ornaments I was painting a couple days ago?  They are almost done now!

I gave them a clear, non-yellowing outdoor gloss sealer and they look pretty awesome!

The pumpkins are still getting their final gloss coat.  

It's a bit tricky to paint them since I have to do one coat for the top, wait for it to dry, and then flip it over to give it a coat from the bottom.

My desktop looks like chaos, but it's kind of pretty too in a an artist-at-work kind of way.

In hindsight, I probably should have made all their metal loops reinforced with clay like this version.  The plain wire version is not very secure because the wire is too flexible and it can break through the clay.

The other option is to make them with no wire loop like the mole.  His glossy coat is spectacular.  I am quite fond of him.

I started painting some other ornaments too.  There is a monkey, a tiger, and a pig. 

There is also a sheep that looks a bit like Lambchops the puppet, and a brown bunny with a cute face.

I'll post more pictures when I finish giving them a glossy coat.

Have a great day!

Pumpkins and Acorns In Progress

It was the last day of my preceptorship today and it was a very good day.  Somehow, everything went smoothly.  In the morning the night shift nurses wished me good luck and congratulations on being done my nursing program soon, and at the end of the day the nurses on my shift gave me hugs and well wishes too.  In between, the patients seemed to be in a good mood too.  The ones that overheard that it was my last day had wonderful things and good wishes for me too.  It was fantastic.

 I went home and settled into a dream-like state.  "Wow, I thought.  I'm finally done."

I washed my uniform and settled down at my desk.  It was time to paint again.

 Soon my desk was covered with little orange gourds.

 They are not done in the least, but they look fun.

My fingertips turned orange as they got stained from turning the pumpkins around.  Good thing the paints are water soluble and wash off easily.

 The little ornaments that got painted the most were two acorns.

 I think I got a bit carried away.

 I managed to take advantage of the streaking look to create the acorn nuts.  The caps got royal treatment too and turned out nicely.  They look very textured.

I am quite happy with these two acorns.  I can't wait to give them a clear coat once they are dried.

Happy creating!

Happy Halloween 2011

 Are you ready for another SPOOKY Halloween?  I know I am!  I baked up a batch of peanut butter cookies (Yum!) and my honey came over for some pumpkin carving.  We turned on the hilarious Sean of the Dead and then continued on with the more frightening classic Halloween.

I made the spooky-cute tree and he made a classic jack-o-lantern.  I like how he looks kind of goofy  :)

The pumpkin seeds were boiled in salted water, dried, mixed with garlic butter and a little olive oil, and baked for 45 mins.  Then we sprinkled them with some salt and munched away to our hearts content.

I wish you all a very delightful and happy Halloween!

The Pumpkin Hunt

It was a beautiful day to go pumpkin hunting today.  The weather was cool, the leaves are starting to change colour, and it was sunny.  My sweetie and I stopped by the local Farmer's Market to look at all the yummy baked goods and fresh produce.  There were some amazing pumpkins available!  The kind that look like something out of a Halloween cartoon - the odd shaped, Tim Burtonesque variety.

Unfortunately, they cost about $10 for a big one, so we had to pass.  Instead, we picked up a fresh bag of kettle corn, still warm and sticking in clumps.  It was so good!

At the grocery store, we found plenty of big pumpkins for a reasonable price.  I spent forever looking for odd shaped ones only to finally settle upon a very nicely shaped regular pumpkin.  I showed it to Poggles, but he seemed a bit bothered by it.  He refused to come to the take-out window to get his food.

Maybe the pumpkin is HAUNTED???

(More likely, it just smells funny...  :P  Have a great day!)

Happy Halloween 2010

A little elephant just came to my door. It didn't say trick or treat. Instead, it spouted some exuberant gibberish at me and waved. It was super adorable :)

A vampire, Scooby Doo, and a bride came by too so far.
I just wanted to show you some pictures from today. This is my pumpkin on my porch right now! Check out his big ears and large eyeballs! Lol!
This is the delicious apple pie that my sister baked from scratch yesterday for the anniversary party of our first year at this new house. It was a good party!
These are the candles my sweetie put inside of the large-eared jack-o-lantern. See his nifty toothpick trick? He tapes the toothpicks onto the candles and then sticks the rocket-like contraption into the base of the pumpkin.
He also rubbed some cinnamon on the lid. When the pumpkin lid starts to burn from the candles (those black marks), it smells something like French Toast or Pumpkin Pie.
These are the pumpkin seeds that my mom plans to toast in the oven. Mmm...! They look kinda of cool too!

Have a happy Halloween!

Raindrops, Flowers, Garden Delights

Summer passed by in the blink of an eye, and now cold winds and rains have returned. In my garden, magical things have begun to happen. My corn plant erupted into crimson silk, which is none other than a little corn in the making!

I have never grown corn before so this is all very mysterious to me. Why is corn silk so pretty?

Lush strawberry plants hide pink fruits and white flowers.
Pumpkin flowers peek out among the large fronds, bursting with vivid yellows and orange. Did you know that pumpkin flowers are edible? My co-worker brought some for me to eat, lightly dusted with egg, salt, pepper, spices, and cheeses, and sautéed. They were actually quite delicious.
My pumpkin plant explosion - I'm so proud! Who would have thought that last year's jack-o-lantern's seeds would grow so well!
Out of all the beans I am growing now, this one is the most delicious.
And it's flowers are a delight!

However, nothing beats fushias after rain. They look like jewels.

I hope you are enjoying the rain and the fruits and flowers of your labour!