WIPS

Here is a sneak peek...
I am loving working with all these different materials together. Just wait, it's going to be delish!

And what the crap is this you ask? Well, you'll just have to wait...

Ants

Bear with me, something about my blog layout has changed, I can't figure it out and I don't like change. It's freaking me out!

So, earlier tonight I was daydreaming as I am wont to do during all hours of consciousness and my mind went to ants.

I can remember being on a school bus when I was in first grade on a rainy day. In the great tradition of kid-dom, I was learning to make a realistic baby's footprint with the side of my fist on the steamy window. As I was making the toe prints with my fingers I watched the rain beat on the window. I thought "I wonder what it is like to an ant when a rain drop falls?" I could just picture them in their differently scaled world, rain drops thundering down around them like giant water bombs. How loud that must sound and feel to them.

Around that same time, I was at The Farm with my sister Brandi. We were running around barefooted, all scratched up and covered in mud. Much to our dismay, Dad had drained a tiny little fishing pond  that we dearly loved. The good news was it left an absolutely fascinating landscape in its wake, rife with new specimens to be captured and studied. It was as if a chunk of brown moonscape had been placed in the ground. There were hunks of things that looked just like rock but broke easily. There were gooey slick mud spots down low that could suck a boot right off your foot, if you wore them. There were areas of what we called "quick mud" that would nearly suck you up entirely! Lots of dramatic fun for a kid to make into hours of excitement. Yep, we really can get very excited over a mud hole (even still).

As we were exploring what lives in my memory as "Dirt Land" We found a breathtaking jewel of a creature walking around sticking out from its environment like a sore thumb. It was like a tiny animated sculpture, such lush red velvet flocking, such dramatic black markings, what beautiful shiny legs! We placed it in a rusty Folger's coffee can to show off to Dad, and to "keep!", we always wanted to keep everything.

I only had the Audubon reptiles & amphibians handbook (my bible), I didn't have an insect book. And way back then we didn't have the internet, so I never learned very much about this creature until now.
This red beauty's Latin name is Multillidae and it is actually a wingless female wasp. She has such a vicious sting she is also known as "Cow Killer", we're lucky we didn't find out ourselves. Allegedly they are found only in the southwest and Mexico, dry dessert areas. But I swear we have them here in the southeast too, although I don't see them often.
I am inspired to make a sculpture of this gorgeous Red Devilress. Can't you just see her?
Okay, daydreaming time is over Dusti. I will have to save the ant idea for later, but that was a nice departure from the norm for now.

Tomorrow it's back to Concord to work on pastiglia and woodwork. And P.S. I love pastiglia!!! I should have taken more pictures but I will have some to post soon. Plaster has a magic moment when it is drying where it is just a joy to carve. It's like liquid stone, very cool stuff. I love exploring the possibilities!

And the winner is...

Congratulations to Michelle Rausch! She is the winner of this delightfully devious silver cleaver!!!
I wrote each name on a piece of paper, crumpled them up and pulled one from a hat. I was so excited I could hardly stand it! I want errybody to win, so I guess I'll just have to do more giveaways.
Stay tuned!

The very first Halloweenstress giveaway is here!

Ta-da!
Very popular among hipstresses and hipsters of every age, an iconic talisman of badassery...here it is, the Halloweenstress all handmade silver cleaver necklace!
It could be yours for the low low price of nothing...

...simply leave a comment after this post and be entered to win this awesome accoutrement! I will announce the winner Wednesday April 21 (so you have until then to leave a comment). Please feel free to grab my giveaway button at the top right to post on your blog. Thanks to LuLu Kellog for making the button and setting it up for me!!! Upon winning please send me your address so I can drop this in the mail and
make
it
RAIN!
Halloweenstress jewelry for errbody!

Sunday lunch

I had a wonderful weekend, topped off by a late lunch on my porch with Mom and Bran's brood.
Here Cassie is chowing down on strawberry shortcake. Yum!
Ellie made our sandwiches and desert. She is shaping up to be quite a hostess. It runs in the family.
Notice how Cassie has to ham it up for the camera? I hope she doesn't quit that in a few years.

And to top it all off, I was stunned to learn tonight that I won a contest! I entered a comment on Glamor Bomb's site and she has the coolest gadget that shows her computer picking the number randomly. Can't believe I won something, and on the night before I do my own giveaway! I swear I didn't rig this up!
I hope errybody will drop by and comment tomorrow to enter to win. Somebody has to win, it may as well be you!

SOLD!

I had the treat this week of shipping the Embellished Goddess off to a friend of mine! She saw it on Etsy and had to have it. I hate taking money from friends but I couldn't be more thrilled that she will be wearing it. I met her five years ago when I moved to Charleston to go to the American College of the Building Arts. We only knew each other briefly but she's one of those people you get to meet every once in a rare while who just fits right into your heart and stays there.
And obviously she has spectacular taste! I like to send extra little treats off to my buyers and I had fun putting her's together. I packaged this necklace beautifully in a paper mache jewelry "casket" that I bronzed and oxidized in a matching blue green patina. I made a backing for the necklace out of some heavy Halloween paper and the lid has a window so you can see it in there waiting to be opened, a creepy little surprise!

I was reading up on coffins recently and learned that the word "casket" was hijacked by the growing undertaking industry as a churched up word for coffin. A casket is a box containing jewelry. This means I get to call my jewelry boxes caskets and I won't be wrong! I made this oval casket from a paper mache box painted in the same fashion, but with a plaster cast of a small skull on the lid. All the nooks and crannies of the plaster skull took the patina beautifully. You can just barely see the "bonus" surprise in the box on the left...



I tied both caskets up in sheer black ribbon. Everything looks good in a black ribbon.
I like t0 send everything off in style, never underestimate the value of great packaging.

Monday I will post my very first giveaway. Be sure to comment to be entered into the drawing to win the surprise item I will have posted Monday! Winner pays no shipping as long as they live in the continental US. Shipping shouldn't be too bad; remember good things come in small, gorgeous packages.

Giveaway...

Okay loyal (but small) readership; I am inspired to do a giveaway by Lulu Kellog and A Fanciful Twist.
The way it will go down is like this,
first I need some suggestions for the prize in question, it could be something from a previous post or whatever you have in mind.
Second, I will post pictures of the prize.
Third, you will leave a comment on that post.
And last I will randomly pick a name from those who have left a comment and mail the prize to the winner!
Yes this is a bribe, but hey, free art!
A few examples include (but not limited to!) a necklace,

A hand painted vintage style candy container,

Or a OUIJA board decoupaged box (this one sold, but I can make another one).
Just a few ideas! Let me know what you think. Please feel free to link this to your blog.