Looking for Ceci

Amelie arrived at Castle Keep from France, excited to see her cousin Ceci. She had not seen her in ages and the picture she had of her in her memory was getting dim and distorted.

She couldn't find Ceci anywhere and decided to venture up to the attic, where she had been told never to go. Did Amelie find Ceci? We will never know as she too became a Ghost Child of the Attic.

(there is a chance to rescue Amelie, she will be in my Etsy shop later this weekend)

If Only He Had Legs

Jasmine and Spike, out for their daily "walk". Jasmine is just not impressed. She doesn't like her name, she doesn't like the beads on her hat (they look dorky), and she particularly doesn't like having to exercise leg-less Spike.

Spike, is pretty laid-back. He just kind of wobbles back and forth.

Both Jasmine and Spike are sculpted from polymer clay. This was a fun pair to do. I've found since I opened my shop on Etsy just before Christmas, I'm enjoying thinking outside the rather rigid box I had put myself in of always doing cute, or pretty. I love doing these quirky, whimsical pieces.

My torn muscles are healing nicely and I will be reopening my Etsy shop this weekend with several new pieces, including Jasmine and Spike.

WOW...Kissed By A Prince!!

I've been out all morning, only to return and discover that I have been"kissed by a prince". How cool is that! It isn't every day that one is kissed by a prince! (infact, I've never been kissed by a prince, although my hubby may argue that point!)

This is a new award that artist extraordinaire and master magical-being creator, Silke Janas-Schloesser has created and according to her blog, will be bestowing it on tickled bloggers every Tuesday! Yaaayy Tuesdays!

I'm sure most of you are familiar with Silke's incredible work,

but please do yourself a favour and also check out her blog if you don't already. It is fun, imaginative and also very inspiring. And you will discover lots more of her enchanting creations there.

Thank you so much Silke, for this recognition - it means so much to me!

And, I must not forget Leisl,

Silke's assistant (although I sometimes question just how much "assisting" she does when reading about some of her episodes, but shhhhhh, we don't want to hurt her feelings).

Now, riding the high of this award, I'm off to my studio to start my Broken Heart ADO challenge piece, which has to be done by Feb. 1st...yikes!

A First For Me...

What fun! I was tagged by the glorious and talented Zan Asha at Wild Heart Arts. After I reveal 6 random things about me, I will then tag six other unsuspecting blog friends. Reading other people's randomness is a lot of fun...not so sure about writing it about my own, but here goes:

1. Funny thing about my birthdays. I'm no longer aging - in my mind I am still 25. The body? Well, that is a whole other story and it needs some work.

2. I always look at the dessert menu first in a restaurant and I am positive that chocolate is one of the basic food groups.

3. I love the smell of peppermint, lavendar and also antique (as in 100 years plus) lace

4. I'm a white-knuckle flyer. Absolutely terrified of flying and will only do so under duress. I think it is because I just know the pilot needs me in the cockpit with him to keep my foot on the brakes and sadly this is not allowed.

5. Along with my art, I collect and sell vintage clothing and have done so for over ten years. I have a shop on etsy, http://www.magoovintage.etsy.com/ . My favorite eras are the 20s and the 50s. (I have my shop in vacation mode at the moment until my torn muscle heals abit more).

6. Growing up I was a 'flower child' and a holdover from then is that I still have a problem with authority. I also have a problem with saying 'no' because I feel like I have to please everyone. I'm either conflicted or abit schizo.

So there you go...some randomness about me. Now, I am supposed to tag six other people to carry on with this randomness.

Without further ado, here are the six (please don't feel that you have to participate, however it is fun!)

*Michelle at The Studio At Crow Haven Farm

*Nat at Art Dolls by Nat

*Steph at Gufobardo

*Jacqui at Odd Dollz by Jacqui

*Nita at Sleetwealth

*Kamila at Wooded Woods

And because this is my blog and I can post a number 7 random thang...I want to share a pic of our kitty Juno and dog Finley. They are great buds (the cat beats up on the dog, and he is SO good with her).

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!

The Gypsy Caravan

One of the most brilliant ideas I've seen is the One World - One Heart Event

This was started by Lisa Swifka of A Whimsical Bohemian two years ago as a way for bloggers worldwide to discover and meet each other. Each participating blogger offers a giveaway on their blog, with a chance for anyone that comments on that particular post to win the item. OWOH runs this year from January 19 to February 12 and to date there are 475 blogs listed as participating.

A nasty flu bug and torn muscle has put a crimp in my plans to participate in the giveaway this year, however I have had so much fun visiting the blogs that Lisa has listed on the OWOH site. I have made new friends and discovered such a vast pool of talented people worldwide. Many of these blogs, if not for this event, I may never have been aware of.

Some of the bloggers are giving away more than one item, which is SO generous of them. I just visited Remnants of Olde

and they have a novel entry format which will give you up to 4 chances to win one of 7 items. And, their artwork rocks!

If you haven't already done so, please check out The Gypsy Caravan on the One World One Heart site and be prepared to be enchanted and enthralled

An Historic Day

The sky is sunny, the air is cold, the feeling of anticipation and hope is huge. Today, Barrack Obama is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. A lot rides on the shoulders of this man who has seemingly done the impossible and become the first African American President of the United States.

There was more I wanted to write, however due to severe pain at the moment from a torn muscle in my side, I'm going to take the easy way out and link to a wonderful post on Designers' Block UK

SO AWESOME!

I'm not a fan of tv or commercials as a rule, however this commercial which just aired this week in the UK is fabulous.

Enjoy.

WHAT HAPPENED!!???

I've been sick and haven't been in my studio, but was aching today to sculpt. This little fae, which was going to be "promise of spring" came together really well, except for the clay I was using.

I broke into a 'new' block of Prosculpt Baby that I purchased over a year ago. It was much softer than the consistancy I'm used to with Prosculpt and I remember reading on a doll forum a while back that there were some problems with some batches of Prosculpt, at that time. After playing with the clay for awhile I got used to the softness - it felt like I was sculpting with butter - and I did this little gal. I didn't even series bake which I usually do.

As much as I can figure out, and after going back and rereading some of the posts on the old forum, one of the problems with this prosculpt was that it darkened drastically for some people. uh huh...

The other problem was my fault. My oven was the correct temp (I checked with my thermometer), however I left the sculpt in my oven for almost 20 minutes and I then left it in the oven to cool down after shutting the oven off. I've done this before and have had the clay darken slightly, BUT nothing like this. The head did not get as dark but I think that is because the clay here was thicker.

Obviously, I'm going to have to order more clay and of the clay I have remaining, I'm going to have to be really careful and not use

anything from the 'bad' batch. GRRRRrrrr....

Now The Fun Part

Jasmine and Spike, and Amelie are now ready for a trip to the makeup salon, the hairdresser and the clothiers. I'm further along with these pieces then is shown, as I took this pic yesterday. I've also just about completed my head for the ADO challenge. Will post more pics of these guys as I go along.

This is the first time in a while that I have not done a full-body sculpt, however I like the freedom that this type of body gives, both for posing and costuming.

A Cool Giveaway!

This is Miles

Debi Harris Babcock does wonderfully whimsical

and imaginative folk art.

I love her birds (although her cats are a

very close second).

In celebration of her 100th post she is

having a giveaway for her little baby bird Miles.

So check out her blog and leave a comment
on Miles post.

Joie de Vivre

May we all experience small and innocent joys in our lives,

just as these little guys did years ago. Don't you just love
the middle lad?

I have a fascination with vintage photos, particularly children and women. I find them inspirational and also a wonderful reference resource. This photo is from Dargie's photostream on Flickr.

Remedy

I've been fighting a flu/cold bug since Friday night and not
feeling like doing much of anything. Last night I decided to
check out a fave site that I had not visited for awhile.

IWR - Art Archives a site jam packed
with art goodies. You can spend hours clicking and exploring their
features. In the last year they have started to add videos
to their posts and I discovered two new (to me) music entries
to add to my tunes library.

Shivaree (Ambrosia Parsley, has the coolest, slinky voice!)







Maria Mena, charming 22 year old songstress from Norway
(unfortunately, embedding of her videos has been disabled).

So, today, I'm still feeling rough but hope to get in my studio
playing some of my new tunes!

Coraline

Just browsing some links and on the wonderful HopHopJingleBoo blog saw the trailer video for this movie which comes out in February. I'm NOT a big movie goer but this one looks like a must see!