Making Mini Gourd Snowmen ~ Continued

Tonight my Christmas decorating has been put on hold, and I am working on my mini Snowman gourds.  As you can see, they have their art but are without apparel! ;)  They will be making the trek upstairs to check out the felted wool sweater selection.  There are going to be some tiny hats and scarves to create!  Then, they will be whisked back down to be fitted for their mache bases.  

It has been strange to be work on such little bellies and a fun challenge to find smaller line drawings. With great thanks to Renee Mullins' designs, the tallest gourd received a warm sheep on his belly.   The woolly sheep worked so well on the big gourd that I decided to try it on the tiniest of all my snowmen! :) (It is always a challenge to reuse a pattern, since I do not like to repeat the same colors.)   The little guy stands about 5 1/2 inches tall without his stem.  The sheep reduced to fit his little belly... looks absolutely darling. :)  I am not sure this snowman will get a mache base.  If he does, it will only be for height, since he is a pretty sturdy sitter.  

Sticking with Renee Mullins' designs, I put a wonderful little gingerbread on the middle sized gourd.  Renee's Gingers are so much fun to paint!   They are warm and festive.  This close up composition works so well with the size of the belly.   I can't wait to find a sweater ensemble to coordinate with it! :) 

I am also putting the wire hangers on a few ornaments for my Etsy Store.  My "First Christmas Stocking" sold, and I am listing another green one and created a second one in red.  The lighting in my house is terrible at night, so they will have to wait to be listed until tomorrow.  Hopefully, my mini gourd's will be ready to go for the big shopping weekend! ;)

PAFA Winter Wonderland Giveaway ~ Hand Painted Wooden Christmas Ornaments

The Etsy Team -- Primitive and Folk Artists (PAFA) is hosting a Winter Wonderland Giveaway.  If you are interested at a chance to win some fabulous Christmas decorations, this is the giveaway to enter.  You do not need to be a blogger to participate.  Just leave a comment with your email address!  One lucky participant is going to win ALL the handcrafted items that are available.  CAN YOU BELIEVE IT??  Talk about getting a Christmas present early!  So... what are you waiting for??  Click HERE.  :)

I donated a trio of wooden Christmas ornaments as part of the giveaway.  Here are some of the extras that will be making their way to my Etsy Store.   If one my followers would like to purchase any of these ornaments now, just send me an email for price list. :)   All of these ornaments can be personalized with a name and year if desired!

This snugly snowman  has a place for a photo of your favorite someone.

How about a warm snowman greeting?

And here is something for the teddy bear collectors out there.  This darling little bear is holding a star that can have a special someone's picture placed on the center!

This little bear reminds us all to sing the praises of the season. :)

Anyone celebrating a first Christmas?  This sock will proudly display the photo of the new baby in your household.

I just love gingerbread men... This little guy would look darling displaying a picture of that special little one!

Mini snowman sled anyone? ;)

I have to throw in a recycled piece.  This rolling pin recipe card holder has been decorated with an original design of mine.  It makes looking at those recipe cards a little easier during the holidays! :)



Remember this teddy bear sled?  I will be listing him on my Pumpkin Hollow Flea Market blog for anyone who might want to add him to their Christmas decor. :) 

Thanks to the wintry weather that we received yesterday, we have a light snow on the ground.  My teeth will surely be chattering as I haul some hay to the rabbit hutch this afternoon!  But the fun will come after chores are finished... I get to sit down with my paints and a large cup of hot chocolate... Aaaah!! 

Vintage Sled with Hand Painted Snowman and Gingerbread House

How about a apple pie from a jar and a nice cup of hot green tea to kick off the morning?  I know... So much for watching my calories, but I will make up for it on the treadmill later. ;)   My quiet morning moment was spent with my mind conjuring up a list of things to do for the day.  Now that I have a few more days of the week open, my work schedule is made up by yours truly.  And let me tell you, my boss is a demanding one! ;) 

First job of the day was to get some photos of my newest creation.  This is a vintage children's sled with a snowman tole painted on it.  The design was inspired by a line drawing from Jamie Mills - Price (another one of my tole favorite artists).   I can't help but alter the drawings a little to fit my personality (the little building was originally a birdhouse), and the fact that I LOVE gingerbread houses! ;)  Plus after years of working with ceramics, I like to put my own eyes on my pieces.  It gives a sense of familiarity to the little being looking back at me. :)

This is one of my smaller sleds measuring 32 1/2 inches tall.  I left as much of the sled original as possible.  The metal and runners are rusty with a little bit of their original red paint.  The painted image is only on the top side of the seat, so the original wood is exposed from the back.  I could see some pine tree bough accents added to this sled, but due to shipping weight and box size, I decided to leave that detail to the new owner.

The image on the sled is approximately 21 inches tall.  I filled every bit of the wood space with the painted scene.  It made it a little challenging with the size of the sled, but it looks sooo cute!

I made a matching coffee stained hand tag for gift giving.  The snowman on the tag was colored with washed out acrylics to give it a watercolor appearance.

A close up of his darling face! :)

I really could have went crazy with the details on this gingerbread house.  They have always fascinated me.  My favorite holiday show is the gingerbread house competitions on the Food Channel.

I really love working on vintage sleds and have made it an option to do custom ones on my Etsy store.  Past customer's have really enjoyed the new life that it gives to their children's old playthings, and it really adds a wonderful touch to their wintry decorations. :)

Now, I am off to put a few coats of varnish on a vintage Santa sled.  There are some new wooden Christmas ornaments that need their photos taken.  Then,  I need to get painting on some little gourds... Better get movin'! :)

Making Little Gourd Snowmen ~ Works in Progress

Sometimes I've just got to take a break and play with some paper clay! :)  There were a few other projects that needed to be finished up, but these little guys were calling to me and won the afternoon time slot.   I hadn't realized that I had some "Slushpile Gang"  mini members patiently awaiting to be created. Gee Whiz!!  Below is the line up of new inductees in the rough.  The tallest of this group is 8 inches and the shortest is 5 1/2.  They do not have much room for art on their little bellies, but rest assured... I will get some on each. ;) 

One of  the gourds got kicked out of the group.  As I was fitting him for his mittens, he had a lean that strongly resembled a chicken or turkey.  You know that kind of crook to the neck that only a cocky bird can get.  It is funny how each gourd's shape has such a personality.  There was just no way that gourd could have ever have been a snowman.  So, he is waiting in the "wings" (accidental pun!) for his costume fitting at a later date...

My drafting table looked as if a bomb went off!  Little bodies laying everywhere.  As you can see, a few larger members to the gang are in the beginning stages.  I can see a lot of white paint in my future! ;)

Straight from the Slush Pile ~ Making a Snowman Gourd Finished

I am very excited to introduce to you the first inductee into the "Slushpile Gang."   My newest line of snowmen gourds that will have a characteristic "lean"  from warming temperatures. ;)    These new snow gourds will be a little different from my previous snowmen.  The Slushpile Gang will sport mache feet to help them stand in wintry displays.  They will be the first of my snow gourds to welcome the winter with upcycled clothing... Yep, natural and green!! :)   A few of these little guys and gals will also be proudly displaying some mixed media paintings based on my original sketches.  Yay!

The first to enter this group is a little gourd that I endearingly refer to as "Leaning Lenny".  His big blue pear shaped eyes just melt my heart!  He slouchingly stands approximately 14 1/2 inches tall and hails (no pun intended! LOL)  from a gourd patch in North Carolina.  His carrot nose, mittens, and feet shaped base are all sculpted from mache.  His hat and scarf are all hand sewn from felted sweaters, and color matched to coordinate with his mittens and the scene painted on his belly.  He is one dapper little dude! ;)

This photo shows him sitting on my drafting table and watching me type up his debut on my laptop! LOL  I think it shows his front lean more accurately.  I love the way his eyes appear to be peaking  from under his woolly hat. :) 

How's that for a loving look?!?  LOL

Couldn't resist!!

Lenny sports an original sketch of mine entitled "Santa's Moonlit Ride".  The mixed media scene is created from acrylic paints and pastel chalks and measures 6 x 4 1/2 inches.  

As you can see on Lenny's back, he has a few natural blemishes.  There are gourd artists that prefer to sand their projects smooth, but I like to leave a few of the blemishes to add character/uniqueness and remind the viewer of the beauty of a natural surface.  Also, underneath his felted hat is his long stem.  I had to shape the hat to fit  around the stem and pinned the wide tail back to the band.



This gives a good look at Lenny's mittened arm created out of mache and scarf that is hand pieced from two lengths of felted sweater.  As you can see, his leaning head is more noticeable from the various side pics.



This pic shows a better view of his hat and scarf.  The natural fibers give a cozy, warm feeling to this chilly snow gourd.  

I am creating more free standing painted gourds in different sizes and have some more of the Slushpile Gang in various stages of completion.  Lenny and some of my other creations will be making their way to my Etsy store this week in time for the holiday shopping season.  I will be showing my finished work on Pumpkin Hollow Primitives first, so my blogging friends will have a chance to adopt first. :)

Making a Gourd into a Snowman Part 2

Did you think that I forgot about this guy?  LOL  It has been a battle trying to find space for my drawing, painting, sewing, and misc. crafts.  Half of my problem is that once I am in the middle of a drawing, I loathe moving my work to the side.  So... after a weekend of rearranging, I think that I have a happy compromise.  :)

My snowman received about three coats of paint on his body, before I decided that it wasn't the color that I wanted.  Aaaaagh!  Normally, I use Duncan paints (got hooked on this line from ceramics).  After I had enough layers of Snowcloud Gray on this guy, I realized they had darkened the formula.  My normally white with a tinge of gray paint was gray with a tinge of white.  I even did a second glance on the label.  Rats!  Out came the Titanium White and here we are 5 coats later.  Live and learn!

I love to draw eyes with different shapes and expressions (Must come from putting in all those eyes for students at the ceramic shop!).  This guy's long face can handle pear shaped eyes endearingly. ;)    His nose received a wonderful muted orange mixture, and his coal smile has made its appearance, also.  I basecoated the mittens and will add some shadow to them later.  It is hard to see, but in the upper right hand of the photo, I have an original sketch that will be painted on his belly.  I'm tossing around applying mix media to this one by incorporating acrylics and watercolors.  In the plastic container, I have swatches from all of my fleece fabric for his hat.   Although, I do have some felted sweaters that would work well for that and maybe a little embroidery to liven it up ... hmmm.... still kicking that around too. :)  All that will have to wait until the belly is finished.  After all, we do not want this guys colors to clash!  LOL

Making a Gourd into a Snowman Part 1

I really need to get back to painting on some gourds.  So... here is one that is in the early stages of becoming a snowman.  He is a beautiful 15 1/2 inch Georgia gourd.  Our gourds in Northern Illinois seem to never achieve the thickness in the shell like the gourds that I have bought from Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, or even lower Indiana.  I swear you could drop them on a cement floor and they wouldn't break.  Oh wait... I have accidentally tested that theory, and it is true ! ;)   Plus, the nice thing about ordering gourds is that I do not have to plant, water vines, pick gourds, dry them in a rodent free enviroment, soak them in water, and spend hours scrubbing the outer layer of slimey mold off them.  Heaven bless my wonderful suppliers! 

This little guy has his paper clay nose and mittens, along with his first coat of primer.  As you can see, there are some sanding spots.  I wasn't completely happy with the surface and decided to smooth over the blemishes with fine sandpaper.  Now, he is ready to get some paint.  I need to look through my books for a design to paint on his belly.  Once I get his belly painted,  I'll post an update.  Since he does not stand, I think he would look great on one of my large wreaths.  Once he is finished,  I'll make him some little bottle or egg gourd buddies.  ;)

Painted Large Snowman Gourd

I will be getting to the Santa sled later on in the week ( took a break for the Holiday!). Here is a snowman gourd that I painted for the season. His eyes are a lot different from the one posted earlier. This thick Carolina gourd is 15 inches tall (without his hat) and very large around, so larger eyes were called for. (All the years of putting in various shaped eyes in ceramics is coming in handy!) He is a very popular size gourd, since the body leaves plenty of room for painting.

How do you like that profile? :) He is sporting a nice sized carrot nose that I think he carries off pretty well! And look at how he sits. On some of my bigger gourds, (handmade) boots are needed to keep them sitting upright and solid, but this guy sits tall and proud on his own. I will be doing some gigantic gourds in the near future, and some of those will be sporting boots. The addition of boots can sometimes add another dimension to the piece that works even better with the design.

Renee Mullins is a fantastic tole artist, and this design is no exception. A chilly winter's night scene. The design has characters presented on a large scale which is accentuated by the size of the gourd. The colors were picked to match the scarf and hat. The hat and scarf are not glued to the gourd, so ... the new owner can "re dress" their gourd if he or she ever tires of the pattern!

Snowman Painted Gourd

The weather outside will be getting 'frightful' relatively soon. I think, it is time to get my newly painted snowman gourd dressed for the cold weather! Doesn't he look snugly in his tye dyed blue fleece stocking cap and matching scarf?

These dried gourds are a relatively new passion of mine. They combine the art of painting and sculpting (which is a new medium for me) into one project. Plus, I get the added fun of ordering all types of printed fleece to make miniature snow apparel. I have spent hours looking at gourds and carefully picking desired shapes. Everyone of them is a little individual waiting to take form. These creations put my imagination to the test. The options are limitless from the little being it will be... to the art... to the apparel.

This little guy is a thick North Carolina gourd. He stands approximately 13 inches tall without his hat. His nose, arms, and mittens are hand sculpted. As you can see, he sits up very proud awaiting those first snowflakes!

Not only do I have the fun of picking out the outfit for these little gourdations, but I also get to select the art to sit center stage on their bellies. Oh... there are so many wonderful books and patterns to thumb through and choose from!! (I have even been sketching a few of my own lately.) The snowman and gingerbread pattern for this gourd is from Renee Mullins. I simply love her whimsical style.

I have been busy setting up an Etsy store. I hope to get it up and running in the next week, so this little guy will be for sale in time for the holiday season!