michelle my belle

funky sculpted creatures

2009-12-29T10:41:37-08:00

this was my gift to my mother this year.
sculpted from DAS and painted with acrylics.
a very special Christmas with most of my gifts given and received being handmade.

this little girl remains with me.
mainly because she jumped out of my hands and broke her wee little arm.

inspired by my time this fall with Janne.
i know she'll be so proud of me when she sees this post :)
i'm finally using my sewing machine!

this was the piece i created for our family ornament swap.

i think i could just spend an eternity making ornaments if life permitted.

i'm feeling so blessed right now.
our health
family
friends
God's grace
and you.

merry (late) Christmas and ornament exchange

2009-12-28T13:18:08-08:00

merry (late) Christmas to you!
i have been a bad blogger lately.
something had to give, it ended up sadly being you. i'm sorry :(

so a little catch up is needed...
this Christmas i was fortunate to be part of an ornament exchange
which included several amazing artists.
the above beauty was made by my dear friend Janne.
i love the texture and detail like the stitched beads up the side. just yummy.

this sweet little gem was stitched by Lulu.
so angelic in a fantastically funky way.

my always clever friend April came up with this cute recycled creature.
here's her tutorial on how she made them.

the creative Deirdra crafted this cheery piece using a print of her original art.
love how these colors just pop on my tree.

and this darling snowman was made by my one and only mom.
it has all the details, down to the little vintage bead work on his hat.

this folksy fun red pepper man was made by the lovely Mystele.
i'm so excited to have one of her creations.

in case you missed my contribution you can go here to see.

this was really fun, thank you ladies. i'll be looking forward to next year!

snowman ornaments on Etsy

2009-12-18T17:23:04-08:00

i just finished making a few more of these for my Etsy shop.
see more of the process here.
and now i am done. done at least with snowmen.
now onto other mediums for more Christmas presents.

each one is hand sculpted, hand painted and signed on the back by me.
there are only 5 available as of now, so you may want to hurry.

i'm sorry, i just had to keep the kissy snowgirl for myself, she was just too funny.

congratulations contest winners!

2009-12-14T22:45:06-08:00

Janette
Jen
and our facebook fan winner
Erica Dow Austin

thank you all so much for playing and giving me many new holiday traditions ideas.

i just wanted you to know that i really appreciate you taking the time to comment.
i usually reply but, honestly i'm running out of time and energy during this season.
please forgive me if i ran out of steam before i got to you.
your words cheer my heart.

super cute snowman cupcakes

2009-12-14T18:43:57-08:00

i was on a mission to make some cute cupcakes this season.
this is what i came up with.
a cross between this and this with a little of my, some would say, "toxic" flair.
i can't help it. i just really love color!
and the more the better.

i used twizzlers for the nose and the scarf.
a little tube of gel frosting from the store for the eyes and buttons.
bell shaped chocolates for the hats.
pretzels for the arms, support up the middle of the body and for attaching the body to the cupcake.

i love culinary ARTing!
hope you are well my friends. xoxo

handmade ornament galore!

2009-12-08T11:44:59-08:00

not totally sure if it was the smartest thing ever,
committing to an ornament swap that is.
but, i just couldn't help myself.

after being at Janne's and messing with DAS
i decided that this was going to be my medium for this year's ornament.
here is the one i did last year.

first i made little armatures out of tin foil.
i probably didn't have to do the arms and legs but it made it easier in the long run.
making the armatures also cuts down on the amount of DAS you have to use and makes the drying time much quicker.
then i proceeded to wrap the clay around the armature. (the foil stays inside)

i used my hands and a sharpened pencil for the shaping.
i think some simple carving tools would have made things go quicker and easier.
next time!

they'll naturally air dry in a few days.
i was running out of time so on the second day i popped them in the oven with the door open at 200º for about 20 minutes.

i squeal with delight at how each one inherently ends up with their own personalities.

sorry i didn't take more pictures of the process. :(
for paint i used acrylic's. slightly watered down and layered.
instead of glitter i opted for a bit of Golden's Interference Gold which gave them a nice subdued shimmer.

i've always hated having to use shiny metal in my art.
a few years ago i learned about this awesome product that takes that away.
just make sure that your metal items aren't coated or galvanized and it'll work beautifully.

my mom made the cute hangers for me.
probably cause it was midnight and she wanted me out of her house! ha!

using a hot glue gun i warmed their necks with felt scarves.

and if you're making ornaments, don't forget to put your name and the year.
the recipients will appreciate it as forgetfulness sets in over the years.
(speaking from experience!)

all wrapped and ready to send out in cute gnome bags from ikea.

i'll post the other ornaments from the exchange as soon as i receive the rest of them.

xoxo,
michelle