Oh my! A magical box of Creager Happiness!

Hello Everyone! My goodness I'm so excited I just have to share!
I am sure you are all familiar with the Creagers yes? :) Well, a few weeks ago they had a blog giveaway. A name would be drawn from their followers list and the prize would be random goodies laying around the studio. A prize for enjoying and visiting such an inspiring, most entertaining blog? Huh!

I hoped and prayed I'd win but never for a second did I envision that it could actually happen. Well, while I was away a name was drawn and there sitting in my inbox when I returned home was an email letting me know it was me!! :O I still cannot believe it, Happy belated birthday to me! I rarely win anything let alone something like this!

It's here! It's here! I came home the other day to a glorious box of Magical Creager happiness sitting outside my door!














What makes this all even more unbelievable is the size and contents of the goodie box. Oh-my-GAWD! Would you look at what they did?! It's filled to the brim with stuff! Random goodies including these awesome skeleton finger molds (they made me do a double take hee hee) and flashy fibers to play with!

Their DVDS?! :O Holy **!!















A Creager collectors piece?! I'm not ready to open it quite yet - it'll need to go in a protected cabinet but here's a quick peek at the wonderful elf inside.








And, as if the above wasnt more than plenty.... there's still more!


Jewelry! Sculpted hands! Props! and The coolest hand armatures I've ever seen! All incredible.























A poster, cards, dvd including photos of their amazing, inspiring work and a wonderful little handwritten note. Can you see the print of Richards train drawing below? I can't get over the details. I took separate photos of it but it comes up sideways on blogger. Jodi's photo's of it are so much better than mine anyway so here's the link to it in their etsy shop. I cannot wait to have these framed.

I'm seriously still in a bit of shock. Not just at the combined talent of these two artists but also their kindness and generosity. This box left me temporarily speechless and each time I go through its contents, it happens again.

Jodi, Richard, you're amazing. These gifts made my heart all warm and fuzzy. I will enjoy them for years to come. No doubt they will keep me company and help during my recovery over the next few months. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

I truly hope everyone is having a super week and that something magical happens to enhance it. Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing my excitement with me. It means a lot. I certainly feel like one lucky lil girl. :)

Life's good...

hugs,
Sprite

Elderly Witch and her elderly pet dragon...

Hi Everyone! My goodness time has flown.
My apologies for the lack of posts! It's been crazy, yet again!


I just got back from the retreat with Sherry & Jean. It was of course awesome! Learned a ton! Sherry and her family warmly opened up their amazing home to all of us. It was so special, I can hardly wait to be back there next year. Hopefully I'll be able to get up some pictures of all the fun soon.

In the weeks prior to the retreat, I'd been desperately trying to pack and ship my supplies, finish my retreat challenge piece amongst many other things. I created a few pieces before I left that needed to go with me, when I get pics I'll share those too.

For now, here's my newest...
I learned an incredible amount during its creation. I've never before attempted, this old. I think I'm most excited about her hat and little tiny pocket! Can you see it? hee heee!


A few years ago a friend of mine shared a poem with me that was found on the internet, written by "angel" as pertains to commercial type witches and why they may have appeared as they did. It sheds a very different light. It's a very sad poem and it has stuck with me since. You can read it here if you'd like... She Returns...

This piece was indirectly inspired by both the poem and my good friend who shared it with me, who just happens to be a witch.

I hope she likes the, kinder gentler vision and interpretation. I wanted to show her as the gentle old woman she is, someone who might even just be tired of acting out the part every Halloween simply because of how she is portrayed and gladly retires to her quiet spot in the woods, to her faithful companion, her elderly little dragon.











As always, thank you for stopping by :)






Hope you are all enjoying the season.













Love and hugs,
Sprite

On the Sculpting Table :)

Hi Everyone!

Since things are once again crazy, I figured I'd share what’s on the sculpting table before more time passes! Hamadryad has been put on hold, I poured so much energy into that piece that when I finally stopped working, I was drained and couldn’t create for days. This happens to me often, but it’s not ideal when you have so much to do! So now I’m trying to get things back on track, running out of time and attempting to crank things out.

I have the retreat next month in Iowa with Jean & Sherry & cannot wait! I’m so excited but sooo unprepared! I dyed some fibers and need to get my supplies packed and shipped shortly.

They are having a Halloween/ harvest challenge at the retreat. There is just not time to construct the piece I had in mind but along the same lines, I’m attempting my first very elderly woman/ witch of sorts and her elderly dragon! The dragon pics were blurry so i'll snap some new ones soon. I sure hope to finish in time but if not, I will when I return. Still plenty of time to get it in for the ADO Halloween Challenge either way :D

This is what we’ll be making, isn’t it awesome?!
This large bug woman is a collaboration between Jean & Sherry.

I sculpted my head, well two of them, but decided on this first one since it goes better with the creature I have in mind. ;) It'll be covered and painted so i didn't go crazy perfecting anything. Here they were getting ready to hit the oven. :D

Recently my polymer group had the dragon challenge which inspired me to try a larger scale fully standing dragon which I kept wanting to do but putting off for one reason or another. I didn’t get to finish it but I’m trying to get him far enough to get into the oven before the trip so he doesn’t get ruined. Here he is so far, he's very rough and pics arent to sharp either. For a while there he looked like he was doing a chicken dance! Still kinda does doesn't it? ha ha ha It was going to have a little tiny dragon hatchling along with it in an earthy crystal setting, but now I keep getting this weird vision of the dragon, trick or treating with a pumpkin basket?! what the!? HA HA HA Could just be the effects of the season approaching but I can’t decide whether to run with it or run from it!

Here is another little guy who stole my attention. I think he's on his way to becoming a chubby candy corn eating baby bat dragon.

Oh!! and I finally added some bits to my cage piece to tie the class trio together. So see I haven't entirely failed my UFO challenge! woo hoo! I sure hope Sherry likes it. :)

Ps: Once things settle down a bit, I am planning to do a small blog contest/ give away as a little thank to my readers and followers. I can’t believe its at 111 today! Thank you so all much! :) Please stay tuned for details!

Have a super fantastic and wonderfully creative day.

As always, thanks so much for stopping by!

BIG hugs,
Sprite

Fan~Frieken~Tastic! ART!

Hi Everyone! We'll I have a few new pieces under way but I have not gotten to take pics yet. I will shortly, I promise! :)

I received two very special awards recently from my friend Cindy. I'm totally honored and completely flattered that she thought of me for both! Wow! Thank you sooo much Cindy!!! She's new to blogging, please help me welcome her and her awesome work into blogland! She is really something wonderful!

The Bella Sinclair Award…is a very special award and the person it was made for is a very special woman. She is a sister-friend, a talented artist, A great mom, a poet, a mental ninja, a muse, beautiful, a genius, and her friend-sister Ces created it for her.

Read the full article HERE.

The Byrum Spiritual Award means
“You make a difference … I know, because you have for me!”

There are quite a few people that fit both award descriptions! I guess I'll have to narrow it down (for now!) so, I'd like to pass these awards to my very special friends, Sherry, Jean and Judy.

Judy & I met a few years ago on BPCAG; our beginner group. She helps us all on a daily basis. She's been a great friend to me and is always so helpful. She also is very new to blogging.

I have got to share this with you. My group recently had a dragon challenge, I didn't get to participate but the entries were all terrific. Judy's piece won and in a minute you will clearly see why. Her newest sculpture is amazing and incredible. Think I'm kidding? I'm not! I have gotten so many emails from people thinking I created this piece, it's very close to my heart and I wish I could say I did, but alas I did not!

It's unbelievable and truly unique. Ready for this?
It's a dragon, but not quite.. It's dead, his remains.
An amazing creatures bones!

A visual?.....

A long life, with many battles... a once strong being, glides into this spot to rest, he's tired, frail and weak. He rests his head on a rock and diminishes. A beautiful creature has fallen, his bones left behind, showing his amazing structure and feats.

An unbelievable and amazing piece.

Congrats Judy :)

If you love her piece as much as I do, or even shed a tear because of it, maybe pop over to her blog and let her know that you enjoyed her work. :)

Thank you to both ladies! And thank you all for helping me welcome them into blogland in celebrating incredible artwork!

BIG hugs,
Sprite

ADO Elemental Challenge - Earth - Hamadryad (Dryad)

Hi Everyone! :)

It's time for The ADO Blog challenge, or shall we call it a party since this is so fun?! Yeah! Paarteeh'!

As previously mentioned, I'm participating in the ADO Elemental challenge, the challenge was to make a art doll/figure with one, two, three or all four of the Elements as inspiration, everyone was invited to join in the fun, members and non members, all levels and/or no experience necessary. We had a great turn out, 90 participants! Please be sure to visit the ADO blog to check out the fantastic pieces and other artists that were inspired by this challenge! The participants list is on the left. Please show some love by commenting to letting them know you stopped by. :)


I'm so glad I participated, it really motivated me to continually work on the piece and not procrastinate until mildly loosing interest. So far I'm really excited about where shes going and how close it is to what I envisioned.

Although today is the day we post our photos and I've been working on her as much as possible, I haven't quite finished yet. I'll be working on her more over the weekend and as I do hopefully we will get some nice weather so I can take some updated, clear pics. For now, I snapped a few just as the sun was going down. Just this side, the others aren't quite as finished ;) hee hee



In closing, I was asked the other day why I refer to her as a hamadryad. I thought I'd share, in case anyone else was wondering. There are different types of dryads, and wikipedia has provided me with the following definition to offer regarding this type...

Hamadryads (Ἁμαδρυάδες) are Greek mythological beings that live in trees. They are a specific species of dryad, which are a particular type of nymph. Hamadryads are born bonded to a specific tree. Some believe that hamadryads are the actual tree, while normal dryads are simply the entity, or spirit, of the tree. If the tree died, the hamadryad associated with it died as well. For that reason, dryads and the gods punished any mortals who harmed trees. The Deipnosophistae of Athenaeus lists eight Hamadryads, the daughters of Oxylus and Hamadryas:

As always, thank you so much for visiting! I truly appreciate that you took time out of your day to visit little me! :) Have a super fantastic and wonderful weekend!

BIG giant hugs,
Sprite

New WIP -- Dryad ~ Hamadryad

Hi everyone :) My goodness time has flown!

I had another surgery recently, I guess the first time wasn't enough but lets hope the second is! Now I'm trying to catch up on all things. Not too inspiring being stuck in bed, I must say! but I did manage to set up my etsy shop which then inspired a few small sculpted pendant type bead thingies and ornaments. Some of these items should be available soon. Thank you so much for all of your kind comments and inquires, they all mean so much!! :)

A few weeks ago I started a large piece which was mentioned on the ADO blog. (Thanks Zan!) Versions of this piece have been in my heart, head and have shown up in my drawings for years. The armature sat on my worktable for at least two, tell me why the uncontrollable cravings in my hands to sculpt it after all this time came at 2:30 in the morning when I needed to get up for work at about 6:30?! I never get enough sleep, insomnia, I've always had a form. Like it's wasting too much time to sleep even when I know it's important and heals our bodies. As I get older I'm starting to feel the effects and hope to get on track, I'm trying! but when things come out as a result of lack of sleep I remember why I have this problem in the first place! Not enough time in a day. So many sculptures would never have been born if not at unideal times! ha ha ha. :)

Anyway, as luck would have it, the desire to create it came at the same time as the Elemental ADO challenge so I am trying to focus and use this motivation to make the deadline and finish it. It's going to be a big and wonderful event! If you haven't heard of it yet please check out the blog for details. You can even participate even if you are not part of ADO :) and I sure hope you will! If you're not familiar with this group of fantastic artists, please check out their blog to see some of their work and of course to visit them from July 17-19 to see their finished challenge pieces. Such a nice bunch too!

This is my Dryad, well a hamadryad...

Some of you may have seen a couple of these but I wanted to share a few more since I was finally able to get a few alternate views and of the lil creatures found tangled in there. Do you see what I see?

I'm also working on a new dragon and it's much bigger than my norm. I'm having so much fun! Pics soon but for now time to catch up on some blog hopping! Oh how I've missed you ;)

As always, thank you so much for stopping by!
Take care & stay well.
Big hugs and tons o luv,
Sprite

Random post, and pics to prove it! :D

Hi Everyone! I hope you have all been super :)

Things have once again been crazy. The new classes have just started and so I may be a little quiet here and there while I finish up the rest of the lessons, but not today! I cannot believe how many photo's I took!!! While I pulling em' I thought maybe I'd show you a few of the others snapped recently that were mixed in the bunch :) Here we go!

First up - I AM in fact? the queen of procrastination!

A few weeks ago, while I was supposed to be working and preparing the lessons, I took a little much needed break. We had a gorgeous day ahead so I wanted to take advantage, plant a few flowers and clean the deck before it was too late to plant flowers on the deck - again. My little sister and I went to home depot, picked up some pretty flowers and when I headed outside to plant them and clean up the deck, I quickly remembered I still had the once living Christmas tree sitting in the middle of it. Woopsie. (Notice the pine needle covered floor?)

It's been there a while so I just kinda overlooked the fact that maybe it shouldn't still be there?
I had foot surgery and at the time the easiest solution was take off the vintage glass ornaments so they didn't break and put it outside. Although it's now MAY, this is still acceptable since I use these branches & needles in my work right? (yay more reasons to never get rid of anything :D) After all, I did need sticks for the cage class right? But how many? There lies the problem.

I love twigs, branches, leaves all of that, I collect them and sometimes to what might be a seemingly unhealthy level. (I have twigs, crunched leaf bits & have been known to have a few rocks on occasion... in my purse. You know its not right, when you put your hand in your bag and come out with a splinter!) With that said, so low I hope no one heard it, selecting just a few to use for class was not an option because they are all so unique and individually different I needed them all!? So, instead I spent the next few hours, (uhhh first removing the lights I had not taken off previously because I could not hop around the tree to get them) and then clipping the branches off the tree and putting them in a box to use for the class piece later and some just to hold on to.

Can someone please tell me why my photo is coming up sideways?


By the way, the other half of the tree is still on the deck. Who needs branches? ha ha ha jk!

Here's my Lenny cat looking all kinds of cute through the kitchen window :)



and this is three of my five kitties looking at mommy like she's nuts through the screen door. Really, they wanted to come out to play :) Although Sabre's eyes are slightly closed, I'm excited that it came out at all. It's been impossible to get them together, one either moves, eyes closed, meowing, etc..



Next up, I have a new dragon who may just be the first to see ebay :) I love how this little guy is turning out so far so we'll see ;) That and if my sister doesn't steal it. Whenever she/they stop(s) by the house she sticks them right in her pocket and tries to get away with them! She doesn't even seem to mind if they are finished or not, just that they should be hers :) Too cute!

This one is a beach - glass dragon. He's sculpted in polymer right onto the base but his base will also consist of shards of beach washed glass and most likely a mix of earth and sand. His horns and scales are also beach glass. This is the only clear pic in the bunch but I'll put up others when it's complete. I've started painting it in my usual washes and layers so its always interesting to see what color it ends up, right now purples. My first very purple dragon!

This little guy in the middle will be in a pod or shell of sorts. He will probably be the first available on etsy. I'd like to get two finished and up there at once so he's not all alone ;)



And this one I just can't wait to get back to! My lil rodent faerie. She looks a little rough here, she has only had her first wash. I've done a little more on her since, but haven't taken photo's yet. ;)

Oh! I almost forgot, I should have a few mini tutorials to share with you soon. Once I started snapping pics for the lessons, I could not stop myself, there was so much stuff I wanted to share! So the bonus's I'll put on my blog for everyone to see if and when I can find the time to put them all together. There just isn't enough hours in a day is there.... sigh.. ;) Oh well, I'll just have to live an extra long and/or immortal life so I can get it all accomplished! ;)

Have a great day everyone and thanks so much for visiting!!!

Big hugs,
Sprite