I'm giving away a miniature tree sculpture! Want it? :)

WOW it's been a while since I gave my blog and its readers some love. Soooo...how about a giveaway?
Now open for entries on my Facebook page---


The prize:  Miniature Tree Sculpture/Pincushion
Where to Enter:  http://www.facebook.com/FoxtailCreekStudio?sk=app_289264554441128
Details: U.S. residents 18 and older are welcome to enter. Winner to be chosen on Friday, 02/15/13

Description: A late summer tree stands tall on an earthy mound, ready for the beauty of autumn to come and change its colors. A mushroom and tiny stones can be found under the shade of the tree.

The tree trunk and branches are hand-sculpted from clay and painted in acrylics. The spongy foliage is softly felted with several shades of green, and the ground is felted with the same custom-mixed batch of wool, along with some small dark brown patches where the soil peeks through.
The white mushroom is also sculpted from clay and has tiny brown spots.

The whole scene is securely attached to a wooden disc that I've sanded smooth and painted dark brown. You can place this miniature scene anywhere you like... use it as a pincushion or as a sweet little home decor or office desk item.



I'll announce the results next Friday; thank you and good luck! ♥

Lots of new stuff for Autumn...

Good morning world! I've been busy with lots of new stuff, so this is sort of a catch-up photo post :)

Curious Bear in progress  - I'm thinking he will have a wool plaid scarf and come with a little felted pumpkin like the ones in the next photo. He will be part of my Ebay endeavors :)

These felted pumpkins are new in the shop:

This slightly spooky wool pumpkin pincushion  and the sculpted black mushroom pins are also new--

I'm definitely enjoying gearing up for Autumn, and I'm SO ready for sweaters and boots :)

Wishing everyone a great weekend!!

♥

Pines on the River - A New Design

Morning all!
I finished a new miniature nature design yesterday; the idea has been tossed around in my head for quite a while now so I figured it was time to just DO it. This is all needle felted wool except for the pine tree trunks which are made of florist wire. The whole thing is 3 inches wide and about 3 inches tall:

Back to CreativeLand for me...have a great day!
♥

Shop Update Photo Dump :)

I've been busy creating new items for the shop, including a new design with bird's nests on linen with moss and fabric-wrapped branches. THOSE are fun to make! Sweet and tiny in 3-inch painted wooden hoops.

I also made another tree stump that's a bit smaller than usual, with sculpted mushrooms instead of wool. When I was done with the new tree, it kinda reminded me of the movie Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind...when Richard Dreyfuss is sculpting that shape out of mashed potatoes.. :)

So I'm doing a photo dump here and then I have to get back to making more stuff to prepare for cold-calling on local gift and art shops. Hope you're having a wonderful week.

Mother's Day Shrooms

So the clay goodies I hinted at in my last post aren't ready yet (waiting for more supplies and then a photo shoot, can't wait!) but I did get some more mushroomy things made! :) I love having the opportunity to give my felted mushrooms little personalities, and these 'new mom' scenes were just the ticket.
So far I have a a boy and a girl, and I'm working on some twin scenes right now. It's amazing how just a little bend of the stems can evoke some kind of protective feeling.

 

How I spent my morning

Seems I'm a bit mushroom-happy lately. I spent most of the morning sculpting these caps, and I used a sewing pin for the details. These are waiting to be painted, photographed and listed as accessories for the pincushions in my shop.

A fun way to spend my first day of self-employment =)

♥

Quick photo of orders in progress

I've been so fortunate to have several orders for my pincushions the last few weeks! Here's a shot I took while I was in the middle of a pine-tree-making-frenzy...these little guys are waiting to be added to pincushions and then they will be shipped to their new homes.

Oh, and after I made the texture tools I talked about in my last post, I couldn't seem to stop sculpting little cottages...these are in various stages, some need paint or other finishing touches, but I like how they look all together like a little village :)

Time to get back to it so everyone can have their goodies by Christmas =) Bye for now!

♥

What I made this week

After what seemed like months of running into a brick wall with every crafty idea that I had, this week finally felt like I was doing something right! Everything I did just seemed to fall into place and look the way I imagined it. From the mixing of wool colors and getting the layering right, to actually having the perfect color ribbon on hand, I am one happy girl. I wish I could bottle that up, whatever it is!! Here's what I finished this week:

Birds Nest Dimensional Mini Wall Art - 3 inch hoop 

Tree Stump Mushrooms Wool Scene   

Faux Terrarium

Do you ever have those times when nothing goes right, and then suddenly, BAM it works?

♥

Re-opening my Etsy shop

Today I re-opened my Etsy shop after a year-long hiatus. I figured it's time to expand my little presence on the web and thought I would give it another shot there. I only have a few items up right now, it's taking me a little time to get used to the changes that have been made in the last year...but all in all, the listing process itself is easier than I remembered it. Boy was I surprised to have one of my items put in a treasury within an hour after the shop's re-opening! What a great welcome back! Here are a couple items that I hope do well...

Needle felted and embroidered bird's nest wall decor:

Needle felted mushrooms pin cushion/miniature scene:

Wish me luck! :)

♥

Needle Felting & Mushroom explosion :)

There are so many different ways to create things, and so many themes...and I seem to go in spurts for a couple months at a time, switching back & forth between all the things I love to do. I've been mostly focused on needle felting and embroidery for the past few months, while crocheting has taken a back seat somewhat! Mushrooms have been a favorite theme of mine lately; here's some of what I've been up to:

 Pincushion in a 3.5 inch terra cotta base, about 5 inches tall

 Close-up

Another in soft pastels with linen thread details (grass sprouts and pale yellow roses), about 3 inches tall

 

 Close-up

And a miniature version in a 2-inch pot with tiny embroidered cap spots & flowers

I'm looking forward to starting some Valentine's Day themes!

♥

Best Monday Ever & New Felty Stuff

I'm usuallly not a "Happy Monday" type of person, but today is different. It definitely made up for the ridiculous Mr. Bean-type of weekend I had.

I got some new items finished for my shop over the weekend, and when I got to work this morning, I found out that one of those items had made it to Etsy's front page!

Holy cow I had pretty much given up hope on ever doing that. It was picked by Admin (wow) and this little needle felted nest pin was up there at 6 a.m. this morning....right about the time I was hitting the snooze button on my alarm clock :)

Here's a photo of some other items I finished this weekend for the shop...hand-painted mini terra cotta pots with needle felted pincushions and steel pearlized pins that I had fun dressing up with glass flowers. These are really fun to make, they combine lots of crafty things that I enjoy (painting, needle felting, beading) all in a little 2-inch tall project.

If you'd like to see the whole Front Page treasury mentioned above, you can click here to see it on Craftcult.

Yep, this is the best Monday I've had in a while :o)