Must be one heck of a tale!!!

Tick tock...says the clock 

It's time to log in those names 

the names of all the good boys and girls

 and of course the naughty ones as well. 

Far up in the North Pole there is a hustling and a bustling going on. Christmas is not so far away and there is so much work to be done. JJ...the little keeper of the book is extremely busy with all the tales he has to tell. What book you ask? The Naughty and Nice book...oh yes..it's real!!! JJ learns of stories, good and bad, of all the little children all around the world. Once he knows the stories, he jots down the child's name on the Christmas list ledger and rushes to Santa to tell him the tale that will let him make the decision of which column that must be checked. 

JJ finds Santa sitting in his favorite chair in his cozy, warm reading corner and climbs upon some books so he will be close enough to whisper the stories directly into Santa's ear. The first tale is one that will surely delight his boss and sure enough all around the Pole you can hear Santa's laughter as he rares back to let out a huge belly shakin roar. 

Santa and JJ are the latest in my Santa series for 2012. If you have been following along with my WIP post and photos then I hope you will be happy with how he turned out. This piece sits right at 10 inches...from base to the wispy tips of Santa's hair. The base is a piece of pine that I gently etched into to make it look like an old worn wooden floor. It was then white washed with off white and green acrylic paints.

Poor JJ he thinks he has to SHOUT so we can hear him...hehe!!! Santa's vintage rattan chair, ottoman and books are permanently attached to the base. 

JJ is standing with one foot on the book and one foot up on the chair arm. Santa is helping to brace him so he doesn't fall. JJ is carrying the latest Christmas List Ledger in his leather satchel and will give it to Santa to check off once he has told him all of the tales. (ledger is actually permanently attached to the inside of his satchel...so we will just pretend that he gives it to Santa)  JJ stands right at 6 inches and is one of my wire armatures wrapped in wool yarn. His face, hands and feet were hand sculpted and then attached to the armature. His costume is completely  hand sewn and he is wearing tiny little felt elf booties.

Santa, if standing would be 10 inches. He is one of my wire armatures wrapped in a soft muslin body. His face, hands and feet were also hand sculpted. His costume is completely hand sewn and he is wearing hand stitched leather booties. His glasses are hand twisted wire.

I am so proud of how this piece turned out and am so hoping that during the Christmas event he will be attending that someone will adopt him and take him home for years of enjoyment. 

Until next time..........HUGS,

Regi

Wednesday WIP without photo..argggg

Good Morning and Happy Wednesday!!! See how up and cheerful and happy I am...arggggg!!! LOL  I don't know what is going on but I just can't seem to keep camera batteries. I mean...I can keep them. I can keep them in a drawer, in a charger, in a box but they don't last but for perhaps one time of shooting photos and that's just a bunch of malark. HA..I sound like a Dr. Suess book. ^_^

I will just have to give you a WIP update without photos. Well....I can show you the base of the WIP I'm doing now. Yep...you guessed, it's one of the shell bases I did some time ago.

Such a beautiful mermaid chair....perfect for cuddling with her merchild. I have the armature made for the mermaid and a tiny one for the merchild.  My muse is telling me that she wants the mom holding her child in her lap....a tender moment. The child's face was completed yesterday and today I will be working on the body for it. (So hate I don't have photos to show today..ARGGGG!!!)

I am happy though....happy that YOU stopped by to visit with me this morning. Have an awesome day and until next time..........

Hugs,
Regi

I captured a mermaid!!!

Beach walkabouts are always so calming and most days, the ocean gives up plenty of treasures. The storm from the night before had washed up tons of seaweed and shells galore.. The afternoon was a lazy one, with a nice tropical breeze swaying the seagrass. The sand felt cool under my feet as I walked along the shore picking through the treasures. I noticed that one particular section of seaweed seemed to be slowly making it's way back to the waves rolling onshore. I cautiously made my way over and with a reed I had found earlier, started moving the seaweed back to see what was wanting to get back out to sea. Talk about someone jumping a foot up in the air......OMGOSH.....was I ever surprised to find a tiny mermaid staring up at me. I carefully picked her up. Poor thing was completely exhausted. I sat down on the sand to see if she was hurt, thankfully she was just tired. I politely told her my name and she replied in kind. Pearl. She asked if she could come home and spend a few days to rest up before I returned her to the ocean. You see....she had never met a human before and was just as curious about me as I was of her. Ri iight?? At least she knew that we actually existed!!!

Pearl is one of my fully sculpted clay ooaks. She has a strong wire armature underneath. She is a tiny 3 1/2 inches...that's of course from her curled tail to her crown. She is hand painted using fine Mica powders mixed with acrylic paints. Her hair is lambswool. (sheared) Tiny pearls adorn her wrist and are also attached to her clay shell top.

Pearl sitting in her temporary home away from home puts her at almost 6 inches. If you have been visiting then you know all about her glass base. If this is your first time just wander back a bit and you can read all about it.  Keep wandering around and you will find all kinds of whimsical characters that live here under the old Southern Ooaks tree.

Pearl wanted to say Hello and to ask that in the future on any beach walkabouts that you might go on, not to complain about the seaweed that washes ashore. Instead, carefully look through it as so many tiny creatures travel by it. Baby sea turtles, tiny little fish and even seahorses. She also asked that if you do find a seahorse, kindly ask him to wait a bit offshore so she can get a ride back out to her world in a few days.

Until next time..............Hugs,
Regi

Going to the Condos!!!

It's Saturday...which means it's time to head to the condos!! WooHoo....white sandy beaches....the smell of the fresh salty air...the waves crashing on the shore...and the time to feed my laughing little feathered friends!!!

STOP!!! That's not the complete truth..hehe!! It is time to head to the condos but so not for relaxing. It's time to do my cleaning thang. Yeah yeah...I know. I'm probably one of the few folks that actually loves to clean. At least I do have the scenery of paradise while I do it and I can smell the fresh salty air and even hear the waves crashing on the shore. Working and getting inspiration...can't be beat!! I thought before I left that I would show you some more WIP photos on the captured mermaid I'm working on.

If you stopped by the old Southern ooaks tree yesterday then you will notice I did a few tweaks on her face. I love the cutie pie whimsy face.

Sorry about the bit of fuzzy here. I think Flower was a bit camera shy in snapping a pic of her wee little hiney.

I'm hoping to start painting her later today. Just depends on how messy the condos are that I'm cleaning today and how long I decide to stare out the windows while cleaning ^_^.  Perhaps I will encounter the pirates again this weekend or maybe get to see the dolphins playing in the bay. Ohhh...the life on the coast....playing or working for this mermaid/gypsy/bohemian soul. Until next time..............

Hugs,
Regi

Captured Mermaid....WIP

It's Friday....Friday the 13th....Does that scare you? Not me.....I call it Friday the 3th, the lucky day!! Perhaps if I think of it that way then it really will be a lucky day. LOL

As I stated in my last post, it seems that my muse is focused on mermaids for some reason. I love mermaids so I don't mind that she wants me to keep designing them. I thought I would share some WIP photos with you today on my next mermaid.....the "Captured Mermaid".

I'm using another one of the bases that I designed some time back. I found this cute little brandy sniffer at an estate sale several years ago and guess my muse decided it was time to use it.

It's filled with some of my sand base material (German glass, school glue and white paint...there..I gave you my secret sand potion...but...shhhhhh...don't tell anyone) Permanently attached are some of our treasures found on one of our beach walkabouts...some coral, fan shells and two tiny shells from the souvenir shop.

Ohhhh...I so wish that I could resculpt myself like I do my ooaks.  A tuck here...a nip there...nooo..no nips...chunks there...I would have to take out chunks...ROFL!!!  I'm hoping, if my muse doesn't change her mind, that this little mermaid will be peeking out the top of the glass.

I'm very happy with how her eyes turned out. Isn't she a cutie pie? I think I still have some tweeks to do with this but I'm liking her whimsical style.

Thank YOU for stopping by...I love my friends coming to visit. Have an awesome weekend and keep an eye out for all the inspiration that is shared with us each day!! Until next time............

Hugs,
Regi

Spikey the L'il merbaby

Spikey is one small merbaby but he thinks he is 10 foot tall and shark proof...hehe!! We have all heard the saying in our human world of "he came out running" but in Spikey's case..."he came out swimming". He loves adventures but with being such a small guy and still a baby he runs out of energy extremely fast. That could be because he seems to have only one speed at which he goes and that is "WIDE OPEN". I have a feeling if I hadn't been able to capture him...trying VERY hard to stay awake I might add...sitting in his shell that we wouldn't have ever gotten a glimpse of him.

Oops...I think he saw me but still those beautiful green eyes of his are still trying so hard not to close. LOL!! 

His base is one that I mentioned in my last post that I had designed some time back. The two fan shells are ones that we found on one of our beach walkabouts. The small sand dollar really was a treasure from the sea...we don't find them that small and in perfect shape very often. The other little shells are real but found at one of our local souvenir shops. Hey....I love shells and ocean doesn't always give up her bounty...^_^

Spikey is one of my fully sculpted ooaks with a strong wire armature underneath. He is hand painted using acrylics mixed with fine MICA powders. His hair is doll hair. (Love the dark hair with the green eyes) His tail is curled wire. He is a tiny 2 1/2 inches as well as his base being a tad bit over 2 1/2 inches.

Here are a few WIP photos of the piece. If you ever have any questions about how or even why I do things..just ask away...I love to share!!

My muse must have mermaid on the brain these days because she is whispering for me to do another one. I must admit that I do believe that in a previous life I must have been a creature of the sea...and that's alright by me. Until next time.............

Hugs,
Regi

WIP Resting mermaid

What are YOU working on today? I know...it's so nice outside and my mermaid soul is so wanting to go take a dip in the ocean or lay out on the sand and soak up some sun. My muse whispered in my ear though,  that I would so much more enjoy sculpting a mermaid instead..ri iight!!!  HA!! I've learned that I can't mess with the muse...so sculpting has begun.

I'm using a base that I designed some time ago. It has been sitting here on my work area for some time so I guess the muse decided it was time to do something with it. ^_^   I have the wire armature completed and wrapped...waiting on the coat of glue to dry.

I'm trying a new way to do my eyes....fingers crossed it works. It's a technique that a friend uses at times so I thought I would give it a try. Thank you Johanna!!! I used my watercolors and drew up some eyes on paper and then printed them off. This way I can do a set and just change the size to what I need. Also, I found some great eyes on contact sites too....thinking they might work as a good base. (I'm having some issues with my eyes so this might be the way I start doing my eyes....we will just have to SEE. HAHA...I made a funny...get it!!) These are just WIP eyes so don't panic...they will look better once completed.

Now then....I think since my armature is having to set up to dry AND the sun is shining so brightly AND there is a light breeze blowing, I'm going to sneak outside to soak up some sun. DON'T tell the muse, please!!!

Until next time.............Hugs,
Regi

Jada and Pearl

Deep on the ocean floor, sits a tiny, young merchild named Jada. Her bright shining green eyes and beautiful green/purple tail is why her momma named her that. Jada means precious green.  Her golden ringlets will one day relax and give her that flowing hair that most mermaids are known for. Today,  Jada is happily bouncing in her shell. Not many know that the shells the merbabies are born in will remain with them for life. With each stage of their lives it will become exactly what they need at the time. First their crib...then a bouncing chair....then a place to hide precious treasures they discover. Finally, it will become their own young ones crib. Jada is discovering that she has a unique talent....she can control the fishies. Well..at least this one little fish that has been swimming around since her birth. Her momma told her that this was her very own companion and that she would stay with her throughout her lifetime. Jada hadn't picked out a name for her little companion until today. She whispered that she would love to have some pearls of her own...like her momma had. Swish....off little fishie swam to return with a string of beautiful pearls in her mouth...just for Jada. Jada was caught a bit off guard that fishie did as she asked and then she started to giggle. Little fishy just gave herself a name....Pearl!!!

Aren't Jada and Pearl just as cute as can be. Love the chubby little cheeks of young ones. Just makes you want to pinch them..hehe!!  If you read my previous post then you know that Jada has a very strong wire armature wrapped in tape and sealed in glue. She is one of my fully sculpted ooaks. From base to tip of her ringlets she sits at 4 1/4 inches. I did individual scales for her tail and then applies fine MICA powders before baking. I just love the sheen it gives them....like fish scales!! Pearl also has a strong wire armature underneath her fully sculpted clay body. She also has a coating of fine MICA powders as well. The string of pearls are vintage...they were taken from an old wedding veil. I love re purposing items. Her shell is a natural sea shell that has been attached to a spiral wire base. Jada is permanently attached to her shell. She is a collector's item and not a toy so handle her with care. You never know what she might tell Pearl to do if you don't. ^_^

Thank you for coming to visit the old Southern ooaks tree today. I hope you will come back again soon. Until next time........HUGS,

Regi

Sculpting again..YEAH!!!!

It seems like it has been FOREVER (said like in the movie "The Sandlot" when the kids were talking about the big dog..hehe) since I have touched the clay. I decided this morning that today I was giving the squishy stuff some of my time. My muse has really been whispering about mermaids of late....so that's what I decided I would work on. This isn't a mermaid with flowing locks but a merchild....old enough to be discovering her world. Her hair is still in tiny little ringlets and she loves chattering with the fishies. Here are some WIP photos and keep in mind that I just started her this morning.

I know some of you must be saying "OMGOSH....this woman is slow"...LOL!!! I do take a good bit of time on my armatures. I start with twisted wire and then put it in the shape that I want. Then I wrap the wire with white florist tape. As I'm wrapping I am also building out areas...like the shoulders, hiney and such. I have discovered that I don't have to use as much clay when I actually shape the armature a bit more. Once it is all taped, I apply a thin layer of white glue. Ya know....plain old school glue!! Works wonders!! This gives the armature added strength plus it gives a better surface for the clay to adhere to.

Now I'm going to start applying clay to the armature and bring my little merchild to life.  Until next time..........

Hugs,
Regi

Not a Wordless Wednesday

I know that normally I do a wordless Wednesday post but since I have been absent as of late I wanted to do a not wordless post. ^_^  Also, please do forgive my absence as of late. I have been experiencing some technical difficulties with life. No worries...I'm a tough old bird!!!

I finally completed my little tiny dancer. She looks so pretty standing in her ballet slipper. Faeries love to find items that have some how lost their mate or match...however you want to say it. I do believe that when we do misplace something that the faeries so had something to do with it. I'm happy that Tiny found her a slipper.

Tiny stands at 6 inches (add 1/2 more to that for her feathery hair...hehe) She is permanently attached to her ballet slipper which is permanently attached to her spiral wire stand.

Her wings are one of my ribbon and beaded designs. The pearls on her wings were taken from a vintage wedding veil. I just love to reuse old items.....give them a new life that hopefully will last for even a longer time.

Her tutu is lace from the vintage veil with some of the pearls added. Her puffed sleeve caps are also pieces of the veil. AGAIN....I love to repurpose old items!!! Her sleeves are made from colorful wool yarn. The waist band around her tutu is some of the yarn braided and then attached to the skirt. Her necklace is made from some of the pearls, glass beads and a tiny crystal from the same veil.

Tiny has a strong wire armature underneath a fully sculpted body with the exception of her elbow area. The wire armature was wrapped in the wool yarn letting the hands be gently posed. She was hand painted using acrylic paints and washes. Her green eyes were hand painted onto tiny bone beads.

Now on to the next little faerie calling out to me.....until next time, HUGS!!

WIP on Owl and Fae

This is my current sculpt I'm working on. Owl and Faerie. Owl is a woodland Barn Owl and faerie is of the feathered fae clan. They are the guardians of the owls. I'm working on some feather wings for her at the moment and getting VERY frustrated. It's hard working with feathers...they just want to "float" away if you let them go. Silly feathers!!!  Ohhh and no worries about the feathers in the pic getting into my clay. They are under the glass I work on when I'm using my clay. It has been a bit overcast here so I have been sculpting in the breakfast nook for better light. I forgot about the feathers and had my hands full when I brought the glass and my work back into my studio area and just plopped it down.

What have YOU been working on today? A sculpt? Some jewelry? Perhaps a painting? Paper craft? This nosey inquiring gal wants to know!!!

Until next time........Hugs, Regi

Morning Glory...Butterfly Faerie

Tiny little butterfly fluttering about

tending the garden 

with a bright morning shout

Morning Glories a opening

raising sleepy little heads

knowing that the morning

brings sunshine to their beds

Tiny little butterfly fluttering her wings

is in fact a tiny faerie 

listen to her sing

She goes where she pleases

and pleases as she goes

Tiny little faerie

shhhhh...no one else knows

My sweet Li'l Morning Glory is now complete. I could keep on rhyming....just look at those cute little feet.  Ok...I will stop or at least I will try. Once I start rhyming it's just so dang hard to stop. There...that last sentence didn't rhyme. Ha!! 

Morning Glory is one of my partial clay sculpted faeries. Her body from waist down and her arms are part of her strong wire armature wrapped in a soft wool yarn. Her chest/bodice is made from clay to look like butterfly wings. As always, she is completely hand sculpted...no molds....ever!!! I used a vintage lace to make her Victorian puffed sleeves. (both at her shoulders, wrist and around the legs of her tiny wool jumper.) Her shoulders and leg cuffs are adorned with glass seed beads. She is hand painted using acrylic paints....even her tiny fingernails and toenails. Her eyes are tiny bone beads hand painted and her hair is made from feathers. The wings are one of my butterfly designs...made from silk ribbon and glass seed beads. Her flower she is holding is made from clay and then hand painted using acrylic paints. She sits at about 5 1/2 inches with her feathery hair. Hey...a girl's gotta have some poof in her do, even a tiny faerie!! 

I used a vintage porcelain figurine of morning glories blooming as her base. I love to find these at estate sales and antique malls. I can remember my great grandmother, grandmother and even my mom proudly displaying their porcelain pieces. I want to find a way to bring them back to life so they can again proudly be displayed.

Without any more words I will just let the photos show you more. Thank you for stopping by to visit...you are always welcome here under the old oak tree. Please come again and again and ..........ya'll get the meaning!!!

Until next time............Hugs, Regi

Blooms have been whispering

Mother Nature really is throwing some curve balls at us. Some very strange weather for sure. I guess most know that I live in Alabama and am very proud to say that I am one of the true Southern GRITS. (girl raised in the South) Our state has been hit really hard with the weather in the past year. Those horrible nasty monsters (tornadoes) that hit Tuscaloosa and her close by communities in April and now the one that hit Birmingham and her surrounding areas the beginning of this week. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected.

One thing that Mother Nature has done here that is far from any monsters she can throw at us are the beautiful flowers we have blooming. Some are breathtaking and right outside my studio windows. I have those large Southern Camilla trees and big huge Azalea bushes and they are full of shining little faces. (that's blooms people...blooms ^_^) While sitting here gazing out the windows this past weekend my muse and those shining little faces began to whisper to me.

Still in the WIP (work in progress) stages but she is getting closer to completely revealing herself to me. I hope to get her painted and dressed today. I attached her wings last night. Do you remember the beaded butterfly wings I was working on several months ago? Here...let me joggle that memory some.......

 Ahhhhh...now you remember, ri iight? I did finish them and they are finally going to be part of a fae.  Not the one I had originally planned for them but we all know that our muse likes to totally confuse us at times. At least my Li'l mischievous one does. If yours doesn't....DO NOT TELL ME!!! I would like to think that it happens to all of us quirky artist...it's a sanity issue. ^_^

Until next time...........HUGS, Regi

Monday Muse singing!!!

I just love Mondays!! Don't you? OK stop the laughing...I know most folks don't like Mondays because it means that their weekend is over. I do LOVE my weekends too.....always finding adventures for the Chazman and us to enjoy BUT I love Mondays because the house is quiet and my muse can sing til her heart is content.

This morning she was singing about shells and mermaids and then all of a sudden she was singing about a tea party with faeries. My muse has problems focusing at times (apparently..she is a good bit like me..hehe) but at least she is full of ideas today...LOL!!!

With her songs brought some digging in my treasure trove of goodies. I really liked her song about shells and mermaids and of course the one about the faerie tea party. I'm thinking of doing something cute with the shells....perhaps a merfolk peeking out or a baby mermaid resting peacefully. The fish plate I do believe will have one of my mermaid paintings. The tea cup...well.....I feel a faerie coming to visit that just loves to sit inside the cup and have a conversation or two.

I think that my week will be a full one of designing and working. The above will surely keep me busy but I'm also working on some of my fabric critters as well as some fabric flowers. Busy busy busy...I LIKE IT!!!!!!

Until next time.....HUGS, Regi (ohhh yes....and my muse)

I completed one of the fish plates. Do you think it's to busy? Should the mermaid be smaller? Not sure I like this one. I need input people...INPUT!!!!!

Still Here!!!!

 I do apologize for my absence as of late. It seems that "LIFE" is just getting in the way a bit as well as my muse has decided to go on a hiatus of some sort. Those that know me, know that I normally work on one thing at a time but here of late I have my fingers in several different ones at once. That could end up being very dangerous or at least some what interesting...ri iight? I guess as artist we all go through these times.....times where we doubt ourselves...times where it seems we have no support...times where our muse has just simply up and gone "POOF". I need my muse whispering in my ear...really I do.

I can prove that I have been working on a few things, as you can see from my messy work station. No comments about the mess either. I know some that keep theirs even messier....not pointing any fingers..hehe
I am working on several tiny mermaid sculpts plus some new gypsy jewelry designs.

I have finally gotten a nice collection of leather and fabric belts so that I can start working on some of my wrist cuff designs. A few of the fabric ones will have bead work on them....some of the leather will have some of my clay beads and or medallions on them as well as both probably having some micro macrame'.

Of course it's getting close to Christmas time too so that means several new Santa ooaks in the works. I'm really excited because I'm finally going to do two that I have been waiting to do. I needed the perfect props to go with them and I finally found them this past weekend. Not going to say what they will be but here are the props.....

Well perhaps my muse did leave me enough inspiration after all...that is before she took off to where ever it is that she goes from time to time. I want to thank all my friends that have not forgotten me and continue to come to visit here under the old Southern Oak tree. I love your visits and your comments. I promise to be here to greet you....always!!!

Until next time...........HUGS,

Regi

PS....one of my friends, Laurie over at Kottage Kreations, after reading my post here invited me to join in a Wednesday blog hop called "What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday over at Stamping Ground. I had never heard of it before this but am so happy that I know about it now. Why don't you go and check it out? I have to admit...it's fun seeing what other's are working on and "ahem" seeing that my desk is not the only messy one. Just click on Stamping Ground above and perhaps you will join in the fun too.