Spookier Muses: Poe and The Raven

This piece is in the early stage. I usually sculpt with coloured clays, but I plan to paint this piece a dark, shiny black. I may attach several small hearts to its head, or maybe I will decorate it like a Day of the Dead sugar-skull. For now, though, I am playing with some of the Picnik (sic) photo editing software. Have a looksy!

Quoth the Raven!

Spookier Muses: Poe and The Tell Tale Heart Earrings

Tell Tale Heart Earrings

I've written a new "information section" blurb while thinking about adding a small bio to my inserts. Here it is, the blurb, not the bio:

Sculptures of anatomy and whimsy from my fingers to your world. Small works of art composed of polymer clay, found objects and imagination! Currently working on fanciful owls, twinkling twigs and anatomically inspired bits of my mind.

 Here is my latest project, inspired by Edgar Allen Poe. I'll be headed to Maryland in a month and may have to visit some Poe related sites in Baltimore while I'm home!

Close up of heart charm

Foodie Love

The one and only thing I love about our new place is the patio and what we've been able to do with it! This is our second year of container gardening! Most prolific would be the lettuce and the tatsoi, followed by the tomatoes and, this year, strawberries!

Tatsoi is an Asian green that is a cross between baby spinach and bok Choy. It grows like a weed, which makes it great for first time food growers. I gotta say, it is a thrill to eat food that you have grown from seed.

Looking for recipes to use my tatsoi in has lead me to many great sites and fellow "urban farmers". We are far from embracing that title, but we are on our way!

I also like to make wearable things!

I rarely am inspired to sew. My lovely sewing machine has made three curtain panels, a pillow cover and one incomplete apron. Poor thing.

With life comes inspiration! Now that my bestie has had her first baby, I am inspired to support her with some wearable and usable gifts. I think even the best intentioned gift can be frustrating when it just sits. I like things that have use if they are going to be any bigger than a book!

One of the books we bonded over was about motherhood. We've talked at length about our hopes and wishes for our children and how we want to raise them. We discussed this knowing full well that one can never know what to expect when your expecting, but we sure loved reading about it.

One ideal we agree on? Cloth diapers! What is an easy craft to make? Anything baby! Durability over cuteness! Diaper covers!

I'll start with the simpler patterns, and I'd like to work my way up to a stuffed animal. We'll see if this works out.

Keep Crafty!

Owl Love

 wl
 


ove!



My love of all things owl has helped me find some wonderful new artists and oodles of inspiration.
 
Drop cap credit love!

For example, this paper art is blowing my mind!

I'll add more discoveries as I make them!

Keep Crafty!

Slackin' Off

I'll be honest... I'm tuckered out!

When I get home from work I'm too tired to clean up the craft room, and, really, even if it were clean, in these cold months I have no desire to be in there. When my husband and I are home together, I want to be home with him, not isolated in my wee room.

Now that the season is turning to something more pleasant, I hope to have some new work for you to enjoy.

I'd like to get work done on my scrapbooks. I hate having piles of photos and memorabilia in boxes. Why keep it if you don't enjoy it?

I'd like to try my hand at some illustration work and some stuffed animal work. My sewing skills are poor, but my vision is sharp. I'd like to foray into designing stationery using my illustrations.

I'd like to try to write a book, a picture book. I'd like to arrange my sculptures in a meaningful way using local history, and use my critters to tell the stories.

I'd like to get my owls on the "My Owl Barn" blog.

I'd like to get my stuff together and sell it at the Moss Street Market this summer. I won't show weekly since I like my weekends with my husband (we're not really newlyweds, we just really like each other!) and the tent cost would eat away at any earnings.

I'd like to get my Etsy shop set up and moving.

I'd like to create two new lines of Schnik that have the profits going to charities. One line for tsunami relief in Japan and another line to support the local animal charities.

And then there is the one thing that I love above all other crafts... being a singer. I'd like to try to have a cabaret show.

These first three are already in process, and the last one, well, I'll start work on that this April.

Let's warm up and keep crafty!

-LT

Helping Animals Helps People

http://drupal.animalrefugekansai.org/?q=en/node/11

Here is a link to an animal shelter that will be taking in the animals displaced by the tsunami in Japan. Many humans are unable to keep their pets with them in evacuation shelters, so this is a way to help the animals and their human compantions.

I will keep looking for links to update this entry.

I'm Not Alone! "My Owl Barn" Blog

I have fallen in love with this blog! I spent a good chunk of last night and much of this morning exploring the selections and the links to products, crafts and tutorials. Check it out!!

I look forward to more posts from this blog. Maybe one day I'll be the subject of one!

I sense a new goal for Schnik!

Snow Day!

I have an unexpected day off! The roads are slick, the stairs are treacherous and I can't do anything outside the house!

This morning my husband and I took a walk around the neighbourhood to enjoy the rare snowfall and take some pictures of this event.  

My husband shoveled and salted the main stairs. We measured the snow fall. At nine am it was about eight and a half inches of accumulation.

Time to break out the clay and work on some new pieces!

Facebook Fan Page

Have you had a chance to check the Schnik Facebook Fan Page out?

The Facebook page has many more pictures of my work and is, in my opinion, easier to work with.

Have a visit!

Pictures Post

Gammapunk

Steampunk relies on the power of steam. In my vision of this heart, the power source is radioactive, a la Madame Curie. Certain veins and ventricles, the radioactively powered bits, glow in low light.

Get your RAD detector out for GammaPunk!

Anatomy Lessons Insert

I worked on this insert last night and this morning.

New Background

I am using a free image from "The Graphics Fairy" for this anatomically inspired background.

She Said Gallery in Fernwood

Starting Friday, February 18, get your Schnik heart-on at the She Said Gallery in Fernwood! Stop by and browse art by the women of BC!

New Banner

I had an idea to have a themed banner for the month of February. Being the month of Valentine and other such "lovery dovery", I decided to make a heart themed banner for the blog.

Feedback, as always, is welcome.

Unintentional Product Testing

I accidentally put this piece through the washer and the dryer yesterday. Considering how many separate pieces make up this brooch, I am very happy how well it stood up to such "testing". When the piece came out of the dryer it was pliable, but the bonds were maintained.

CardioWings (in process)

Yay! It survived!