Saturday, July 31, 2010

The Space Challenge for the Polymer Clay Smooshers Guild

The Polymer Clay Smooshers Guild on ArtFire is having a Space themed Challenge! I just love doing these challenges- I tend to try new things I may not have thought of otherwise.   The first two things to come to my mind when I think of Space are aliens and stars.  I've been making trinket boxes lately and  wanted to incorporate them into the Space theme in some way. Of course I had to make something using glow in the dark clay!  I decided to try my hand at sculpting a space ship with an alien for the lid.  I recycled an empty steel mushroom can by shaping polymer clay around it in the form of the spaceship. It measures 6 inches tall (to the top of the alien) and 7 inches wide at the widest point. I used a combination of regular blue clay and glow in the dark clay to decorate the flying saucer. The lid of the trinket box features an alien sculpted from glow in the dark clay. He has pebbly skin and large black eyes. You can tell he's friendly because of the smile.SmilePolymer Clay Glow in the Dark Alien in a Spaceship Trinket Box
And this is what it looks like glowing in the dark.
Polymer Clay Glow in the Dark Alien in a Spaceship Trinket Box

For my second entry I decided to make a pair of glow in the dark Moon, Earth, and Stars Celestial earrings.
Glow in the Dark Earth Moon and Stars Celestial Polymer Clay earrings
For the moon and stars I used glow in the dark clay. For the Earth beads in the center I swirled shades of blue and green clay together. I stamped the center of the stars with a sun stamp, and after baking I painted the moon and stars with glow in the dark paint before sealing with high gloss glaze. This causes them to glow even more brightly in the dark. These earrings have silver posts and measure 3 inches long. Fire polished blue green glass beads hang between the moon and stars for added sparkle. Day or night, these Celestial earrings are beautiful!  And here's what they look like in the dark.
Glow in the Dark Earth Moon and Stars Celestial Polymer Clay earrings
There are lots of great entries in the Space Challenge, and you can check them all out at The Polymer Clay Smooshers Guild blog.  And while you're there you can vote for our next Challenge theme.  Thanks for stopping by! Laughing
-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Thursday, July 29, 2010

CatsWire not only sculpts with polymer clay, but crochets wire!

Featuring fellow Polymer Clay Smoosher CatsWire

Cat, of CatsWire on ArtFire.com, has always been fascinated by jewelry.  She's a fellow member of the Polymer Clay Smooshers guild and creates some very unique pieces incorporating polymer clay.  She also does something I find just amazing- she crochets with wire!  As if regular crocheting weren't difficult enough!  And to top that she knits wire with a spool or needles, and even combines the techniques.  The resulting jewelry is just amazing, especially when she adds polymer clay into her jewelry designs.  Her one of a kind pieces are made using different colors of sterling or fine silver and copper wire.  She also makes some really cool polymer clay sculptures and miniatures.  Cat is certainly a multi- talented lady!  Her customers certainly like the great service and wonderful items they have recieved from her!  Here's what a few of them have said "Your are the queen of silver knitting baskets! :) Love my new necklace", "I just received the necklaces and I love them. They are so, so beautiful. I am looking forward to wearing mine over Christmas, and my friend is going to love hers too. And thank you for the matching bracelet, it fits perfectly" and " Thanks Cat! I love the pieces. I expect that my daughter will want the ones I got and I will be back to buy more later. They arrived well packaged and in a short time after coming from Germany".  Not only is Cat a very talented artist, but a pleasure to do business with!  You can also find CatsWire online at catswire.blogspot.com, Flickr, Facebook, and Twitter.
She's got a shop FULL of great items, and I've chosen just a few of my favorites to share here.  Visit her shop and spend a little time browsing- you'll love what you find!
Polymer clay sculpture - Little mermaid on a rockPurple wire crochet flower in polymer clay bowlPolymer clay ladybug on leaf - Messenger of luckSilver wire crochet ring - A roses scentPolymer clay pendant - Night flightSilver plated wire crochet cat head pendant - kitty lineSmall wire crochet bowl with polymer clay fruitPolymer clay white whale with rowing boat - Toby MickUnique wire crochet flower bracelet - Hippie cuff
What an awesome variety of amazing pieces!  Of course I really love all the cat jewelry. Wink
-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Acadienne offers a large variety of lovely handmade needlework items

Acadienne on ArtFire.com creates OOAK hand knit, crocheted and embroidered items, all with her own personal touch, which shows in each lovely piece.  She's even offering free shipping (except on baskets) until Christmas.  This would be a great shop to find some wonderful handmade Christmas gifts in.  She says "I really am a female Acadian by heritage, on both sides, and moved to the desert from the northeast coast almost 26 years ago. Currently working night shift at a small elder care facility and have a lot of time to create my needlework. An equal number of items go to local charity each month, preemie clothes, dolls, and chemo hats. There aren't too many techniques I don't know how to do in needlework, including hardanger, and I almost never go anywhere without a project. I put my work down for church choir, work, and to drive my visually handicapped husband wherever he needs to go."  Not only is she a talented artist, but a caring, giving person as well.  Her shop is absolutely packed with wonderful items, and it wasn't easy to choose just a few!  You can click on any of the pictures below to go directly to the listing, and be sure to check out the entire shop while you're there! 

Heavyweight handknit Spa cloth quartet Purple/blue/pink/turquoiseDouble-thick crochet square potholders pink with green/pink twistCrochet flower necklace/bracelet set mohair/metallic/sock purplesWomens stretch handknitted socks in pink/gray size 7Crocheted kitchen apron towel/dishcloth set brown/tan/beigeFeatherweight crocheted shawl in bright multicolored mohair blendGreen and Red Hardanger Christmas Ornament 3There's a little something for everybody in this shop!
-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Organic Catnip from Creative Critters makes your cat HAPPY!

Satisfied Catnip Customers

The first two people to purchase my organic home grown catnip recently  received their packages and left some great feedback. Their cats were VERY happy with the quality of the catnip!  In fact, I may have to start putting warning labels on the bags- LOL!  Dori, of SassyClayCreations said, "Thank you so much for the catnip. Dean hardly got in the door with it before the kitties were all over him. They could smell it and were hollering to get it open. When we finally got it opened, they were so excited, it took a long time for them to calm down. It smells great too. Thank you for the little bags too. I put some in each of them and the girls love them. They are hauling them all over the place and they sleep on them."  I've heard of this type of reaction a few times before with my catnip and catnip toys.  I've been making the toys as gifts for several years, and if the owners tried to hide the gifts from the cats, chaos ensued!  I gave my friend's cat a toy more than 5 years ago and he STILL plays with it (vigorously).   No matter how well I wrap it, cats WILL find the catnip!  This is some very potent stuff, and cats will do just about anything to get it!  I include free refillable catnip sacks for the cats to play with too.  Star, of Coltpixy, said "Fast shipping, great communication and fabulous product!
ColtPixy
Woo-Hoo! Catnip!!!!!
luv and purrrrs from:
Angel, Madeline, Rico, Chester and Emily".
I just love making cats happy!  Star even sent me a link that showed me how to make catnip tea, something I had never heard of before.  It sounds very good though, and is supposed to promote relaxation and sleep. Catnip tea also helps alleviate pain caused due to menstrual cramping. Strong catnip tea can help in reduce the pain from migraines. It also helps ease flu symptoms, such as fever and sore throat. You can use strong catnip tea for nasal decongestion.  I'll certainly have to try making some if this tea (maybe it will help my back)!  Here's the link to the full article, for anyone who's interested in making their own catnip tea: http://catniptea.org/
I'm trying to harvest and dry enough catnip to make it through the winter.  I've got a good, productive crop this year, and will sell as much as I can.  Once your cats get a taste of this, they'll want more!  My catnip toys are stuffed with the same enticing catnip as well- sure to make Kitty go wild!
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Red Catnip Mouse Cat Toy With Organic Home Grown CatnipRed and Green Knit Catnip Octopus Cat ToyimageOrganic Home Grown Dried CatnipThanks for dropping by!
-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Saturday, July 24, 2010

I got my Certified Handmade Seller Artifact!

CreativeCritters is now officially a Certified Handmade Seller!

This week Artfire.com opened the Certified Handmade Artifact Application Process for members who voluntarily commit to keeping their ArtFire offerings entirely within the Handmade and Fine Art categories. I'm not the only one who's been waiting for this one! All of my work has always been created with my own two hands, so filling out the application was no problem. Everything in my shop is listed under Handmade or Fine Art. My studio meets all the requirements, including being a PRO member of ArtFire for at least 60 days (I joined ArtFire in Feb 2009), being in good standing with ArtFire (I have a Karma score of 10), having a complete studio with a banner, avatar, studio policies, and bio with picture, and having good product photos. I make sculptures, dolls and plush toys, catnip toys, jewelry, and more and had to explain my creative process for each (that part probably took the longest). I also had to include pictures of my work space (which is always cluttered -LOL), as well as a picture of a work in progress. This lead to the creation of Remus Critter. Since I had just finished my project I had to start a new one in order to get some WIP pictures. This really wasn't asking too much because I'm always working on something. I was in the mood for something fun, and Remus was perfect. There was no actual "plan" for creating this critter, I just sort of came up with him as I went along. He's inspired by A Critter With Heart from Dinko Tilov's Creating Fantasy Polymer Clay Characters. I actually took pictures of the entire process (just for fun, and for later projects). Of course the hard part of the whole application process was waiting to receive the artifact! I know I'm not the only one who was checking her studio every so often during the day, just waiting for that beautiful blue hand to show up! And when I got my approval email I just had to do a little happy dance. Now everyone who enters my shop will know that I'm a Certified Handmade Artisan!
This Artisan Is A Certified Handmade Seller! I'm very proud to have earned this particular artifact!
And just for fun, here are some of the pictures of the creation of Remus Critter. Laughing
WIP making remus Remus Critter sculptureWIP making remus Remus Critter sculptureWIP making remus Remus Critter sculptureWIP making remus Remus Critter sculptureWIP making remus Remus Critter sculptureWIP making remus Remus Critter sculpture
Thanks for dropping by!
-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Friday, July 23, 2010

Hurry in for the final days of ArtFire's Christmas in July promotion!

The Christmas in July promotion on ArtFire ends July 25th (that's this Sunday!), so you'd better hurry in and take advantage of these great deals while they last! My coupon (code XMASINJULY) offering 10% off anything in my Christmas in July category expires July 25th as well. Below are more great finds from the Christmas in July trend page.
Cascading Silver and Purple Stars earrings Blue Jay Blue Fleece Vest Sale-The Colliegette-Green and Brown Polka Dot Naked Mole Rats Quilted Embroidery Fabric Postcard Trolling Yancy Lace Cut Copper Beads Top Medium CO 36 blueecho 3 pcs Seraphinite Necklace and Pendant Juicy Peach Natural Lip Balm Set of 3 (FLAT RATE SHIPPING in the USA) SPECIAL SALE - LAST SET - Green and Green Set - bracelet and necklace ACEO  The Jester Venetian Mask fine art photograph card Miniature Tudor Style house with Landscaping KNITTED HAT IN CONCORD GRAPE AND GLISTENING BLUEBERRY Piano Keys and Horns Wristlet - Gadget Case Vintage Paisley Brass & Recycled Sterling Cuff Bracelet by Bijoutiful Pearl Multi Strand Necklace Earrings set - Beach colors, blue green
And there's plenty more where these great picks came from!
-Michelle of CreativeCritters