Miniature Halloween Haunted House sculpture from CreativeCritters

Well, it's that time of year again- the time when I (along with so many others) am inspired to make some spooky Halloween creations.  I'd been tossing around the idea of a miniature haunted house sculpture for some time, and recently my ideas came together and I got to sculpting.

I used heavy cardboard for the base and to cut out the shapes of the house.  For the tower I used the tube from a roll of paper towels.  Everything was securely taped and glued together and then I wrapped the whole thing in black clay to make one solid piece and to make the windows look dark when I cut them out.  After I baked that it was easier to apply the walls of the house.  I cut out windows and the door and framed them with thin strips of clay.

Then I started having fun with the glow in the dark clay!  I made glow in the dark candle flames for the upper windows and made them resemble eyes and teeth.  I started the front porch and sculpted a door as well.  The ghost was sculpted from glow in the dark clay and is letting out a black cat with glow in the dark eyes.  For as tiny as he is (no more than 1/2" long) that cat took a long time to make!  It's not easy sculpting in such a small scale!

And this is what it looks like in the dark at this point.  Pretty cool, huh?

And this fun face in the back window was a suggestion from my boyfriend.  It's reminiscent of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, albeit slightly more spooky and evil looking, especially when it's glowing in the dark!

Then I started really getting into the details, adding a roof to the front porch, more spooky effects in the windows, and of course the resident skeleton.

All of the effects in the windows were sculpted from glow in the dark clay, as was the skeleton.

At this point I put the roof on, shingled the roof, and then added the large Oak tree at the back of the house.  The tree has a wire and foil armature ansd is securely attached to the base of the sculpture.  It looks somewhat delicate, but is really fairy strong and sturdy.

I added a large glow in the dark full moon to the branches of the tree as well. Then  I added ivy climbing up the sides of the house along with red, yellow, and orange Maple and Oak leaves in the yard.

 

I also made three Jack O Lanterns with glow in the dark faces to decorate the front yard.  The whole thing looks pretty impressive during the day or at night!

 

You can click on any of the pictures to be taken to the listing and read more about this unique Halloween haunted house sculpture.  This took about three weeks to complete but I really enjoyed the process.  I wasn't just sure how it would come out until it was finished.  I must say, I'm really pleased with the results!  As with most of my work, this is another one of a kind creation. 

Thanks for joining me for yet another creative adventure!  Stayed tuned for more creativity- I've got plenty of new projects planned for the holiday season!

 ~Michelle of CreativeCritters

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Autumn Rain

The theme for this week's Blog Roll, created by Polymer Clay Smooshers guild member Art Asylum, is Autumn Rain.  And that theme is very appropriate!  I'm sitting here listening to the Autumn rain patter on the roof right now ;-)   This is what I think of as "Halloween-y weather".  The leaves are starting to fall and crunch underfoot, the air has that crisp smell and is starting to become cooler.  My favorite smell of Fall is the smell of woodsmoke: it takes me back to when I was a kid and we would have fires in the fire pit.  My brothers and I would help gather fallen sticks from the woods surrounding our house, then we'd roast marshmallows over the fire.  The dogs and sometimes the cats would hang out with us, and it was just such a happy and peaceful time.  Sometimes on rainy Autumn nights when I was cozy and dry in my bedroom I'd be lucky enough to see the owl that hunted the woods around my house.  He'd sit up in the big Oak tree next to my window.  Fall was the best time to spot him, because the tree had lost most of it's leaves and he stood out clearly.  This Owl Pendant from Art Fairly Aware reminds me of him ;-)

 

And I can't think of Fall without thinking of pumpkins.  These pumpkin earrings from Blue Morning Expressions are probably the prettiest pumpkins I've seen!

 

One of my favorite things used to be sitting out on the dock in the lake and watching the rain fall in the water.  Looking across the lake the trees that lined the opposite shore were wearing their beautiful Autumn colors. This Raku pendant from Danas Jewelry Etc. reminds me of the patterns the rain made on the water, which reflected the colors of the trees.

 

Yes, Fall is one of my favorite times of the year!  So enjoy these rainy Autumn evenings and spend some time browsing the shops of these talented artists!

-Michelle of CreativeCritters 

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Polymer Clay Covered Jars from CreativeCritters

My latest adventures in polymer clay involved finding a creative way to recycle glass baby food jars.  And before anybody starts jumping to conclusions, no I do not have a new baby!  I do however, have a cat who needs to take a pill every day.  The vet prescribed L-Lysine tablets to help clear up Calcifer's clouded blind eye.  I crush the pills and mix them with a little baby food and Calcifer thinks he's getting some gourmet treat ;-)  I end up with one or two empty 2.5 ounce baby food jars each week though, and I can't stand the thought of just throwing them away.  So I got creative with polymer clay and started decorating the jars and turning them into fun little stash jars.  I got my fans on Facebook to help me out with ideas.  They suggested things like dragonflies, lizards, and sunflowers.  Here's the result of those suggestions.

 

 

 

The beads were a fun, sparkly addition to the polymer clay!  And I had a lot of fun with Pearl Ex powders as well.  This Fall Leaf jar was dusted with a mix of red, green, and gold Pearl Ex powders.  I just love the effect the powders give!

 

And I just loved creating these Halloween jars!  Of course they've got glow in the dark effects, which are practically mandatory for my Halloween items!  Naturally I just had to create a Jack O Lantern jar, complete with glow in the dark ghost and a black cat.

 

And this is what it looks like in the dark.

 

 Spooky, isn't it? ;-)  Then I made this Halloween jar complete with more ghosts, black cats, and a spider!

 

I included glow in the dark dimensional paint along with the glow in the dark ghosts for this one.

 

 Each of these little stash jars measures about 3 1/2 inches tall and would be perfect for storing beads or other small items.  And not only do they make handy little containers, they're pretty enough to put on display!  I'll continue to create these fun stash jars, since I'm sure I'll have plenty of baby food jars to recycle.  And if you have any ideas for different types of jars just leave me a comment- I'd love to hear from you!            -Michelle of CreativeCritters                  

Handmade Halloween at CreativeCritters

This is a collection of handmade Halloween themed items from CreativeCritters. Everything from jewelry, dolls, masks, sculptures, pens, and candle holders can be found here.

Handmade Halloween from CreativeCritters

   Curated By: CreativeCritt...

ArtFire.com

Unique Gifts

Thanks for sharing in a little Halloween fun!
-Michelle of CreativeCritters

My newest fantasy sculpture

Dragon Fairy OOAK sculpture

My one of a kind Dragon Fairy sculpture is the latest polymer clay addition to CreativeCritters.  A lot of emotion (and time and effort) went into this sculpture. I really put my soul into this piece.  I love sculpting dragons, and I've been quite inspired by Halloween lately, so that set the tone of the sculpture.  When choosing the clay colors I wanted for this project, I was thinking of Halloween colors- red, black, and purple.  One of the things I wanted to get across is that the fairy is NOT human.  That's one of the reasons I chose to make her green and made sure her pointed ears showed through her black, purple, and red hair.  Of course the large dragon wings growing from her back make it pretty clear that she's not human as well.  And another small, but surprisingly effective, touch was to give her simple reptilian eyes with elliptical black pupils.  Once I painted her facial features she really came to life.  I also wanted to express the intense bond between the fairy and her dragon.  They will be together their whole lives (100's of years) and are completely devoted to one another.  When the baby dragon is old enough they'll soar through the skies together surveying their vast territory.  Another inspiration for this piece was my kitten Calcifer.  I feel that devotion from him, and this is the exact position he likes to cuddle in.  He even buries his face in my hair, just like the blue eyed dragon.  I do believe there's a bit of fairy magic in this sculpture, and my muse worked overtime providing ideas and inspiration for this one!


If you click on the pictures they'll take you directly to the listing.  Thanks so much for sharing the creativity!
-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Beware the Bite of the Vampire!

From the original Bram Stoker's Dracula to Stephanie Meyers Twilight Saga, I've always been a fan of vampires. These are some wonderful examples of Vampire inspired artwork!

Beware the Bite of the Vampire!

   Curated By: CreativeCritt...

ArtFire.com

Handmade Gifts