Knit Blue Kangaroo now available at CreativeCritters

Over the last few years I've knit several different blue kangaroos for a variety of customers, but haven't had one listed in my shop as a regular item.  Most customers learned about my blue kangaroos from my Gallery of past work.  The last knit kangaroo I created was headed all the way to Australia!  I developed my own knitting pattern for these kangaroos and have adapted it several times over as I found new ways to improve the design.  I just listed this cute kangaroo in CreativeCritters today.  I'm not sure how long she'll last- they seem to sell pretty quickly!

I used soft and silky Homespun yarn in Montana Sky Blue for the body and Waterfall for the belly.  I really love Homespun yarn because it's so soft and has such a nice texture when you knit with it.  Anyone who does a lot of knitting or crocheting knows that it's a real pleasure to work with a good quality yarn, and of course it creates a very soft and cuddly stuffed animal.

For this particular kangaroo I completely revamped my old pattern and got pretty creative as I knit.  This is one of the reasons most of the items in my shop are one of a kind creations- I always seem to end up changing how I make them, even if I start out following a pattern.  I guess it's just the artist in me- LOL. 

This particular kangaroo ended up with a lot of personality!  Sometimes these things just sort of seem to happen on their own.  I had a general idea of how I wanted her to look, but really didn't know how she would turn out until I had most of the parts sewn on.  And as always, the true personality really came out once I added her eyes, nose, and ears. 

I used gray fleece fabric for the nose, which is lightly stuffed and securely sewn on.  I used the same fleece behind the eyes, which are black plastic safety eyes, making this safe for children.  I stuffed the kangaroo softly with polyester fiberfill, with the goal of keeping her very soft and cuddly.  Adults and children will both love giving this cute stuffed animal a big hug!  I may be all grown up myself, but I still love to cuddle up with a soft stuffed animal.  I think there are some things we just never grow out of!
If you're interested in purchasing this blue kangaroo just click on any of the pictures to be taken to the listing in my shop.  And if you're looking for something in a different size or color combination, just email me at macreativecritters@gmail.com with your request.  I can also create a variety of other stuffed animals.  If fact, I'm currently working on a knit dragon right now (and this is definitely a challenging project!).
Thanks for sharing the creative cuteness once again!

~Michelle of CreativeCritters

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My entry for the Smooshers In The Ocean Challenge

The theme for the Polymer Clay Smoosher's Challenge this month is In The Ocean.  Once again I had lots of ideas swimming through my head (and not enough time to sculpt them all)!  Eventually I settled on a mermaid.  I always enjoy adding an element of fantasy to projects whenever possible ;-)  Not too long ago I made several beaded pendants using some of my mismatched glass beads.  The beads were all very pretty, but none of them matched.  When I make jewelry I generally like to use matching, or at least similar beads, so this was a good way to display the beads.  I decided that a miniature mermaid wrapped around a pendant made of blue and green beads would be just right for an ocean challenge!

 I started by sculpting the mermaid's tiny little head.  It's always a challenge to sculpt on such a small scale, but this one actually went pretty well.  Sometimes I have to remake a head up to 5 times!  I only had to remake this one twice ;-)  I used tiny blue glass beads for her eyes and gave her fairy ears.  I baked the head at this stage so further sculpting wouldn't distort all the tiny details.   A baked and hardened head is so much easier to work with.

 

 Next came the torso. I sculpted this and attached it to the neck, using diluent to make the seams perfectly smooth and invisible.  I wasn't ready to add the arms yet at this point.  I wanted to sculpt her tail and get her positioned on the pendant before I made her arms.  That way I would be able to position them perfectly so she was holding onto the pendant.

 

I swirled together several shades of blue and green Premo polymer clay to create a custom mix for the mermaid's tail and the teardrop shaped beads I planned on adding to the necklace.  Before positioning the mermaid around the beaded pendant I painted her facial features with acrylic paint and colored her lips and cheeks with powdered pink chalk mixed with interference red/ blue Pearl Ex powder.  I really wasn't sure what color I'd get when I mixed the two, but it turned into the perfect shade of pink with just enough of a sheen to make it look very realistic.  To be sure the mermaid was securely attached to the pendant I added liquid polymer clay where her body touched the pendant.  I baked the mermaid and beads at this point.

After the body and tail were baked and cooled I added her arms and hair.  I used wire through the eye pin to suspend the pendant in a coffee cup while it baked for one final time.  This assured that none of her delicate features would be crushed while baking.
The final step in the necklace was to create the beaded components, which were composed of blue and green glass beads, silver bead caps, and the blue and green swirled clay beads.
And this is how the final piece turned out.
 
I've actually only made a few mermaids (so far), but I have to say this is my best one yet.  I'm very happy with the way she turned out, and I'm glad I took my time while creating this entire necklace.  Once again, this is something entirely new for me- definitely a one of a kind creation!
Thanks so much for joining me on another creative journey!

~Michelle of CreativeCritters

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Pastels in Polymer Clay

Spring is the time for pretty pastel colors- soft daffodil yellow, pale pink flowers peeking through the leaves in the flower bed, soft lilac purples bursting into bloom.  And the Polymer Clay Smooshers Guild on ArtFire does pastel so well!

This Yellow Heart Pendant from DreamWeaversDesigns makes me think of all the pretty yellow daffodils nodding their heads in the spring breeze.  These are some of the first flowers to bloom in my yard and I welcome their sunny color!

 

And this beautiful tile from Harrison Hollow Designs has all sorts of pretty pastels.  And it would make a lovely gift for Mother's Day too ;-)

I love all the different colors and textures on this piece- the more I look at it, the more I like it!

And I am absolutely in love with this lavender flower pendant from Life Art Designs!

Pastel perfection!  I love flowers, and any shade of purple, so you can see why this beauty caught my eye! ;-)

And here's a lovely polymer clay cane in shades of peach, purple, and teal.  My Polymer Clay Canes has all sorts of intricate and pretty canes available.

I love the way the colors soften and blur slightly.  I don't make many canes myself, and these pretty designs always impress me. 

Although it's been a gray and wet Spring so far, all these pretty colors give me a bit of hope for better weather and brighter blooms in the near future!  I hope you enjoyed my pastel picks from a few of the very talented members of the Polymer Clay Smooshers guild!

-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Handmade items in pretty Spring pastels

Another spring inspired collection.  I love the beautiful pastel colors of Spring flowers and have found those colors in a wide variety of handmade items on ArtFire.

Pretty Pastels for Spring

   Curated By: CreativeCritt...

ArtFire.com

Handmade Gifts

Click on any of the pictures to view the listing and find out more about these beautiful items.
Wishing you a sunny spring day!
-Michelle of CreativeCritters

The Polymer Clay Smooshers guild Medieval Challenge

My Entry for the Polymer Clay Smooshers Medieval Challege

It's almost time for all the entries for the Polymer Clay Smooshers guild Medieval Challenge to be unveiled.  This was an absolutely wonderful theme for our creative minds to play with!  I've had a sneak peek at some of the other guild member's pieces and I'm VERY impressed.  I just can't wait to see all the entries!  What I've seen so far is incredible.  You give the Smooshers a Challenge and they rise to it every time!  I really do love the level of group participation within this guild.  We really get to know each other and learn from one another.  It's just so much FUN being a Smoosher! 

Of course I just HAD to create a dragon for this Challenge- it was just a matter of deciding what kind of dragon, and in what situation.  I chose to sculpt a Dragon Rider for this one.  The Rider and his Dragon are bonded for life, and are more friends than pet and master.  Very few people are born Dragon Riders, making their magic special and rare.  I've had this story in my head for years, and I believe I'll create more Dragon Riders in the future.  Eventually I may write the entire story down as well.  This particular dragon has blue belly scales and blue and green scales (each cut out individually) cover his body.  His wings are an iridescent blue green that shimmers beautifully in the light.  His spines, horns and ears were sculpted from glow in the dark clay.  The piece measures 7 1/2 inches tall and 9 inches from toe to tail tip with a 7 1/2 inch wingspan.


Thanks for joining me in my creative adventures!
-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Meet the Bewilderbeast, a rare and unusual creature

I call this creation a Bewilderbeast, and just listed him in CreativeCritters.  My inspiration for this wild fantasy beast was my kitten Calcifer.  I always end up sculpting my pets, but with Calcifer I wanted to capture that wild, exuberant kitten spirit.  I got a flash of inspiration when he was sitting up on his haunches boxing with me one day.  I just saw this wild sculpture in my mind's eye, which became more detailed as I started sculpting.  


Here are a few pictures of my fluffy inspiration.  I'm fairly certain Calcifer is is a Maine Coone Cat, which means he's going to be very big.  For my Bewilderbeast sculpture I wanted to emphasize the large paws and big fluffy tail.  Of course the glow in the dark horns (which are normally invisible) are part of his Fire Demon heritage.  The wings are also important.  If Calcifer could fly he'd be the happiest kitten in the world!  He loves to be up high (and often rides around on my shoulders).  The way he jumps and leaps, it's almost as if he DID have wings (maybe they're invisible too).  I made the claws, teeth, horns, eyes, and some stripes and feathers glow in the dark.  I used powdered pigment over glow in the dark clay, and once you charge him up in bright light he glows for a LONG time.  This piece took well over a week to complete, but was an absolute joy to create.  I even used real cat whiskers, which I collect when my cats shed them naturally.  Standing 7 1/2 inches tall, this fantasy sculpture is most definitely one of a kind!  I even gave him little pink paw pads.  Here are pictures from the listing in CreativeCritters.  You can click on any of the pictures to view the listing and see the full description.  Thanks for stopping by my wild and whimsical world!

-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Give your sweetheart a handmade teddy bear for Valentine's day

I've been having a lot of fun creating handmade, one of a kind teddy bears lately.  Bears like Throckmorton (with the long teal blue fur) and Perdita (with the purple fur) are made from high quality faux fur fabric and stuffed with polyester fiberfill.  In the case of Throckmorton, I also added plastic pellets to add weight and "floppiness".  Throckmorton is 17 inches tall and his sister, Perdita is 18 inches tall.  Both have plastic safety joints in their arms, legs, and head.  They also have plastic safety eyes and embroidered mouths.

Then there are my knit bears, which were created with acrylic yarn and stuffed with polyester fiberfill.  The little purple bear measures 6 1/2 inches tall, the pink, red, and white bear measures 11 1/2 inches tall, and the cream and gold bear measures 18 inches tall.  I embroidered the eyes, mouth and nose for the small purple bear.  The larger knit bears have plastic safety eyes and noses, and embroidered mouths.

 

All of the pictures are linked, and will take you directly to the listings.  Thanks so much for checking out my sweet and cuddly handmade teddy bears!

-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Beautiful Beads from Gottbeads on Artfire.com

Joyce Gott, of Glendale, AZ. opened Gottbeads on ArtFire.com 3-13-09.  Her Studio Announcement states: "Hello, welcome to Gottbeads, a destash store.  I have been purchasing beads for many years and have finally come to the conclusion that I will never live long enough to use them all.  So I am going to destash my overloaded shelves and share lots of items with you.  I hope you enjoy purchasing these items as much as I did.  My studio is a smoke free environment."

Her Artisan Biography reads: "I have been beading for about 10 years.  I have been known to overindulge when purchasing beads, often buying 2, 3 or more strands, when 1 strand was probably enough.  I have now decided to share my overstocked inventory with you, as I have just about taken over every room in the house.  I will continue to make jewelry and sell it in my other ArtFire studio Accessories by Gottjoy.  And yes, I'll probably overindulge myself when it comes to buying beads- which means I'll just have more to sell in my destash studio".

I don't know about you, but all these pretty beads give me the urge to create!

-Michelle of CreativeCritters