OOAK lighted glow in the dark pixie oak tree house sculpture

Entry for the Polymer Clay Smooshers Guild Tree Challenge

My Polymer Clay Smooshers Guild on ArtFire has inspired me to create yet another challenging sculpture.  The theme for this particular challenge was "Trees",  which meshed quite nicely with previous ideas I'd had for a lighted tree house.  I've created a few lighted miniature houses, which are available  in my studio, and all of them are quite detailed.  These are the kind of sculptures I can really get lost in as I'm creating them.  These lighted houses are also a good way to recycle glass jars and bottles.  For the Oak tree, I wrapped clay around a glass bottle to make the trunk of the tree, then cut out windows with my oak leaf shaped clay cutter.  I used a battery powered pumpkin light, which looks very pretty shining through the windows.  The oak leaves are various shades of green, and they took a long time to cut and place.  I just love the effect of all those individual leaves though.  About halfway through the sculpting process I came up with the idea of adding the pixies, and sculpting them from glow in the dark clay.  This tree is their home, and they like to frolick in the branches, and take care of the mushrooms and flowers around their home.  The entire sculpture is 9 inches tall and 5 inches wide, with the tiny pixies measuring a petite 1 1/2 inches tall.  This one of a kind fantasy sculpture was a lot of fun to create, and I thank the Smooshers for sparking my creativity yet again.



This is what it looks like in the dark, with the light in the tree turned on.  The pixies glow quite brightly, and add a truly magical touch.  Thanks for checking out my creative adventures in polymer clay!
-Michelle of CreativeCritters

My work was featured in Polymer Cafe magazine!

My Pumpkin House was featured in Polymer Cafe magazine!

I always love getting my Polymer Cafe magazine in the mail, but enjoy it even more when one of the items I submit gets featured.  My Lighted Glow in the Dark Pumpkin House sculpture was featured in their Reader's Gallery of the April 2010 issue!  I sent a few pictures of my sculpture to the magazine for their consideration several months ago, then forgot about it as life got busy once again.  I originally got the idea for the pumpkin house sculpture after reading a tutorial in the magazine titled "The Patch Keeper's Cottage".  I started with their basic instructions, then quickly went off in my own direction and turned it into my own creation.  This is the first lighted house I ever attempted, and I really like the effect.  It looks so pretty when the light is plugged in.  I also added a lot of glow in the dark elements, such as the tall flowers flanking the front door, the swirls in the snails shell, the fairy's wings, the caterpillar's stripes, and some of the flowers on either side of the walkway.  The effect in the dark is just enchanting!
The base measures 8" long and 7" wide. The pumpkin house measures 4" tall. To create the house I covered a crackle glass votive with polymer clay, adding windows with frames, a stem, leaves, and vines. The light is a UL listed pumpkin light with a 2 foot cord.
Being featured in Polymer Cafe magazine is very gratifying, since some truly amazing artists show their work in this publication.  I'm in awe of some of the work I see published in this magazine.  And each issue is chock full of fun and challenging new projects to try.  Just look what I was inspired to create!





Thanks so much for stopping by to see my creations!
-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Christmas gift ideas from CreativeCritters

New Glow in the Dark Lighted Pumpkin House from CreativeCritters

I am just so excited about this piece!  This is the first house with a light that I've sculpted.  This is a total "WOW" piece for me. I saw a project in a clay magazine that was similar, and I just ran with it. Of course I had to keep making it bigger, better, and more detailed. Each of the flowers and leaves was individually sculpted. I just love the little fairy with her pet "cat"erpillar, and the snail turned out better than I could have hoped. With all the different glow in the dark elements on this piece, it's truly stunning in the dark. Just charge it up in bright light for several minutes, then turn off all the lights to enjoy the full effect. When you plug the light in it looks just beautiful glowing through the crackle glass windows. This one of a kind decoration will make people stop and take a long close look!

This amazingly detailed pumpkin house was sculpted by hand in polymer clay and has a light inside the house which can be plugged in and glows beautifully through the crackle glass windows. The base measures 8" long and 7" wide. The pumpkin house measures 4" tall. To create the house I covered a crackle glass votive with polymer clay, adding windows with frames, a stem, leaves, and vines. The light is a UL listed pumpkin light with a 2 foot cord. A spare fuse is included in the plug. The front door of the house is textured with a wood grain design and has a blue framed window in the center. The frame of the door was stamped and dusted with Pearl Ex powder. A cobblestone walkway leads to the steps. Two large flowers on bendable floral wire stems flank the front door and act as porch lights as they glow in the dark. The star shaped flowers at the base also glow in the dark. The small flowers flanking the walkway are a mix of red, yellow, and glow in the dark. The fairy who lives in this pumpkin house sits on a smaller pumpkin and pets her caterpillar, which has textured blue fur, glow in the dark stripes and eyes, and a cat-like face. The fairy also has glow in the dark wings (she's a distant relative of the firefly). Her friend Snail has stopped by for a visit as well. I dusted his marbled blue body with Pearl Ex powder before glazing him. His shimmering golden eyes were painted with acrylic paint. His shell is a mix of gold and green clays marbled together and layered with glow in the dark clay. The flowers behind the snail resemble Chrysanthemums and come in orange, red, yellow, and glow in the dark. At the opposite side of the house is a low stone wall with flowers in shades of pink and purple. Three ladybugs wander around the top and back of the pumpkin and leaves are scattered all about the ground. To see this sculpture glow is just amazing, and my picture really can't capture that effect very well. When the light is plugged in the house looks just beautiful. The light can be removed or replaced if desired. I've covered the bottom of the sculpture in felt, which I've signed and dated.

You can click on the picture to go directly to the listing.

 

-Michelle of CreativeCritters