New Colorful Knit Dragon Joins the Menagerie at CreativeCritters

This colorful knit dragon is the latest addition to the menagerie of critters available from CreativeCritters.

I challenged myself to create a knitting pattern from scratch for a cute and brightly colored dragon.  I made it up as I went along, writing down what worked, and trying again when something didn't turn out quite as I wanted.  I learned how to follow a sewing pattern many years ago, and using that knowledge (and a lot of trial and error) I figured out how to make my own original patterns.  That's essentially how I made this guy.  I thought of the shapes I would need if I were to create a sewing pattern for a creature like this, then I figured out how to knit those shapes and sew them together.  It wasn't easy- that's for sure!  But I do enjoy a challenge, and I like testing and improving my artistic skills, so although it took a lot of time, I really had fun bringing this fantasy dragon to life,  I used bright purple (my favorite color) for his body, which I knit in a garter stitch.  I used a stockinette stitch and bright yellow yarn for the dragon's belly and the underside of his tail.

I gave him triangular spikes that were knit in bright red yarn.  I sewed all the various parts onto the dragon very securely and stuffed him with polyester fiberfill.  The wings were a bit of a challenge.  I considered creating knit wings, but really wanted them to be more lightweight.  I didn't want to have to use wires to help them hold their shape, as I've done with plush dragons in the past.  I wanted this to be a toy that kids could hugs and cuddle, without any sharp or hard parts.  So I decided to use red and purple felt (I just happened to have exactly the right colors in my fabric stash).  I drew out a wing pattern on paper and used that as my guide.  Then I sewed veins into the wings to give them more stability.

This cute stuffed animal measures about 15 inches long and 15 inches tall.  This guy's pretty special, and I hope when he sells he goes to a loving home.  Until then he can hang out here and make me smile =)  If you want to purchase this dragon, or read more details about him, just click on any of the pictures to be taken to the listing in my shop.
Thanks so much for stopping by!

~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

OOAK Custom Order World of Warcraft Plush Tauren Death Knight Warbeef

I finished my Plush World of Warcraft Tauren Death Knight custom order  and Warbeef the Tauren is now on its way to it's new owner.  This is one of the biggest projects I've done, and it took months to complete.  Creating someone's WoW character as a plushie is challenging no matter what, but when that character is a Death Knight in full armor, that adds whole different set of challenges!  I put a lot of time, effort, and attention to detail into these unique plush characters, and continuously improve my patterns and techniques.  I start with my own original pattern, which I trace onto high quality fur fabric and sew the pieces together by hand.  For this character I used black and white spotted fur fabric.  I stuff the parts firmly with polyester fiberfill and attach arms, legs, head, and tail with heavy duty carpet thread.  With this custom order I had to add the armor before I could sew all the parts together.  I used polymer clay to create the armor, which I added in layers, and the entire piece went through several bakes in the oven.  Because this was such a large piece I attached it to a wooden base with heavy gauge wire.  Warbeef's large ax was also sculpted from polymer clay with glow in the dark accents.  This is definitely a one of a kind piece!



The skull on his chest was sculpted from polymer clay and also glows in the dark.  The purple polymer clay armor is accented with dark brown leather.  I used blue glass beads for his eyes and needle sculptured his face.  I'm very happy with the way this piece turned out, and look forward to creating more custom WoW characters in the future.  If you're interested in having me create something for you, just click the Contact Artist button in my shop under my avatar.  Thanks for stopping by! =)
-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

Purple Polymer Clay from the Smooshers guild

Purple Polymer Clay

   Curated By: CreativeCritt...

ArtFire.com

Craft Supplies

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