Celebrate your pet with Personalized Pet Jars from CreativeCritters

 
Although I've been creating custom pet sculptures for years now it took a suggestion from my boyfriend to make me think beyond just a figurine and make the leap to personalized pet jars.  Above is a picture of my own Ginko kitty with the pet jar I made featuring him.  He was very helpful and more than willing to pose for me during the sculpting process ;)
I can sculpt any type of animal you have (cat, dog, bird, skunk, ferret, fish, etc.) once you send me several good pictures of your pet.  The animal is sculpted by hand from Premo polymer clay without the use of any molds and each is a unique, one of a kind creation.  I pay close attention to all the little details that make your pet special.
 
I carefully texture the fur and after the animal is cured I paint the details of their coat with acrylic paint.  I attach the sculpture very securely to a metal mason jar lid and further personalize the glass jar by covering it with polymer clay and adding a plaque with your pet's name stamped into it.
 
I can also stamp paw prints and other decorations into the clay.  For Ginko's jar I used a cavorting cat stamp framed by swirls and stars since that just matched his personality.
 
I used a half pint mason jar with a wide mouth lid for this pet jar, but I can use any size mason jar you like.  This cat sculpture measures four inches tall and the overall height of the entire piece is 6 1/4" tall.  These jars make great storage for pet treats, office or art supplies, or snacks.  The jars can be hand washed and are food safe.  These can also be used as memorial urns for pets that have passed on.  You can use them to keep your pet's ashes, a tuft of fur, their tags or collar, or anything else you want to remember them by.
Our pets are special, and if you're like me you consider them part of your family.  I think this is a wonderful way to celebrate those special animals in your life.  And what cat or dog doesn't want a treat jar that's completely personalized? ;)
You can click on any of the pictures above to be directed to the custom order listing in my shop.  If you have any questions you can contact me at macreativecritters@gmail.com. 
I truly am passionate about pets, and I understand the connection people have with their cats, dogs, ferrets, and other furry friends.  These jars would make a unique and special gift as well. :-)

~Michelle of CreativeCritters

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Custom personalized wedding cake topper

My youngest brother recently got married and I had the honor of making their wedding cake topper.  He and Sarah first met while playing the World of Warcraft.  He played a female Blood Elf and she played a male Tauren.  They wanted me to create their characters in polymer clay wearing the same outfits which BJ and Sarah would be wearing for the wedding.   Sarah wore a beautiful white wedding gown and BJ wore full Scottish dress to represent his Celtic heritage.  I even created her wedding bouquet to match the flowers in the real bouquet.  This highly detailed cake topper posed several challenges for me.  It had to be lightweight since I didn't want it to sink into the bride and groom's special cheesecake.  I also learned a lot about Scottish dress outfits while painstakingly matching the plaid pattern on the Blood Elf's kilt to the clan pattern my brother would be wearing in the wedding.  I included as many details as possible, like the sporran, the purple tie, the laced gillies, and the belt buckle. 
 

This cake topper measures about four inches tall and 5 inches wide and took about a month to complete.  It was a real hit at the wedding.  Everyone liked it so much I decided to  make a custom order listing in CreativeCritters for personalized wedding cake toppers.
I can create toppers to resemble your online avatars, characters in a game, or anything else you like. 
Your wedding is one of the most important events in your life. You want your cake topper to signify that importance, rather than have just another generic bride and groom! This is a keepsake you will have for the rest of your married days. It should be as special and unique as your wedding :-) I can create any character you like, so long as you can provide good pictures. I can also create more traditional bride and groom, or same sex cake toppers, but still customize them to make them resemble the bride and groom. There are a lot of options when it comes to wedding cake toppers, and I do my very best to create something that is completely unique, something that really captures who the bride and groom are.  If you have any questions just visit CreativeCritters and use the Contact Artisan button under my avatar.
Thanks for stopping by!

~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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My entries in the Smooshers May Flowers Challenge

The theme for the next Polymer Clay Smooshers guild Challenge is May Flowers, and I was able to come up with two pretty awesome entries.  I had decided to make a floral trinket box first, since I've been having a lot of fun creating unique trinket boxes lately.  These trinket boxes are also a great way to recycle all the aluminum cat food cans that would otherwise be thrown away around here.  I start these by thoroughly cleaning and drying the cans, then I cover them with tacky glue.  Once the glue dries the clay sticks much better and I have fewer issues with air bubbles.  For this particular box I mixed a custom shade of purple from blue and purple Premo clay.  I use Premo just about exclusively now, and I always seem to mix my own custom colors, making each creation truly one of a kind. 
The next step in the creation of this piece was to stamp pretty designs into the clay.  I've fallen in love with flexible rubber stamps and polymer clay over the last year or so.  Then add a bit of Pearl Ex powder (in this case Sky Blue mixed with Reflex Violet) and you've got something magical!  Then I went on to create the pink flowers.
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They have textured petals (each shaped by hand), and are attached to a metal filigree finding.  I spent a lot of time digging through my bead stash to find the perfect beads for this box.  These are my last two ceramic bird beads, and also the last of my red glass butterfly beads.
 
All the beads are secured with wire and liquid polymer clay, so there are no worries about anything coming loose.  The lid is made from polymer clay with reinforcing wires baked into the clay.  The large flower was rubbed with blue and purple Pearl Ex powders for a gorgeous color variation. 
To finish the box I covered the bottom with felt and lined the inside with felt as well.  I'm really very happy with the way this turned out.  I may have to make one of these for myself to hold my favorite jewelry ;-)

My second entry is a necklace I call Mai's Flowers.  Christi Friesen's book on sculpting dragons helped inspire this one, as did the Irises blooming in the front yard.  Irises are some of my favorite flowers and I love sculpting them.  The first thing I did to create this piece was to sculpt the Iris beads. 
These took many hours and four separate bakes to complete.  Although they look very fragile, I used the green leaves behind the flower petals to add strength to the flowers.  Each petal was carefully sculpted and textured, then I dusted the center petals with blue Pearl Ex powder and the outer petals with purple Pearl Ex.  Each flower was sculpted individually, and just like in nature, each is unique.  Once the flowers were sculpted it was time to move on to Mai the dragon. 
Isn't she sweet holding her favorite flower?  I used glass beads to embellish her and add a bit of bling (if you're familiar with Christi Friesen, you're familiar with this technique).  She even has blue glass heart beads on her head, since she's such a loving little dragon ;-)  She's named after Mei from the movie My Neighbor Totoro (my favorite Myazaki movie of all time), who is also a sweet, fun loving little girl.
To make this necklace even more special I used blue, pink, and purple Swarovski crystals.  Nothing sparkles quite like Swarovski!


I absolutely adore this necklace, and I might just have to make one for myself!  I definitely see more Christi inspired dragons in my future- sculptures, jewelry, trinket boxes- there's no end to the possibilities!
Both of these items are available for sale in my shop.  Just click on any of the pictures to be directed to the listing.
Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing another creative journey with me!

~Michelle of CreativeCritters

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Peacock projects inspired by Christi Friesen

Not too long ago i came across this tutorial from Christi Friesen on making a peacock necklace http://www.firemountaingems.com/galleryofdesigns/jewelry_design_gallery.asp?docid=940J&sact=search&kwsearch=christi+friesen.  (Looks pretty impressive, doesn't it?)  I also got her book Birds of a Feather shortly before Christmas.  While I haven't sculpted too many birds, the necklace tutorial and the fun projects in her book inspired me to start trying my hand at them.  The pictures of the peacocks were just so colorful and striking I decided to start with some peacock projects.  My first peacock project was this colorful wall hanging.

The three little mirrors added the perfect amount of sparkle and shine to his tail feathers.  I've had these mirrors for years now and was never quite sure what to do with them.  This type of project is a great way to make use of all my beads and findings too.  I've got a lot of really cool beads and vintage findings but not all of them match.  Projects like this allow me to use single beads to add color, texture, and interest.
After working on this somewhat large project, I decided I wanted to make some peacocks that you could wear.  So I created these colorful little peacock earrings.

I used tiny glass seed beads and tube beads to accent these fun post  earrings.  One of the things I love about Christi Friesen is that she always encourages you to take projects in your own direction and get creative with them.  I have a tendency to wander off on my own path anyway (or maybe I'm just not good at following directions- LOL).  It's all about having fun and creating something that will make you smile.
My newest, and most challenging peacock piece is this necklace.

I must admit, I love this necklace!  I've never created anything quite like this before and I really only had a very vague idea of what I wanted to do when I started this project. Some elements of the necklace were inspired by leftover beads and findings. I had four red Swarovski beads left over from another project, and those inspire the flowers.  And I always have fun with Pearl Ex powders- they add such beautiful iridescence to the clay.  The teal blue Pearl Ex on the body and the bright blue Pearl Ex on the tail add the most gorgeous shimmer.  I even created my own polymer clay beads by mixing the leftover clay from the flowers and the peacock.  Then to make them even more interesting I added a band of mixed Pearl Ex powders around the center of the beads.  To create this unique look I coated the beads with glaze, and while it was still wet (and the bead was on a skewer so it could roll), I rolled the beads through a dusting of mixed pearl Ex powders in shades of red, blue, and purple.  Once the glaze was dry I added another coat of glaze to protect the powders.  The effect is very unique and no two beads are quite the same.

I think I spent as much time choosing beads and designing the layout of the necklace as I did sculpting the focal peacock, flowers, and polymer clay beads.  And it lays perfectly when you wear it too.  This is the kind of necklace that makes people say "Wow!  Where did you get that?!" 
I had so much fun creating these pieces, I'm sure you'll be seeing more birds from me in the future!
Thanks for stopping by and sharing another creative adventure! =)

~Michelle of CreativeCritters

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Find One of a Kind Handmade Gifts for Valentine's Day

I've put together a collection of unique, one of a kind gifts for Valentine's Day.  Your sweetie is special, shouldn't her gift be as unique and special as she is?  This collection has beautiful jewelry, a cuddly teddy bear, stained glass, unique and feminine clothing, champagne glasses, a lovely clock, and more.  Each handcrafted item is a one of a kind creation.  Get her a gift she won't forget!

One of a kind Valentines gifts

   Curated By: CreativeCritt...

ArtFire.com

Vintage Fashion

Thanks for stopping by!
-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

Handmade Cheshire Cat sculpture and earrings

Whimsical Handmade Cheshire Cats from Alice in Wonderland

Lately I've been having a lot of fun creating characters from Alice in Wonderland.  My favorite character from this delightful story has always been the Cheshire Cat.  First of all he tops my list simply because he's a cat, and I do love kitties!   Second he's purple, which is my favorite color.  And then there's that wonderful, magical way he fades from sight.  And of course you just have to love that "purr"sonality. I sold the first Cheshire cat sculpture I made, so I created another one to replace him.  Of course this one is completely different, but that is the nature of my work.  Most of my pieces are one of a kind creations, even when they are of the same subject.  This sculpture measures 4 inches tall and I used glow in the dark polymer clay for his eyes and mouth.  When you turn off the lights all you see are his disembodied grin and large eyes.  I just love that effect!


I've  made a few pairs of Cheshire Cat earrings as well.  I love these "illusion" earrings, where it looks like the cat's body goes through the earlobe.  These also have glow in the dark facial features, as well as glow in the dark stripes, all made from glow in the dark polymer clay.  The earrings measure 1 3/4 inches long, and are lightweight and comfortable to wear.  And if you turn his head just slightly it gives him the most whimsical expression!  These earrings are just FUN!


This isn't the best picture, but it does give you some idea of what they look like glowing.
Next I made a pair of Cheshire Cat Head earrings.  I'm always trying to create something different, something that will make people smile.  I think these silly earrings will do just that.  I know they make me smile!  I added some glass beads to accent the the cat heads.  The earrings are 2 inches long and have glow in the dark features.  Somehow, for me at least, the Cheshire Cat isn't really complete with out the glow in the dark effects.  (It's his "cat magic", you know)


I may try my hand at a stuffed Cheshire Cat next.  I'll have to think about just how to create a pattern for him to achieve the effect I want.  I'm always creating here at CreativeCritters!  Stay tuned to see what I come up with next.  Thanks so much for stopping by!
-Michelle of CreativeCritters