Please go to our monthly featured artwork sale site and vote for our monthly challenge

This months challenge for our Featured Artwork Sale Site was "Witches Spells." The challenge is Homemade, Halloween, Witches Spells, Hexes, Incantations, Spell Books, One of a Kind, and Potions. Feel free to browse down our Artist works below and vote for the ones you think best reflect the theme format of our challenge. You can vote using the poll in the side column. All of our Every Witch Way Lane monthly challenge items are to be made available for purchase on the 16th of each month.

http://ewwlmonthlychallengepage.blogspot.com/2015/04/1.html

SHAMROCK DOLL-PART 2

Well, I finally finished the Shamrock doll and she is on her way to her new home.  I have a few more pictures of how she was made, but not very many.  I really struggled with her clothes.  I just couldn't get the dress to look right.  I guess the saying is true.  "Fashion makes complete"  She just didn't look right until I got the outfit right.  I originally wanted her to have a big fluffy skirt like a Tutu.  I don't sew very well, so I tried my best.  But....FAIL.  It looked awful  

So.....I ripped it all off and  began.  I decided to do a simpler skirt, just some pleats and smaller shoulder straps.  More like overall straps instead of a vest.  It looked much better.

I couldn't find any material that I was happy with for the leggings, so I used a green high ligher pin and "painted" on the stripes and a pink thin stripe in between.  I was pleased with how it turned out.  A very simple solution to a problem.  

The theme was Shamrocks so I made Polymer Clay buttons shaped like shamrocks.  I placed them on her clothing and then  decided to add one to her hair later. 

Speaking of hair....I love how her hair turned out.  The pink/red hair really emphasized her facial features.  I put a simple pony tail but left it half up to give it a messed up look.

                                

I then made shoes out of some leather and placed a shamrock button on the side.

The  final over all look turned out amazing.

  Here she is.......All dressed up and ready to go to her new home.  I will let her new mommy name her.

I hope you like her and I hope her new mommy likes her.  She was so much fun  to make.

Shamrock Swap Doll

I have several projects that I'm working on right now, but I thought I would show you how I'm making my Shamrock doll for a swap with another artist.

I decided to make a doll and have her sitting on a large shamrock pillow.  I couldn't decide on what type of doll to make, so I searched the web and looked at different types dolls. Finally deciding on a whimsical type doll...more of a cartoonish face.  I remembered that I had kept a body of a cheap china head doll that I bought at a garage sale for 50 cents.  This was perfect.

I guess in this case it paid off to be a hoarder of all the possible craft items.  I have closets full of possible items.  I just can't make myself throw something away that could make a great accessory to my art.  This doll had ceramic head and hands, that I didn't want, but the body was in perfect condition.  So I opted to make a new head and hands.

It looks a little spooky here, because I forgot to take a pic of it until I had already started painting.  I put a brown paint rub on to "tan" the skin of the clay by just painting on a watered down layer of brown paint, then wiping off the excess.  Then I began painting the facial features and a little white on the finger nails.

I think she turned out cute.  A rather sweet innocent type of face.  I poked holes in the collar of the clay so I can sew it to the body.  I forgot to do this on the arms, so they will just get glued on. 

Once I got the body assembled, it is now time to bring her to life.  I picked out material for her dress.  It's a green with pink polka dots and matching pink for a blouse of some type underneath, or trim. After I decided on the material, I needed to decide what color of hair she was going to have.  I wanted her to have a bright color of hair since she was considered a cartoon type character.

I laid her out with all the options and with the material so I could see what each one looked like.

She looks like a clown here.  But, in the end, I decided to only go with the red/pink color.

I think the color went well with the material.  I'm not sure about the style yet, but I will decide that later.  I will also have to decide on a style of clothes too.  

This is all I have completed on her so far.  Hopefully I will get her finished today so you can see the final doll.  I will also have to think of a name.   Details, details details.  

The Winner of the Blog Hop is.....

First, I would like to thank everyone who visited my page and left all those lovely comments. It is so wonderful to hear nice compliments, I really do truely appreciate it. I hope you choose to visit again and check out what I'm up to. 

The hop is now officially over and while it was fun, we did not have anyone who actually completed the entire hop. We needed a visit to EACH blog with comments and a following to the blogs and this time around it just did not happen. 

Hopefully in the spring we will try another one and have more success. However, in the interest of friendly blog hopping, I will do a random drawing of those who participated on my blog and give away the bat winged skull ornament as a consolation prize.

This Ornament is hand sculpted from polymer clay and hand painted with acrylic paint. I hope the winner likes it. 

I put all the names who visited my blog site, in a random name selector, below. The Winner is..... Autumnwind. 

Autumnwind, if you would email me your address, BluBeagle Designs I will get it sent ASAP. Congratulations and thank you.

Again, I would like to thank everyone who participated. 

Don't forget to mark your calendar for the 15th of each month for our sale site. New items will be posted every month on the 15th.

BLOG HOP
LET'S PARTY....

Come and join in on all the fun.  You can win many prizes by visiting all the blogs in the link below.  To enter to win my prizes, just comment below and follow my blog.  I will have a random drawing on all who commented at the end of the weekend for both prizes.  Please make sure you follow this blog or leave an email so I can contact you if you win.

Many other blogs with wonderful art work are also having prizes.  So hop on over to their blogs and see what is going on.

Links to all blogs involved:

http://tinyurl.com/EWWLBlogHop

Mohawk Skull-Paperweight

Skull Bat - Ornament


Don't forget to hop on over to all the other blogs.  The list is in the link below:

http://tinyurl.com/EWWLBlogHop

UPCOMING BLOG HOP

I am going to be participating in a fun and entertaining Blog Hop over at Every Witch Way Lane.  There will be lots of fun and prizes to be given away.  Here is a sneak peak of the prizes I will be giving away.

Mohawk Skull head-Paperweight

Bat winged Skull-Ornament

Stay tuned for more information.

INTRODUCTION

Hello everyone.  My name is Dana Blume.  This is my first blog so I thought I would introduce myself, tell you a little bit about me, my art and how I got started.

I have been married to my high school sweetheart for 33 years.  We have 3 daughters, 2 son-in-laws and 11 wonderful grandchildren, 1 dog and 4 grand dogs.   We are currently all living in the same small town in Kansas. I'm sure you will be hearing more about the family members along the way.

Through most of my life, I never thought I had much artistic talent.  As my mother used to say..."I can't even draw a stick figure".    My mother and my grandmother took an art class when I was in highschool.  They both discovered they had plenty of talent with painting.  My mother now paints oil portraits.  So...I thought maybe I could learn too.  I wanted a new hobby.  I was a killer with a glue gun, but I wanted more.   I began surfing the youtube videos on different art.  I tried jewelry making...too expensive to get started, painting.... no talent there, crocheting...I liked it but that much, paper mache....loved it but struggled with the detail. Then I discovered polymer clay.  My life has not been the same since. It has become my passion. I love the feel of it in my hands and the fact that you can make a clump of nothing come to life.  I started with simple things like hearts and simple animals.  But once I discovered how to make all the facial features, I knew I was in the right place.  I looked up every video, book and tutorials, I could find.  I joined groups on facebook and met many wonderfully talented artists and learned from them. I slowly improved.

Here are a few of my beginning projects......

Victorian Mother with Antique Buggy

Witch Blair

Raggedy Blair

Professor Alfred

Not bad...but definitely lacking detail and the body proportions are way off.   I think I had potential at this point, but I needed more guidance and much more practice.

I began experimenting with different media...using rocks, wooden spoons for the heads and sculpting on glass or framing the piece.

Red the Elfin - wooden spoon head.

Check out the horrible body proportions and large hands

Rockabily rock family-
Creative, but not much detail

Peek - a - Boo Pete

Sculptured scenery on glass

Beautiful but not all the designs held up over time.  The thin pieces cracked

I needed more help...more advice.  So I took a quick online session with Jack Johnson. I made a pretty good cowboy.  with all his advice, my work began to improve by leaps and bounds

Cowboy Bob

Amish Elder-Ezekiel Yoder

I began to focus on the details...

Victorian Cage Doll- made on a candle lantern 

Rock Witch

these are a few of my current pieces.

Gothic Cross with snake

Mammy Art Doll

Wall Plaque

Sculptured Acoustic Guitar

Altered Wooden Cigar Box

I have settled in with a more definite style of my own.  I love the dark arts like skulls, bats, creepy Halloween pieces.

I hope you enjoyed getting to know me and my art.  Next time I will work on WIPs and some blog hop games with prizes.