Santa Claus Is Coming to Town

A mad dash in to share my latest ebay listing. You can find him here... Mother's Dream Artworks

PFATT Marketplace Offerings A Sweet Snow Angel and Santa

 This sweet snow angel was created to bring a little light and cheer. Her head was hand sculpted and painted, and then she was mounted in a vintage glass light shade. She has been gussied up with pearly bead garland and fluffy feather boa with tinsel. She stands on a wood base that has been gussied up as well. You can lift her up to turn on a little tea light that is included.

This handsome santa was completely hand sculpted from polymer clay. He has loads of charm and has also been hand painted. See them both at:  PFATT Marketplace

The Newest Santa on the block.....

He's roly and poly and jolly with holly, and ready to find a new home. Stop by my ebay listings to learn more. Victorian Holly Dreams Santa

Winter Sky Santa from a re-purposed vanilla bottle

At six inches tall with loads of charm, Winter Sky Santa would be a delightful addition to your Santa collection. Hand sculpted with air dry clay, this jolly little fella is a one of a kind original. Stop by and see him here: Winter Sky Santa

A Santa a week....

A Santa a week keeps the blues away..... Well okay maybe that's a stretch, but you know, you can't have too many Santa figures in your collection can you? I think not! So, I'm on a mission to list a new Santa each week to entice you to add to that collection of handsome and jolly fellows. This gourd Santa is 13 inches tall and I've signed and dated him. True confession, I have a sweet buyer who has been so patient with me, and she knows who I'm talking about.... Somehow I let two pieces she's purchased get out the door without a signature on them, ugh! I will make it up to her though as she hasn't put up a fuss and deserves better. I promise this fella is signed though as I made sure before I listed him....lol.

So, if you are interested this handsome gentleman is listed here: ETSY

Light The Tree Santa - Upcycled Folk Art

Since I can't get a real job right now due to caring for my elderly in-laws, I might as well play when I can right? So I'm looking for new homes for some of my Santas that didn't get listed online during the holidays. This Santa is a re-purposed light bulb, hand sculpted with Creative paper clay and hand painted with layers of paints to add depth and shape to his features. He's a one of a kind, listed at MothersDreamRtworks ETSY

A Christmas Song Quiz & Giveaway Part 2

 I bet you thought I forgot, huh?! Well no, but here's how my day went. At 4:45 this morning I got up to well, you know, and as I got back into bed the phone rings. "Who could that be? Oh, my Amanda!" So I pick up the phone, "Hello? Helloooo?, Amanda....answer the phone!!!!! AMANDAAAAAA!!!!" My daughter had done it again, she was out for a bike ride in the wee morning hours in Fairbanks, and she accidently speed dialed me. Happens a lot. I think she might need to find a different number for me. So I tried to go back to sleep, but no dice. I went for a run, almost 3 and a half miles, and then came back and canned cherries, some rhubarb and cherry, raspberry, rhubarb and cranberry conserve. Don't they look yummy? After that it was time to go outside and see what damage I could do out there.

I pulled weeds around my berries, unstrangled the hold some netting had on my plum tree, and knocked some wasp nests off the garage peaks so I can paint the trim when the weather warms up. I watered plants, came back in, showered, lunch and time to paint. Here's the progress I've made, and somewhere in this pile is the giveaway piece. Hmmmmmm, which one will it be? Then I had a widow neighbor over for dinner, and went for  a walk to work off the dessert we had.
Now, more fun and games! I boobooed yesterday as I forgot this posts on the Hive as well. So all you Hivers who might want to try and take a stab, I will count the first right guess on the Hive as well.
Okay, here's today's 4
5. A B C D E F G H I J K M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z.
6. Present me naughty but dual incisors for this festive Yuletide.
7. The smog-less bewitching hour arrived.
8. Exuberation to this orb.

Two Heads.....WIPS

I left my sanding block at home so these fellows will have to wait on that before I can continue with them. A Santa and a snowman that will have to make their debut another time. What's the delay? Baking, wrapping gifts, helping friends, dinners, and well.... just life can be the roadblock or the slight delay depending on your mindset. So I'm preferring to look at it as a slight delay, and thus perhaps turn them into more than I'd originally planned. These will both be dolls which is exciting for me. I've always wanted to create a Santa doll so I'm taking the time to do it. What are you working on right now, or have you set aside creativity for the holidays?

How am I doing so far? WIP

This is getting exciting! I've never quite made a Santa this way before, and so far I'm really having fun! The beard is done, and now on to the mustache and eyebrows. Then the hat...

A Primitive Victorian Retro Vintage Christmas?

Christmas is the icing on the cake as we slowly slide into winter. We've put the gardens to bed, the harvest is lined up in gleaming rows of jars in the pantry or frosty bags of goodies in the freezer. We've shared a Thanksgiving feast with loved ones, celebrating the good things we've been blessed with this year. Now all the trimmings are up in the house, evoking a sense of warmth and childlike delight as we anticipate the gift giving season.

As an artist who has created Santa figures and ornaments for years, I have tried many styles, and love them all. My collection of decorations that I've either purchased or created spans the gamut of many styles, with the exception of western or northwoods, even though I haven't left that out on purpose. I do love the rustic woodsy style that's found in many a northern home, and I am toying with the idea of a western themed Santa or two for fun.

What is your style? Do you have a strict theme or color scheme, or are you more eclectic, gathering decorations or collectibles that catch your eye?

My original one of a kind hand sculpted ornament above can be found here:http://www.pfattmarketplace.com/mothersdreamartworks.html

A Quick Dash in to Share

My newest creation on etsy. Click on my link to the right to learn more.
And a little someone I just put up on ebay.

PFATT Unveiled!

Just a few of the offerings I have at PFATT this month. The cat candlestick/candy dish is a funky and fun creation.
My Man in the Moon mixed media art piece is a one of a kind original.
The snowman print comes with a hand painted frame.
My hubby's personal favorite is the gourdeous gourd fella above.
A gathering of Santas, 2 gourd ornaments and one driftwood fella, all can be bought together for a slight break, or purchased separately. These all make wonderful gifts so get your shopping done early! I've already sold the crock you will see on PFATT but the rest are available.

WIP'S

Every weekday as I head out the door I'm loaded down with my laptop and tub of projects. These are what I brought with me today. Two driftwood chunks that will have clay elements for a different twist on my usual driftwood Santas, two egg gourd Santa ornaments, that just need to have the finishing touches on their painting done, two clay pendants, one a black cat, and the other a Santa, one bottle Santa that needs painted, and a large gourd that I am getting ready to work on. He will need a bit of stabilizing as he wobbles a bit so I will be painting the whole piece as opposed to leaving the natural shell show.
With the gourd Santa figures, I like to turn the gourd around and around, getting a feel for where the face should go. I always start with the face, and that usually reveals the theme each Santa will take on. Sometimes I do preliminary sketches, because I already have a specific concept in mind, but sometimes I just go with the flow and let things come to light on their own. How about you? Are you a sketcher of ideas, or do you just let things happen?

An Exciting Announcement!!!!

Sometimes dreams really do come true! Years ago when I was a stay at home mom, I looked for ways to add to our income while being home for my children. I happened to be living in North Pole, Alaska at the time. I would scour magazines for ideas as I had a friend who was a master tole painter that taught me how to paint. Living in North Pole made it natural to think of creating Santas so I picked up copies of BHG Santa Claus, as well as other publications looking for something I could do that was unique and not found in the shops in the area. I read a couple of features on REASONS TO BELIEVE, a business started by Scott Schultz and Dennis Brown in the Seattle area. I thought, wow, how would that be to be able to have a where I could make Santas all day and earn money doing it?! I so admired their work, and the work of other Santa artists in the Santa Claus publications, but never seemed to be in a position to be able to reach a wide audience and collector base. I stared with birch wood slabs that are "mistakes" from hitting the side of logs while chopping wood. I called them my happy mistakes and you can see a sample in the top photo above. Well, thanks to Ginny Diezel, and really Suzanne Urban, who have both given me an opportunity to rub internet shoulders with some of the best creative artisans in the nation, I was lead to the Reasons to Believe website which Scott and Dennis own. Ginny urged me to contact them and Scott got right back to me. So now my work can be found on the Reasons to Believe website! I'm so thrilled to have such an opportunity, as I really love creating Santa figures out of a variety of media. I would also like to thank Linda Kennon of Gourdqueen Originals for sending me my first gourds and challenging me to see what I could do with them. Thanks to all who made this possible, including my husband, who is so supportive of all I do. Head on over to Reasons to Believe to take a look at all the talented artists to be found there.

AHA Artist Ornament Giveaway!

Okay, so I may be shooting down any chance of winning this but, we are so lucky to have Susan Vanderhoek of Seasonal Whimsies as a member of AHA! She recently got chosen to have one of her hand sculpted Santa designs turned into a blown glass ornament by Artistry of Poland. How cool is that?! So as a special promotion of her new design Susan is having a giveaway at her blog. Go here http://seasonalwhimsies.blogspot.com/ for more details and get signed up! A big AHA congratulations to Susan!

Is it Christmas yet?

I know all my artist compatriots are madly working on Halloween, but I just love creating Santas. Can you guess which one was a White Swan perfume bottle, or a Tapatio bottle, or hot sauce bottle? Okay so the big guy is out, he's obviously a gourd, but see how well you can guess.

Sneaky Peek.....

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas at PFATT for July.

Christmas in July isn't a new idea, but it's never too early to shop for the holidays.

And what better place to find fabulous Christmas creations, all hand made by skilled artisans, all one of a kind originals, than at the PFATT Marketplace. Stop by tomorrow to see all the new wonders of Christmas.

Jingle Time July For PFATT

Ho, ho, ho! It's time for another spectacular PFATT Marketplace event! Don't forget to check back as I will have a sneak preview.

A Santa and Keep

I hope you are enjoying this season so far. Halloween is past and it's time to look forward to the next holidays coming up. Since Santa is my specialty you will be seeing him a lot here. This time I've created a Santa over a gourd, but decided to add a special "Keep" to store him and another ornament or two. Perhaps you could give the two as a gift, already "packaged". I hand painted this paper mache box and each piece comes signed and dated. As always, click on the title above to view this listing on ebay. Thanks for stopping by!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.......

Okay, I know it's a bit early for snow, especially since the leaves are just now starting to turn here, but this frosty fella couldn't wait to be introduced. He's all buttoned up and snuggly in his fur ruff and cap, and is patiently waiting the first sign of snow. He reminds me of fun times in North Pole, Alaska when we would go out cross country skiing, or out to find wood and then come home to a cup of hot cider or cocoa. This cheerful guy can be found on ebay by clicking on the title of this post. Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned for exciting changes on AHAO.