What do you get when you put a Santa with Hippie Art?

 Lots of love coming your way! Santa Love is a tiny little fella at 6 inches tall, but he's got love to share. Hand sculpted, painted and bedazzled by me, little Santa Love can be found at
American Holiday Artists Studios & Marketplace

A new Hippie Art venture titled "Hippie Love" is also waiting your consideration at AHA Studios & Marketplace. Love flowers are being buzzed by a fluffy bumble, while the sun sends down hugs and kisses via his rays. This piece comes ready to hang. Send yourself, or someone special a little hand made love this Valentines Day!

What can you do with a burned out light bulb?

 

Make a White Rabbit of course! I guess you could say he has an inner light ready to come forth, or not...:-) Some day I may stop playing with light bulbs, but probably not until they have been banished into obscurity. Until then, the skies the limit and each light bulb has his own character waiting to shine through. This winsome fellow can be found on EBAY

Chocolate Valentines by Ann Kalber on Etsy

Chocolate Valentines by Ann Kalber on Etsy

See my necklace along with other delicious goodies. :-0

Lamplight Gourd Santa

 

The weather forecast says it's sunny outside, but it actually looks rather frightful! Snow covered peaks are wreathed in light snow showers and it's drizzling here in the valley. I hope it doesn't cool off as that would make travel home a bit dicey.  Perhaps I should bring Lamplight Santa with me to light the way, just in case. One thing I know for sure, I hope to leave early, as it's hard to see black cows out on the freeway at night. Or I could just follow a semi truck home and let him be my cattle guard....lol. 

So what all that has to do with the Santa above is just in the phrase, "the weather outside is frightful", echoes of Christmas still playing in my mind. :-) Time to finish packing and then see where my Hive updates are going to as they haven't been hitting my inbox. Here's where you can find Lamplighter Santa.... ETSY

Lou, a star struck man in the moon...

Lou is a bit star struck, he loves to walk the night time sky and gather falling stars. To learn more about him, stop by my EBAY

Just a little roly poly, perhaps no more cookies?

Ah Santa, you've been dipping into the cookie jar again, haven't you? Just look at your round belly, does it shake like a bowl full of jelly? It's okay though, as we love our Santa's stout and round don't we? Someone earlier said something about diabetes type 2, but with you Santa, we won't worry, we'll just hold the cookies for a month or two perhaps?
No? Well, okay......
ETSY

Mistletoe Gourd Santa

I Santa with a round belly is classic right? Well this Santa has a round belly and more! I've hand painted mistletoe branches to dress him up a bit. He's a jolly old elf, and can be found at my ETSY shop

Taking the plunge with my mixed media abstracts on ebay

I holding my breath as I finish up the listing for my mixed media abstract entitled Truly Lace. I have so much fun creating these, that I am hoping others will enjoy them as much I do. So I took the plunge and listed my first one on ebay. I hope you will take a moment and check out the listing and let me know what you think! Thanks to all the Hive community for your continued support and kind words of encouragement. Have a happy Monday!

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

Miss Valerie Bee, a Valentine Bumble

I'm a Pfattie!

 Into a new world of magical talent I roam, to rub shoulders with some of the best in the folk art business. I'm honored to be a part this group of talented folk, so I'm inviting you to go take a look at what they have to offer. PFATT BLOG I will be back after the power comes back on, but for now, I need to tend to the folks and make sure they are warm.

My Funny Valentine.....

 My funny valentine....
Sweet comic valentine
You make me smile with my heart.
Your looks are laughable
Unphotographable
But you're my favorite work of art!

 Is your figure less than greek
Is your mouth a little weak
When you open it to speak
Are you smart?

But don't change a hair for me
Not if you care for me
Stay little valentines stay
Each day is valentines day

My Funny Valentine

The hippie in me....

 More of my "hippie art" as hubby calls, it, which has brought out the freedom in creativity in me I suppose. My first one will be a Valentine piece, with love all through it. Still pondering the color scheme, but I think I have it nailed. First off I need to gesso this though as the texture will wipe off if I don't.

 A sunny sunflower I started last Autumn before everything got crazy around here. Time to add another layer of paint, and wipe and dab, and push color around.

Something for winter, that I didn't get to finish, so I thought I'd better get to this one and not leave it sitting around. I will finish it and then add it to my website or etsy shop, haven't decided yet. There are so many possibilities for themes with these, but I first want to try some random abstracts, just for giggles. What medium gives you the most freedom of expression?

Possible Dreams... WIPS

Sometimes I jump the gun on creativity and don't plan things out, just dive in and start mushing and mashing clay here and there to get a feel for where I want to go with a piece. The two forms to the right are those sort of soon to be creations. I have an idea, but I will let them play out as I add a bit of clay here and there to bring out their personality.
The bunny to the left was rough sketched to give me some direction, and he's coming along pretty well. Can you see the little vest taking shape? He will have legs and feet, but I'm still trying to decide their shape. I'm thinking I will go a bit pudgy, we shall see. I will be heading back home tonight for a couple of days of respite and to get rejuvenated for the return to the folks home. These are all going with me and I hope to have them ready to paint by Saturday. Wish me luck, I may need it! The biggest challenge will be going home and not looking at the chores that may need to be done. Tomorrow will be an all creative day, Saturday we can clean and get ready to come back. There's probably not much to do anyway but I tend to obsess about those sorts of things. Can you ignore the dust bunnies and still be fully creative? If so, how do you do it????

New Year...new WIPS

 I'm not sure how far I will get on these projects as I'm at the in-laws trying to keep them happy while sneaking away once in awhile to my tiny room to work. Not that my in-laws are hard to please, but Dad is only partly ambulatory and Mom has dementia, so I'm never sure which Mom I get to deal with and whether or not I'm doing all I can to make Dad's last days here comfortable as possible. For now, in keeping with my ever vigilant effort to upcycle as I create I've got a lightbulb bunny in the works.

When I saw this remote I knew exactly what I could do with this, but first I checked to make sure there were no Magnavox TV's here anymore....lol and I've started the project, but will reveal more at a later date. It's amazing the things folks collect, even those who tend to toss everything not nailed down. My in-laws are no exception so I have a treasure trove of goodies to possibly turn into folk art. I've already connived a vintage button collection and Japanese coin away, hopefully that won't count as the inheritance...;-). Anyhew, I must dash off to the dentist for a cleaning and check up. What do you think I will do with this remote?

Oh! Christmas Tree! Oh, Christmas Tree!

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy leaves are so unchanging;
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy leaves are so unchanging;
Not only green when summer's here,
But also when 'tis cold and drear.
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy leaves are so unchanging!

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Much pleasure thou can'st give me;
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Much pleasure thou can'st give me;
How often has the Christmas tree
Afforded me the greatest glee!
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Much pleasure thou can'st give me.

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy candles shine so brightly!
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy candles shine so brightly!
From base to summit, gay and bright,
There's only splendor for the sight.
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy candles shine so brightly!

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
How richly God has decked thee!
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
How richly God has decked thee!
Thou bidst us true and faithful be,
And trust in God unchangingly.
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
How richly God has decked thee! !"

Snowman Country on ebay....

 We actually have snow here in the west desert of Utah, so snowmen were a natural theme to work on. A somewhat rare event, snow here before Christmas, it's nice to see. Here's to more snow....

and new homes for these cute little snowmen! Click on my ebay link to see more about them....

More Reasons to Believe....

 A friend of mine found a stash of awesome bobbins at a yard sale this last spring and immediately called me to see if I wanted them, of course I said yes! She bargained and dickered so I had a nice collection of unique bobbins to play with when I got to Oregon.

She collects Santas and knows what I do, so she is always on the look out for things she thinks I might want to create Santas from. Friends are so wonderful and give us another reason to believe....
Here's where you can find these handsome fellas..... Reasons to Believe

With Visions of Sugar Plums.....

 dancing in my head, I went to sleep having finally finished the gingerbread house and taken it down to Macey's for their contest. Surprised at all the entries, I will now anxiously await the announcement of the winners. Macey's is closed on Sundays, which is almost unheard of for a grocery store, but they believe in honoring the Sabbath and giving their employees a day of rest. I really like that, and wish more businesses thought that way. There was a time they did.

 See how many different candies and goodies you can find in this design. For me, the philosophy of creating a gingerbread house is to utilize as many different candies in a design as possible, but still have the house look pretty and inviting. The idea is to make a gingerbread house look yummy, don't you think?

Candy selection has changed over the years, so that creates a new challenge, but I've already had my 3 am creative muse where I thought of ways to use what I did find available, for next year. I'd better write them down though as I know I will forget. I need to get ready for church, and my class of 7-8 year olds, but I wanted to share what I've been up to this week.
This was the last major project of the year, everything else is going to be slow and perhaps will teach me to really think through what I do rather than launch into creativity without a real plan. My father-in-law is struggling through his last days here on earth, and I'm the primary caretaker so although I may have a little time to create, for the most part my days are filled with keeping him comfortable, and helping my family deal with this. I've always tried to find a special way to serve others this time of year, but this time I need not look any farther than my own family. It's a hard but special time as we prepare for the change in our family, with gratitude that we know that Heavenly Father will be waiting for Dad, and He and the Savior will welcome him home with loving and open arms. What more can we do at this time of year, but to serve as we have been served?

A sneak peek of gingerbread possibilities

 Just a sneak peek at a gingerbread house I've started.

Stop by my Simply Sheryl's blog to see what I'm up to....