Wednesday, December 19, 2007

House Sprite




Hello! Look what I finished today! Sheila watched Azalea so I had the whole day to play. This little lady (about 3" tall, knees to hair) is a house sprite, a fey creature that borrows things when your not looking, making it impossible to find your keys. I made her out of polymer clay and wire, then painted her with acrylics. The hair is wool and the clothes, velvet and suede. She will live in my cabinet of curiosities, along with my other strange beasties and dollies. Note to doll makers: I don't recomend smoothing the polymer with sculpey dilutent or liquid sculpey as this makes very strange boils on the surface. Very annoying. Anyway, I'm trying to think of a good way to do the eyes so they look more realistic. I looked up tiny glass eyes and didn't like the prices. Maybe I'll get the torches out and make my own. I haven't made anything with glass in years. Now i have an excuse. I have procrastinated to my hearts content today, narrowly avoiding all the work thats piling up for Tucson. Yes, in a few short weeks it will be upon us. Tommorow I shall make more ornaments because they are loads of fun and I don't want to make originals yet, I'm still thinking.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Absolutely love her.
Oh my gosh! A day well spent indeed!
I must have a sprite in my house, because
some of my socks are missing. I bet they make
great stuffing for mattresses!
Wishing you and your family a magical Christmas!

Ulla said...

Ohhh, she's wonderful!!! Love her expression! My friends David and Paul of 'The Old Pretenders' use glossy paint over clay for their eyes when they don't use glass, looks like enamel! Just a thought... You are so multi-talented!!!

Jean Katherine Baldridge said...

Holy cow this is great!

Unknown said...

Hi Cynthia she is Lovely! Does she have a name? I just bought some FIMO and thats a bit stiff so am going to try polymer clay next. grrrr. She looks just like you and so do the ornaments LOL. They are a tad diff too but are you.. pretty! Are you ready for Christmas? I bet Azalea is getting many wonderful things! Children are such gifts!
Huggs,
Janet

Cynthia Thornton said...

Hi Ulla!
Thanks! Glad you like her! I love the Old Pretender dolls so much! I once went to an auction where a beautiful Queen Anne doll was being sold, I lasted about 30 seconds before it was out of my league. I also tried to make a version of my own out of papier mache, it looked alright. As for talent, I think its actually hard work and a lot of patience!

Cynthia Thornton said...

Hi Janet!
Thanks! I hate FIMO! Premo is better. I haven't named her yet. Greg said she looks like me and I said "Maybe when I was 16!". Yep, my ornaments are weird. They were fun to make. I think most doll makers just like doing the heads. I wish I could send the head hands and feet somewhere and they send it back with a body. Maybe clothes too. Im not great at sewing or costuming. I wish I were, so useful! My girl can't wait for christmas, spoiled rotten she is.

Unknown said...

Im going to get some prosculpt and try that! Have you messed with that?

Cynthia Thornton said...

No, I haven't. I usually like to get the premo beige for all my stamps and masters because its firm enough to get good detail and easy to see (translucent clays and dark colors make it hard to sculpt accurately-I think). Also if you use a clay machine you can run that fimo through it and it will soften up for that sitting, but if it sits for awhile it will be back to hard as rock.

Unknown said...

Its always trial and error trial and error!!! LOL Grrrrr going back to store this evening. Made another quilt well beautiful one for my Daughter for her table. I love her! Btw can I adopt you too??!! LOL Also Tibetian wool is great for hair. I think my blog is almost dead Im terrible about posting on it waaaaaaa!
Huggs,
Janet x

Andrew Thornton said...

Your sprite is pretty cool! You've been talking about making her for years now.