A New Beginning

There are few things I love more than a brand new sketch book!  It sort of reminds me of back-to-school days, when you got new spiral notebooks and number 2 pencils and a fresh box of crayons!  Nothing sweeter in my mind!  All things full of possibilities! 

This morning I pulled a fresh sketchbook from the drawer so I could begin sketching the 2015 Christmas ornament collection.  (I am well aware that it is June 10th.  I am well aware that most of you are thinking about swimming pools and baseball games and flip flops and all things summer.  Being an artist that sells HANDMADE holiday decorations, I have to be in a different mindset this time of year.)

 

I prefer small, spiral bound sketchbooks.  They are easily portable, and you can fold the book back on itself.  This one is 5.5" x 8.5", a perfect size for me.  I try to catch them on sale so I can have a back-up on hand.  And while a simple number 2 pencil is great, these days I like to use mechanical pencils.  This Pentel .7mm is my favorite. 

 

The first blank page.  Oh, the possibilities this holds! 

 

And here you have it!  The first sketch of 2015!  A sneak peak, if you will, of my ornament collection.  I've never done any ornaments with owls, and they are so popular right now, I thought it was time to try them out.  I have high hopes for this sketch.  I think it will make a really cute one!

 

 

As I've been sketching, I've had yesterday's production in the oven.  Snowmen.  I do KNOW it's summer!  (In fact, in Omaha yesterday we were flirting with 100 degrees!  The thermometer on my card read 100 for a split second!  UGH!!  Last week at the same time we were 64 and raining!  Talk about being all over the place, weather wise!)

 

It's time to get back to the studio.  More snowmen are calling my name!  Have a wonderful SUMMER DAY! 

 

Lisa



Santa and Elves

Time to show you a few more of my 2013 Limited Edition Christmas Ornaments.  How about Santa and a couple of elves?

Ho! Ho! Ho!

 

This is actually one of my more simple designs.  I feel I need to have a wide range of ornament designs in my collection.  While I love the ones I make that have lots of tiny pieces and minute details, those are more labor intensive, and therefore more expensive.  Buyers might appreciate them, but they might not be within their budget.  So each year I design a few ornaments that I can produce more quickly and sell for a little less money.  This Santa fits that bill.

 

He is dressed in his bright red suit and green mittens, holding a sign with his classic holiday greeting.  The "Ho!Ho!Ho!" is cut from very thin coils of clay.  "Merry Christmas" is handwritten in bright green ink.  A sprig of holly and the year 2013 trim his hat.  He is simple, but cute!! 

 

Ho!Ho!Ho! is still available in my etsy shop and also at Pfatt Marketplace.

 

Elvin

 

This adorable little elf is another example of one of my more simple designs.  He is dressed in a green and red elf suit, trimmed with white.  I used red striped baker's twine to tie a little silver jingle bell to the tip of his hat.  I love his pointy ears and his big, mischievous grin!  Has he been naughty or nice?

 

You can find Elvin in my etsy shop.

 

Peppermint Patty

 

One of my favorites this season!  She has quite a bit more detail than the Santa and the first elf.  She is dressed in classic red and green, with striped stockings and holly on her hat.  She is holding a big candy cane and a disc edged in candy-cane stripes.  Nothing is painted on this ornament except for the tiny white dots in her eyes. 

 

Peppermint Patty has been sold out already, but I wanted to show her to you anyway.  I think she is really adorable!

 

 

I  actually finished up the remainder of the 2013 collection last week!  YAY!!  Normally it's a scramble right before Christmas to finish up and have enough ornaments to give to my family.  This year it's done early!  YAY!!  (did I already say YAY! ??)  Unless I have a huge selling run at A Piece of Lisa on etsy, or at my final show, I should be OK for the year and not have to add another design or two.  (My family would NOT be happy if they missed out on their ornaments this year!)

 

The ornaments may be finished, but there is still a lot of other work to do in the studio, so I best be off to do it!!  Have a great day!

Lisa

 



Christmas Ornament #2

This year I made 15 limited edition Christmas ornament designs.  I shared one with you last week here, and today I'm going to share another.  Eventually I will show them all individually here on my blog, but if you are impatient and can't wait for days between them, you can always pop over to my etsy shop and view the whole collection. 

So, we had a Santa last week.  Today we'll take a look at a snowman design.

Shorty, Slim and Slick

 

Just as people come in all shapes and sizes, so do snowmen.  I don't think all snowmen should be made from three perfectly round balls of snow.  I think it's fun to mix it up a little bit--that's how Shorty, Slim and Slick were born.  While Slick might be a typical snowman, his friends Shorty and Slim are both made from egg-shaped balls.  Shorty's are stacked on the long side, and Slim's are stacked on the ends.  Even their hats are quirky shapes--tall and skinny and short and flat. 

 

 

This fun ornament is handcrafted from a custom-mixed, pearly white polymer clay that has a subtle glimmer, much like real snow.  Each snowman wears a colorful scarf and a top hat trimmed with silver hatbands  The tiny holly leaves, the little gold star and the small blue bird are all cut from clay.  The only painted details on this ornament are the tiny white dots in their eyes. 

 

As with all my 2012 ornaments, this one is limited to an edition of five, but none of them are exactly alike.  Each is individually handmade, and signed, numbered and dated on the back.  A signed certificate of authenticity is included with each ornament.

 

I love these three frosty friends.  Maybe because they are a little bit quirky, like me! 

Lisa

 

A little Reminder:

Would you love to win this set of four quirky snowman faces? 

 

Well, it's easy to enter.  All you have to do is sign up to follow my blog.  You can do it either by submitting your email address in the little box in the upper right sidebar OR you can sign up to follow through google by clicking the blue 'join this site' button, also on the sidebar.  Once I hit 30 followers (and we are SOOOO close now) I will randomly draw a name to receive this adorable set of ornaments.  Have you already signed up?  Tell a friend!  Let's get this giveaway going!!