FREE Custom Creation* Giveaway!!!

Yes, FREE! I will give away one custom Faerie Bearie, animal or baby dragon up to a $55 USD value. The prize includes shipping. There will be no cost at all to the winner.

How? Just follow my blog!

I am running this giveaway promotion to increase my blog readership and traffic to my Etsy shop and Facebook page.

The terms are simple: follow my blog using the Google widget in the lower right hand of your screen and you will be automatically entered!  You must follow publicly or I cannot see you and you will not be entered.

Current blog followers will be automatically entered, you don't have to do a thing.

Refer a friend and get +1 entries into the draw! To get the +1, please have your friend leave a comment in this post stating who it was that referred them and I will add an entry for you.

Purchase any doll (micro or tiny dragons excluded) from my Etsy shop and receive +10 entries into the draw! Please leave a comment in note to seller that you are a follower and I will add these upon verification.

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The drawing will take place once I have reached 100 blog followers. If I reach over 100 in one day, the followers who joined up until the end of that day 11:59pm New Zealand Standard Time will be included.

I will notify the winner immediately following the drawing. By entering the contest, you give me express permission to use your name or other online handle to announce the winner in a blog post and on my other related sites.

If you choose to follow my blog and want to opt out of the contest, please email me with your Google ID and you will be removed from the draw.

No purchase necessary (unless you want +10 entries--see above).

Thank you for helping others discover my work and good luck!

I reserve the right to modify the conditions of the giveaway at any time. If this occurs, I will notify all participants through this post and through my Facebook page.

*Custom unicorn/pegasus is excluded from this promotion.

Realism in Fantasy

I'm often asked how I get my felts to look so "real". Considering I do fantasy creatures, that puts a smile on my face. But really most, if not all, are derivative of actual real live things. One of the things I do, and have always done is to use images as a point of reference.

In the good old days before the internet, I used books. My father had a massive library of art books and other neat books that I could use for inspiration or reference. I still do that to this day, but Google is my best friend.

When creating Frosty, my first felt, I used Google images for everything on this little guy. From the shape of his nose to the placement of the eyes and type of claws I still wanted him to have true polar bear qualities.

I did the same thing with my squishy panda. After watching the Panda Cam of the San Diego zoo pandas, I just had to make one! I used heaps of images to get the face just right!

And really, what is a dragon? A giant lizard. I kept iguanas as pets for many years and loved their form, shape and mannerisms. I can still see a little bit of my iguanas, Renfield and Squee, in my dragons.

I don't really use photos as point of reference for them, because I spent so much time around lizards, and I think that is apparent :)

As far as unicorns go, it's really a white horse with a horn glued (or stapled!) on. It reminds me of the movie "Scrooged" when the prop man is trying to glue antlers onto a mouse. Tried to find a screen grab of this, but couldn't find one!

I use photos of horses to get the body shape right, and sculpt a horn from paperclay. It's quite tricky getting the shape right, but with the right amount of practice, you can create anything. I highly recommend using wire armatures as well. It's great to have the basic body structure there in front of you, and then you just build on that. I hope to put an armature tutorial on here one of these days, I just have to get around to taking photos while I am making one.

So there is my tip for any aspiring fantasy or animal artists. Always use photos for reference. Try to get different angles and poses. I keep multiple windows open while sculpting.

Felt really is an amazing medium. I used to make classic plush dolls, but I find felting a much more forgiving medium and I feel (sometimes) that I can get much more creative with it.

For anyone looking to start out felting and don't know where to begin, I highly recommend Living Felt. I started out with the bear kit and have never looked back! There are really great step by step instructions to get the basics down and it is really easy and FUN! I can't say enough about this shop and how great the supplies are, and the owner Marie is really lovely and helpful.

If you have any questions you would like answered, or are looking for tips and tricks, email me and I'll get back to you as soon as I can, or will post regarding your subject of interest.

There are no limits to the imagination!

Fairy Bearie #4 - Heaven

Heaven is my fourth Faerie Bearie. She is made of a snow white merino/silk blend (80/20). She is accented with baby blue New Zealand Corriedale paw pad, ear and face details. Her nose is felted black New Zealand Corriedale wool. Heaven is five way thread jointed.

Heaven is 1 3/4" sitting, 3 1/4" tall standing and has a 2 1/2" wingspan. She cannot stand unaided.

She is holding a gorgeous cherub bead that has been permanently attached. She has gold coloured acrylic doll eyes.

Heaven's wings are light blue organza over wire. They are embellished with blue and white glass beads. The wings have been sealed for shine, durability and flexibility.

Heaven is #4 in my Faerie Bearie line. She comes beautifully presented in a satin lined window box, ready for gift giving or to put on display. Her tag is signed and has her name and birthday.

Heaven is available for purchase in my Etsy shop.

Faerie Bearie #3 - Angel

Angel is my third Faerie Bearie. She has a antique or vintage look to her in her colours and theme. She is made of a merino/silk (80/20) blend that is a gorgeous mix of browns, pink and greens. Her belly, paw pads, ear and face details are seafoam green New Zealand Corriedale wool.

She is 1 3/4 inches tall sitting, 3 1/8 inches tall standing and 2 1/2 wide (includes wingspan). Angel cannot stand unaided. She is five way thread jointed and can be posed several ways.

Her wings are seafoam green organza over wire and are sealed for durability and shine. They are flexible and bendable. Her eyes are green Swarovski crystals.

She is holding a beautiful silver heart bead that is permanently attached.

Angel is #3 in my Faerie Bearie line. She comes beautifully presented in a satin lined window box, ready for gift giving or to put on display. Her tag is signed and has her name and birthday.

She is now available in my Etsy shop.

Faerie Bearie #2 - Sunny

Sunny is my second Faerie Bearie! I think he could quite possibly be my favourite needle felt so far! He has such a sweet little face.

He waits, wide eyed and expectant, holding out a freshly picked spring bouquet. Won't you love him? He is 2 inches tall (sitting), 3 1/4 tall (standing) and 2 3/8 wide (includes wingspan). He cannot stand unaided.

His body is sculpted of a beautiful lemon yellow New Zealand Corriedale wool. His belly, paw pad, ear and face details are merino wool. Sunny is five way thread jointed.

He is holding a beautiful bouquet of rosettes that is permanently attached. His eyes are gold acrylic doll eyes. The wings are organza over wire and are sealed. They are flexible and bendable. I have embellished the wires with various beads to complement him.

Sunny is #2 in my Faerie Bearie line. He comes beautifully presented in a satin lined window box, ready for gift giving or to put on display. His tag is signed and has his name and birthday.

Available for purchase at my Etsy shop.

Faerie Bearies!

So I'm taking a wee break from dragons, as they are so time consuming. I decided to go back to where it all began - bears, but with a touch of fantasy...and so "Faerie Bearies" were born. This has been something I've been thinking about doing for a while, but  have been so engrossed in completing the dragons I had queued in my imagination, they fell to the wayside.

Aurora is my first in what will probably be a line of many bears. She is only 1 3/4 inches tall and 2 3/4 inches wide including her wingspan. She is felted from a gorgeous merino/silk (80/20) blend that is a gorgeous blend of purples and natural white silk. Her paw pads, belly, ear and face details are a beautiful pink romney wool. Her nose is New Zealand Corriedale.

Aurora is five way thread jointed and is holding a lovely resin flower that is permanently attached. Her eyes are Czech glass beads.

Her wings are organza over wire and are sealed, so they are flexible and bendable. I have embellished the wires with various glass beads to complement her. I have attached them with silver metallic thread.

Aurora is #1 in my Faerie Bearie line. She comes beautifully presented in a satin lined window box, ready for gift giving or to put on display. Her tag is signed and has her name and birthday.

She is now available in my Etsy shop.

Secret

An old fashioned key gave me the inspiration for Secret. With her mischievous smile and her hands holding out the key to some treasure to be unlocked, she is full of mystery and wonder.

Her dress is a pale blue crepe de chine and the overskirt is layered with seafoam green and purple organza. The sleeves are also layered organza with crepe flares and the waistband is a beautiful trellis trim. Her wings are a pale blue organza and wire with iridescent thread detail and glass beading on the tips.

Multicolor rosebuds add a burst of color on her headwreath as well as winding up her legs and are balanced out with her glass bead necklace that has a clasp to make it removable.

10 inches tall. Comes with signed original concept sketch.

Alternate and closeup views below.

If you are interested in purchasing Secret, please contact me.

Violet

When rummaging through my fabrics, I found a beautiful violet and lavender swirl print fabric and was inspired to create Violet. When fabricating her body, I posed her so she could be displayed sitting on a shelf, or hung up to look as if she were flying.

Her necklace is made of glass beads and a pewter moon and has a clasp so it is removable. Her top is made of velveteen and her skirt is the lavender swirl print fabric and lined with the same velveteen as her top. The wings were constructed with iridescent organza and wire with both cotton and metallic thread detail and glass beading on the tips. The ankle detail is the same organza used for the wings and sewn on with glass seed bead accents. There are also glass bead adornments in her yarn hair.

17 inches tall. Stand is not included.

Now available in my Etsy shop!