Years ago, I painted my mom a mailbox in “my style” (dragons and creatures and the like; she didn’t want flowers or trees, she wanted something I would normally do). It was an acrylic painted wooden mailbox, and she liked it a lot. Close to ten years later, I have tried to do other mailboxes for her, as the original was getting pretty weathered and my art skills had improved. Two (or three) failed mailboxes have come and gone…and now, I finally have created a worthy replacement.

Mailbox, Now with More Norse Fairytale Goodness

I created a digital illustration in Photoshop that was applied to a plain pine mailbox with iron-on transfer paper. This method I used was far from perfect, but I’m really happy with how it turned out. The merging of the iron-transfer paper with the mailbox produced a bit of a wood-bubble-grain-paper texture effect, which I really like

The mailbox is a mesh of norse mythology and fairytales – Yggdrasils (world tree) is the ‘setting/frame’ (you can see the unnamed eagle and Veðrfölnir the hawk at the very top). I threw in my own interpretation of the four stags, and some original characters I designed (based on fairytales) were added for good measure. Tættec is on top of the lid, with a half-troll to her left and her now calf-headed sister to the right. At the sides are two characters, “the Norman Lion” and Cerdic. And in between the two deer in the front panel is Tættec’s goat, Brúsi. I’ll post just the digital image in the weeks to come, along with details about the characters, who are part of my (distant future) comic book/graphic novel/illustrated story Tatterhood.

I used stock from MoonsongStock, xNickixStockx, Sassy-Stock, and LughoftheLongArm as reference for the eagle, the two main deer and the rats (they’re in there!). I had a screen-capture from Robin Hood (Errol Flynn) that I used as ‘arm/deer’ reference for part of Cerdic. And I used a reference from a picture of a headless guy in a red shirt holding a fawn for the Norman Lion pose – for the life of me, I can’t find the source, but I’m determined to dig it up again! I bought the pine mailbox from Country Bear Woodcrafts and the paper from Gold Seal Specialty Papers. It was surprisingly hard to find a plain pine mailbox and 11×17 dark t-shirt iron-on transfer paper that didn’t break the bank!

Whew, that’s a lot of text. I promise, next update there will be more images, less words.

Ah, who am I kidding – there’s going to be text.

It's Hobbes!

…from Calvin and Hobbes, the great comic by Bill Watterson of course.

Self-made pattern – as there isn’t a real stuffed Hobbes out there to buy. A decision (that included not licensing his characters for coffee mugs, plastic figures, and a major motion picture with two sequels, each with their own video game) that I support…but I still wanted my sister to have her own Hobbes, so I made one! (Don’t be mad, Mr. Watterson).

More photos here!

I made my sister a shirt for ol’ Yule time givings.

Calvin and Hobbes Shirt

Based on the beloved, beautiful comic by Bill Watterson, I screened/stenciled a design of one of the most memorable Calvin and Hobbes strips. I was heavily inspired by the fantastic needlepoint of armaine, and one of the saddest shirts in the world. More pictures here!

Christmas gift for my Dad…

Don't bleed on my shrubbery!

…a handmade Knight who Says Ekke Ekke Ekke Ekke Ptang Zoo Boing Zow Zing and The Black Knight, from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. They might be silly, strange and lopsided, but they do function as golf club covers, and they were a big hit! In fact my sister was rather sad that she didn’t get one…

I'm invincible!

…but I did screen-print her a Black Knight shirt! Now they can be twins!

In between Tasty Planet 2 work and wedding preparations and site development and story building and a hole slew of other things that will eventually get finished (siiigh), I’ve been helping my brother in law with some costume construction. He really gets into Halloween like me and my husband, and this year he decided he wanted a head cast so he could sculpt all kinds of masks and prosthetic pieces. The whole family pitched in and helped.

Plaster of Paris Head Mold,1st Layer

Doing a life cast is a whole lot easier with three additional pairs of hands. We changed how we did a few things – when prepping the mold for the ultra cal, we bound the old together with a few plaster bandages down the seam AND wrapped it duct tape,and my brother concocted a different type of stand for the ultra cal cast.

Casted Ultra Cal Head

It’s definitely not a process for the faint of heart – stick to buying an armature head or a foam head if you’re a bit claustrophobic. Or have problems breathing. Or if you have an allergy to vaseline. Please, be really careful if you do attempt a head cast (especially if you go the straws-in-nose method). For more in-progress shots, check out this.

With Hanukkah just around the corner, and Christmas, Kwanzaa, and a boat-load of festivities on the way, why not make a gift this year? You still have time!

4. Ornament/Key Chain

Holiday Ornaments

All you need is a little Sculpey and some time. There are plenty of tutorials and projects to work from over at the Sculpey site, and many more scattered all over the web. The little guys up above I made last year with plain white Sculpey, and then painted with acrylics.

5. Screenprint/Paint Clothing

Napoleon Screenprint Tie

If you have the time, the gear, and a little bit of time to practice, you can screenprint a shirt, tie, you name it! I used EZ Screen Print, which is a great ‘no-chemical’ way to make screens, but I found that the shipping was so much for the special paper, and I wasn’t using the screens to their full potential. So another method of putting a desired image onto fabric is using the freezer paper method! Much cheaper, and works just as well I find! You do need a little more time to do it, and a little more practice, but you get *fantastic* results. Here’s a few good tutorials, but there are lots of other ones out there – investigate and decide what works best for you!

Yoki the Dragon

If you know someone who is into plushies (either making or receiving them) or you yourself enjoys making stuffed animals, there are many cute and cuddly patterns available online for you to give (or to buy, make and give). This winter solstice season, why not give Yoki to someone you care about, created by DIY Fluffies. I just love this little guy – I’ve made him three times already in a bounty of colours, and have changed bits of the pattern each and every time.

Thunderbride, Thunderbrides maid and Thunderbride mini maid (for the flower girl)

Some shirts that I designed and screen-printed (with help from the hubby) for a bride (my sister!) and her bridesmaids (include me!) to wear pre-wedding. Sigh, if we only had one more person in the wedding party – we would have had enough for a baseball team.

Not bad for my first pattern! Still have to work out some kinks.

Dana

The dragonfly’s a timid thing,
He’s very pretty, too;
His lacy wings are clear as glass
And delicate as dew.
I don’t know why the dragonfly
Has such a fearful name.
I never saw a dragon
That was nearly half as tame.