And The Winner Is...

Bear with me please, while I draw a name out of Santa's hat...

I'm happy to announce that the winner is South Shore Artist, Leola Walker! Congratulations, Leola. Please contact me with your snail mail address and I'll send you your Santa. I hope you like him, he was my very first paper mache Santa.

Later this week I will show you my Santa Number Three. As I mentioned last week, I've been presenting them in random order.

I hope you all have a great week,

Maggie

Four Days Until the Drawing for Santa

There's only four more days to enter the drawing for my first paper mache Santa. The drawing is open to everyone who follows my blog. If you are a follower, and you haven't emailed me to add your name to the drawing, now is the time! I will be drawing a name from Santa's hat early Sunday, July 31, and posting the name of the winner around noon-ish.

This is the Santa that someone is going to win on Sunday!

I've become so unorganized lately. It's because I have too much stuff! In the coming weeks I plan on organizing my craft storage room, and pulling out crafting items that I purchased with good intentions of using, but just never got around to. I have things in boxes that haven't been unpacked since I moved into this house 15 months ago because there wasn't room to put it all. Believe me, there's a lot of stuff in there! Everything from fabrics, buttons, beads, miniature items, dolls, paper crafting, rubber stamps, purse making hardware, unpainted wood, yarn, etc. Some things will go to Goodwill, and later I'll probably have a "garage sale" of sorts on Etsy or maybe just on my blog.

I probably won't have time to blog about any new Santas for a while, but I do have several finished Santas that I haven't shown you yet. I haven't been posting them in order of completion.

If you don't hear from me for weeks at a time, I hope that you don't forget me.

I hope you are all having a wonderful, creative week.

Maggie

P.S. My email account had a virus, and on July 25 it sent strange emails with nothing in the subject line to EVERYONE in my contact list. So, if you received emails from me with just a link and nothing else, please understand that I didn't send it. I hope that the problem with my email account has been cleared up.

Santa Number 21

My twenty-first paper mache Santa looks more like an old-fashioned Belsnickle to me than any of my other Santas.

He was sculpted over a water bottle with paper mache. Other "ingredients" include paper clay, fabric, linen cord and acrylic paints and mediums. He is just over 10" tall.
 

He wears a barn red hooded cloak trimmed with white. This Santa obviously is from leaner times, when he and Mrs. Claus had to make do. His cloak and bag are patched.

I love the colors of his patches and his mittens. His pointy-toed boots were made seperately and attached securly with wooden dowels and glue. They were sewn from muslin and stuffed with paper mache, then painted. A little unorthodox, but I like to experiment. I doubt that I would stuff anything larger with paper mache, though, as it's a rather messy way to go.

My talented and handsome 11-year old grandson, Devon has been visiting for the past 12 days. We had a lot of fun together, making things, bar-b-qing (on the ground), shopping, etc. He left this afternoon to stay with his Grandpa. While he was here he wanted me to teach him to make an alien. We also made a batch of porcelain clay for him to work with, and take to his Grandpa's house in case he doesn't have anything to do. Although, that's probably not going to be an issue. There are horses and dogs there, and lots of activities with his Grandpa. Here's a photo of him holding the alien (named Diablo) that he made:

I'll miss him, but hopefully he'll be back to my house again this summer before he has to fly back to California.
Thanks for stopping by,
Maggie

Here Comes Santa Claus

Here comes Santa Claus,
Here comes Santa Claus,
Right down Santa Claus Lane,
Hmmm hmm hmmm hmmmm hmmm...

I can't remember all of the words, but I do know the tune. It is stuck in my head now.

It's Christmas Eve, and Santa is about half finished with his deliveries. Santa has lowered his bag of toys and treats down this chimney and now he's climbing down. I hope he doesn't get stuck, it looks like a tight fit! I am amazed at how clean Santa keeps his red and white suit, what with all of those sooty chimneys, and the snow!

The chimney is made from a 4" wooden box covered in paper mache. Santa is made from paper mache, paper clay, acrylic paints and mediums. Inside the chimney is a wind-up musical movement that plays the full tune of "Here Comes Santa Claus", accompanied by a tick-tock rhythm. It sounds really nice. I love adding music movements to my pieces when I can.

This piece measures 7-1/2" high, by approx. 6" at the widest point.

I have decided to have my drawing for the free Santa on the last day of July 31. I don't think I will reach 100 followers by Christmas, and it doesn't matter how many followers I have. I love having all of you follow, and I want one of you to win my first paper mache Santa.

So, July 31 is the day! If you haven't emailed me that you'd like to be entered in the drawing, do so SOON. You must be a follower of this blog to win.

Thank you for dropping by, and I hope you are having a great Friday!

Maggie

Santa's Coming to Town

Only 5+ shopping months until Christmas!!! I bet this paper mache Santa would look great on that special someone's fireplace mantel, shelf or table top. This is the 20th paper mache Santa that I've created since I started working with this medium.

He has a big bag stuffed full of toys for all you good girls and boys. There's probably some coal in there too, just in case you haven't been so good.

He carries a shiny Christmas wreath over his left arm as he waves. You should check out his profile. Here he is from the right side...

And from the left side...

He wears his belt under his tummy, like some other guys I know (not mentioning names). Looks like someone's been eating too many cookies. And, here he is again, walking away...

This vintage-look Santa stands all of 10-1/2" tall. He wears a traditional American-style red Santa suit, with a broad belt and boots. He can stand on his own, so he doesn't have a base.

Once again, I want to remind you of my drawing for a free OOAK paper mache Santa:

Thank you so much for visiting me, and please come back again soon!

Maggie

TIAN

"I've warned you, Tian, about getting too near to those humans in your explorations of this world", thought Zian. "You are only 116 years old, and you shouldn't be wandering around on your own."

"But, Great Mother," thought Tian, "how else am I to learn about this world before the time comes for me to rule?"

"Do not communicate to me in that color, Tian. Show some respect. You were the first of your siblings conceived on this world, but that doesn't entitle you to disregard common courtesy."

"I'm sorry, Mother. I promise that I wasn't seen by those humans. Besides, they aren't as intelligent as we are. I've heard their thoughts. They think that we are a myth!"

"All the same, my daughter, we must not be discovered by the humans. We are not ready to inherit this world. Fortunately, our life expectancy is much longer than theirs, and we have time to wait.

"Now that the mercury level is rising, we are regaining our strength. And our effort to raise global temperatures is coming along nicely. More of our young are being born each year.

"But, at the same time, there have been disturbing rumors that some of the younger children in the outlying areas are beginning to show characteristics of some of the intelligent beings of this world. They've even been heard communicating in those odd whistling noises and squeeks. Of course, they communicate by thought, as do we all, but this audible language that the youngest are using is not understandable by the Originals. I don't know if this is cause for concern, or simply a natural evolution hastened by the alien nature of the water on this world."

Tian was the first of her generation to be born on the new world. More than two hundred years had passed between the Arrival and her birth. She comes from a race of intelligent and somewhat peaceful beings who were forced to abandon their home world. Their planet was on the brink of colliding with their sun. Fortunately, after years of scanning the universe, their most powerful searchers sensed our planet. Earth was the only planet within travelling distance that had enough water and the elements they needed to ensure their survival. Two hundred and twenty of the Originals boarded the only star ship that they'd had time to create. Ninety five of those perished in the 607-year journey.

Now, over three hundred years after their arrival, their numbers have increased to nearly 10,000. Not many beings by our standards, but with their long lives (approximately 1250 years), time is on their side. Besides, they estimate that they only need to wait for another 150 to 200 years before all the humans on this planet have destroyed each other.

********

Tian is my mixed media OOAK Art doll, sculpted from paper mache and paper clay over a wire armature.
 

 
Her fins and tail are made from paper. Her hair resembles seaweed, and little fish tend to swim through it.
 

She is 14" from tip of tail to the top of her head. She holds a sea shell in her right "hand".
 

She likes to adorn herself with different sea animals, shells and items that she finds in her explorations. Today she wears a "sea star" around her neck. She is attached to her base with a painted brass rod.

 
Thank you for dropping by, and I hope you have enjoyed reading my story about Tian and her kind.
Maggie

That Old Gift Bearer

Santa has been bringing gifts for good boys and girls for hundreds of years. No, he never tires of it. He may look a little tired here, but that's just what age does, right? LOL. My children and grandkids are always telling me I look tired. I tell them I'm not, gravity is just working against me.

Anyway, more about this old gift bearer. Santa is wearing a fur trimmed cloak with a hood. He's not wearing any mittens right now, because he's indoors. Some lucky little kid is getting three packages! I wonder what's inside them?

He is constructed almost entirely of paper mache (his hands were made with cold porcelain clay), gessoed, and painted with acrylic paints and mediums. The robe under his cloak is printed scrapbook paper. The three packages are styrofoam wrapped with scrapbook papers, sealed and antiqued, and then I sprinkled them with a little "snow".

He's only the second Santa that I've made who isn't wearing a hat or hood over his bald pate. I kind of like the look of his hood thrown back.

Oh, one more thing. Santa wants me to remind you of my free drawing. Just click on the picture below for details:

Thank you for stopping by!
Maggie