New kid on the block...

Sometimes things have to sit and simmer before they "become".

I had made a mouse that ended up looking like a rat but I wanted a mouse.

Then I needed the eyes from the rat for the new mouse.

So the rat sat in a corner of my studio, blind and on the back burner....

Until one day I thought "this little guy needs a life".

I don't like to have too many UFO's in my studio.

(that's 'unfinished objects')

I had just got a new shipment of eyes and they were just the ticket to 

get this little guy back on his little rat feet agin.

But it wasn't just the eyes...he needed something else...

Oh, I know...how about some work socks and gumboots?

Out came the Fimo clay and I baked a fresh new pair.

Now since it's harvest time I figured maybe a little pumpkin was in order...

Yup...things were looking up for the young rat lad.

Of course he might need a wee cap with all this rain we've been having...

Acorn tops are the perfect soloution!

Some donkey fir for whiskers.

And we shall call him 'Percy'!

I made him a little wooden platform covered in nice felt and did a blanket stitch around the edges with some vintage linen thread from Northern Ireland

 (thanks for the thread Gillian!)...

 One last look...

Available in here my etsy shop 
Sorry, Percy has now been sold!

Introducing...

(update: Harriette has been sold)
 Sweet Harriette.

I've been working on her for quite some time...it all started with her feet...

I wanted her to be a life size likeness of a species of owl called the Little owl...

(yes that's actually the real name!)

Her other Latin name is Athene (in Greek mythology the Little owl was the messenger

of Athene, the Goddess of Wisdom) noctua (which in Latin is 'of the night')

So here we have the Wise little messenger of the night.

Although this species does tend to hunt during the day, 

it is like most owls who are busy from dusk till dawn.

Another interesting fact about this owl is that it is not completely carnivorous

as most other owls are. It will eat grasses, seeds, berries and fruit as well.

They will hoard things and have been known to have a cache of 30 things or more!

Maybe that's why I like them so much...sweet little collectors that they are.

In Britain there have been cases of the same Little owls occupying their

nesting site for more than 25 years.

Harriette is perched on and adhered to a vintage wooden spool which someone gave to me years ago..

I've been hanging onto it but decided that Harriette was worthy of acquiring 

it for her perch and there she will sit.

She is 8" tall with the spool adding another 3".

Signed and dated and also identified by a small wooden button signed and dated by myself,

available in my Etsy shop here or through my website here.

Not for the faint of heart...

The last time I was over on Saltspring Island I bought my husband one

of the strangest gifts ever.

Introducing....The Deer Hunter.

He's a coat / hat hook and we are quite smitten with him.

 He looks as though he belongs in the hall of a great Scottish Manor...

It is the irony and the sarcasm that I love.

Turning the tables as it were...

I love his leather bag and pantaloon pants and these hooks for legs!...

I know, it's kind of freaky but in a good way.

It's made to look like bronze but it's a type of resin.

I tried to find out if it's a replica of something old and Gothic but

to no avail. For now it will be up to my imagination of

whence he came from.

We haven't come up with a name for him yet...

Bruce? Which has Gaelic meanings of "woods" and "thickets" in it.

Cameron? Gaelic roots come from "crooked nose".

Or how about Osgar? Gaelic notes of the word "deer".

He was meant to go in the hall for Toms work coat but we

moved him into the front room where we can see him more.

A little Gothic, Grimm's Fairy tale love for Tuesday!