Buzzing Behind the Scenes, part 2

It's "tea time"! My last blog post featured the beginning stages of my Buster the Bee sculpture. Today, I'm showing how I made Buster's picnic basket and tea set that he's carrying to Toby's shell. Plus, I have a few close-ups of the final wing set for Buster along with a couple of flower shots.

The photo above shows the beginning stages of the picnic basket and tea set. Can you guess, what's what in the photo? The long strip under the teacup is how I made the teacup. I cut it out like that with wire and masking tape and then formed it into the cup with a wire handle shown above. Those two tab things with a hole in each are for the teapot. This is where the wire for the teapot handle will be inserted.

And ta-da! Here's the tea set ready to be painted. It took a long time to get from the first photo to the second. My Dremel tool came in very handy to clean up the surfaces of the tea set, especially for the teacups. I wanted to get the teapot and cups as smooth as I could.

And here's the picnic basket all painted and ready for Buster to fill with all the fixin's for tea time.

And here's the completed tea set and basket. I was very happy with how the teapot, teacups and picnic basket turned out. I wanted the tea set to look like a real little set of cups with matching teapot. I was anxiously awaiting for the time when I could attach the handle to the teapot to finish it off. I also waited in anticipation for the glaze to go on to make it look shiny.

And can you guess what these are? Yes, Buster's wings that took blood, sweat and tears to make. Okay, not quite, but they were one of the most challenging pieces to make.

I could not wait until I could attach this set of wings to Buster, but I had to wait until Buster was all painted before attaching them. And, yes you will have to wait too...until my next post when I feature the finished Buster piece all painted and put together. I had so much fun making this piece and it was challenging and exciting to wait and see how it all came together. Before I end today's post, I'd like to share with you a couple of close-up shots of a couple of flowers from my Buster sculpture.

This little ladybug was visiting one of the coneflowers for the Buster sculpture. It was real late at nite and when I walked into my work room to turn off the lamp and check on my work, here was this lil' beetle walking along the petals. Oh my, could that be the real life Lilly the Ladybug visiting one of Buster's flowers? Needless to say I had to capture this Lilly moment on film, um...digital film.

And here's the inside of one of the Poppy flowers for the piece. I am a fan of Poppy flowers so I had to include some of them on this piece. Well, that's all for now. Keep your eyes open for my next post that will be bursting with colorful flowers and Buster toting his teaset and basket to the party.

Visit my website Lilly Bug Studio, to find out more about Lilly the Ladybug and her friends!

My First Craft Show pics!!!

This last April was my very first craft show that I participated in. At the show, my friend Deanna took some pics with her camera for me. Yes, it's been awhile since April, but it's better late than never. So here are the photos. The pic above is me with my creations.

The white case in the photo above displayed my Artful Pen collection. I recently purchased an acrylic displayer for my pens. I bought it for $10, at a Hallmark store going out of business. What a bargain! I don't have a pic of it yet.

When I look at these pics, I think of all of the ways I want to improve the "merchandising" of my work. Since my first show I found some new display fixtures from a couple of local gift shops going out of business. I'm so glad that I was able to find a tabletop spinner to hang my hand-made pins on. It will look so much better than having them just laying flat on the table. I also found a nice floor spinner to hang my Petite Purses on. Yay! Click here to see the pics of my Petite Purse display spinner.

Up near the top center of the photo stands my Bride and Groom Recyc-a-lite penguins, that I customize. Below the Bride and Groom are my Recyc-a-lite bunny and chick sculptures.

The framed print is a giclee print of one of my watercolors. I had a raffle prize basket with some Easter treats and a Recyc-a-lite chick sculpture.

I was fortunate to have three helpers for my craft show booth. Unfortnately, it was not too busy, so we didn't have too many customers to wait on. In the photo above are Pat, Renee and myself. Renee was looking at my necklace that I was wearing that my sister, Sue, made for me. And my third helper, Deanna, is taking the photo of us.

Here's one of my Recyc-a-lite Chick sculptures!!!

And here's one of my favorite pics of my Recyc-a-lite bunnies.

A couple of my Recyc-a-lite penguin sculptures.

And last but not least, my ladybug sculptures.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my first craft show pics. My second craft show will be at the end of November and I'm hoping that my "merchandising" skills will be more effective then. I'm busy getting more pieces done for the November show. Talk to you later! :-)

My Bee Pen buzzed into a Treasury!

Sue, a seller from Etsy sent me a "convo" to let me know that she included my Bee Artful Pen in her adorable Ladybug and Bee themed treasury. Hurray! Sue's store is called, "Growing Like a Weed." Stop by her store to see all of the cute hand-painted children's items she creates. One of her items is shown in her treasury. It's the sweet, hand-painted ladybug step stool. The bug step stool shown below, is one of my favorites from Sue's shop.

Interested to see how I make my pens? I have a three part tutorial here at my blog that shows the step-by-step process, including how I make my own silicone molds. Stop by and leave a comment. Click here to see Part One of "The Life of an Artful Pen from Beginning to End."

See the feedback from my Etsy customers, here.