A New Commission

 You all remember my 'Magic Tea Party' lantern right? 

I brought it to the office to show one of my coworkers because she loves things that light up. And she asked if I could make one with birds in it for her.

Well of course!

So here we go. First the wire and wood skeleton covered with the liquid rubber. (It really does look like a skeleton.)

Then the layer of primer/gesso.  Still a bit skeletal.

Then paint. First black, then dark brown over it and then dry brushing a lighter brown over that just to bring out the texture.

Of course, all of this had to dry, and in between I added vines and grass to the lantern.

Then I was able to add the greenery. And one of the birds that my coworker had requested.

The bird had to be adjusted a bit, nothing ever really seems to work right the first time. And of course, getting the tree inside the lantern is never easy. But I managed.

A few flowers, some dirt and grass around the roots and another couple of birds on a rock and sitting on a tree root.

And I also used my long tweezers to push the silver wire out of sight. The less visible it is the better.

Here's a little close up of the birds. 

My coworker loved it!

In other news, I'm doing a few little things for the bathroom now and then. I don't want to spend entire weekends working on it but it does still need some stuff.

I started to work on my Creatin' Contest kit, although I don't have any pictures yet. I have a firm idea though. And I've pretty much figured out how I'll make it work.