Valentine WIP

I've been working on this love struck heart man off and on for the past few days.
The bad pic doesn't reveal much about him, but we don't want to spoil the fun do we?As far as I can remember, I've never made a Valentine's sculpture in the past. I suppose that makes this guy kind of special! Can't wait to get him painted.

I also have a few little heart ornaments in the works, so keep an eye out for them.

Update

Sorry for the lack of updates. Steph and I have been busy Christmas shopping and celebrating her graduation.

This Christmas season has been so much fun artistically. Spookytime Jingles has been a blast. I've met tons of great people through the site, including its talented artists and the wonderful customers who have bought from me. Its very refreshing to see that the world is full of good people. Thank you all.

I haven't done much sculpting lately, but I do have some new sketches ready to come to life in January. See you soon!

Lance

Look Who Graduated!

Congratulations to my wonderful fiance, Stephanie, who graduated Saturday from Stephen F. Austin State University. She earned her bachelors of Science and Mathematics degree. More specifically she's a probability and statistics whizz.

I'm amazed at how anyone can make this accomplishment, especially with her difficult major. I'm very proud of her. Now for grad school!

^^ There she is with her proud fiance (me!)^^

Blog Award!

I woke up today and checked my blog to a pleasant surprise. Laurie of Monkey Cats Studio passed this great blog award along to me, thanks Laurie!

I'll announce the winners sometime later today.

New Ornament on Etsy

Just listed this little snow guy on Etsy. There's a few more coming soon, including an elf and a Santa; not sure what else.

Btw, don't forget Spookytime Jingles is updating very soon!! Where is the time going, seriously!? I just finished the elf from the below post so keep an eye out for him. See you soon!

Elf WIP and a new Poll

I usually don't remember to take WIP shots until the sculpting is almost finished, but here's an earlier view of this piece. This design has been very ambitious and challenging from the beginning, but it has proven a blast to create.

You'll just have to use your imagination to fill in the gaps, he still has a long way to go before completion!

Also, I am tyring to get some new ornaments ready for etsy. Hopefully I can finish this guy within the next couple of days and get back to them. I'll keep you posted.

Santa's Checkin' His List

Now available on Spookytime Jingles!!!

Santa WIP

Santa WIP for Spookytime Jingles. Don't forget, STJ is listing twice in December!! (Dec.1, Dec. 13).

Look what I Won!

We all have our good days and not so good days. I was having one of the latter days when I was pleasantly surprised by not one, but two blog awards. How great is that!?

Here is the first, from the talented Flora of Bone Head Studios. It's called " The Marie-Antoinette A Real Person, A Real Award."

Here are the Rules for the Award:

1. Please put the logo on your blog

2. Place a link to the person from whom you received the award

3. Nominate at least 7 or more blogs

4. Put the links of those blogs on your blog

5. Leave a message on their blogs to tell them

And here are my selected winners:

1. Huckleberry Arts

2. Garboodles

3. Howling Moon

4. Chicken Lips

5. Surprise, Delight, Joy

6. Audrey Eclectic

7. The Smiling Goat

And here is the second award from the also talented Annette of Huckleberry Arts. Thanks for the pick-me-up Annette!

Here are the rules:

* Put the logo on your blog or post.* Nominate at least 5 blogs(can be more) that for you are Uber Amazing!* Let them know that they have received this Uber Amazing award by commenting on their blog.*" Share the love and link to this post and to the person you received your award from."

And here are the winners:

1. Sleepy Hollow Folk Art

2. Fantastic Figments

3. Fat Jak Originals

4. Marie Patterson

5. Honey Girl Studio

Sorry if you've already received one of these awards. Guess now you'll have two! You are all very deserving.

My 10 Favorite Christmas Movies, and some...

I'm a movie fan, and a sucker for Christmas movies in particular (cheesy though they may be). It's November, and Steph and I have broken out the Christmas DVDs. I've watched the classics growing up, and some may be great to me, if only for the childhood nostalgia, while others have only emerged in recent years as instant classics.

I'll start with my 10 favorite Christmas movies (unless I'm forgetting something.)

10. Nightmare Before Christmas. So it's a mash-up of Christmas and Halloween, but it's an ingeniously made classic as far as I'm concerned.

9. A Christmas Story. Most of you would probably like to strangle me for putting this movie at number nine on my list rather than 1, 2, or 3. The fact is, this one's new to me and I'm not sure I've even seen the whole thing from beginning to end. However, from what I've seen, it deserves a spot here.

8. Miracle on 34th Street (the old one). I don't care who you are, you can't watch this one and tell me it didn't give you a touch of Christmas joy.

7. Prancer Yeah, yeah I know it's not really a guy movie. I grew up on it, it grew on me, and now it's one of my Christmas staples.

6. It's a Wonderful Life I love this movie and it's good old fashion moral. Again, sorry it's not closer to #1 on my list.

5. Polar Express This movie restored my faith that great Christmas movies can still be made today... well four years ago. Truly an amazing flick.

4. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation One of my favorite Christmas movies, and vacation movies. Could be the funniest movie on the list other than #1. I get cracked up just thinking about it!

3. The Santa Claus No-one could have done it like Tim Allen. Such a clever and original idea for a movie. I love it. Unfortunately I can't say the same for the two sequels.

2. Elf My favorite Will Ferrell movie and one of my favorite comedies. There are parts where I can't stop laughing.

and the winner is........

1. Home Alone Wish I knew how many times I've seen this! It never fails to bring the laughs, and that good "Christmasy" feeling. Hands down, my favorite Christmas movie.

And now for some honorable mentions, some of which I'm a little ashamed:

Jingle all the Way This is an almost painfully bad movie, but Steph makes me watch it every year. She doesn't even like it!! However, it has somehow become something of a tradition and it would be kind-of sad to miss it.

Earnest Saves Christmas A childhood classic to me, just didn't have a place in the top ten.

Home Alone 2 It's pretty funny but it's almost a complete knock off of the first one. I'll still give it a watch now and then.

Jack Frost A bit too depressing for me.

So what is your favorite Christmas movie? Check out the poll over on the side bar and vote for your favorite.

Naughty or Nice STJ is listing TWICE!

Yep, you heard right, so don't forget to check out Spookytimejingles on the 1st AND the 13th of December!

New Ornament WIPs

I have a few ornaments in the making, including a couple of Santas, a couple of snowmen, and an elf. Some of them will probably be on Etsy before the week is over, so keep an eye out!

Joyful Winter Snowman

Available now at Etsy.

STJ Sneak Peek

Don't forget to stop in at Spookytime Jingles at 12:00 am for these guys and more!

Winter WIP

I haven't made a lot of closed-eye pieces in the past, so I decided to try my hand at it. I'm not yet sure what will become of this guy. I'm thinking maybe he'll show up on Etsy pretty soon, so keep an eye out!

My Collection

This is something that has been near and dear to me for my whole life. When I was a kid, my grandma gave me a cheap, factory made nutcracker. Somehow it struck a chord with me and I've been collecting every since.

My favorite nutcracker maker is Christian Steinbach, who is also one of my biggest inspirations as an artist. Unfortunately, he just passed away last year. Hopefully his children and grandchildren will carry on his legacy.

In light of the oncoming Christmas season, I'll be posting a picture of a nutcracker from my collection at least once a week.

I'll start with my very first German nutcracker, a Steinbach given to me by one of my grandma's friends. She's a very generous woman!

"Sherlock Holmes"

WOW

This little guy just remembered that the next Spookytime Jingles update is just around the corner, and I think his expression says it all!

Visit me at STJ November 13th to find this elf and more!

Nacogdoches Nonsense, and new Ornaments

You probably had to be there, but Steph and I thought this was hilarious. Keep in mind we live in a small town of about 30,000. The town's been building a Chick-Fil-A, a restaurant who's slogan is "eat more chicken," said by a cow mascot.

The new Chick-Fil-A is right across from a pre-existing Sonic. The grand opening was yesterday, and hundreds of people flocked to the doors, but Sonic had a defense:

A hot dog and a chicken saying eat more Beef. LOL.

Like I said, you probably had to be there!

Surprised Snowman

This is one of several new snowmen ornaments to be available on Etsy soon. I just listed this one today.

Elf WIP

It's amazing how many times I changed my plans for this piece before it ended up where it is now. I first made the package with the intent of having an elf sitting on it. Then I decided to have him standing on it. As you can see, I crossed both of those ideas and decided to put him in the package!

Santa WIP

As far as I can remember, I have never made a themed Santa. This one will be my first.

My dad owns a clock shop and has always been fascinated by time, and the mechanisms that measure it. I guess some of that rubbed off on me. Plus he has a lot of spare clock parts and stuff that he doesn't need, great for artistic inspiration.

What better first themed Santa to create than one inspired by time. Here's how he looks so far:

In his right arm, he will hold a porcelain pocket watch face. I'm thinking this one will also be my first Santa wearing white. Not sure yet. Anyway, time to paint!

New Ornaments

I just made this new Santa ornament, and I'm pretty happy with the way he turned out. Hopefully I'll find time to make some more of these guys.

I think he needs some elf and snowman companions. Better get back to work!

The Haunted Crescent Hotel

A lot of people will immediately dismiss the possibility of ghosts, saying "NO, there's no such thing." I'm a bit of a skeptic myself, but the door is certainly not closed.

Ever heard of the Crescent Hotel? Yeah, I know a lot of hotels say they are haunted just for the publicity. If any hotel is truly haunted, it has to be this one.

I visit the Crescent Hotel at least once a year, in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It's one of the most historic and beautiful hotels in one of the country's most beautiful towns. I've tried to convince my fiance to have our honeymoon there next spring, but apparently she's less of a skeptic than me. Last year, we had the pleasure of taking a "Ghost Tour" of the hotel, where we heard tons of fascinating stories about the place; some very, very disturbing.

We were told about a man by the name of Norman Baker who took over the hotel in the 1930s. He was a self-proclaimed doctor who believed he had discovered a cure for cancer. In those days, it was harder to know some one's background, so as far as his patients were concerned, he was a real doctor.

People flocked to Baker at the old hotel for a chance to have their cancer cured. They had no idea that Baker's "cure" was only a combination of watermelon seed, brown corn silk, alcohol, and carbolic acid. Baker's patients, not having any real treatment would only get worse. When the patients got to the point of crying out in pain and agony, Baker put them in an area of the hotel where people near by couldn't hear their cries of pain.

The tour guides also told us that the cruel doctor would do autopsy-like experiments on people who had not yet died. We were told that hundreds of innocent people died agonizing deaths, trying to be cured of cancer by Baker. Some say that years later, when the hotel was being renovated, human remains were found in some of the basement walls. Baker hid his victims there along with his corruption.

If that's not enough reason for a hotel to be haunted I don't know what is.

A few years ago, my brother, my dad and I were all on the 3rd floor of the hotel. All three of us suddenly felt a bit dizzy, only for a second or two. This could have been our imaginations, but I thought it odd that we all felt the same way at the same time!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDYnU-oMPVI

http://www.prairieghosts.com/cresc.html

I've been Tagged....

I've been tagged by the talented Melissa of Honey Girl Studio.

These are the rules:

#1 Link to the person who tagged you.

#2 Post the rules on your blog.

#3 Write six random things/unspectacular quirks about yourself.

#4 Tag four people at the end of your post and link to them.

#5 Let each person you have tagged know by leaving a comment on their blog.

#6 Let the tagger know when your entry is posted.


And here's the six (very) unspectacular things about me:

1. I have a one-eyed cat named Thomas.

2. I play the hammered dulcimer (music instument you may not have heard of.)

3. I'm obsessed with westerns. Clint Eastwood is probably my favorite actor.

4. I have a 75 gallon fish tank. This is one of my favorite pass-times.

5. I'm semi-ambidextrios. Some things I can only do with my left hand while other things with the right.

6. My favorite pizza is that of Pizza Hut.

There you have 'em. Six very unspectacular things about me! Now here's who I'm tagging:

Candy of Howling Moon Designs.

Annette of Huckleberry Arts.

Marie Patterson.

Laurie of Monkey-Cats Studio.

"Candy Corn-aments"

Just finished these little guys.

Frank N. Stein WIP

Like the new look!? Annette gave my blog a face lift and she did a wonderful job. I couldn't be happier!

I haven't been able to get myself in gear this month so things may be looking a little sparse on Etsy and Spookytime Jingles.

Speaking of STJ, the update is just around the corner. I had considered passing on the Halloween entry this month, but seeing how it's in October, I couldn't resist. Below, you'll see the beginning of my take on everyone's favourite monster, Frankenstein's Monster.

Vist STJ on the 13th for the finished product!

The Etsy Challenge

Just wanted to let everyone know that my "Father Christmas" Santa sculpture is competing in the "Etsy Challenge," a site by BlockheadRod.

If you haven't been to the site, you're missing out on barrels of fun. It's the perfect tool to promote your work and have fun at the same time. Hats off to Rod and Annette for their genious in creating the Etsy Challenge.

Head on over and read up on the details and rules, and while your at it, vote for my Santa!!
(if you like it) He's listed in the weekly grand champion challenge. Thanks!!

http://etsychallenge.blogspot.com/2008/09/929-weekly-grand-champion.html

Blog Face Lift

My blog is in serious need of a face lift. I liked this template when I first created the blog, but soon realized that many other people use this one as well.

I'm not sure what I want, but here's a few things that would be nice:

• A 3 column layout that doesn't chop badges, etc in half
• A stationary background that doesn't move with the text when scrolling (hopefully you know what I mean; sorry for the ignorance!)
• A nice shiney new banner (maybe Annette can help me with this?)

So can anyone offer any advice or help on how I can make this thing look decent without butchering all of my gadgets and past posts? Any advice would be very much appreciated!!

Texas Turmoil

We made it! That was a crazy night not to be forgotten (unfortunately). Aside from a tree on the house, a dirty yard, and no electricity (typing from library), we fared pretty well in the storm.

My thoughts and prayers are with those who were less fortunate, and those who were tragically effected by Ike.

Below are a few pictures I took of our yard:

Today, I was pleasantly surprised when I logged into my Etsy store. Rod of BlockheadRod informed me that my feature on the "Etsy Spotlight On" blog was up. I think it turned out pretty well! Go ahead, click the link below to have a look!!

Etsy Spotlight On

Here we Go Again

Finally in the clear with Gustav and now we have Ike blazing in... except this time it looks like it'll be right on top of us, great.

So again, I may be without power for a long time. Sheesh, I'll be glad when hurricane season is over. I'm sure those even closer to the coast will be thrilled.

Our town is right around the upper edge of the pink.

Gustav

Hurricane Gustav is roaring in our direction but thanks God it's weakening a bit. Fortunately we live far away enough from the coast that we'll probably see no more than some hefty winds and rain.

However, the evacuees are flooding into our town by the thousands to seek refuge, and they need our thoughts and prayers.

Back when Katrina and Rita hit, we lost power for about a week; it was a mess. I hope this doesn't happen again, but if it does, you'll understand my absence.

September STJ WIP

It already feels like crunch time again and everyone's busy at work for the September update of Spookytime Jingles. It just keeps getting better as the months pass for this awesome site.

Here's a pic of one of my September offerings in progress. It has since been completed but if you want to see it in it's entirity, you'll have to wait for the Spookytime Jingles update on September 13.


Now to pass along this kind blog award that I recieved from Laurie at Monkey Cats Studio a while ago. I would like to pass it along to:

David at Chicken Lips

Janet at Folk Art by Campbell Jane

Lori at RetroRudolphs

April at April's Folk Art

Dani at Ambitions Designs

Danita at Danita Art

Marie of Marie Patterson's Studio

I won a Blog Award!!

It's the small things that make it all worth while as a folk artist.

I just recieved a blog award from Laurie at Monkey-Cats Studio, and it really made my day; especially coming from such an outstanding artist.

Now I need to pass this award along to seven others, but not just yet. I'll post my choices very soon.

Two STJ Artists Featured!!

I logged into Etsy today and was pleasantly greeted by an interesting email, asking for permission to feature me on a great website by wonderful Folk from the Heart!

I was also excited to see that Janell of Pumpkinseeds folk art was featured as well. Cool huh!?

It's such a great honor to be featured amongst all of these great artists! Have a look:

http://folkartfromtheheart.com/store/WsAncillary.asp?ID=8

Tagged!

Well, this is my first time to be tagged, and by none other than the great Vintage Sister Studio. If you're familiar with her work (and you probably are) your probably aware of her superb artistic abilities. I just love her work!

So I'm supposed to show off all of the tools I use in my work, which really isn't a whole lot, but here they are:

First off, I use an assortment of pliers and scissors for cutting and bending wire, etc. I couldn't live without my worn out old pair of needle-nose pliers up top.

Here we have various sculpting tools for this and that. I'm not sure what exactly the tool on the bottom is but it's one of my favs. It's great for poking holes through tough materials such as foil.

Now this may or may not seem a little odd to you; i don't know what kinds of things you use. I find that matches make excellent little disposable sculpting tools. I can use them for details that none of the real tools seem to match. Same goes for the guitar picks.

These are great for polymer clay sculpting. They allow you to rotate your piece 360 degrees without getting fingerprints all over everything!

And then of course there's the paint brushes. Yes, this is a pretty sad looking collection of brushes, but they get the job done.

So I guess now I should choose some people to pass this tag along to. Hmm...

1. Laurie at Monkey-Cats Studio

2. Janell at Pumpkinseeds Folk Art

3. Ann at Crowing About Primitives

August 13 STJ Update!!

I hope everyone is as excited as I am about this month's Spookytime Jingles update. I can't wait to see what everyone has in store for this month. Judging by what's been posted so far on our Flickr page, it's gonna rock!! I'm particularly excited about all the new artists coming to STJ; such great talent!


I wanted to have three sculptures listed for each section this month, but I've fallen so far behind I'm afraid this isn't going to happen. Either way, I should get back to the 'studio' and get busy.

Here's a little taste of what Crescent Hill will offer this month...

I'f you would like to see the rest of this sculpture, you'll just have to make your way over to http://www.spookytimejingles.com/ on the 13th!!

Gone Fishing...

...fishing for inspirations that is. I'll be away for a few days to cool my creative jets and hopefully pick up some artistic inspirations along the way. Our destination? First we'll spend a while in Eureka Springs, one of my favorite places in the world. It's pretty much the melting pot of all of my interests, be it the town's rich, artistic background, or it's fascinating haunted history.

Next stop, Branson Missouri. If you're not familiar with Branson, you're missing out. There's a seemingly endless amount of attractions here, including music and variety shows, museum, shops, theme parks, and much much more. If only we had more time.

Anyway, I'll be back soon!

Harvest Moon Man on Crow WIP

This is another work in progress for the August update on Spookytime Jingles. I just couldn't resist creating something moon related for the site, as the moon was one of my early inspirations in the folk art world; hence the name "Crescent Hill Designs."

Fortunately for me, both Christmas and Halloween seem welcoming to moons, from crescent to full.

Below is a not so good pic of the not so finished product, with an unfinished "See no Evil..." looking on in the background.

The Dark Knight

Stephanie and I went to the midnight showing for the opening of The Dark Knight, and like many others, our minds were blown. This could be the best comic book hero movie ever, with the possible exception of Batman Begins. I love 'em both. In fact, it's probably my favorite movie of the year, ranking up there with my all time favs. Needless to say, Heath Ledger was phenomenal, serving up the best performance of his tragically short career; may he rest in peace. I can't wait to see it again, hopefully in IMAX this time. Please do yourself a favor and see this movie now. I think it's important that you get the theatrical atmosphere rather than waiting for DVD.

Halloween Wip for STJ

Unfortunately I was unable to make something for Halloween for the opening month of Spookytime Jingles, but this month will hopefully be a different story. I have a couple of pieces in the works, one of which may eventually become a Santa or something else all together, and another that is pictured below. This stack of quirky pumpkins, called "See no Evil, Speak no Evil, Hear no Evil," is almost ready for some paint. I still need a way to emphasize the "Hear no Evil" pumpkin on the top. He has no ears so I guess he can't hear for that reason, but I may add arms from the middle pumpkin to cover "Hear no Evil's" non-existent ears.

If you're wondering about the bottom pumpkin, his mouth is zipped up. If you look closely you can see the zipper tab on the right side of his mouth.