OddMall 2014

I had a table at OddMall!  I was next to SikRik Masks.  OddMall was held in the John S Knight center in downtown Akron Ohio, because it outgrew its old venue. I had never been there before, though I am acquainted with the guy who runs the whole show, Andy Hopp, from attending his other conventions. It was exciting to be in a big juried show like this!

Unfortunately I didn’t sell very much. But it was a good experience! If you are interested in buying any of my jewelry or dragons, some of the jewelry is up on Etsy, but it is better to just ask me about my dragons via glimmer [at] glimmerville.com.

Here be Dragons

Glimmerville at Odd Mall

A Few of my Favorite Things

I just finished a new set of Steampunk Dragon Wedding Cake Toppers!

They are a little bit over four inches tall, and each one is unique. The recipient requested the antique movie camera held by the gold-eyed fella, and the d20 die to be held by the blue-eyed girl. I love being able to satisfy such quirky and original suggestions!

If you are interested in commissioning me, for your own set of totally one-of-a-kind wedding cake keepsakes, please e-mail glimmer{at}glimmerville.com let’s talk it over! Or contact me through glimmerville.etsy.com. Some commission details are here.

Man and Wife

 

Lola’s Necklace

A haunting violin strain wavered through the Artisan’s mind as she woke up. A fragment of… what had she been dreaming? And then she realized – it was Lola’s birthday. She had no doubt where Glimmerville would take her today.

Quickly she dressed and fed Brassica, then packed some currant scones, clotted cream, and raspberry leaf tea to take with her. And… but what would she give Lola, other than tea? A necklace, of course, but what would suit a psion? Ruby, perhaps, for the fire… but some green should cool and balance it. And then she had the perfect idea: Ruby in Zoisite, also known as Anyolite. The soft green matrix and black streaks complemented the dark purple of the ruby.. it was a swirling storm of creativity, and perfect for Lola. Now, it wasn’t often that she took serious stock in the lore and meaning of stones, but this was a beautiful exception as she recalled Lola loved the Zoisite’s vivid green. Quickly she paired the green stone with glass, and silver word charms for the ‘dream’ and the ‘journey’ of life.

Ruby in Zoisite for Lola

Then hid a little ‘passion’ in there – in case Lola wanted to bring out her wilder side.

Silver Words

She took the tea, scones, and necklace, and placed them in a basket – then almost lost her footing as Brassica nudged her knees. “Aw, Brassy, you can’t come today – what would they think of a dragon in the middle of a modern city?” The waist-high yellow dragon huffed and lashed his tail, then turned orange in annoyance. The Artisan gave his ears a scritch and considered whether anyone would really notice a dragon. She knew few people paid attention to what they didn’t expect to see… come to think of it, that explained Glimmerville itself. It could only be found if you were the right person to find it.

Well why not she mused. It’ll make life interesting…! “Ok Brassica, you can come too. This should be something,” she said, picturing Lola’s lavish mansion, with a young and curious dragon tearing around in it. Well they would likely take tea outside. She hoped.

The Artisan unlocked her door, feeling the familiar shiver and twist as space rippled and rearranged itself around Glimmerville. She stepped out, with Brassica at her heels, and locked the door behind her. The door appeared, this time, in the side of a small outbuilding on the Corelli property – her worries about having a dragon downtown were without grounds.

Lola was in the garden, on her way to greet them. It didn’t surprise the Artisan that she was expected – Lola was a woman, violinist, and psionicist of great talent and sensitivity. She surely had something to do with the dream of violin music.

“Hello!” Lola called, and waved in greeting. She was wearing a loose calf-length black dress with a long strand of knotted pearls, and it fit her so well it made the Artisan wish she had chosen her own dress more carefully.

“Hello, Lola! Happy Birthday! I was hoping we could have some tea,” the Artisan said, giving Lola an embrace, and the basket.

“I already have a spot ready!” Lola smiled.

“Outside, I hope.” She chuckled, and Brassica ran exhuberant circles around them both.

“Hello Brassy!” Lola scritched the dragon’s ears. “Come on this way – the kettle’s about to boil.”

They had a lovely tea – even Brassica, for Lola had the cook set some bones aside especially for him. They talked of this and that, catching up. Lola loved the necklace and put it on, even if it didn’t go with the pearls. Before long the sun was setting. “You have a strange journey ahead.” Lola commented. The Artisan laughed “Tell me something I don’t know!”

“Ok,” said Lola, pausing to concentrate, hands at her temples.

The Artisan clutched her tea cup. “I didn’t really me…”

“You are getting an apprentice.” Lola said, with a strange authority. She opened her eyes.

“What? I’m what?!”

Work in Progress: Dragon edition

Right now I am working on scuplting two dragons – one is a commissioned piece, and one is just for fun.

This baby is just for fun, but I really like the way he is turning out. I tried a texturing technique (tingue twuster!) that I found on the Dan Perez site.

If you want more “step-by-step” information on how I do this, let me know – but mostly it’s “wad tinfoil and wire in the middle, then cover with clay until it looks right”. I have actually taken many progress shots of  the dragon below (the one below the baby). Maybe I’ll do a step-by-step sort of post, but it would be picture intensive and I don’t know that anyone really wants it. Just ask questions if you have questions – I’d be thrilled to find out that anyone is reading the blog, hint. [Edit: Yes I know you are reading the blog, because I received some nice feedback when I asked for ways to keep my milk safe in the fridge! And thank you!]

 

He only has a partial wing, so far
He only has a partial wing, so far

This is the one that is “an actual commission that I should be working faster on” whoops. Sunday I started on a wing, then picked it up yesterday and discovered that the Apoxie never set! Perhaps I mixed the batch badly. This is why I would fear for everyone’s safety if I was a mad scientist.

 

Not very complete yet.
Not very complete yet.

On an EVEN BETTER note, my dad’s company just got some work in today – praise the Lord!

That was a huge answer to prayer.

I hope your day is going well, too!

 

And it’s Game Night. I bought a new card game called “Illusio”, that I haven’t tried yet. I don’t know that I’ll have time tonight, but I loved the “rival magicians” theme.

Finished: Parnassus the Dragon

Sorry I haven’t posted for so long!

UPDATE: I finished this pencil sketch, and added some color, using Photoshop. He is now named Parnassus, the shy dragon.

Parnassus the shy dragon.
Parnassus the shy dragon.

Here is something I was drawing tonight. It isn’t finished, but sometimes people like to see works in progress. Or at least that’s my theory. And it’s easier than thinking of an entire blog post topic.

Work in Process
Work in Process