Snegurochka, the Snow Maiden

Towards the end of March I introduced you to the Russian gift-bringer Ded Moroz. As you may remember  his granddaughter Snegurochka assists him in making his deliveries and I said I might try my hand at making her at some future time. I decided now was the time and I was in the mood to give it a try. I've been working on her all week along with two other projects, and believe it or not, I've finished up all three today. I've never done that before.

Since she received most of my attention I'm going to post her first. I'm really pleased with the way she turned out. I was a bit leary about painting her cloak as my eyes and nerves are still not over the snowflake pattern I painted on her grandfather's cloak. I wanted the two figures to resemble one another as much as possible as they're to be a set so her cloak has to be as elaborate as his. Her cloak has snowflakes too, but they're a different style than the ones I painted on DM's cloak. The blue I chose for her cloak is the same blue I used for his robes. Her cloak is trimmed with white fur aroung the edge of the hood and on the shoulders and the cuffs of the sleeves and around the bottom hem. Under the hood Snegurochka is wearing a fur trimmed hat that matches her cloak. Her hands are tucked into a fluffy white fur muff.

Like I did with her grandfather, I used a charcoal gray antiquing stain to make Snegurochka look like she came from an earlier time.

Well, what do you think? I know the snowflakes are not as fancy as those of her grandfather's, but her cloak is crushed velvet and some of the detail is lost.

I forgot to mention the pompom on the hood. You can see the snowflakes a bit better in this photo.

It's hard to believe she is only 9" tall. There's a lot of detail in something so small.

Standing with her grandfather and she isn't so impossing. Don't they make a lovely pair?

This is as close as I can get with my camera without it getting blurry.  I'm getting better at taking pictures with it, which is a good thing all things considered.

The other pieces I completed today I will share with you in the next few days. Thanks for stopping by.

ANOTHER NOSSE IS MAKING THE SCENE

Three days ago I posted the story of the Nossie.  Remember, Nossie sounds like mossy? That's when I introduced you to Snizzle Nosse and  provided all of the results of my research on the Nossie and how to identify a Nosse when you see one. Remember? They're short, have big eyes and a long beard and are vain and wear fancy robes and cloaks. They really are distinctive and I believe very attractive. I really love the little fellas.

One of my sisters, I'm not going to mention which one, expressed concern over any copy right infringement. She seems to think I might get into trouble posting this information on my blog.  Now, I have to say, I'm a  bit surprised that she didn't realize that the story was in my own words so I doubt there can be a problem. I might have done a copy and paste, but I didn't. I figured that it was obvious as my spelling sucks, and I'm hardly eliquent. I should probably come clean to all of you anyway and admit at this time that the Nossie are a figment of my imagination. I feel just terrible about this believe me.  I fibbed.  I'm a big fat fibber. I could claim senility as I'm really, really old, but I'm not that bad yet. My mind just works in a strange sort of way. Who else but a nut would claim to be Mrs. Claus? I fibbed about that too.

Anywho, I finally got the second of my Nossie completed. It's true. After much too much time spent painting I'm finally finished with Shnoz. As much as I enjoy making these little people, and believe me, I love making them, I'm afraid that the painting is going to require me to get new glasses. As it is, I'm already using a magnifier for some of it.

So, tada....here's Shnoz Nosse

Remember that a Nosse can have feet 1/3 his height? Shnoz's is almost there. You can see the toe of his boot peeking out from under the fur in the front of his cloak.

The profile shot is one of my favorites. You can see why the Nossie are so vain.  Look at that nose.

Here's a close-up of his face.  If you think he looks a bit worried it's because he keeps hearing laugher following him around, but when he looks back there's no one there.

Shnoz can't see that he's got stowaways on the fur in the back of his cloak. Three little mice are cracking each other up with mouse jokes. You know how mice giggle over the dumbest things.

Shnoz is only about 10" tall, but he's full of charm and a really snappy dresser.

Here Snizzle has joined Shnoz so I could show you the difference between a cloak and robes. Snizzle is wearing robes without a cloak or coat. Cloaks are an outer garment, and usually have fur trim at the cuffs and the bottom and collar. As you can see, Shnoz has on his favorite cloak.

Before I part ways with you today, I told Rona at New Challenges I'd tell you about her giveaway. Go check her out.

Have a great weekend, and thanks for stopping by.

THE NOSSIE, (Sounds like mossy)

In my research of the gift-bringers I came across an obscure reference to a group called the Nossie. From the bits and pieces of information I've gathered, which I admit was very sketchy, I'm fairly certain the Nossie are distant cousins of the Nissie. As some of you may know, the Nissie are gnomes of Scandinavian origin, who live in barns and bring good luck to the farmers who take care of them. Unlike the Nissie, the Nossie live above work houses or factories located deep in the woods where they make toys.

The Nossie are from a realm refered to as Not Quite Middle Earth which is a week's journey by donkey cart North-Northeast of the outer borders of Middle Earth. There isn't a lot of information to be found concerning this realm as most historians want to discount the area as having very little historical value.
I imagine the people of Not Quite Middle Earth influenced the historians into this way of thinking.
The following is what I've managed to piece together concerning these very unique gift-bringers.

Unlike our Santa who can deliver gifts to all of the children in just one night, it takes many Nossie to deliver the gifts on the eve of All Children's Day. The families of Not Quite Middle Earth are large with many children and each family normally has it's own Nosse although some of the smaller families may share a Nosse. Since there is no shortage of Nossie this works out quite well. For your benefit I have compiled the following information.

How to recognize a Nosse when you see one:

1. On the average, a Nosse is less than four feet tall.

2. From all accounts Nossie are very vain about their appearence and insist on wearing richly decorated robes when making their deliveries. These robes are embroidered with threads spun from real gold, and fine jewels are worked into intricate patterns. All in all these robes can be very heavy and wearing such robes can be exhausting, but a Nosse wouldn't think of being caught making his rounds wearing anything else.

3. As a rule Nossie are not in the least bit graceful and often trip over their own feet which can be as long as 1/3 third their height. Also found in the reference concerning Nossie anatomy is the old saying, "He has two left feet" which was made after seeing a Nosse without his boots.

4. It's easy to recognise a Nosse by his very distinctive features which consist of larger than average eyes and nose and a beard hanging nearly to his feet.

5. Although it is sometimes said that a Nosse is all thumbs, that is not quite true as Nossie have only two thumbs per hand. Dispite having two thumbs per hand the Nossie are very talented toy makers.

From my research I have concluded that a Nosse could make better time and cover a greater distance and number of families if it wasn't for his vanity. The robes although very lovely are not appropriate attire for this type of work.

I have just completed the first of my Nossie sculptures. I'm presently working on another and hope to have it completed in another day or two.

May I present Snizzle Nosse. He is a OOAK paper mache clay sculpture standing 12 inches tall and is 6.25 inches at the widest point.

Notice anything on the top of his hat? As you can see, Snizzle has a tangle to deal with.

I'm pretty sure he can get it straightened out. Not positive, just pretty sure.

While he works on the knot, let's take a look at his robe. This pattern has plenty of emeralds, rubies and gold.

I hope you've enjoyed meeting Snizzle and will be back when his cousin Shnoz is ready to show off his new cloak.

Thanks for dropping by.