COULD THIS BE THE LAST?

I recently said that I might end this series with an even dozen. I've reached that number plus one. The plus one is Mrs. Claus. I have sculpted one dozen Santas in this style, including the one that is the prize in the giveaway.

That last few have even been similarly posed. There's only so much you can do with Santa and that is the reason I'm going to take a break for awhile. It's not going to be permanent, but just a break or time out. I'm going to try my hand at sculpting other figures. I've got something else in the works even now. My daughter saw the other project yesterday and said, "I hope this isn't Santa".

Here we have number twelve in the series:

If you'll remember in an earlier post I had two pups in Santa's bag and I said my feline nephews may feel slighted. To make it up to them, I've put two kittens in Santa's pocket. They're just kittens so they're napping.

Here's a better look at the kittens and a profile view of Santa and the bag. I'm using the red and green color combo again but letting green have the bigger role.

See, I am in a rut. I even have a bunny in the bag. He's a different color and you can see his buck teeth if you look closely, but it's still a bunny. For those who think that's another Annie, you would be wrong. This raggedy doll is named Fannie Freckles. She's the first doll I ever had. My parents told me that I used to climb out of my crib by using her as a step stool. I'm not sure if Fannie Freckles was just the name my parents gave her or if she came with the name.

Here are the last two Santas standing side by side so you can compare the contents of the bags.

Note another scarf offering from Mrs. Claus. This one is knitted from yarns matching the hat and sweater.

Don't forget that there are two weeks left to enter the contest/giveaway. For clues to what Santa has in  the bag, go to the contest/giveaway page and then come back here to enter your guess.

As always, thank you for stopping by.

CAN YOU FIND THE BUNNY HIDDEN IN THIS POST?

Summer has finally arrived where I call home and my spirits are soaring. I love the sunshine and the balmy breezes. I love the lush summer foliage and the beautiful flowers. I love everything that is associated with summer, so why doesn't summer love me?

I suffer from allergies year round but it's much worse this time of years. It may be due to the windows being opened letting all of those pesky pollen particles in. I can't not open them as the house seems so stuffy with them closed. Guess I can endure for awhile.

I have to tell you about a dear lady that I know who has decided to honor me as the featured artist on her blog. Her name is Linda, aka Oma Linda or the Olde Bagg. She has not one but three blogs. Olde Baggs 'n Stuft Shirts, Practically Magickal and Ye Olde Crone's Gazette. It's on her Practically Magickal blog she features artists and I feel humbled by her featuring me and my blog.  If you haven't been to her blogs you're missing some good times.

Now I'm going to show you the latest member of the Santa Squad. I just finished him yesterday evening and can't wait to show him to you, so here he is.

Here he is heading out on Christmas eve to make his deliveries. He has carrots for the reindeer in his left pocket and a new scarf from Mrs. Claus in the right one. He has many scarves as Mrs. Claus loves knitting them and makes them to match the sweaters he wears under his cloak.

See the edges of his sweater sleeves peeking out of his coat sleeves?

I always love viewing Santa from the side. I believe he has a lovely profile.

There are those of you who believe this is the "money shot". Can you spot the bunny? Yep, that's him tucked in beside our little Miss Annie.

I have to include this photo as it shows Teddy from his best side. The other two occupants don't look too shabby from this angle either.

This guy and the one on my last post are both wearing red coats with black boots and gloves. If viewed side by side the reds are nothing alike. That's what's so great about the red and green combination for painting these guys. There are so many possibilities I could use just those two colors, red and green without ever duplicating them on one of my figures if I didn't want too.

Just a reminder, there is only 18 more days until the drawing for the Santa in the contest/giveaway. There's still time to enter your guess. Whether you guess correctly or not your entry is eligible to be drawn in one of two separate drawings. The prize for the second drawing is pretty nice too, so if you are interested in winning the Santa in the contest/giveaway don't forget that you can enter as often as you wish.

For clues to what Santa is holding go to my Contest/Giveaway page to see what they are and then come back here to enter your guess. There will be no more clues given so you're going to have to make do with what's there.

I hope you enjoyed seeing the new guy on the shelf and as always, thanks for stopping by.

DOGS NIGHT OUT

The very first thing I want to do is say thank you to Mina from Green Witch with Sprinkles for giving me yet another award. It's getting to be a habit with her. I'm starting to think she likes this blog. I'm supposed to pass the award on to five people who's blogs I follow that I feel are a ray of sunshine but can not choose just five. You are all special and are all a ray of sunshine to me. Please copy this button and display it on your side bar.

Thanks to all of you who have such enjoyable and interesting blogs. You really do add a ray of sunshine. I also want to take this time to welcome my new followers and to thank the ones who have been with me since the beginning.

Now that I've gotten the important things taken care of I'm going to introduce you to the newest member of the Santa Squad. As you can probably guess by the title of this post, there's more than likely some dogs in the bag. The reason we now have dogs showing up is because I've been thinking of my canine niece and sending healing thoughts her way. As those of you who follow my sister Marlene's blog all know, Daisy recently had surgery on her leg. She is such a happy little girl that even when her leg was bothering her she was still so full of joy. I know that she's probably keeping Marlene jumping trying to keep her from doing something to keep it from healing, hence the thoughts I've been sending her way.

So, not to drag this out any longer, here he is.

Since I've discovered black gesso I can't seem to stop myself from using it on my pieces at least in the areas of their coats. It really seems to give me the results I'm looking for.

Here's a little known fact that I'm going to share with you. Santa carries sweets in his pockets because he suffers from low blood sugar and has a sweet tooth. This time he has a ginger bread man cookie and a couple of candy canes. Two of his favorite snacks.

Here's a look at the two dogs in the bag. They are flanked by Annie and Baby Bear.

It almost looks like Baby Bear is trying to climb out of the bag. Maybe he is.  The scarf that Santa has stuffed in his pocket was an early Christmas gift from Mrs. Claus. 

I couldn't resist giving you another look at the pups. Have you ever noticed how looking at a happy puppy makes you smile even when you don't realize you're doing it? Maybe it's just me.

Now I suppose I'm going to have to put some cats in the next bag or my feline nephews are going to feel I like dogs better than cats.

I want to thank everyone who's expressed an interest in winning one of my Santa's in the contest/giveaway. There is still plenty of time to enter and come up with the guess that puts you in the bag for the main drawing. So far it's a pretty empty bag. The bag for the second drawing is getting quite full.

The clue for today is: Think Christmas, folks!!  
The item on the plate is something that you see  only at Christmas. It is edible but is not normally eaten. Does that help? Please feel free to put your guess on this post.

Happy Independence Day to everyone in the states and a Happy Canada Day for our neighbors to the north.  As always, thanks for stopping by.