Wee Ella (b. 6 March 2010)

I'd like to introduce you to a very special wee dog. This is Ella, who belongs to a good friend, Susie of Lynwood Jewellery. Susie is totally devoted to Ella, who by all accounts has a huge personality completely out of proportion to her diminutive size.

To make the miniature version of Ella, I used a new tool which I recently bought from Craftwise in Leeds (this is a wonderful, rambling craft shop with all manner of things - well worth exploring). This was a stiff-bristled spiral brush which is primarily designed as a ceramics tool. However, it works perfectly well on polymer clay.

I have done quite a few experiments to create a fur effect, most recently with Wee Dog using a scalpel. With this marvellous tool, I was able to try something else, which worked perfectly for Ella's curly fur.

After creating the basic body shape, which included adding extra 'bits' for the ears and creating the mouth, I rolled the bristles over the body pressing pretty hard because the Sculpey Premo white clay can be quite hard to work.

Once I had covered the body with curly 'fur', I added the eyes and tongue, which is one of the cutest things about Ella!

And I have to say a few words about Susie here. Susie is one of the most amazing people I have met - not only is she a very bright individual with tonnes of business savvy, she is also incredibly talented and makes bold and beautiful jewellery which really enhances the precious metal and stones she works with. And if that wasn't enough, she is also so generous with her time and support of other artists and crafters - she's an inspiration! I have the privilege of working with her as part of the UK Handmade team, and have been blown away by her energy, organisational skills and her ability to get things done. It's definitely worth reading her blog - click here to visit. (Susie also wrote a lovely post about Wee Ella here.)

So I will finish this post with a picture of one of my favourite pieces from Susie called "I am finding myself becoming more and more abstracted" - visit Susie's website here and feast your eyes on some more beautiful jewellery.

Pin It