To Glitter or not to glitter – that is the Question

Hello Friends! How are you? Can you believe it is December – where did 2024 go? I finally had enough material and emotional bandwidth to put together a post. There have been several miracles and changes this year and one of them is finishing the medallion and posting on Odyssey@Etsy. Here is the finished piece:

Final Medallion Wall Art

It was finished in July and required help for the mounting and faux frame. I posted it on Etsy and even entered the Etsy Design Awards but alas we did not receive notice. We did exceed the goal of completion in October. Soon after it was finished, travel was amped up with two weeks overseas in August and three trips in November. Overall, travel was smooth and weather was kind providing nonturbulent skies and dry roads. Today, I just posted on Odyssey@Etsy and @planetnicecrafts on Instagram some photos from a pit stop in Columbus Indiana just south of Indianapolis. A pretty awesome town with a mixture of architecture. I have not posted the photos here because I want to remain focused on the crafts.

A new craft was started a few weeks ago that I wanted to share. I have a couple of Hallmark’s Build Your Own Snowman ornament kits from 2019 – they were intended to be a party activity for my last pre-COVID gathering. Since gatherings were put on pause and kinda changed forever, they had been sitting in the craft room closet with no plan until now. I opened them up and was impressed by the quality of the ceramic – the little acrylic paints dried but no matter, I have plenty of paint from previous art classes.

Kit Package

Kit Packaging

They were designed by Hallmark illustrator Tammy Haddix so have a sugary vibe. Hallmark also did a train set ornament kit but no kits ever since that I have seen. I can kinda understand why because for $20, these probably lost money. But if you are into this type of thing, I recommend the kit if you see an old set being sold – just know that you’ll need to provide paints. For this presentation, I apologize for photo quality, I did not use my Canon, but my phone and did not take much care for lighting and framing.

The first step was to prime paint all the pieces. 

Ornament Components after Priming

Then a plan was devised. I decided to do each ornament in shades of either red, blue, or green – a monochrome mini study. The good thing about having two kits (six snowmen total) is that for the second set, I’ll do another color scheme with yellows, purples, etc. I decided to do each face the same with black eyes and mouth and a carrot orange nose. They look a little spooky right now, but stay with me!

Spooky Faces

 At first I was going to do premixed paints only but then I started mixing!

Red Blending

Red Color Study

The red paint had really good coverage so no second coat needed. The pink needed a bit here and then white was used to touch up any mistakes. The final step was to put a color wash on the hat just to give a little bit of shadowing to the valleys of the hat. Final piece:

But wait the kit has glitter – should I use it? I am leaning towards selective use. For example, maybe on this guy’s feet, hat and a little on the mittens. That will be in the next session. At this time, I moved on to the blue color study:

Blue Blend

Blue Color Study

The lighter blues had great coverage so only touch ups in the future as needed. The darker blue for the hat and boots will require multiple coats. I have no idea why certain colors require more time and care – this darker blue reminded me of the mustard yellow that gave me considerable challenges which in the end, were really never overcome (as told in Brain Yoga– January 2022). I’m hoping this dark color will behave after a couple more coats.

Blue Scarf and Mittens

Tricky Blue Boots

Tricky Blue Hat

And that’s where I am with the project as of today, right now.

When I went traveling in August, there was a start to several sales on Odyssey@Etsy. I almost was getting nervous about the diminishing inventory. But in the last month, there has been a drop to inactivity. It is so interesting, I think the algorithms really influence the placement of your ads in the search engines and when they appear on people’s screens. The philosophy remains the same, I take as long as I need to create content of value and have FUN! If you are still reading this AND are interested in providing a snowman ornament a home, contact me at planetnicecrafts@gmail.com or in the comments below or through Instagram or Etsy. I would be happy to send a home-seeking snowman ornament to you in appreciation of your support of Planet Nice Crafts and Odyssey – I really think it is imperative more than ever to find joy and kindness in your daily life and this is a platform for those feelings (the other for me involving 4-legged creatures 😉)!