Beezle in the Boneyard

These are my adorable and much missed nieces: Hollyn & Lexie. Hollyn put in an order for a skelly beezle a few months ago and I promised her she'd have one in time for Halloween. Good thing I gave her a deadline.

This doll is sculpted from polymer clay and paper clay. The head is made from Super Sculpey, the body is paper clay over foil wrapped stryrofoam, the legs are paper clay over wooden dowels. I like this method because I can build a body around an already-baked head and let the body air dry. The paper clay is great, but for the heads where I put most of the detail, there's no substitute for Super Sculpey. The porous bone texture on the skull was achieved by gently pouncing a foam brush into the clay before baking.

This piece represents two new techniques: the fabric collar and anklets antiqued with a spray of walnut dye and the use of ground green foam mosses on the base. That mossy stuff is awesome and better yet, I didn't even have to buy it.

I found it in a long forgotten box of Mark's old train stuff in our attic. Jackpot. About three dozen baggies of the stuff in gorgeous landscape colors, course to finely ground. I saw Mark eyeballing those baggies with interest. I have since buried them where only I can find them. In the boneyard.