SAGE – Faux Cow Skull

(Sage is currently available for purchase in my Etsy Shop)

‘Sage’ is a forest dweller who has a positive and light-hearted temperament. This is reflected by his dewy glow and the three pieces of green sea glass within his forehead. The number 3 in many cultures is very auspicious and when paired with the colour psychology of green it could be seen as a sign of good fortune!

Sage’s ‘horns’ are actually a pair of ‘tricolour melanocrater’ air plants. Here are my simple recommendations on how to keep them happy and healthy;
– Mist the plants once or twice a week with water, ensuring they have dried off within 4 hours or your plants may begin to rot.
– Place the skull in a bright room, but out of direct sunlight as the plants may get too dry and begin to brown.
I include a care sheet specific to the variety of air plant with each skull for future reference.

Sage is designed to be hung on the wall and therefore has a simple hole for hanging (e.g. place on to a picture hook or nail). He will arrive nestled in tissue paper and securely tied down within a tear strip postal box – all the packaging is recyclable.

Measurements (Length x Width)
Skull = 9cm x 14cm / 3.5″ x 5.5″
Skull + Horns = 26cm x 22cm / 10″ x 8.5″

Materials;
Air-drying Clay
Tillandsias
Sea Glass

Each of my skulls are one of a kind. They may share a theme collectively however they will never come out the same. I give them all a personal name to reflect this uniqueness.

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SAHARA – Faux Cow Skull

(Sahara has now been sold but there are still other skulls listed in my Etsy Shop)

‘Sahara’ reflects the purity and elegance of a natural skull. After being hand sculpted from clay I painted minimal detail and use natural tones to accentuate her curves and shape.

Sahara’s ‘horns’ are actually a pair of ‘Baileyi’ Airplants. Here are my simple recommendations on how to keep them happy and healthy;
– Mist the plants once or twice a week with water, ensuring they have dried off within 4 hours or your plants may begin to rot.
– Place the skull in a bright room, but out of direct sunlight as the plant may get too dry and begin to brown.
I include a care sheet specific to the variety of airplant with each skull for future reference.

Sahara is designed to be hung on the wall and therefore has a simple hole for hanging (e.g. place on to a picture hook or nail). She will arrive nestled in tissue paper and securely tied down within a tear strip postal box – all the packaging is recyclable.

Measurements (Length x Width)
Skull = 5.5″ x 3.5″ / 14cm x 9cm
Skull + Horns = 9″ x 8″ / 23cm x 21cm

Materials;
Air-drying Clay
Tillandsias

Each of my skulls are one of a kind. They may share a theme collectively however they will never come out the same. I give them all a personal name to reflect this uniqueness.

SOL – Faux Cow Skull

(Sol is currently for sale in my Esty Shop )

I have taken inspiration from the warmth of the setting Sun to create this piece called ‘Sol’. He is hand sculpted from air drying clay and is adorned with a beautiful, unusual piece of sea glass picked from the shores of a South Queensferry beach.

Sol’s ‘horns’ are actually a pair of ‘Butzii’ Airplants. Here are my simple recommendations on how to keep them happy and healthy;
– Mist the plants once or twice a week with water, ensuring they have dried off within 4 hours or your plants may begin to rot.
– Place the skull in a bright room, but out of direct sunlight as the plant may get too dry and begin to brown.
I include a care sheet specific to the variety of airplant ‘horns’ with each skull for your future reference.

Sol is designed to be hung on the wall and therefore has a simple hole for hanging (e.g place on to a picture hook or nail). He will arrive nestled in tissue paper and securely tied down within a tear strip postal box – all the packaging is recyclable.

Measurements: (Length x Width)
Skull = 4.75″ x 2.75″ / 12cm x 7cm
Skull + Horns = 12″ x 3.5″ / 30cm x 9cm

Materials;
Air Drying Clay
Sea Glass
Tillandsias

Each of my skulls are one of a kind. They may share a collective theme however they will never come out the same. I give them all a personal name to reflect this uniqueness.

Tillandsia Skulls…

So I’m super excited to finally be able introduce my ‘Tillandsia Skulls’! What do yous think? Have a look through them and tell me what one’s your fave!

I’ve been working hard on them for the past few weeks figuring out things like scale and paint finishes, refining the sculpting process and finding out what looks cool as inserts. (Sea glass and gemstones are a yes!)

They’re hand sculpted from clay, dried, painted and then paired with their Tillandsia (airplant) horns. Each skull ends up being completely unique due to the nature of their creation – I just can’t sculpt the exact same shape each time! I can get close, but they’re not clones. The skulls come with a hole in the back of them allowing them to be hung on your wall.

Tillandsias are usually pretty hardy; they enjoy a bright room but not direct sunlight and require a light misting every week or so with plain water. I’d advise removing them from your wall to do this in case you end up with water spots on your wallpaper or paint. There’s no need to worry about the paint on the skull though, as it’s been varnished and therefore mist proof!

I’ve not yet listed any on my Etsy shop as I’m reserving their debut for my craft-show appearance on the 12th and 13th this month. It’s in Livingston Shopping center so if you’re around be sure to come say hi! I’ll also have my plantosaurs and tote bags with me. (Also stay tuned for a peek at what my stall will hopefully look like on the day.)

Plantosaurs…

So I can finally unveil the ‘Plantosaurs’ I’ve been making! I had to keep them under wraps for ages as I was gifting them to some of my friends for birthdays and didn’t want to ruin the surprise in-case (in the rare event) they happened to look at my blog. I spotted the idea on pinterest of using toys as planters, by searching for ‘home-made gifts for men’ and thought that by using dinosaurs they were the perfect cross between geeky/fun/cool/decorative. Of-course they’re not just for the men, I’ve kept two myself as they’re so charming!

I changed the design I saw online a little by deciding to go with air-plants instead of soil planted succulents just to make life easier for the receivers – I mean I’m sure they can manage to give them a little spray with water every now and then, I hope… I also stuck with spraying them a neutral silver, instead of super bright colours that people could get too fussy over. I did try gold, but for some reason it dried tacky and was therefore written off as a potential colour. However on some dinosaurs I felt that little gold details would make them more interesting!

They were pretty simple to make; drill some holes in the dinos back,  play a kind of join the dots with a scalpel to make a larger hole, spray, wait, then pair with a plant. The trickiest part being the spraying as I had to make sure everywhere was covered, and some of them were pretty wrinkly! The step that took the longest was of course the waiting for the spray paint to dry. The best part was pairing the dino with a plant – different plants really changed the look of the characters. Do I just sound mad?…

So here’s some more of my plantosaurs, most of them have already been gifted by myself personally or sold to friends as they wanted to give them as gifts too! I’ve had such a positive reaction to them, and they’re so addictive to make that I’d love to take them to some craft fairs if I can manage to make more. (The weather is now against me as it’s winter – wind and wet do not go well with spray painting!) What do yous think, would you buy some of these guys?

So which plantosaur would you give a home to? My favourites would definitely have to be the Brachiosaurus sporting a Caput-Medusae, and the rock-n-roll T-rex looking after a Juncae.