#WolvesOfWallStreet

Last week we got an order for 20 gray wolf masks.  Turns out they were for the DVD release of Wolf of Wall Street!  Here's how they were used.

Photographs by Diane Bondareff





Isn't it cool?  It's exciting to see our masks used in such a major way!
If you want your very own #wolvesofwallstreet mask, check out our etsy store here.

Sparkling Eye Tutorial With Step by Step Pics

Hi there!  Just posting a quick tutorial with pics on how to make eyes from acrylic cabochons.

I used a 1" oval, they came in a pack of 8 at the hobby store for just a couple dollars.  They're fun to make, and pretty simple.  There's lots of room to play and customize.  Since the materials are pretty cheap, and you can't really ruin it, no need to be afraid to experiment!

I use Delta Ceram Coat and Folk Art acrylic paints.  The colors used in this project are as follows:

Delta: Black, White, 14 K Gold
Folk Art: Blue Sapphire Metallic, Peridot Metallic, Emerald Green Metallic

The paint goes in the following areas:
Pupil Highlight: White
Pupil: Black
Iris Highlight: Gold
Outer Iris Highlight: Peridot
Inner Iris: Sapphire
Outer Iris: Emerald

It's easy to change the color scheme, like if you wanted a red and gold eye.  You could replace the inner iris with red, the outer iris with orange, and do a metallic red outer iris highlight.

You can seal the back with a topcoat like Mod Podge.

You'll also need a small brush, some water to clean up and a rag or paper towel.

Let's get started!

I'll add some explanation to the pictures in the morning, but I think it's pretty obvious from the pics.

*Updated with text*

All painting is done from the flat back side.  The front curve will magnify what you paint, so keep that in mind.  If you don't let your paint dry between each step, you risk smooshing the other layers!  Be patient and let it dry.

Get a bead of white paint on your brush.  Paint a thick white dot, placed to one side and above center.

Front View of Highlight Dot

Since you're not painting over it right away, you can rinse your brush and move on to the next step!  Get some gold paint on your brush, and put a dot near the center where the pupil will be.  You want it to be outside the pupil area.  Drag the dot outwards so it comes to a point.  Repeat around the edge.  I try to make them similar in size and placement, and keep the sides symmetrical.

Back View of Gold Lines

Front

Next we paint on the pupil.  I went with a slit pupil, but you could do round too.  Go slowly, and paint it on thick.  You can do multiple coats if needed, but the paint will slide if it's not dry between coats.  

Back

Front.  Starting to look like an eye!  See the lower center gold line?  I made it too high up.

You can easily wipe paint off these, or just not worry about being perfect.

Take your light green metallic (or lighter accent color) and paint some lines just how you did the gold ones, but further out from the pupil.  You could do this with several colors, make them wider or longer.  

Back

Front

This part is hard to see in the picture.  Take some gold and lightly make a line just to the outsides of the pupil.  This gives a nice definition to the pupil when it's finished.

Wait for your paint to dry.  This next step could easily smudge everything you've done so far!

Is it dry?

Really?

Okay.

Glop on some blue in a thick curved line around the pupil.  Fan it out with your brush, making it kinda pointy towards the outside.  Work from center to edge.

Backside, globby line

Globby line fanned out

Front side

Repeat on the other side, trying to keep the distance it spreads out even.  Make sure to get the top and bottom!

Wait again for the blue to dry.  I mean it!

Take your dark green, and paint all around the area that's still clear, overlapping the blue.  This fills in the rest of your eye.

Back Side

Front Side, All Done!

That's all!  Seal the back with a top coat if you want.

- Kym Lewis, Squirrel Creek Creations

Halloween Wrap Up

It's been a chilly weekend here in Wisconsin, even if it was sunny.  It's gone from fall to winter in just a few weeks.  Early October was so nice and warm!  Looks like winter is coming... early.

With the last week of October underway, we've finally been able to have a little time to recover from the super busy Halloween season.  Thank you everyone for your orders!  I hope they made your Halloween festivities extra special.  We love seeing our hard work go to people who will appreciate it.

During my last post, I mentioned being in D.C. for a wedding.  The very next weekend, another cousin had a wedding in Detroit!  I was unable to attend, but Liz and Lynn were there.  It was a masquerade themed wedding, so they brought a few masks along for people to wear.  It looks like they were a huge hit!

Liz made herself a lovely gem stone covered mask.  It's up for grabs in our etsy store!

While they were having fun with family in Michigan, Lance and I watched the Etsy store, and made many post office trips!  I'm glad we were able to offer overnight shipping, since we did have a few last minute requests come in.  Foxes were very popular this year, I'm sure in part because of the Ylvis video.  I'm sure some people are getting sick of it by now, but I'm still very entertained!  

When I work, I always have to have music on.  I have a few carefully crafted playlists that I like, from the serious to playful.  The Fox has made it onto my silly songs list, it's so catchy!

Speaking of silly songs and work, I recently made a custom ordered Badger mask with a great back story!  It was fun getting to know the person who ordered it and to help them build the perfect gift with a good tale to tell.  For me, it's important to know where things come from.  That's part of why I like to support local artists and buy hand made things when I can.  

I know it can cost more, and times are tight all around.  That's why we appreciate your support so much!  Liz is doing leather work full time now, and I'm glad to see her doing something she loves instead of a boring office job.  I'm sure you can all agree, having her doing anything else would be a waste of talent!

One of the things we were thrilled to do this month was our give away.  I spent some time learning how to internet and set up a facebook app to run our contest.  I'm not a true social media manager or marketing person, but I'm learning to play one!  With a small, family run business, everyone learns to do a few roles that take us out of our comfort zone.  I love learning new skills, but it can get a bit overwhelming.  It's tricky to find the right balance of time spent on my craft vs. on my computer.  

I think that's all I've got for you tonight!  Thank you for reading, for ordering masks, and for following us on Facebook!  

- Kym Lewis

P.S.  I'm looking for a fun gift we can give away for Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Tour the Town Art Walk Show

Good morning!  It's been another busy week here, I can't believe October is more than half gone.  I was in Washington, D.C. last weekend for my cousin's wedding, and have hit the ground running since getting home on Monday night.

The wedding was tons of fun, and I always love seeing my family.  I got to see a Hindu wedding ceremony too!  The priest was great, he took time to explain the different customs to everyone.  I didn't realize too that there's a lot of variation in how a wedding happens depending on what part of India the families come from.  So there were a couple times during the ceremony that everything came to a halt for a conference on how to proceed.

It was great to meet so many wonderful people, and also spend some time with my family.  It never feels like long enough!  I did have an afternoon to do some sightseeing, although I didn't get to visit any museums because of the shut down.  Fortunately, I've been there several times before so I've seen them all!  It was eerie to see so few people down town.  Almost like a zombie movie, where everything is deserted.

Anyways, I'm back home with my husband and cat.  It's getting colder here in Wisconsin, so that means the cat wants to snuggle to keep warm!  I'm glad I have my just-finished knit cowl to keep me toasty when I go outside.  I know it's going to get much colder, but I'm not ready for it yet!

Lance and I are getting packed up for our show tonight.  We'll be at Tour the Town in Fond Du Lac.  Mom and Lizzie are on their way to Detroit for another wedding, but we'll have their masks with us!  This is a great chance to see our work in person and save on shipping costs!  Lance and I are excited to have a show in his hometown, and we'll even be at the business his father started and his sister still runs!  It's also birthday eve for Lance, so come wish him a happy birthday!

We only have one week left for contest entries!  If you haven't signed up yet to win these prizes, it just takes a minute and you can do that here.  Good luck!

I think that's all I wanted to cover for now.  Hope to see you tonight!

- Kym Lewis

Monday Update

Good afternoon!  This is Kym Lewis from Squirrel Creek Creations.

Just sat down with my cup of coffee and wanted to give a quick update of what's happening with the Squirrel Creek Critters.  Liz Frank and her husband are busy moving into a new house, with more room for crafting and video games!  She's also been very productive lately, with several new mask designs.

My husband Lance and I were at my parent's house last night for a rousing game of scrabble.  It came down to just a few points, and my parents squeaked out their second win in 5 years.  While we were there, my mom, Lynn, showed us her new black steampunk rabbit mask.  It looked great, with a black base and copper accents.  It should be listed in our Etsy store soon.

Lance has been working on some new monocle and eyepatch designs, and including lights!  The tests I've seen so far look way cool.  He's also working on some belts.  They all get cut to size when you order for a perfect fit and include a buckle.  There's even belts that match some of the bracers he's made!  In addition to working on his own crafting, Lance has been editing the Fox Mask tutorial that we filmed recently.  I remember when we filmed Liz for the Sun and Moon mask kit.  She's such a natural on camera, I have a lot to live up to!  We'll do voice overs this week, and have it ready to sell when we go to Tour the Town in Fond Du Lac.

Lance and I will be there Friday, October 18th from 5 to 8 at the Gallery & Frame Shop.  It's a family run business owned by Lance's sister, Julie and started by his father!  We don't get to visit his home town often, so we're looking forward to being there for a great local event.  This is a wonderful chance for last minute Halloween costume shopping, or to get a jump on Christmas gifts!  Come say hi if you're in the area!

Meanwhile, I'm finishing a few projects.  It feels like my craft work is a hydra; as soon as one project is done, it seems three more have started!  That's okay though, I like to have ten things going at once and am getting better at actually finishing things before I get bored or frustrated.  On top of that, I'm getting ready to head out to D.C. for a wedding!  I love getting to see family and hang out in D.C.; it always reminds me of when Liz and I used to go visit our dad when we were kids.  I wonder if any of the pigeons we used to chase are still around?  How long do pigeons live?

I think that's all the news from Squirrel Creek for today!  Have a great day!
- Kym Lewis

Artist Profile: Liz Frank

Hello everyone, I’d like to introduce to you Liz Frank, the founder of Squirrel Creek Creations!  I sat down with Liz to ask her a few questions for our first artist profile.  Let’s see what she said!

Q:  How do you come up with project ideas?

A:  By using what I find inspiring and going from there. Wolves, Nature, fantasy and steampunk are my main inspirations currently.

Q:  Are there any projects you've made that you didn't want to sell?

A:  I feel a little sad with everything I sell because a bit of me is in everything I make. The two I've been most sad to see go was my red-tailed hawk mask and my first plague doctor.

Q:  What's your favorite Cephalopod and why?

A:  I love all the squid! They're so intelligent and cute!

Q:  What advice would you give to a new artist or crafter?

A:  Those who have given up on their dreams will encourage you to do the same. Never ever give up!

Q:  You recently quit your full time job to focus on Squirrel Creek Creations full time.  What's one thing you wish you knew when you started doing art for a living?

A:  Better time management!

Q:  The Squirrel Creek team travels a lot to conventions and other events.  What's it like going to so many conventions?

A:  It's completely amazing! I always wanted to go to an anime convention when I was younger, but never got around to it. Now in the past year I've been to 6! I love meeting new people and seeing the same ones come back. I love the cosplay and creativity that's everywhere. But mostly I love the atmosphere. Everyone is happy and accepting! I look forward to conventions more than almost anything!

Q:  One last question!  Beatles or Johnny Cash?

A:  Johnny Cash. Hands down. 

Thanks Liz!  

October Give Away

Hello everyone, this is Kym Lewis from Squirrel Creek Creations!  It's been a long time since our last update!

We're keeping busy here at Squirrel Creek Creations with lots of new products and a new focus on connecting through social media.  A while ago we looked into doing a give away on Facebook to thank all our wonderful fans.  At that time, we couldn't find any good options to facilitate a give away that would meet Facebook's terms of service.

I'm pleased to announce that I found a way to finally do that give away!  It's simple to enter.  All you need to do is fill out your name and email address.  Due to shipping costs and to make sure we don't violate any international laws, the contest will be open to U.S. residents only.  You can check out the full rules when you enter the contest.  If you live outside the U.S., you can still message us on Facebook or email us at Squirrel.Creek.Creations@gmail.com for a 10% off coupon code!


Prizes include:

1 Barn Owl Mask made by Liz

1 Identity Mask in color of choice made by Kym

1 Skull and Crossbones Eyepatch made by Lance

And 5 people will win a Leather Feather made by Kym

Thank you everyone for your support and good luck!

Enter Contest Here

- Kym Lewis, Squirrel Creek Creations