Happy Fall!

Fall is my favorite time of year. The leaves give off the most beautiful colorful display. I am very blessed to live close to the Great Smokey Mountains and get to see this splendor in all its glory. I love the cooler temps and the smell in the air that you can only describe as "Fall." Snugly sweaters and hoodies. Bon fires and marshmallows. Chili's and soups. Pumpkins and nutmeg! All those things are what I love about fall. I love all the sights, sounds, feel, and tastes! Just a wonderful time of the year! 

So here is to wishing you each a wonderful fall season! Go out and make some wonderful memories!! 

Sweet Ginger

One of the things that I most known for is my sculptures of other people's dogs. People send me pics of their dogs and I create a replica out of polymer clay. The majority of my customers who do this is those who have lost the pet. I hear the pain in their stories. I can feel their tears through their words. It breaks my heart. But at the same time I am humbled because they want ME to make this reminder of this creature that meant so much to their life. It is really a great honor to be able to do that. Now although I haven't taken orders since my brother's death and I have decided to open this new business and do other things....doesn't mean I can go away from doing people's pets. It will just be another creative outlet.
So I was contacted to make a small sculpt for an extended family member who's sister had lost her dog, Ginger. I didn't get to hear the story about what happened or anything as this was going to be a surprise for the sister. So she sent me two pics and I got to work. Now sometimes the sculpts come along very quickly and then there are some...I just want to pull my hair out! But sweet little Ginger was quick. Within a couple of hours I had her sculpted and then it took me about 1 1/2 hours to detail. After baking....she was painted and sealed. These aren't the best pictures, as I just quickly took them with my phone. But she turned out absolutely adorable. I hope that her Mommy can look at it and remember all the wonderful memories that she and little Ginger shared.

So meet little Ginger....

Ginger was shipped to her new home in Loudon, TN. My deepest condolences Donna!

HALLOWEEN!!!

Those who know me, KNOW I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE Halloween! It is my favorite holiday! I go all out and decorate my house first thing on October 1st! I just love it! And I REALLY love dressing up! I always wanted my boys to remember Mommy was never too "Grown up" to dress up and have fun on Halloween. But now its got to where not just the boys wait to see what I am going to do...I have people come by my house before I leave to just see my outfit! ha! Now I hardly ever spend any money on my costumes. (but that will be changing slightly) And I NEVER buy an already made costume. ewwww. But most of my creations have been basically me painting my face...then wearing black. I want my "art" to be the focal point. Here are some of my past looks...

                                                   
                                                    

                                                         
                                              

                              
                                             

                                            
                                   

                                           
                                                     

Now last year I went a little more and decided to spend a little money for nothing but a headdress. So meet my last year's creation.....(less than $20 spent)

                                                                    2015 "Medusa"

And FINALLY my son let me make him over! He never wanted me to put make-up on him...but he finally give in and was glad he did! My neighbor's kids even got in on the action and we had a small group of zombies! (no money spent)

 

My husband who NEVER does Halloween even got in on the action....he made a stone face to go with my Medusa costume! And he made it all by himself! Ha! He is so funny!

 

 BUT!!!!
THIS YEAR........
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I am so VERY excited! I have a budget this year of $100. And I am pretty sure I will make it well under budget. But this year no makeup...no hair. Full on costume! So here is my inspiration that I found on Pintrest....

Meet GROOT from Guardians of the Galaxy!!

This was Calen Hoffman's creation of Groot. He done such an AMAZING job! It was total inspiration and I HOPE that mine can look even half as good as his! So we shall see! I am going to have to get to work on it QUICK!

So what are YOU going as for Halloween? Let me know and show me some pics! Need some ideas? Hit me up! I love to help others come up with ideas for costumes!

Your a Mean one....Mr. Ginch!

So I was contacted by a family friend (Shes's practically family) But she had seen these wooden life sized Grinch yard decorations to put out for Christmas. You hang one string of lights with the end coming down to his hands and you are completely and perfectly decorated for Christmas! It looks like he's stealing your lights! How cute is that? Whoever come up with that is genius! She was wanting one for her Dad, who loves to decorate for Christmas...but didn't feel up to it this year. But the prices for them were outrageous and shipping was just astronomical! So she asked if I could make one. Never made one like that before....but sure! Love a challenge! So I bought the wood and got to work! I free-handed him onto the board, then got out my jig saw and cut him out. Then the fun part...painting him to life! Now I am NOT a wood worker...so I am sure the edges aren't sanded perfect or anything....but like I said...I am NOT a wood worker. BUT....what I am good at...painting! And I think that really showed well in this project! He turned out so cool...and HUGE! Way bigger than I anticipated! heheee! She loved it! So did a ton of other people when I shared him on Facebook! So many people asking about him...I decided to start selling them and within an hour I had 5 orders! So looks like the Grinch was a hit! Here are the pics of him in progress. I may just have to make one for my own yard this year! :-)

 

I LOVE this pic! Selfie with the Grinch! hahahaa!

Just a little dream

Dream Catchers. There is something magical and whimsical about them. Dream Catchers were created by the Native Americans. They believe the night air is filled with good and bad dreams. The legend of the Dream Catcher is that it captures the bad Spirits and filters them. Protecting us from evil and letting through only the good dreams.   It is believed that each carefully woven web will catch bad spirit dreams in the web and disappear by perishing with the first light of the morning sun. Now there is a right way that "real" Dream Catchers are made. They are made with certain materials and they are blessed before being given. They are meant to serve a purpose...not to just have for decorative purposes.
I wanted to make the decorative ones....the ones that are whimsical and magical. Great decor for your home, office, or even car (well the small ones for the car at least!)
Done mostly with different beautiful colored yarn....these Dream Catchers will have you having sweet Summer dreams!

These were so fun to make!! And I just loved how they turned out! Really can't choose a favorite!
These are up for sale in my Etsy shop. So if you are interested in purchasing them, check out my store!

And these are so easy to make that I will be doing a video to show you how to make these at home! So make sure to stay tuned for that!

Looking forward to making more of these beauties really soon!

Rabbit in a field

So now that school has started for my oldest child and my littlest is now in Preschool....it is freeing me up a little time to do some actual work. But I am finding it a bit hard to get my mind to slow down on one particular thing. It seems to be going at warp speed! I am getting inspired everywhere I look. I will see something and say, "OH! I can make that and put my little Boho spin on it!" But there are sooooo many things I want to make! The worst thing I can do is sit down and get my phone and open Pintrest. I admit it....I have a Pintrest problem. My littlest is in Preschool for only 4 hours. I can easily loose all 4 hours finding inspiration on Pintrest! Then I look that I didn't get anything done and then I get frustrated with myself for wasting my time. Anyone else have a Pintrest problem? Maybe we should start a support group! Or maybe just get together and just Pintrest and share ideas! Haha! But I am definitely having some problems staying focused. When I had my other business it was easy because I only did one thing and that was clay. But I never really had the time to just "create"what my mind wanted...I had custom orders I had to do. So I couldn't just let my creativity run free. But now that's what I want to do! I want to do all these things. But the problem still lies in...where do I start?

So what do you do to help you stay focused? Whether it be at work, hobbies, or even housework...what works best for you?

Logo!

I am so excited to revel my official "The Tattered Feather" logo. I have been working on this for quite a while now. I know it looks super simple and you are thinking...just how hard could that have been? But I couldn't find the feather that was "tattered" the right way. But I FINALLY found it and I could not be more pleased! Simple and clean...but means so much to me! So what do you think?

Welcome

Welcome to The Tattered Feather! My name is Arlissa Green and I am glad that you decided to check out my page!! Let me tell you a little bit about myself and this page.

I am an artist that loves to use a plethera of different mediums...but I specialize in sculpting with polymer clay. From 2006 to 2015 I ran a successful business called "Arlissa Green Creations." I sold my creations all over the world and had built quite the name and reputation for myself. I even did TV appearances for over two years in South Carolina, showing people how to craft at home. My world was as "perfect" as a "perfect" smooth feather. Then April 23rd, 2015...my world shattered. My brother was killed in a horrific car accident, when the other driver crossed the line and hit him head on. When he died...he took a part of me with him. I tried to pick up the pieces and get back to work....but I didn't have that drive anymore. I wasn't the person I used to be. I was lost. It took over a year to start repairing myself. I missed working with my hands...being creative. Then one day I come across this tattered crow feather in my driveway and I thought....how significant. My world used to be a perfect smooth feather and now, its still there...it is just tattered. That is where the name Tattered Feather come from. Then came the ideas. The more I repaired myself...the more I found myself. The creative juices started to flow and there was no stopping. I knew this was the direction that I wanted to go. I wanted to create things that showed my wild and free spirit. Showcase my Native American roots...a tribal boho, if you will. So this blog was created. You get to follow my journey of reinvention from the start up. So what exactly will you see here on my blog? Obviously...you will get to follow my business as it grows. I will talk about some of the things that inspire me and my style. You will find things that I have created that are available for purchase or order. You will also find some tutorials that will help you at home to make your own creations and some give aways! So a lot of cool stuff!

I hope that you enjoy my page and find it fun and inspirational. Please let me know your feedback or send me a message! I would love to hear from you!!