Fairy Houses

I've started to make Fairy Houses. In a lot of ways, they're more fun than conventional buildings, because I can make up the details as I go along. I don't have to measure a damn thing, and if it's a little wonky, that's a good thing.

I made this from a plastic soda bottle, some air-dry clay, cardboard and acrylic craft paint. I'm using a technique I learned from this YouTube channel: Creative Mom. By starting with a plastic or glass bottle and building on the surface, all you have to do is cut away the clay where you want a window, and HEY-PRESTO! your window is already glazed. After fitting dozens of tiny bits of clear plastic into HO-scale Tichy windows for my last commission, this is much more fun. I can bat one of these out in an enjoyable afternoon, and paint it the following day.

I started on a fairy-house-style train station to go outdoors, and for that, I started using Smooth-On Free-Form Sculpt epoxy clay, as suggested by this YouTuber: Ultimate Papier Mache. Here is the first part I completed: the ticket window.

So far, I've found it a tough medium. The "clay" is very sticky, unless you keep a lot of water on hand, and it doesn't really have clay-like qualities when you're working with it. At times, it was like trying to sculpt with warm taffy. You have to wear latex or nitrile gloves when you use it, which is a drag when you're used to using Sculpey. However, the end result is rock-solid, and I have no doubt it will stand up to harsh weather. 

Anyway, I'll keep slogging along with this new-to-me medium, and I'll see if the result sells on Etsy!