Tag Archives: custom waterglobe

Making Christmas Time

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It was a challenge, I think. Out of the blue I was asked, “Could you do a Christmas globe?”

I’ve avoided the theme Making Christmas Time snow globe, Camryn Forrest Designs, Denver, COout of pure stubbornness. It’s become such a cliche. After all, there are so many kitschy holiday theme snow globes to be found. From the big box stores to dollar deals, you can find santas and elves and sleighs galore.

On the other hand, I liked choosing the unexpected figures, an imaginative scene, something a little … well, different. But still, a challenge is a challenge, so I let it simmer. The idea bubbled, and I stirred the mixture in my mind, until one day, there were scenes I could picture, images I wanted to be real. I wanted to see if I could do what I imagined.

This is the third of my three holiday globes. “Making Christmas Time” is simple: a vingette of a tree being decorated. The “ornaments” are tiny watch gears (some call this watch glitter, the pieces are so small.) A single strand of fine gauge chain is unrolled from a spindle, over one man’s shoulder, into another’s hands, across ladders, and reaching arms. You can write your own story, but this is mine: The Christmas we build each year is the time we spend on what is important.

Making Christmas Time.

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Detail, Making Christmas Time custom snow globe, Camryn Forrest Designs, 2013  Detail, Making Christmas Time custom snow globe, Camryn Forrest Designs, 2013  Detail, Making Christmas Time custom snow globe, Camryn Forrest Designs, 2013

“Making Christmas Time” one of a kind water globe (snow globe), with 4-inch diameter glass globe and interior scene of repurposed jewelry, watch gears and tiny figures. Interior liquid shimmers with gold dust when globe is shaken. All images and designs copyright (c) 2013 Camryn Forrest Designs, Denver, Colorado.

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Airship Cadillac – In a Realm All Its Own

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In the late 1950s, Cadillacs were sometimes sold with the slogan, “In a Realm all its own.” Cadillacs are often associated with mystery, imagination, elegance, luxury and power. Sort of like Steampunk, wouldn’t you say?

Interior Detail, Airship Cadillac waterglobe, Camryn Forrest Designs 2013The Fleetwood, with its exaggerated tail-fins and over the top detailing epitomized the luxury car; you didn’t just run an errand in a Cadillac, you had an adventure.

Someone asked me why we see sailing ships suspended so often under steampunk fantasy airships — and rather than come up with a good answer, I drifted off and started thinking of other modes of transportation that might get the job done just as well or better than a sailing ship. Assuming we’ve created an entirely new power source for the grand airship (and we no longer need to depend on wind power for extra ooomph!), the new improved airship should be able to carry just about anything. Hey, I’ve seen Back to the Future more than once, and I know these things are possible.

I figure you could take a caddy, and fly it to the moon if you wanted. To the stars. What does make me wistful is wondering if I could see what happens when “Airship Cadillac” meets “Flight of the Warrior Rhino” — look out. That Rhino is just looking for a battle these days. There’s a story being written and I’m not there to witness the cliffhanger.

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And you know what kind of airship I might work on next? An Airstream Trailer under a Zeppelin. A to Z, why not?

Airship Cadillac: One of a kind custom 5-inch snow globe (water globe) with tiny airship and gold 1957 Cadillac suspended below for the ride. When shaken, the liquid-filled interior shimmers with gold dust, giving the impression of a jump into hyper-speed. All designs and images Copyright (c) Camryn Forrest Designs, Denver, Colorado 2013.

Waiting, Waiting for the Next Big Thing

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Detail: Waiting for the Next Big Thing snow globe, Camryn Forrest Designs (c) 2013If you’ve ever seen the amazing endless staircases drawn by M.C. Escher, you may have noted that just about everyone in them is busy going nowhere. Up the down staircase. Back where you started.

In this snow globe, it’s a different approach, but with a similar outcome. People with different perspectives waiting for The Next Big Thing. You know: That Thing that will make them special, or happy, or new and improved. Waiting for something to happen, or for someone to tell them what’s important.

Because sitting and waiting for something wonderful to happen isn’t all that different than running in place.

Patience may be a virtue, but it doesn’t make things happen.

“Waiting for the Next  Big Thing” custom one of a kind snow globe with warped staircase and waiting people. All photos and designs copyright (c) 2013, Camryn Forrest Designs, Denver, Colorado.

Citrus Sky (beaded water globe)

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This juicy little snow globe is a departure from my curious inventions, vagabond airships, steampunk’d machines and endless Escher-esque staircases. It is simply a study in colors and shapes that I liked.

Citrus Sky, custom snow globe, Camryn Forrest Designs, 2013A friend invited me to attend a bead show with her some months ago, and I went because I love to see all the possibilities and how other people make things. The shapes, colors and textures were mesmerizing.

These particular pretty leaf or teardrop-shaped beads came in a multitude of colors, shades, details and delights.

I gathered handfuls from a container of mismatched beads (which I suspect fewer people wanted), letting loose beads spill back through my fingers. I filled a bag and sorted out the colors later to see what worked.

This piece reminds me of a citrus sky at dusk, with lime and moss and touches of aqua, and one bright blood-orange bead for  a “pop of color” (as Stacy and Clinton used to say.)

I painted the wood base with a faux metal technique in the same greenish hues.

There’s no adventure to share, no story here, just an experiment in using different materials and introducing color into my water worlds.  The brother and sister of “Citrus Sky” – respectively called “Fired Up” (reds and oranges) and “Remnants of the Glacier” (soft aquas, silvers and grays) found homes the first time they were displayed. These two sculptures were sold before photos were taken of the final pieces, but I still love looking at the rich colors of the unique beads as art rather than jewelry.

Fired Up custom snow globe, Camryn Forrest Designs, 2013 Remnants of the Glacier, custom snow globe, Camryn Forrest Designs, 2013

Custom beaded miniature sculptures and snow globes, designs and photos are copyright (c) Camryn Forrest Designs, Denver, Colorado 2013.

Steampunk My Ride

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Take one BIG-wheeled vintage bicycle and add a rider, gears, chains and mysterious mechanical modifications and you have a unique means of transportation, or as we like to call it: “Steampunk My Ride.”

Obviously, if BIG is good, then BIGGER is BETTER, so this Penny Farthing bike just kept getting modified until the rider seems nearly an afterthought. (This seems a bit like modern technology, where the Internet seems to think it can function without any human interference sometimes, we’re SUCH a bother to higher intelligence.)

One of a kind (ooak) water globe (or snow globe) featuring a modified “penny farthing” or old-fashioned big wheeled bicycle and tiny rider. When shaken, the interior sculpture shimmers with copper and metallic-colored micro-dust, which sparkles and slowly settles on the scene. The base is finished with a wrapped leather-look strip embellished with a swirl of brass rivets, mimicking the movement of the wheels and gears on the bike.

All designs and images are copyright (c) 2013 Camryn Forrest Designs, Denver, Colorado.

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