About Our Wildlife & Animal Keepsakes... |
![Original Clay Sculptures by Jaclin.](ClayOES3.jpg)
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Each of our designs starts with a
simple ball of clay and a photograph or
line drawing. Sculpting tools, both common
and hand made, mold the clay to resemble
the flat images they're based on.
Depending on the texture and form, each
sculpture takes about 5-8 hours to
complete.
After the sculptures are
completed, mold material is applied by hand
and once the molds have set, they're
trimmed and ready to be used. |
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![Christmas ornament unfinished white castings and hand painted decorations.](UnfinishedAndPaintedDecorations.jpg)
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![Unfinished opaque tan casting and hand painted decoration.](TanCastingMedium.jpg)
A somewhat flexible casting material is
applied by hand in the molds and then the
molds are filled. Once the castings are
ready, they're unmolded and each casting is
trimmed with a knife. The flat-one-side
castings are now ready to be painted. |
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![Painting my Robin castings.](PaintingDecorations.jpg)
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Castings are painted in small batches
of 3 to 18 pieces. Depending on the color,
it takes 2-4 coats of water base acrylic
paint to cover the castings. All
decorations are painted by hand. Some
decorations are also airbrushed for a
softer look. Only the front of each
casting is painted... the back in left
unfinished (the white or tan casting
material) so a magnet can be glued to the
back, if desired.
Because of the
hand painted nature of our decorations,
paint patterns, boundaries and colors
batches will vary. |
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![Hand painted wildlife ornaments drying overnight.](DecorationsHaveBeenPainted.jpg)
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Our hand painted keepsakes are allowed
to dry overnight. The unfinished back of
each decoration is marked with the
copyright notice.
Included with each
decoration is a ceramic magnet that can be
glued to the unfinished back of the
decoration. We recommend Gorilla©
Super Glue. Note: As a non-returnable
special order, we are happy to attach the
magnet before we ship at no additional
charge. Just include a note with your
order.
Our keepsake decorations
can be enjoyed as Christmas ornaments,
decorative magnets and floral ornaments.
Next, each painted casting is finished as a
decoration that can either hang or perch. |
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![Finishing Evergreen Classics wildlife and animal keepsake ornaments.](FinishingTheOrnaments.jpg)
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![Eye-pins for hanging decorations and our special green wire clips for perching designs.](EyePinsAndClipsth.png)
Hanging decorations have a looped eye-pin
glued in place. This allows the finished
decoration to hang on a standard wire
Christmas tree ornament hook, clear line, a
colorful ribbon or cord.
Perching
decorations are fit with our special green
wire clip. Each clip is formed by hand
using pliers. The green plastic is trimmed
from the top to expose the inner wire. A
hole is drilled in the bottom of the
painted decoration and the pin is
inserted. It's now ready to use. Holding
the clip (not the ornament), gently but
firmly press the clip on a sturdy evergreen
bough... you can slightly pinch the bottom
to help it stay in place. |
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![Black Capped Chickade with green wire clip perching on an evergreen branch.](BlackCappedChickadee-Forward.jpg)
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Decorations are placed in a plastic bag
and packed in a paper, cotton filled gift
box.
Care Instructions: When not
in use, wrap each decoration individually
with tissue paper. Store in a dry place
away from excess heat. Our keepsakes are
for decorative use only and contain small
pieces. Not a toy- keep out of the reach
of children and pets. |
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![Chipmunk, Trumpeter, Squirrel, Red Fox, Polar Bear, Cottontail, Goldfinch Ornaments](DecorationsInALine-Wood2.jpg)
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