Puppacatchookie Award

I have another very good art friend over on Atcsforall, and if I say no more than that she is the best Puppacatchookie wrangler of all time you all over on Afa know who I am talking about. Now, our head wrangler was having her birthday in October and shortly after announced she was arted out and needed a break. I decided to make her a little birthday present, and as she had mentioned in one of our trading threads that she had so far only ever received prize ribbons but never a trophy for anything my mind was made up. A trophy it HAD to be, and since she is the head Puppacatchookie wrangler... well, you guessed it.

So first we have to clarify, what exactly is this mythical Puppacatchookie? It is a mix of dogs (puppa), cats (cat) and chickens/roosters (chookie).

So into my art supplies I dug, until I reached my polymer clay stash. And this is how the trophy was born.

Hold on, this is not yet right, it is only the start of our mythical creature.

Much better already, thanks ro my rudimentary knowledge of Cristie Friesen techniques I was able to produce something dog like, with a cat tail. It just needs a few more details, a base, some additional patina and paint...

and of course feathers...

So far, so good. Now how on earth do I get that over to America IN ONE PIECE???

I knew I had to put it inside something really sturdy, basically unbreakable, and what would be better for that but a coconut shell? I happened to have 4 coconut halves (they used to hold ice cream and after that was eaten I could not throw out the shells so I washed them well and put them aside for later use. However, they were of 4 differently shaped coconuts and so I had to do a little matching to find the shells most suited for one another.

But then, how could I possibly send her the trophy in a plain, wrapped coconut shell? After all, we are artists and crafters, wouldn't it be a bit on the easy side to send it "as is"? 

So out come the paints again...

And I also used some ribbon for a hinge, and used paper collage on the inside

And then, while I was at it and the cream paper looked a bit bland I also did some decoupage flowers inside (thank you Nanner for sending the flower tissues).

Top and bottom insides, with the last finishing touches put on.

For the outside I decided to use a sort of underpainting technique you might say, first I put on a simple background coat, then a white coat where the desing is to be, then the colours for the design, then the 3D outlines and then a coat of varnish.

And with the bubble wrapped award inside it

Yes, I know there is a crack in it. I only had a limited amount of half shells at my disposal and had to make do. However, this crack ruined my original plans of sending it to my friend overseas with just the coconut around it so I did end up sending it wrapped in some more bubble wrap and inside a sturdy box. Just to be on the safe side.

I have received word that my friend has received her birthday present now (I sent it off waaaaay too late, one reason was that the project got bigger and bigger as it developed), and she is over the moon with it. I am happy to know she loves it, I wanted her to feel special as she has been a great inspiration to me and has spurred me on in my arty endeavours at all times. She deserves a little goodness and if you came here from Afa and you know who I made this for, please go ahead and make her a little something as well, RAK her. She deserves it in my opinion...

Go on, do it ;-)