Gumdrop Ornament commission for  red-dog

She wanted a cardinal sitting in a winter wreath, and since pulling off a convincing evergreen wreath completely defeated me, I made a braided holly wreath instead, and decorated it with holly berries and tiny snow-kissed pine cones.

Sculpey clay and acrylic paint, with satin varnish finish (the top middle photo shows what it looks like varnished). Those pine cones were great fun to paint - a base coat of dark brown, and then a very light, dry-brushing of white overtop. Forgot to add a size reference in the photos, but the cardinal is the same size as my regular gumdrops - about the size of a nickel - and the entire ornament would fit inside the rim of a soda can.

I really like how this piece came out - especially once it was varnished, which really made the colors pop. HE IS ADORABLE. And, judging by the number of people who attempted to steal him away before he made it to  red-dog, I'm probably going to need to make more wreath-bird ornaments... ^_^;

See the unpainted WIP: http://www.furaffinity.net/full/1686046/