Featured Artist "Magical Oddities"

Magical Oddities is another shop I came across reading the Etsy forums. I love faeries and all things magical so I had to feature their shop. Erin, the artist behind the magic, turned out to be a super nice and super interesting person, and has quite a few endeavors she and her boyfriend work at. 

Here's a link to her shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/MagicalOddities?ref=pr_shop_more

I'll let her tell you more in her own words:

"I have to preface this with a little about my boyfriend, Stefan, and I. We both work in the entertainment production industry - films, TV shows, commercials, tradeshows, corporate events. He runs a Special FX and Props company called Roundtable Productions and I work freelance as a Production Assistant, Audio/Visual tech, set carpenter - I wear a lot of hats, lol. Props and SFX means: lots of random stuff and tools everywhere! and a few unique tools! One of these unique tools is a 3D printer. One random day I decided, I need a Faery! They are too pretty and awesome to only see in the movies or my imagination, I'm going to have to make one - one that is all sparkly and glowing and lives in a bottle! I spent a few weeks coming up with the wings I had envisioned. Then, I had to tackle the problem of the fairy herself. It was the perfect project for the 3D printer! I could model in the computer exactly how I wanted the fairies to look! The printer takes the 3D computer model and layer by layer it creates a 3D object. It uses a thin layer of glue and then a thin layer of powder over and over until you have a complete object. You can see videos of our printer here: 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_EasIEmXb4
www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1t9846g-NE

This process is not without its hiccups. When the pieces come out they are rough and brittle - but those were the first fairies! And they were bald, heh. I still plan on making bald faeries, I think they are adorable - and a little more fey-like. There are some pictures of these originals here:
magicaloddities.com
If you click "Photos" on that page it will take you to the page that has all my original prototypes!

Sadly :( the fairies were a little too delicate, and 3D printing is expensive! So I decided to start casting them out of resin because I've learned a lot about resin by helping Stefan with his prop making. It's a durable material, and it can be translucent! A lot of sanding and tweaking went on, and I sculpted hair. Two molds later I have the first of my Magical Oddities for sale. I still have plans to light my faeries, and I've attached a picture to show you what I'm working on! I'm coming up with new wing designs, and want to make flying fairies, and eventually a "faerie torch."

After discovering how much fun it was to create the things I've always wanted to see in the real world, the ideas didn't stop - they're still going. After I made the first of my fairies I came up with a storyline for my company. I chose the name "Magical Oddities" because that would be the name of the traveling gypsy caravan that sold faeries and other magical items. The idea is that adventurers send back all the creatures and items they find on their travels to this caravan, which sells them and then funds more adventures! I'm currently working on character designs, stories, and bios that I want to post on an interactive website!"