Life sometimes gets in the way. Weddings and grandbabies have been a big distraction over the last couple of years and caused me to have a bit of a creative dry spell. I want to thank all my collectors who have been patiently waiting for new elves to add to their collections.  I think the wait will have been worth it.

This year I am introducing five new elves wearing striped t-shirts and stockings and felt overalls. There are four boy elves and one girl elf.   I know, I know . . . I’ve always stated there are no girl elves, only faeries and pixies . . . but . . . there are too many Christmas stories and movies that show girl elves, and too many little girls wondering why not – so I’ve caved in and added her to my collection.

Something else is new. Over the years many of you have asked me to create a limited edition Santa that can interact with the elves. Well, I listened and for the first time I have a 24” poseable Santa who is dressed in complimentary colors and fabrics to work with the elves. Now you can create decorative scenes with the elves. I’ve even added a page to my web site that gives you decorating and posing ideas for Santa and his elves. The Santas are quite limited so order early if you want to add him to your collection.

My creative juices have been flowing this year and I have several other new ideas that I want to share with you.  A storybook, a couple of unique elf characters, accessories and some new original works. Check out the Original Sculptures page for Santas, Befanas and Witches as well as wall art and ornaments.

The web site address is www.saracino.ca

Here’s a picture of my work shop with the original sculptures for the new elves and Santa as well as some other body parts. These are what the original sculptures look like before they are cast in resin. You can see a couple of older elf faces sitting in  silicone rubber molds in the middle and left hand side of the photo. Along the bottom are the original sculptures of the five new elf faces.  I actually sculpted a dozen faces, but these are the ones that made the cut.

I was hoping to do a couple of shows this year. I enjoy meeting and talking to my collectors and getting feedback from you, but once again life has gotten in the way. This year my work will only be available by mail order through my web site. In September my Mom was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer and will begin an aggressive regiment of chemotheraphy and radiation. I want to be close to help her deal with the effects of chemo and spend as much time as possible with her. We are lucky in Ottawa to have Dr. John Bell leading a research team using viruses to kill cancer cells. This is a promising alternative to chemotheraphy because it dramatically reduces the toxicity of treatment. If you are interested in learning more about Dr. Bell and his research you can check out http://www.oicr.on.ca/research/bell.htm