Charms revisited

Remember a few weeks ago I mentioned that I was making little charms? I made over 100 of them; cupcakes, donuts, bears, bunnies, etc.

They turned out really cute until I did the finished work. What a fiasco!

If I wasn't such a mild mannered gal, I would have been pulling my hair out.

Here's what happened.

I know that polymer clay is durable, but I was concerned with the findings staying in the charm. Charm bracelets take a beating, so I wanted my charms to last for years.

After they were baked and cooled, I attached a split ring, applied super glue to the finding, and dipped them in acrylic to give them a nice shine. I had a laundry rack set up so I could hang the charms. I would dip them, attach them to a piece of wire, hang them on the rack, and go on to the next charm. I had about 50 finished when all of a sudden, the rack tumbled over, hitting me in the head. Charms went flying everywhere; I even had some hanging in my hair. There was acrylic finish all over me and the floor.

Disgusted, I cleaned up and went to bed. The next day I discovered that the super glue (gel) had dried white and crusty. The charms looked horrible and were ruined. I now have a box of about 60 charms that I can't sell. I have been using them in my child care program as incentives, the kids can't really tell the difference.

I thought I had done a lot of research on how to make these charms, but I guess I missed something. I do know that some people push a headpin up through the charm, then form a loop to attach the split ring. I wished I would have done that.

So, my little venture in charm making didn't work out so well. Maybe I'll do some more investigating. Any advice? Feel free to leave a comment on how I can make charms that are durable, long lasting and look nice.

For now, I'll keep working on my ornaments.

Hello Again

It's been two weeks since I posted and for that, I feel really bad. As I explained before, I'm taking three classes at Madonna University. Two of the classes are Graphic classes and, for me, pretty easy. I went into these classes having a lot of information and experience under my belt. But the third class, Web Fundamentals, is another story. It involves building websites from scratch, using HTML coding. Although, I'm getting it in bits and pieces, there are a few things that have stumped me. I've spent hours and hours a day working on homework. When this class is finished, (in a few weeks), I'll know more about HTML than I ever thought I would. When winter semester starts, I'm taking two classes, Graphic Arts 2 and Lithography, so my world should calm down.

I do have good news. My last show was a great success. Last Saturday I did a show in Shelby Township at Eisenhower school. What fun! I almost sold out of my product. I wished I would have taken more, but, too late for that. My other shows were so bad, I wasn't very motivated to load up on tons of stock. Big Mistake! There were times that there were 5 to 8 customers with clay in their hands. It was the shot in the arm I needed, both emotionally and financially.


What sold?

My biggest sellers were snowmen families and snowmen. I personalized a lot of ornaments. I sold a lot of baby's first Christmas ornaments too. Penguins were a hit too.




I thought it was great that so many people have a lot of Christmas trees in their homes. For instance, one woman had a Christmas tree in her daughter's room. It was completed decorated in pink, so she purchased a pink sock monkey ornament. Another customer had a sock monkey tree at work and one had a tree in her kitchen. (I'm so busy, I am looking for a ceramic table tree to put in front of the window! Easy up, easy down, easy storage!)

I'm so happy and grateful to everyone who purchased ornaments from me. I learned a few things (again), after doing a good show.

• Always have a lot of stock on hand
• Always have a lot of change on hand
• Only get into the best shows!!

When January rolls around, I'm going to try really hard to get onto mailing lists of the top shows in Michigan. I already have done some of these shows in the past, so I know which shows those are. I'll have to have a special account just for the shows, since one that I'd like to do is $250 but, I bet I could make 10 times that if I am prepared.

It's a bit difficult to do big shows by oneself, and that's the problem I have. But, if all goes well next year, I'm sure I can find someone to help me out at those shows. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

For now, I promise I'll be back on a regular basis. I still have a lot of homework to do, but I think the worst is over. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Overwhelmed!!

You may not hear from me for a few days as I have a lot of orders and homework. In my web fundamentals I have to build three websites (two are due in one week). It's a lot of work and it's very important for me to do a good job. (Want to stay on the Dean's List).

I also have three cake toppers and several ornaments to make, plus a craft show next Saturday.

(Not to mention my Graphics class assignment)..

I'll be posting soon..Just need to catch up a little.

Charming!

Here are some better pictures of the little charms I have been making.




This is a chocolate bon bon.

Dime shows the size. I have some smaller too.

Yum! Bagels and Cream Cheese!





Do you need some ketchup with your hot dog?




How about a donut for dessert?

These still need the charm ring added on, (which I plan on doing this week.) I made about 65 charms in the last week. These are just a few of the charms.

There are a lot of steps to the process. Form the clay, put an eye pin in it, bake it, shine it, add paint and details, glue the eye pin for extra strength, then add the charm ring.

But, I had a lot of fun doing these. I have a lot more ideas!

It's a small world

Just a quick update. I've been working on a lot of miniatures for charms.

I started off a long time ago making miniatures. It was really something I was good at and I enjoyed. In fact, I had my minis in over thirty stores, then slowly, over the years, shadow boxes and shelves became less popular, and I started making the cake toppers.

Lately, I see that clay charms are really popular and etsy now has a miniature section, so I'm going to dust off the miniature ideas and start making them again. At first, I thought that maybe there were enough people making them, but that's unproductive thinking. I'll make them also, and I'll try to find different ideas and better designs.

Making Frosting...

I don't care to make jewelry, however, I don't mind making charms for people who like to make jewelry for themselves or to sell. These can be used as charms and pendents.

These little bears need features like eyes, mouths and blushed cheeks. I'll paint those on later.

The charms are made from premo and fimo and liquid sculpey for extra strength. I put a little drop of super glue where the eye pin is inserted, making them very durable.

As soon, as I finish these, I'll be back with more photos of the finished product.

Sounds in the night

Something happened early this morning that couldn't have happened at a better time.

It was 3:00 a.m. and I was watching an old black and white horror film. It wasn't really very scary, but I love the ambiance in these old movies with the dark, shadowy woods, the fog that rolls over the country side and the sounds of the night creatures.

Just as I was about to turn the TV off, I heard the hooting of an owl. Although it came from behind me, I thought it was from the movie. I sat up and listened, first muting the TV. I waited a minute in the dark, straining my ears. Then I heard it, loud and clear, the strong hoot of an owl.

It sounded as if it were right outside my window. There are woods directly behind my house and not too long ago, I saw the large wing span of a bird that I hoped was an owl. I've scanned the tops of the trees and searched with binoculars the crevices and shadows where an owl might live, hoping to see one. But I never did.

I'm used to strange noises that drift through the night air and have heard frightened baby fox, screams of raccoons and possums, and even the the quivering cry of a screech owl, but I've never heard the eerie sound of a Hoot Owl (Barred Owl).

I opened my window and hooted back at the owl, but, wise as he was, he cautiously waited before he hooted again. Without my interference, he felt free to call out in the night. So I closed the window and laid in the dark and listened. At first the sound was unsettling, but after a few minutes it was as welcome and familiar as an old friend.

Every old black and white movie I've ever seen has an owl crying out in the darkness. A symbol of impending doom, the owl is seen as strange and frightening. It's the watcher of the night. But there in bed I rested, snug in my covers, listening to the owl as if it were singing me a sweet lullaby.

Whether it's an owl crying out in the night, a black cat running across your path, or a bat buzzing past your head, Halloween might just spook you with a little surprise. Watch those dark corners, beware those mysterious shadows and be careful of things that go bump in the night.

Have a great Halloween!

Whimsical Letter

I have been working on a project in my graphic design class where we transform a letter into another object.

I chose the letter G.
The assignment called for only 7 steps.


The process had to be gradual.




I started to add polka dots . The tummy and arms and head start to grow.

I smoothed out the tail.



More polka dots, longer arms, and a more defined head emerge.

I added whites for the eyes and little fingers and toes.


I have found, that no matter how hard I try, I can't avoid whimsical. I might as well face it, it's my style.

This would be a great idea for an Alphabet Book. Only, I think it would have been better to do
G is for Giant,,or something that started with a G.

All in all, I'm happy with the finished work.

Tales from the darkside...

iIn other words, I did another craft show yesterday and it was bad.

I hate to be negative, because I did enjoy myself, chatting with other crafters, catching up with old friends, but as for sales, it was bad.

Most of the people I spoke to were in the same boat as me. They were struggling to get their table money back. I think I made about $38.00 over the cost of the table. I used to think that I would be happy if I made around 10 times to 20 times the cost of my space. For instance, if I paid $50.00 for a table, I expected to make $500 to $1000 that day. That was an achievable goal in the past. Those days are gone, at least for me. I haven't seen that return in awhile. I hope some of you are making that much.

As for customers, the "lookers" were friendly, gave compliments freely, chatted about the weather and inquired about my product. Two little girls came to my booth 7 times to admire my little pink sock monkey.

One of the girls really wanted the sock monkey and she held it in her hands, looked at her money, whispered to her friend, looked at me, and then would put the monkey down and walk away . This happened all afternoon. I really wanted her to buy it. Not because I needed the $4.00 but because she had fallen in love with it. But, as nice as I am, I wasn't going to give it to her.
With every purchase, I was giving my customers a free bag. The little girl who loved my monkey was just as in love with the bags, and would pick out a bag and hold it up to the monkey to find the right match. In the end, her mother told her she couldn't buy it. I was a little sad to see them leave!




Here are the bags I bought off of ebay. They looked nice with the clay, and people really appreciated the gesture. I paid $5.50 for 100 of them. Not bad!


I met a few crafters/artists and we shared ideas about Etsy., finding good items at garage sales that sell well on ebay, wholesale places to buy supplies, new craft ideas, and marketing suggestions.

As bad as the craft show was, I came away with some inspirations. For instance, I saw someone wearing polymer clay buttons on her jacket. I've been making buttons myself, and I think mine were much better, so that verified my idea that buttons might work for me.


I think I'm going to try and make stickers for my next show, to sell alongside the clay. I have been working a lot with graphics, so a lot of the work is done. I just have to get a new ink cartridge and labels, and I'll be set to go. I have a lot of ideas in regard to stickers and labels, and I think images of cute clay babies might look great on stickers. I have three weeks before my next show to put together a cute collection. I think I can work it nicely into my display.

Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Sometimes I think we artists/crafters are a little insane. I've done three shows in a month with horrible results, yet I still expect that the next show will have different results. Or so I'm hoping. To create, to make things, to do art is so important in my life that the
financial outcome, as horrible as it sometimes is, does not make me throw my hands up in the air and scream, "I quit!" I just keep creating. My friend Mary Ann, always says to me, "You just keep on keeping on, Debbie."

Albert Einstein also said, "True art is characterized by an irresistible urge in the creative artist."

Spoken as the true genius he was.