Check out this group

I get a lot of motivation and inspiration from other blogs, groups and forums. Although I think that maybe I spend too much time doing so, it beats watching TV. Here are a few of the places I visit. I have to admit though, that I lurk, as I am trying to limit my involvement. I don't visit every day either, but when I do, I always learn something valuable.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AJmarketing/

The above group is great because it's all about making it as an artist. They don't discuss the artwork, but how to promote and market the art

.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheArtofLicensing/?yguid=101558746

This is another group and it's all about licensing art work. You will learn a lot by looking through the archives. (I just found some messages I left from 2003!)



I just discovered this site...http://www.ideabook.com/..It's all about desk top publishing and has great information if you want to make a living doing graphics. The links page alone is worth the visit.

This site,,http://www.dafont.com/..is wonderful. It has a great variety of fonts that are free. I love collecting fonts and this is the first place I go to when I need something new and free!


My instructor just told me about a motivational site, called ted.com..(http://www.ted.com/index.php)..The tag line is Ideas worth spreading. You can listen to motivational speakers for free (they offer 200 talks in their archives).

Finally, here's a site you may never want to leave. It's called Colour Lovers, http://www.colourlovers.com/

It is a color and design community that is a visual treat. There are color swatches, patterns, different palettes, and a color blog. You can find the latest trends in colors (this fascinates me as I often wonder, Who decides?).

Hope you enjoy these sites as much as I do.

I had an epiphany!

Coming home from last week's show, I started to really think about changing what it is that I do.

I've felt this way many times before, but fear and doubt caused me to continue on the same road.
I have many other interests, but my connection with polymer clay has kept me from pursuing those interests. I have been sculpting since 1982 and I always joke that I'm going to die with a piece of clay in my hands.

But there is a voice inside of me that is not satisfied with the ways things are going for me. I feel like I'm not growing as an artist. I have the same old ideas; I pump out the same clay babies, year after year. Sure, sometimes they are a different color, some are smaller, some are bigger, but, in the end, it's the same stuff I've been doing for years and the medium is the same.

At my show, I took a good look at myself, at my craft. I saw flaws in my workmanship. I felt guilty when people purchased my product. If they complimented me on something, I felt the urge to point out the imperfections. (I didn't do it, but I felt like it.)

I have also noticed that I procrastinate when it comes to working on my clay. In the middle of making something, I'll get up and go wash the dishes or sweep the floor. I found that the clay seems harder to work with and I'm constantly dropping pieces to the floor, as if I've lost strength in my hands.

As I ponder all of this, I think to myself, is it time to put the clay away for awhile? Should I take the leap of faith it takes to start something new? I'm going after a graphic arts degree and feel that there are so many things I could do in the field, right in my own home on my computer.
I love to paint and do collage. Could I make any money at it?

I have been struggling with this for quite awhile and wonder if it goes with the territory of being an artist/craftsman. I think about this all of the time and wonder if it's time to reinvent myself.
The first week of class in January, my instructor asked us to write down why we were in his class, and one of the things I said was that I wanted to reinvent myself. But what have I done to even begin that process?

As the year winds down, I am going to make some major changes that I'm going to implement in the new year. I know I will continue filling orders for my cake toppers if people want them. This is a nice supplement to my income. However, I'm going to work hard to come up with a new idea that will have nothing to do with clay. That's going to be hard for me. But, the desire is so overwhelming, I might get used to the idea.

My dream is to one day have a home office where I write and design. The clay is in a box in case I need it for a project or an idea. My mind is open to a lot of possibilities. Now it's time for me to make the move!

One final thought. At my last show the woman next to my booth was a polymer clay cane artist. She had a few things on her table mixed in with her sister's jewelry. Although the woman was nice, she kept name dropping all of the clay artists in the "industry". I found this very boring, because I don't really care about that aspect of clay. I have discovered over the years that those people are good at what they do, but their art or designs just don't interest me. The woman invited me to a clay guild meeting, but I declined. She seemed appalled that I wouldn't want to go. She said, "Even Donna Kato shows up sometimes"..(For those of you who have never heard of Donna, she is a polymer clay artist who is the inventor of Kato Clay.)

I told the woman,"I'm just not interested." She dropped a few more names and I continued to decline.

Afterward, I found it interesting to myself that I almost was put off by her enthusiasm for knowing a few artists who's names are well known in the clay world. This just added to my epiphany that maybe it's time for a change for me.

I must confess that even though my blog is called Polymer Clay Ponderings, my focus is going to be more on reinvention, motivation, simplicity and creativity. I will continue to talk about clay though, as I may use it in other projects and I will continue to do my cake toppers. So please stick around. I hope that I can inspire and inform those of you who already create, want to create, or don't know what to create!

Last show of the season

This Saturday, December 6, is my last show of the season.

As you may recall, I hadn't done any shows for years, so I wanted to ease myself back into the show "scene".

It was a great learning experience and I found that I do have a product that people like, especially the clay ornaments. I also found that I have to stay away from crappy shows. You know, those little $25.00 shows, that don't jury, don't advertise and have about 400 people in attendance. Some people might do well at those shows, but I never do. (and from what I heard , no one did this year).

This last show will be hit and miss. It's located in Canton Michigan, in a nice area, a Catholic Church, and the promoter is very picky. She only allows hand crafted, what you were juried in for. I think that is great, because that means most everything will be hand crafted. (no buy and sell)..

I made a lot of ornaments and will take pictures at the show.

Wish me luck!

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.