Things I've been doing lately

Even though I made a big announcement 5 months ago that I wasn't going to do toppers anymore, it's hard to turn down the requests, so I've continued making them. Sometimes an artist just gets tired or burned out and I believe that was what happened to me.

Anyway, I've been making toppers again. I've been trying to build up a nice inventory of ready to ship toppers, that way, they are more economical for the bride and less stress on me. I just recently made some sweet little toppers for the bride who wants something lightweight and cute on top of her cake.

Art Dolls

I have also been making more art dolls. These are so much fun to make and really a great diversion for me. I can express myself totally with the creation of these dolls. I love the combination of beads, yarn and clay. Look for more posts on my art dolls and a contest soon!

Graphic Art

I've also been having a creative surge designing posters, altered art, atc backgrounds and photographic images. I don't know where all of this creativity is coming from but I'm thrilled. There are not enough hours in the day anymore for me to do everything I want. I'm in a very happy "artsy" place right now!

Collage

I've also found more time to paint and do collage. I then take pictures and change the images in photoshop. I'm trying to build up a portfolio of original collage and paintings and eventually seek out an art agent. This has been a dream of mine for years, but I've neglected it. Now it's time for me to really focus on that.

Sometimes an artist goes through dry spells and I believe that for the last few years I have been trying to claw my way out of mine. Suddenly, over the few months I have found new inspiration and am more driven than I've ever felt. I feel passionate again about my art and design and am grateful for every moment I spend creating!

Busy Making Clay

I've been working on some special orders and that has kept me away from my blog for a few days.

Here is a cake topper that I made for a bride who went to school with my daughter. I had to make the top out of paper mache (I didn't do a great job on the smoothness of it, but it looks OK).

The couple can be taken out of the balloon basket.


Here is a bear bride and groom . I have it on Etsy for $24.00




This mets and phillies fans cake topper is on it's way to PA.


This sock monkey graduate can be personalized with the correct tassels, year and date.
On etsy for $10.00

As you can see, I've been busy working. I've been organizing my clay room (again, again, and again). I made three goal charts with lists of clay babies I need to make for shows and etsy. Now I just need to work on that daily.

Polymer Clay Babies

The History of my name...

Someone asked me the other day why I named my website Polymer Clay Babies. Originally, I called my business Debbie's Clay Babies (it's still called that on Ebay)
. My grandmother used to stay with me a lot and loved to watch me with my salt dough (pre clay days). She would say, "are you working on your dough babies?"

I started doing the dough in 1976 but discovered polymer clay in 1982. After awhile, my grandma got the knack of the polymer clay and started to say, "are you making your clay babies?"

So when I did shows, I called my business Debbie's Clay Babies. In 2002, when I wanted to start a website, I decided to change the name to Polymer Clay Babies. I figured my site would be easier to find if someone typed in Polymer Clay and then babies.

Over the last few years, re-born babies have become popular, so when people type in Polymer Clay Babies, my site comes up. If they are looking for intricate detailed re-born babies, they are in for a disappointment, but that's not my fault. (I've had people ridicule my name because my things are not reborn babies, but, sorry, I had the name first!)

Anyway, that's the story on my business name.

Don't forget to leave a comment to put yourself in the free topper drawing.

Win A Free Cake Topper!

For those of you who follow my blog, you probably know that I have been full of angst for the last year in regard to my "craft".

You also might be familiar with me wanting to "reinvent" myself; something I've written about several times.

So it won't surprise you to know that I've started making my cake toppers again. The toppers were a source of somewhat steady income, but I really wanted to explore art in other areas.

But, after customers continued to ask about the toppers, I decided that it was foolish of me to stop making them when nothing else could replace the money right away. I didn't transition into another successful medium or idea.

Last week I redesigned my website (still needs work) and got three orders for cake toppers. So, God's trying to tell me something,,stick with what works.

In the mean time, I have been doing collage, painting and tying different ideas. As you know, I have a lot of those (ideas!)

I admire people who have found their niche and have stuck with it. I have made a valiant effort to stop worrying about what other people are doing and just do my own thing. There are certain artists on ebay who I followed just to see what they sold, but I'm happy to say I haven't done that in weeks.

To celebrate my return to cake toppers I'm going to have a giveaway of a custom made cake topper. Naturally, this won't be of interest to everyone, but, if you know of anyone who is getting married in the fall or winter of this year, having an anniversary, or a birthday or baby shower, let them know about this giveaway.

How it works


If you would like to win a custom made cake topper (wedding, baby shower, retirement, anniversary, birthday)
leave a comment. Make sure you mention that you want to be in the contest. On June 1, I will announce a winner. That's when I will need the information about the topper. This is a $35.00 value. The winner can pick a theme, hair color, flower colors, etc. There would be no additional props (I won't be adding bikes or towers, castles, etc)..

Here are some examples of cake toppers that are valued at $35.00

Baby Shower

Wedding or Anniversary Topper
Wedding topper
Birthday Topper

Remember, these are just some ideas of the toppers that I can do. If you win, you give me the idea and I'll made a whimsical topper that makes a wonderful keepsake.

Leave as many comments as you like, but only one comment per blog entry, starting today. Tell your friends, leave a link to my blog if you'd like, and feel free to use these pictures to talk about this giveaway.

One final note, since this contest ends on June 1 and it will take me time to make the topper, please understand that the winner won't get it for approx a month, so your event must be after the middle of July.

All About Crafts

In my ongoing attempt to be inspired, I've found some sites I love to visit.

The first site is called Sell Your Crafts. It has a lot of articles about craft shows, where to sell, how to price your crafts, trends, inspirational stories and projects.

Here's a link..

Another site I visit often is called Country Sampler. You may have read the magazine in the past. The site is full of decorating ideas, lots of great pictures and a community forum. When I was in Ohio and West Virginia I noticed a lot of country shops. I've always liked country, so I'm going to re-decorate my kitchen.

Country Sampler

Craft Test Dummies is a fun-packed blog full of tutorials, pictures and information with a wide variety of easy to advanced craft projects. I noticed they recently had a giveaway, so make sure to check it out.

I really like this blog called Art Dolls, A journey in Fiber. The artist's name is Judi Wellnitz and it's obvious she is a dedicated artist and blogger. She has wonderful altered art, trading cards, and collage. She also works with polymer clay. Once I was on her site, I found it hard to leave!
(If you visit her, make sure you don't forget about me!)

Finally, my role model of a blog is Polymeri Online. This blog is jam packed full of information on everything and anything that has to do with polymer clay. She has featured every polymer clay artist I've ever heard of (including a link to me!). The author of this blog is Iris Mishly. She creates colorful jewelry, barrettes, beads and decorations. Check out her flicker pages and be ready to be inspired.

Cake Toppers

Here is a cake topper I just mailed out. I have decided that I am going to stop making the toppers. I've been making them for 7 or 8 years and I'm tired of it. I have a few more to make for a couple of customers, but when I'm finished with them, I won't be making anymore.

I will have more time to be creative with my clay and painting and won't feel bogged down with the orders. I knew it was time to move on when I would rather wash dishes or mop the floor than make a cake topper.

I'm going to concentrate on primitive one of a kind dolls and just have fun creating different art work. I also have to build up inventory for the fall when my potential to make money is at it's greatest. I've been signing up for the best shows in the area and, hopefully, will be accepted.

In the past I've written about re-inventing myself and I feel that this is a good step for me to take. I have always admired artists who stop doing what they are good at and then start creating something totally different (and just as good.) It's good to know when to make that change.

Henry David Thoreau:

Things do not change, we change.

Yesterday I featured a picture of a topper that I mailed last week to a customer who is getting married on Saturday.

Today I received an email from her stating that she still hadn't received her topper. She asked me if I had sent it to the correct address, then gave me her address. I had to double check in paypal where I had shipped it and, sure enough,it was a different address.

I contacted the customer and she explained that she had lived there 4 years before. I guess she never changed her paypal address.

She was upset, but not with me. I felt horrible, as she was so easy to deal with.

I thought about it for a few minutes, then, dropped everything I was doing, went into my clay room and started another topper. Since it was a fairly easy order, a sock monkey and a panda bear bride and groom, it didn't take me long to make it. I baked it, glued it onto a mirror base, and took it to work with me. At the end of my day, I wrapped it and taped up the box. It was in the post office by 6:2o. I sent it to her priority mail and hopefully, she will get it by Saturday.

Here's the replacement.

I did it quickly, and am not happy with the panda bear's face. She needed black around the eyes. I'm going to send my customer a note telling her that she can outline the eyes with a black sharpie. Other than that, it turned out fine.

If my customer would have waited another hour before contacting me, I doubt if I would have had time to make another. I just didn't want her to be disappointed. I just hope she gets it in time.

I learned a valuable lesson here. From now on I will double check addresses when people pay with paypal. I don't want to send my orders to anymore strangers.

Somewhere, in New York City, someone has a sock monkey and panda bear cake topper. I hope they enjoy it!

A "pear" of cake toppers

Sometimes I have to know when to look at my work and say, "Yikes!" So it was with a cake topper that I've been working on.

My customer wanted a couple of cute pears to go on her cake. She wanted them with a wedding dress and tux. After I finished the topper, I didn't like it one bit. I thought it was bulky and made the couple look obese.
I wrote to my customer, sending her the picture, and she agreed that it was kind of big.

So, I did another one for her. It looks like this.
I think it's much cuter and more whimsical. My customer sent me an email saying it was exactly what she was looking for. Wow! I'm glad. I used a lot of clay on these, and I wanted her to be happy. I still have to glue it to a mirror base and add blush (paint the stem too), but she got the idea.

It's hard to execute someone's idea when you are an artist. They have a vision and the artist has to try to reproduce that vision for them. About 99 % of my customers are wonderful, as they let me take the idea and run with it.

I haven't met a bridezilla yet!

Lots and lots of cake toppers

The last few days I've gotten a lot of work done. It feels good to finish up orders and make new clay babies to put on etsy and ebay.


As you can see, I've had a lot of different requests lately for toppers. Kiwi and asparagus is my favorite. The bride wanted the kiwi to be elongated. That's about the best I could do, as the kiwi started to look like a brown eggplant.

As I mentioned, I'm going to really start working my cake topper business. I'm in a showcase for next Saturday on Etsy. It's the wedding showcase. That will help a little with more exposure.

Polymer Clay Graphics

Here's a few polymer clay graphics that you can use for personal use (website, business cards, tags, newsletters, etc).. Just right click and save to your computer.

I'll be adding more free graphics as I make them.