Maureen Carlson Clay Characters

How to Make Clay Characters

Sorry about the long pause between blog's, I am a bit disheartened with the internet at the moment, my speed is not what it's supposed to be!!!

Well last week a did a little bit of online retail therapy, for a little while now I've been scouring the net to find sites about creating more realistic characters from my clay...

I bought three books in a bundle from http://www.amazon.co.uk/  two were by Maureen Carlson and one by Katherin Dewy.  I am enthralled by their work and would love to be anywhere even half way near to the talent of these artists.... but one can dream!!!

My first attempt is from the book by Maureen Carlson on How to Make Clay Characters, I tried Maureen's character Suzette, (I called my little one Tammy).  I am still trying to get to grips with the hands.... they are quite tricky, practice makes perfect!  i deviated a little from the character in the book, as I only did one ribbon and added a large lollipop for Tammy to hold.

I love the details and the information about actually clothing your characters, which I have found quite hard in the past, I never really thought about designing them as "actual" clothing patterns before, but Maureen's background is in sewing so naturally she thought as a seamstress.  Which makes sense really....  this is definately a must have for peeps looking to improve their sculpting skills.

When I get time I'll review the other books!!!

Here's my attempt at Maureen's character.

I've been so enthralled with the book, I've hardly looked at the other two, I will though!!

Oh and there's a new addition to the family.... meet Princess the goldfish........ she's happy in her new home!

Polymer clay Wedding cake toppers

What's been keeping me occupied this week?  I've always admired the craft of modelling, I especially love the cute little figures  I've seen online for weddings and cake toppers.  I decided to have a go at one for myself. 

I needed a bit more information before I got started, so I was googling tutorials to make these for quite a while and had drawn a blank.  I came across the site of an extremely talented German lady called Betty (well at least I think that's her name), Betty works not only in polymer clay but in sugarcraft, you should see her frog prince cake!! Wow!! It really is something, so cute, I only took my daughter to see the new Disney frog prince movie recently and loved it... so I absolutely adore Betty's frog prince. 

Anyhoo Betty has a brilliant tutorial for making bride and groom wedding cake toppers for sale on her site, so after buying it I had a go. 

I wasn't really too fussed that the white got a bit dirty, as I really only wanted to see if I could follow the tutorial.  My biggest problem was my fimo... the black was like chewing gum to work with, I'd normally use fimo classic, but could only get soft of late and I hadn't ever used the soft black.... I opened two packs as I thought one might have been an old one the shop had. As a result the groom is not really how I had anticipated.  But I am quite pleased with the result.  I added earrings to my bride and a tiny tiara made from seed beads and wire.

The tutorial was easy to follow, and very few tools were required, so it's ideal for beginners with no real outlay other than the polymer clay itself.  I used the tube that my seed beads come in to shape the mouth.

If you want to see any of the fabulous work of the talented crafter Betty you can see it here the website is in German, but click on google translate to view it in English.