The armature of the body was made using the same armature wire as the head. Aluminum and 16 ga or 3mm. It is important to remember that the body armature has to support the weight of the head and the body, the feet can be large to help balance it. There is a lot of great info on making the armature on the web. Again my book I was referring to was great with its information. I made sure there were no kinks or bends in the arms or legs that were not natural or could compromise his ability to stand.
Once I had that decided- the head was important as there is a relationship between the head size and the body size. I could now make the hands and feet. Once baked, these were attached to the armature.

I sculpted the feet with a hole in the top of the foot to glue it onto the finished body armature. Super glue gel for the gluing.

The hands were done in the same manner. Made with a hole in the wrist and then when baked they were glued with super glue on to the armature. The strange thing he was holding was okay to bake so it went into the oven with the hand holding it.

The head onto the armature- The head was attached to the body and arm armature using copper wire to wrap them all together. I then used hot glue to hold it all together.

 

The fairy dude with his hands, arms and head in place. The hands and feet are baked then glued on and the head is wired on to the body armature. At this point the next step is to pad up the body. His position is not the final one. The armature wire being aluminum allows for some adjustments and as I wrap the body in cloth I did not need to worry about this yet. My next step is to pad up the body, then clothing...

 

The idea for my tooth fairy came about as my husband works in the dental industry. His company makes crowns and other dental type things : ) I though that it may be funny to create a fairy for him- a fairy that had just come across a crown and was trying to decide if it was worth leaving money for. He would have to be an old and really experienced fairy.

Looking for inspiration and found it in this book:

This book covers with amazing detail and step by step pictures how to do something like this. Tools, clay, baking and finishing are all covered as well as looking for inspiration for your own creation. Love it!

The first part I decided to sculpt was the head. I decided once I had the head done then I could decide on the size of the body. I did have a pose in mind- the contemplative "What is this really?" look and stance. I used a strong metal armature wire (3mm or 16ga) and made a loop in both ends. I covered one loop with aluminum foil to make a basic egg shaped head. this was then covered in paper masking tape. You have to do this or the metal underneath can effect the baking and shrinkage. I used a mix of sculpey clay and sculpey premo. I find pure sculpey or living doll clay a bit soft so adding premo gives it a bit more stiffness for me.

The face is built up slowly. First a put a layer of clay over the whole head. About 2 mm thick and I smooth it out a bit. I mark the clay to where I will put in eyes, the mouth position and the nose. I like a bit of a caricature in my work so I emphasized the brow and the nose. Most of the shapes are long cones or spheres which I have cut in half. Once they are all located I can smooth them into each other. I use glass beads for the eyes- I have just found on Etsy a store that sells eyes that are hand painted glass and they can be baked in clay- Yay! Next guy may have blue eyes...
https://www.etsy.com/shop/artistJP  check them out! I smooth out using my hands a lot. Make sure your hands are clean as any color or dust on them will be absorbed by the clay.

I now have a head ready to bake.

I used quilting batting below the head  to support it and the ears. I bake in my home oven in a full roasting pan. Once I have all my parts ready to bake I close the lid, seal it with aluminum baking foil and put the pan into the oven. Only then do I turn the oven on to the temperature that the clay will bake at. In this case 275 Fahrenheit. I set the timer for the 35 minutes needed for these particular parts. At the end of 35 minutes I switch the oven off but I do not remove the baking pan. I leave that in there until it is cool and the oven is cool. The longer the better actually. The slow cooling helps the clay be less brittle.

The next step is to make the body armature...

At this point it was made clear to me that I had done enough. Nothing like a 150 lb chair stop...

This is what happens to an unattended polymer clay bake. I also think my countertop oven is too small and too hot for the larger sculpts I am doing.  He looks as if he has a bad case of frostbite. I have, since this one, finished one successful and simpler elf. Well a tooth fairy : ) The idea was "what would happen if a very old tooth fairy ( mine is a male) found a tooth crown instead of a tooth". What would he think?

This is my fairy all finished and in location at a dental company. I forgot to take pictures of all sides of the finished fairy as I was just so excited and could not wait to share him! I sent him off to his new home and then remembered. I will do a step by step of how I made him and share some of the tools I used as I did remember that bit. I have been slow physically (and mentally) due to a damaged tendon sheath in my right hand's thumb. Over the last 8 weeks I have come to realized just how right handed I am. Not being able to use my hand or with any kind of the dexterity that I am used to... Oh well. Life is what happens when you make other plans.

Now Christmas is over and we are almost at the start of a new year. Time out has been fun and we have had many adventures together as a family. We have been to New Orleans, Disney and a whole bunch of awesome towns as we could not stop at Pensacola- Fort Pickens as a storm had washed away the beach road. About 2500 miles round trip...

I have made a few bears but been painting and planning school parties and Christmas. Right now I have a ham in the oven with potatoes roasting next to it.

Many new things have been playing on my mind for a while and I finally started on one. I have always wanted to make an elf like creature out of polymer clay. Here is the start of my 'hunter". The armature is aluminum wire wrapped in paper tape- masking tape.  The eyes are black glass beads. I wanted an ethereal unreal look to them.



Armature and start of head

Face with eyes-in close up detail





Of course E likes to play with clay too and we had fun cleaning her hands after the plasticizer we added to her clay dyed her hands purple!!
I also have been having way too much fun with the computer as I got a virus that has been heck on everything. It was quarantined by my software but it is still nerve wracking and I find some things may have been affected as I still cannot get them to work. Like composing on this page to add photo  into the text where relevant. Just makes me more convinced I am better off as an artist, not a computer engineer : ) 
                 



The elf head and feet ready to bake

E's hand match her outfit : ) That plasticizer really released to color from the clay

My Mommy comes to visit us today for a long stay! Yahoooooo! I love my mom and she is such a great support for what I do. She bounces ideas around with me, we brainstorm things to make and she is my support when it does not work out how I want.

I know a lot of fabulous mom's out there. Here is a huge shout out to them. A huge hug and kiss for each great home cooked meals, the washing that magically reappeared into the closet all clean and pressed, the help with last minute projects (lots of those : ) ), fixing all those things that just needed fixing. For just being there. For all the great hugs you give us.

My fondest memories are of coming home and my mom would be there and suddenly the world was OK again. All the school bulling vanished, nasty kids became unimportant, homework not too much and of course there was always a snack and a cold glass of milk to have with our chat.

I have been blessed with a great relationship with my mom. I have been able, through my whole life, to be able to discuss anything with her. She always understood, even when I did not want to share something.

I am a mom now which has just added to the appreciation of all the things my mom did. I used to think she was so lucky not having to rush off anywhere everyday, but I did not think of all the things running a house takes. I did not know as my mom did them all. I never once asked if she minded being home- giving up her career to be there for us. I am trying for balance between a home business which I run by myself, and being all those things a mom has to be. I am also a wife, gardener, chauffeur, cook, cleaner... well- I am a MOM!

I love you mom! Thanks for everything!!

Another week going by with no blogging : ) I have been brainstorming new things to make for Etsy to sell. I love making bears and soft toys but I am starting to think it is not enough.  So now we look at ideas that could sell all year round as gifts and below the $25 to 30 mark.
Not as easy as it sounds because once you have added in time, material costs and other things that make up the final selling price of an item, it is easy to be over that!

A typical  formula I now use to price stuff is:

ITEM COST = COST OF MATERIALS+ COST OF LABOR+ LISTING FEES + SELLING FEES+ PAYMENT PROCESSING FEES+ COST OF PACKAGING

SELLING PRICE = ITEM COST X 4
WHOLESALE PRICE = ITEM COST X 2

As you can see there is a lot more to pricing than just materials. When I started out, I used to just take materials and multiply by 3. It works for a bit but then you realize that while the price sounds great if you are a buyer of goods, as a seller it is priced more as a hobby rather than a viable living. I have been told so many times by people that my bears are so expensive. I make a living doing this and I have a lot of costs associated with this. I did not add Overhead as a category in my formula as a lot of my costs are covered as I work from home and do not rent a space and my cell is used for more than just work. It is hard to split this out. It also takes a long time to make a collector bear.
 My bears are meant to last a lifetime and to be passed on to the next generation. They are made as such and prices as such.

Even so, with that fancy formula I often end up with a price that is not realistic to sell the bear at. Often it ends up being a compromise between the two formulas: old and new.

So now I am looking at making things such as book covers with applique animals, coffee cozies, tissue holders and satchel messenger bags with animals appliqued on. The list will grow...

Any ideas?

What my kitchen counter looks like right now! I am trying to get the monster (E calls him Gum Drop) and Fall Bear finished for Halloween so I must do that and list- well, like- today. Listing takes a long time as you want to be sure you not only tell what is important about the character you are listing but also that you spell correctly. I am amazed at how many times I have gone back to see a listing and found mistakes in the wording and spelling. I have many "cross gender" animals being called he and she in the same paragraph !

Photos still are my main bug-bear. That means my main problem. How do you convey the softness of the fur, the luxury of the fur and the expression of the animal. Sometimes you really do need to see them in person.

I am still in the planning stages of E's next birthday.  I know it is in December, but the speed at which this year has gone by tells me not to delay too long. I am hoping to have many items listed for the Holiday Shopping Season. Etsy tells us what to do and when but it does help that it is not my first season doing this. Still got a lot to learn though...

As we stand right now, the theme is still Alice in Wonderland and I am thinking of casting silver keys as the party favor. My jewelry studio is finally up and running!! Yay! Look at Etsy soon for some earrings, stack rings and necklaces. I love making chain necklaces and bracelets. I almost have some  finished. Silver sure has gone up in price since I last had to purchase it. I can see why so many studio artists are working in metals other than silver and gold. I have seen some gorgeous stuff out there:

This is a friend's work- check out her fabulous style: https://www.etsy.com/shop/KimberleyMorris

I lost touch with Kim a while back and was thrilled to find her work on Esty. She is super talented and works in a strong, beautiful and bright style. Her materials are unconventional, but then I remember her being so too and enjoying her company because of that.

I hope to show pictures of jewelry in progress soon. It is kind of hard to photo and work at the same time : )  I am also going to explore some polymer clay jewelry as that will allow me to add a sculptural element to my work. Watch this space...