Playing with Clay....

I love working with polymer clay. I love how a big lump of "nothing" can become anything - from smiling fruit to tiny spoons to realistic looking animals. I am not much of a realistic type of crafter. I prefer cutesy & whimsical stuff. More like Mary Engelbreit than Thomas Kinkade. I really, really love cutesy, whimsical realistic. What's that? Well.....it's giving ordinary things (animals or inanimate objects) personality. Such as, The Secret of Nimh or The Brave Little Toaster. Speaking of The Secret of Nimh, I always loved the little momma mouse and the mouse family's underground home. It was a sad movie to me, though. Many years ago I happened upon a tiny collection of mice figurines at a shop called The Mole Hole (love the name). I instantly fell in love with the tiny little creatures-they reminded me so much of The Secret of Nimh. The one big problem was -they were so expensive. I did end up buying one and have treasured it to this day. 

  

Above: Wee Forest Folk figurine. You can barely make out the owl in the hole in the tree. Miss Mousy  is just under 1" tall. So tiny. I have always wanted to a mouse similar to her. I haven't made any that small yet, but I have made some around 1 1/2" tall. I am now "flocking" them with fur. All that means is that I am adhering fur to them. I think that they look much cuter and it is easier to hide flaws.

Above: Lump of clay already prepped and ready to go.

Above: I sketched a profile of the mouse that I want to make. The jelly bean looking thing on the bottom right is his body. 

Above: His head.

Above: Pen in picture to show scale.

I have finished sculpting several mice and am in the process of flocking them. I will post them when they are finished. Maybe tomorrow.

Have a great rest of the day and don't forget to keep those hands busy,

Holly