Debbie's Clay Babies

What's new?

2013-02-05T11:03:00.000-08:00

Well, I gave it a shot but I couldn't keep up with the photo of the day. There were just some days that I couldn't get out to take a picture and there are only so many things I could find around the house to photograph.

I liked the idea, but who was I kidding? It's hard for me to commit to anything. I think it's the Attention Deficit, or the OCD, or my anxiety, If you've been following me for any length of time, you are aware of my inability to focus, concentrate, follow through, etc. I am not shy to talk about it either. Plus, I'm feeling a little bit depressed and who feels like driving around to take pictures when you don't even feel like leaving the house?

One thing remains steady though and it's my art. I can't let a day go by without working on some kind of project. Yesterday I made some charms, a fairy poster, clay fairy houses, and valentine cards. The cards are for my grand daughters, one who likes zebras and the other who loves my Purple Monkey books.

I'm going to print out several of them and then the girls can cut them out
and pass them out to friends. I have several DIY valentine's cards in
my Etsy shop.

I can personalize them with your child's name on the bottom of each card so all they have to do is cut them out and give them to their friends.

I don't even know if anyone was following my photo of the day challenge
and if anyone was, I apologize. But, since no one ever left a comment I don't think anyone is disappointed and if you are following this blog, I bet it's to see clay! Right?

I'm going to do a garden show in March. I'm making miniature fairy furniture and fairies and posters. It should be fun and hopefully, I can make some money. Here is one of my fairy furniture sets. It's a couch, two chairs and a table, all made from clay in my favorite color combination.

I also am going to do a tutorial this week for you..something for St. Patty's day so stay tuned!

Glisten is the word for today

2013-01-18T18:55:00.000-08:00

Sun peaking out behind a cloud, has a nice GLISTEN to it, don't you think? The edges are glistening too.

I love taking pictures of the clouds. It's been sunny and bright here in Michigan for the past few days and if I look up into the sky I can almost feel that feeling that I get when I'm on the beach in the late afternoon, after everyone goes home and there's that warm sunlight glistening on the lake. I took this picture of the lake in August. Don't you want to be there right now, I know I do.

Day 17 photo challenge word is CREATION

2013-01-17T18:57:00.001-08:00

I finally finished my latest CREATION. This was very time consuming and tedious but I enjoyed doing it. The end result was worth it all. I put this on etsy for $55.00 just to see if anyone was interested. If they started selling, I would make more, but as for now, this is it.

I made all of the tiles with polymer clay imprinted with rubber stamps. Then I baked them and cut them, glued them on the wooden birdhouse, grouted, and shined. Lots of work and definitely one of a kind!

Day 16, which I missed,,boooooo

2013-01-17T18:53:00.001-08:00

I totally forgot to post my picture yesterday. I have a lot of stressful things on my mind so it's understandable. Today's word is circle. I like the reflection in the cups and the glass. Anyway, I guess I have too many circles and I only needed one. Some days you just have to make it up as you go along.

Happiness is the photo challenge word of the day

2013-01-15T14:38:00.004-08:00

I think my clay puts a little happiness is people's lives. Might only be for a moment, but my clay babies always make people smile. Working with clay, making pigs and monkeys brings ME happiness. Pink always gives me a little happiness!

Here's a cake topper I made for a customer. I sure hope it brings her some happiness!

Nature is the photo challenge word of the day

2013-01-14T19:59:00.001-08:00

I had big plans today to take some nice pictures of Hines Park. I was over in my old neighborhood and figured I could drive back home through the park, but, as luck would have it, the park was closed, probably due to flooding. So, I had an idea to drive over to another park where there was an old abandoned bathroom that was covered in graffiti. I figured I could do my WORD photo. When I got there, it was a pile of rubble. I was beginning to get a little frustrated.

So I headed back home. I decided to drive through Garden City Park and I snapped this picture. Here it is January 14 and the park looks like the end of November. There isn't a spot of snow or ice in sight, just decaying leaves and bare trees. Nature sure is fickle, isn't she? (not that I'm complaining).

Photo Challenge word of the day is Vibrant

2013-01-13T19:52:00.001-08:00

I love having art and crafts supplies. I have a bunch of pipe cleaners that I bought and I finally found a use for them. Snapping a picture for Vibrant. I put a plastic wrap filter on it for fun and it gave it an organic look,,kind of creepy. I did a lot today, took about 70 pictures of Easter clay and did several custom orders. I'll post pictures of the special orders tomorrow. In the meantime, here are a few valentine clay sets and one bunny.

Twilight is the photo challenge word of the day

2013-01-12T22:43:00.000-08:00

I know I missed a day and technically I've missed two days because it is 1:30 am as I'm doing today's photo. I got worried about the other photo I had used so here is a new twilight photo. There, I feel better now.

Photo challenge word of the day

2013-01-12T22:21:00.002-08:00

While I was babysitting my youngest granddaughter yesterday, she kept grabbing onto my hand and holding it. It's that stage she's at and she loves to touch everything. So I took this picture. I love the contrast between her small little hand and my big hand. Her's is soft and flawless and mine is aged and wrinkled. I can still feel her little warm grip as she held on.

I'm very happy with my word challenge HANDS.

Passion, the word of the day

2013-01-10T18:06:00.001-08:00

Once again, I could not find a good picture for the word WORD. I saw many great photo opportunities but the dang traffic was a problem again. I think I'm going to go spray paint a word on the side of a building and take a picture. Well, not really, but tempted.

As I thought about this dilemma, I looked up on the wall at a poster I made a few weeks ago, and thought, "Passion!", that's it! If anyone knows me well they know I'm passionate about Northern Michigan, it's where I love to be and where I want to live. I took all of those pictures last summer and just recently made this collage to get me through the winter. I hung it right above my computer so I can gaze up at it and remember and day dream. So I snapped a picture of my pictures and here it is. My passion! Or at least, one of my passions. Enlarge this picture and let the day dreaming begin.

What can you do with the word Corner

2013-01-09T18:21:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I said that I would work on the word, WORD today, but that didn't happen. I spent several hours at school today and when I left the traffic was crazy. I repeat, CRAZY. Why is it when the sun shines people drive like maniacs??

Because I wanted to get off of the road and safely home, I took a short cut through an industrial park to avoid a traffic back up. There I saw my opportunity to snap a picture of a corner. Nothing impressive, nothing creative, but I got that word out of the way.

I don't have a phone with a camera (can we say third world technology) so I have to take my camera with me. I'm getting in a habit of doing that. Tomorrow my plan to is take a drive down Hines Park and find something that glistens..At least that's the plan.

Polymer Clay Mosaic Covered Bird House

Here's the beginning of a polymer clay bird house that I'm covering. This is very time consuming. I had to make all of these little tiles with clay and they are hard to line up perfectly but it's getting there. I need to cover the front and the back and then grout it and shine it and then, if anyone is interested, I will do a tutorial. So, leave a comment if you'd like to see a tutorial. If no one comments,,then I know!

Today's photo challenge word is foundation

2013-01-08T15:57:00.002-08:00

When I saw the word "foundation" I immediately thought of this hynm..

The church's one Foundation Is Jesus Christ her Lord;
She is his new creation by water and the Word:
From heav'n he came and sought her to be his holy bride;
With his own blood he bought her, and for her life he died.

I like this church because it looks like it's been here for a long time, standing strong on it's physical foundation.

I love that word, foundation. It's what faith is built on, a good marriage, good morals, and good education. A foundation used to tuck a woman's stomach in and foundation on a woman's face can make her look younger.

Tomorrow I'm going to go out and look for the word, WORD. That should be interesting.

Exciting News!

My newest book, "You're Naughty, Purple Monkey" is on Amazon. Here's the link on Amazon...LINK

What's it about? It's a story about friendship and how we treat our friends, all with the subtle use of YOUR and YOU'RE. It also has all of the days of the week. Repetition helps a child learn the difference between your and you're. The illustrations are done in collage. I made all of the papers and did the illustrations myself, along with writing the story. Eric Carle is my inspiration. As you can see, when I'm not doing clay, I'm busy with other creative outlets.

Thanks for reading my blog and see you again tomorrow.

Photo Challenge day 7

2013-01-07T16:29:00.001-08:00

I love taking pictures. When I go on vacation, I can easily take 700 pictures. Then months later I look at each picture and savor those memories, relive the sunsets and sandy beaches and quiet woods. The invention of digital cameras and the ability to save pictures on a flash drive came along at the best time of my life. It would have been nicer if it was around when my kids were born cause buying film and getting it developed was usually not in the budget, so a lot of picture moments were lost.

So I'm grateful that I can fill my flash drives up with thousands of pictures and capture as many memories as I can.

That's why I did this photo challenge. Cause I love taking pictures. So if you live in my neighborhood and saw a car driving around taking pictures of the snow and sky the other night, that was just me.

The photo challenge word of the day is branches.

I love the way the snowflakes look like planets in the sky.

This photo makes me want to make a cup of hot chocolate and sit by a winter campfire.

Thanks for stopping by!

Photo Challenge Day 6

2013-01-06T14:00:00.002-08:00

Yellow. It's a primary color. It evokes images of warmth, lemons and Doris Day! Yellow was Vincent Van Gogh's favorite color and the name of a song by Coldplay. I chose yellow today because I bought a bunch of silk flowers to use a props for my clay photographs and, although I would have liked to use real flowers, this was what I had. I added a few filters and some sparkles for fun!

Here I've used them in as a prop. You'll be seeing more of those in the future.

Hope my yellow picture makes you feel warm on this cold, wintery Sunday.

Last minute reflection

2013-01-05T19:21:00.002-08:00

I just spent the last four hours at my daughter's house visiting with her and my three grand daughters and I took about 122 pictures. I was inspired by the word YOUNG for the challenge today. But once I got in the car I started thinking that I might not want to post a picture of my little granddaughters on this blog, so while I drove home, I pulled into Walgreen and took this shot. My word of the day is now REFECTION.

This was certainly last minute and not what I had in mind for reflection but it works.

Short and sweet tonight! See you tomorrow.

Day 4 is all about being SPOILED

2013-01-04T16:41:00.004-08:00

This is Emma. She is my son's dog and some nights she visits me in my room. Now, I don't let her lie next to me, she has to sleep at the foot of the bed. But for this photo challenge I slipped a pillow under her head and snapped away. She barely moved. Spoiled dogs have handmade afghan blankets and a pillow while they sleep!

As for my clay, I'm trying some ideas out for my etsy store photos. It's a beginning. I need to work on lighting and sharpness. But, not bad for a beginning. What do you think?

Today's word is STREET

2013-01-03T16:10:00.001-08:00

On this third day of the 365 day photo challenge I decided to go with the word street. I took my trusty fugi camera out with me and I had an idea to find a street with no traffic, set the timer and put the camera in the street, but instead, I found a beautiful pattern of salt encrusted cracks and decided to take the photo instead.

I love texture and I'm forever making patterns in photoshop and as soon as I saw this design on the street I knew I could have some fun with it.

The original image

Here it is with a paint dabs filter.

Here I changed the hue

Looks sweet as a mosaic


Many filters, lost track.

All of these images have been turned into patterns. You can see in the image below how I used those patterns to fill in the text.

I'm pretty sure I won't be doing this much work for tomorrow's image but this was fun!

Because this blog is about my clay, here is a custom order I did for a customer in Australia. I really liked how this turned out. Be back tomorrow with my day four photo!

365 day Bucket List Photo Challenge

2013-01-02T08:20:00.001-08:00

My friend Nick is having a photo challenge for each day of this year and he asked me to be in it. At first I thought about it and thought I might. Then by the end of yesterday I backed out. After midnight I got a text from my friend Joe who influenced me with his positive comments to do it anyway, regardless if I missed the first day.
So,,after thinking about it at 3:00 a.m. this morning, I decided to do it. Here is how it works. Each month there is a list of words that we have to pick from. Here is January's list.

The object of the challenge is this...get inspired by the list, get creative and take a picture, then mark off the word that inspired you. Because I'm already one day behind, I'm going to do two words today, Day One and Mint.

Here goes....


Day One

My day one picture is a cup of hot lemon tea and hand sanitizer. Why??? Because I'm surrounded by sick people and I'm trying to avoid getting sick myself. I'm drinking hot lemon tea twice a day and washing my hands with hot soapy water. If that's unavailable I carry that hand sanitizer with me everywhere I go. Let's hope it works.


MINT

My second picture is mint. Mint is the hot color for brides this year, so why not show one of my mint owl sets. Shameless promotion, I know.

So, now I'm all caught up and plan to stay that way.

If you would like to join the challenge, there is still time. Contact my friend Nick if you want to be in the challenge. Here is his blog...Nick's blog!

Now I guess I have to go tweet this.

Happy New Year!

Know anyone who's getting married?

2012-12-28T16:26:00.002-08:00

I love looking forward to the new year. Its time for me to work on new ideas and start out fresh!

I made a LOT of Christmas ornaments this season and , truthfully, I'll be happy to start back with my cake toppers.

So, if you know of any one who is getting married or having an anniversary party, birthday party, or celebration, please send them here.

If you refer someone, and they purchase a cake topper, I will let you chose something from my "Gift Referral Page". Most of those items are $10 to $12 in value. Just my way of thanking you for helping me out.

For more information, go to my "Gift Referral Page."

This couple loves to camp in the desert!

I love bunting!

This couple is enjoying a day at the beach. Who says the bride and groom have to be dressed in wedding attire?!

Working on my fourth book

2012-11-14T09:08:00.005-08:00

This year was very exciting for me because I wrote and illustrated three children's books. I spoke about them a few posts ago, but to review, they are,,,"I saw a purple monkey" "The Shell Lady of Cecil Bay" and "The Spooky ABCs of Halloween."

All of these books can be found on Amazon.com. Here's a link that will send you to all three..

One of my teacher friends really loved the purple monkey book and suggested I start a series. She enjoyed my subtle teaching of the proper use of see, saw and have seen and all of the colors of the rainbow. Her idea was to continue writing about the adventures of the Purple Monkey incorporating grammar lessons into the story.

I liked that idea and have been working for the past few months on "You're Naughty, Purple Monkey." My deadline is November 30, 2012. I want it to be available for Christmas shopping. It's the story of the purple monkey and teaches, once again, subtly, the correct use of Your and You're and the days of the week.

I've done all of the illustrations in an Eric Carle style of collage. I designed all of the paper and use them in the illustrations. I think my books have a unified look and I enjoy illustrating them in this way. I'll keep you updated on the publication date and in the meantime here are some sneak preview images of the book.

The illustrations won't have my watermark on it and will have text of the story.

What are you thankful for?

2012-11-12T15:01:00.001-08:00

For those of you who have facebook accounts have you noticed the daily thanks that friends are posting?

Somehow I always miss out on the beginnings of these kinds of committments, like the 365 days of crafting commitments or learn a new word each day,,etc. I usually discover them about half way through or two days after the sign up is closed.

But, because of my blog here I can make my own days of thanks and since I have such a hard time with commitments, I'll list what I'm thankful for all in one shot.

I'm thankful, everyday, for my children and my grandchildren. I could actually stop there and be fine with it, cause they are definitely the most important part of my life,,but I'll continue.
I'm thankful that I'm intelligent.I'm thankful to my parents who insisted that I got a good education.
I'm thankful for my talent. Once again, my parents allowed me to take lots of art lessons at the Detroit Institute of Arts, an experience that shaped me into living a creative life.
I'm thankful for the rest of my family, like my sister and nephew and cousins and aunts and uncles.
I'm thankful for my son for rescuing me and letting me come and live with him for awhile.
I'm thankful for my sensitivity to my surroundings.
I'm thankful for my faith in God and thankful to him for hanging there with me when I wasn't so faithful.
I'm thankful for my boyfriend who makes me laugh and always is agreeable to any idea I have.
I'm beginning to be thankful for my quirks and idiosyncrasies, something I've struggled to accept in the past but am starting to embrace. (it's about time, since I'm not going to live forever.)
I'm thankful for my good memory that is enhanced by a smell, a song, a feeling. Having along term memory is such a gift. I just wish my short term was as good.
I'm thankful for the internet, because without it, I would still be doing craft shows. I just can't do them anymore,,they are tiring and frustrating.
I'm thankful for all kinds of books and music. Life would be so dull without them.

I think I'll stop there. I think that's enough. Maybe next year I can be thankful for better health and more money. I guess better health is enough.

What are you thankful for?

It's been awhile....

2012-09-14T22:26:00.000-07:00

There is nothing worse than making excuses, but I'll try. It was a very busy summer for me. My son got married and my daughter had a baby. We had a bridal shower, baby shower, along with that. I also painted a 4 foot by 4 foot fiberglass lion for Detroit Lion town.

I also went to Mackinaw City in June and August and might be going again in

October. I love it so much up there, I would move there in a second, except I'm find of attached to my adult children who all live near me. I sure wish we could all move together. I guess it's ok to dream though, although I'm not going to give up on that idea.

Sunset and Silhouettes

I love seagulls

Can you hear the waves?

My favorite beach I've ever been to.

All the while though, I was busy making clay cake toppers and ornaments. I also wrote and illustrated three children's books. "What???" you might say. Yes, I spent hours, days and weeks writing. I illustrated the books in the style of Eric Carle with some slight changes. I designed my own papers in photoshop, printed them, made collages, scanned them and then manipulated them back in photoshop. It was so much work yet fun the whole time I was doing it. I worked 12 hours a day producing these books and I'm happy with how they turned out.

The first book is called, "I Saw a Purple Monkey." I then wrote, "The Shell Lady of Cecil Bay." and finally, "Scary ABCs of Halloween." Please go over to my face book page for more information. My face book page..please like!

In the next few days I'll be posting some of my current toppers and Halloween items. Here's a sneak peak.

Spring Time Clay

2012-03-23T11:41:00.005-07:00

Wonder who lives in this little fairy house?

I love owls, in nature and in my studio. I hope my admiration shows in my clay renditions.

Lots of bunnies!

Teddy bear cake topper.

I've been busy making all kinds of clay cake toppers, fairies, pixies, and bunnies!

I've been making more folkart bunnies.

I really enjoy making these bird cake toppers.

I'm getting ready to do a trade show in Petosky, Michigan so I've been producing new clay dolls and cake toppers like a crazy woman!

Remember, I do custom designs. Email me at garritygal@yahoo.com if you are interested in something special.

Fairy Houses

2012-03-09T10:30:00.005-08:00

Ever since I was a child I was fascinated with the land of miniatures. It probably started with The Friendly Giant and 4 containers of play dough. I remember making miniature furniture for the Flintstones. When my Dad cut down the cherry tree in our front yard he showed me how to make little houses with the sticks. I make houses all over the front yard that day. It was my own little village and each house had it's own fence and stone well and little path. I stacked little piles of wood near the back doors so the inhabitants of those houses could have a warm winter.

When my kids were older I helped them make dioramas for school and I built a miniature battle field for my sons. When we went on vacation I showed the kids around us how to make little houses and villages up on a bluff behind my tent. The ground was moss and sand and there was an abundance of pebbles and sticks. We all had our own little house and all weekend we worked on that little village.

This sense of wonderment has never left me. I love to make little fairy houses in the woods when we travel. I never use anything that I bring with me: I only use what I find on the ground,,twigs, sticks, vines, acorns and moss. I like to find the hollow of a tree and I make my little house, It always has a pebble pathway leading to the door.

I've noticed that this year miniature gardens and fairy houses have taken off all over the internet. (Naturally, I'm ahead of my time but behind in the money,,lol).

I've spent the last few weeks making little fairy houses and furniture. It's relaxing and since I have a big show coming up next week, I'm hoping that I'll sell some.

I'll be posting more pics of my mini furniture and fairy gardens in a few days. Till then remember, "Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things that escape those who dream only at night.
Edgar Allan Poe

Rag doll tutorial

2011-12-27T09:07:00.000-08:00

Recently the Detroit News wrote a little article about me and my clay. Here's a link...

I thought you might like to try out the tutorial yourself..have fun!

Polymer Clay Rag Doll

Level: Beginner

Estimated time: 1 hour

Tools: Scissors, wire cutters, black Sharpie pen, wax paper, cookie sheet

Supplies: 2-ounce packages of Sculpey Polymer Clay in white, beige and blue; 1/8 yard of fabric, colorful yarn, 18-gauge wire; acrylic paint in white, red and black; two toothpicks

Instructions

1. Tear fabric into 5 strips, measuring 3 inches x 1/2 inch. Cut 5 pieces of wire into 11/4-inch lengths. Wrap a piece of wire around center of one strip, twisting to tighten around fabric. Repeat with all strips.

2. Now, cut yarn into 3 inches x 1/2-inch lengths. Gather 5 at a time and wrap wire around center, twisting a few times.

3. Roll out a 11/2-inch circle of white clay. Form into tear drop and stand upright for body.

4. Roll out two tubes of beige clay, about 2 inches long. Attach each tube to base of white clay, applying pressure. These are the legs. Turn up edges to form feet.

5. Roll out a 2-inch ball of blue clay and flatten to form circle for dress. Lay over body and legs. Gently form clay around them, making sure back is covered.

6. Roll out two 11/2-inch tubes of blue. Attach one to each upper side of body on dress for arms.

7. Make two 5 mm balls of beige clay. Attach one to bottom of each arm for hands. Insert toothpick straight down body.

8. Make a 1-inch ball of beige and push onto toothpick to attach body. Gently insert a wired yarn piece to side of head, then another. Continue inserting yarn, then fabric, all over head.

9. Preheat oven to exactly 260 degrees. When fully heated, bake doll on cookie sheet 20 minutes. Turn oven off. Let cool completely before applying face paint.

10. Pour a little black, red and white acrylic paint on wax paper. Dip wood tip of paint brush into white paint and apply eyes. Let dry. Next, dip tip into black paint. Apply small dot of black paint over the white. Use toothpick to paint triangle nose, then Sharpie to draw smile and eyelashes.