You can purchase them at your craft store.  There will be a wide variety of molds for you to use, everything from feet, emblems, leafs, flowers, hands, faces, even body molds.  These molds are made of a flexible rubberized material. However, I have learned there are some tricks to using these molds to your advantage.

First if you have never worked with Polymer Clay the first thing you should learn is to condition it.  That means take a small amount of clay off of the block and knead it with your fingers until it becomes very pliable.

Next pick the mold you would like to use and measure out the conditioned clay to approximate size of the shape you are trying to mold.  In the case of a face, pinch a very small end for the impression of the nose.  Press your clay into the mold.  Remove any excess clay around the impression.   You want the clay to be level with the mold do not want it to overlap on the outer mold surface.

To release the clay from the mold, gently rub clay off the edge of the mold toward the center of the molded piece.   This will give you a nice clean edge on your molded piece.  The mold is flexible so if you are careful you can release your piece by gently pressing opposite sides and your piece should release from the mold.

All of this is what the manufacturer of the molds will tell you.  And it does work in most cases.  If you are challenged with your coordination, like I am, you will find it very frustrating to release your piece only to have it look misshaped.  I cannot tell you how many times I thought I had the perfect face, only to release it from the mold and have it look like something out of a Frankenstein movie.

I found this little hint in a magazine and I really would like the manufacturers of the molds to put it in their instructions.  It would have made my life so much easier!

After you put your clay in the mold, removed any excess, folded back the edges for a clean line, you can then add clay to the back of the piece and shape it.  For instance, if you are doing a head you want the back of the head to be rounded.  After all no one really had a flat head in the back.  So take a small bit of clay and work in onto the back of the piece to form the other half, being careful to not release the head from the mold.  It is also important even in this step not to have any excess hanging over the side.  Now once you have done that put the entire mold with clay attached in the freezer for about a minute.  The clay will become firm and when you go to release it from the mold you will not have a misshapen figure.

Another good hint I found in this article was when I go to smooth out seams, I wet my finger and the clay smooths so much easier.  I then finish my pieces by adding more clay where needed and decorating according to what the piece tells me to do.

Here are two of my newest creations.

I hope you enjoy these little creatures as much as I enjoy making them.  In weeks to come I have some ideas on what to do with the miniature birdhouses I made..Stay Tuned.

Polymer Clay also makes me happy..so why not combine the two.   I made Roses, Tulips, Dahlias, Canna and a few that I am not sure what they are, but flowers are free flowing, so I used my imagination.

Now that I have this veritable garden sitting in my hobby/computer room I am not sure what to do with them.  I will put some in little vases to either give to friends or sell at my yard sales this summer, but I think I will make a few more and make them into jewelry!

Each of these flowers is between a dime to a quarter in size, just to give you some idea.

Our children are our greatest gifts.  I hope you enjoy  looking at these one of kind artwork as much as I did.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23205417@N03/

I have a couple that I will post in the next week or so to keep the little ones busy and decorate your house at the same time.

• Oval box with lid (7-1/2 x 10 x 5 inches)
• 12 x 18-inch sheet of pink stiff felt
• Stapler
• Crafts glue
• Double-sided tape (optional)
• 5 sheets of blue paper
• White, black, purple, and yellow paper scraps
• Thin white wire
• 1-1/2-inch pink pom-pom
• 2-1/2-inch white pom-pom
• White crafts fur scraps
• Hole punch
• Orange curly ribbon

1. Cut two 4 x 18-inch ears from felt. Staple ears inside the box along top edge.

2. Cover box and lid with blue paper.

3. Have an adult cut a 1/8 x 4-1/2-inch slit on each side of the lid and slip over ears.

4. Cut out face pieces and glue to front of box. Add wire whiskers, a pink pom-pom nose, and white pom-pom tail. Glue a small piece of fur to top of lid.

5. Punch two holes at the top of each ear. Thread one curly ribbon through each ear. Knot ends together to create a handle.

I just wanted my readers to know, that I have personally been using this little gadget as my main phone service for a year now.  It cost me $39.00 for the signup and the first years service.  It is attached to the back of my computer, when someone calls me, their name and phone number pops up on my computer screen.   I have the option of accepting the call or ignoring it.  If I choose to accept I simply pick up the phone, if I choose to ignore the call, I press ignore and it stops the call from coming through.

The only drawback I can see with this, is the fact that if you want to have calls coming in at all times, then your computer has to be on 24/7.  If there is a power outage,  you have no phone.  For me neither of these is a big problem, but it might be for others.

My renewal is coming up next month..it is $20.00 for the entire year.  I call anywhere in the USA for free, talk as long as I like for free.

Oh, and they have a money back guarantee….Ok enough selling.  Just thought you would like my opinion on this little gadget.

In the winter I have to find things to keep me busy. The months between January-end of March are particularly nailbiting for me!

I have been collecting for the last 10 years, birdhouses. The kind that you don’t hang outside, but are purly decorative. You find them at store thoughout the midwest that cater to folk art, country decor. So I have about 20 of the life size birdhouses hanging around the house (not literally).

So I decided with my love of Polymer Clay, why not make miniatures of them! So I have been busy. Each one stand about 2″ high and 11/2″ deep. The width depends on the style of the house.

Here are some samples.

The house is not crooked, just my aim of the camera!

Little pine trees and shrubs make the house complete