Pumpkin Tutorial: Video!

Hey everyone! I finally uploaded the pumpkin tutorial in video form, so enjoy! I'm so glad to be finally helping my fellow clayers- especially the new ones. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE feel free to ask any questions or request something or leave a comment or anything like that! I want your feedback! I want to help! Here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ums1oVID_oU

Thanksgiving is fast approaching and I'm starting to plan a clay feast. I noticed that Garden of Imagination (from YouTube) has a sort of menu from years ago and she shows how to make a lot of Thanksgiving foods. I'll sort of use her as a reference when I do mine.

I'm starting to worry about the Gallery- the stuff I have there hasn't sold and it was a lot of Halloween stuff! So now I can't put anything in there Thanksgiving-themed or Christmas-themed because the Halloween stuff hasn't sold- and won't, because Halloween's over! Big dilemma! We'll just have to see. Upside- I'm starting to think more seriously about neighborhood advertising, and from there, I'll proceed to conquer the world! Just kidding- from the neighborhood and the town I live (I'm already selling at the gallery, remember) I'll progress to the country and maybe the world. We'll see how far I get. It would be a great help if you would just tell me what you think.

Farewell until next post! Ta-ta, y'all!

Michaels Haul, Art Gallery, and Fall!

I finally added the Codex to the sequel site, so if you've been waiting for those (not that you have) then there they are. I apologize about the lack of new pictures, but the storage limit is pretty close and we'll have to do some Fall Cleaning there.
I just went to Michaels again and got soft pastels, a carrying case, more colors, and more tools. Never can get enough of that place. I'll include a picture.
I used the pastels to do a little pancake project off of a tutorial on YouTube, and if you want the channel and all that, the link is...on the sequel site blog. Yes. So if you want it, you have to make a little detour. Hope it's worth it (it totally is).
So our work is now in the Market Street Art Gallery, and if you want details, check out the YouTube vid. Find me on YouTube under Firefox9799, or just search 'AwesomeClaySculpting'. We're pretty psyched about being able to sell stuff and all that, not that anyone will actually buy, but we're proud. We got some requests because of it, too.
Some of the scenes I included are the Pumpkins/hay bale scene (on Flickr) and the Graveyard Scene, which has yet to be photographed. Maybe I'll stop by and take a picture of it in the gallery to make it official. Cali included basically earrings, pendants, and a scene/figurine or two. I did two scenes, a simple Fall earring set, and a Halloween bookmark, 3 of which haven't been photographed yet because of time limits and their simplicity. I'll make better ones and take a picture. So, see you soon! Bonsoir and au revoir!

Store comparison

Now, I live in an area where the two closest craft stores (they're not really all that close) are Michaels and Hobby Lobby, and I go to each one for different reasons. Let me give you the run down. Michaels is good for keeping up-to-date with the latest Sculpey products, but Hobby Lobby has a lot more generic clay stuff that isn't Sculpey brand but is still awesome. More variety at Hobby Lobby, more reliability at Michaels. Hobby Lobby has more (a LOT more) cookie cutters in the clay section, while Michaels only has Sculpey brand cookie cutters (the mini ones that come in sets of 12). I myself got the basic ones, because the other ones...well I couldn't really figure out what they were, so they weren't really much use to me. As for powders...you know, to brush onto the clay before you cook it to give it a certain look...well, I have only experience with the Mona Lisa brand powder, but it works pretty well. I haven't tried any other, not even the Premo! Sculpey brand stuff (I tend to distrust things that look too brightly colored, it sort of looks childish, not serious like the Mona Lisa brand) but I would be willing to try the powders at Hobby Lobby, which come in great variety and quantity for nearly the same price. I suppose I'll get back to you if I do. One thing I do have to say, though, is that now Michaels is selling these really neat storage cases for $2 each which are great for storing beads, clay, anything. Just the other day I went and bought two and they serve me well. But I will say this: if you plan on transporting your clay, do not use these to mass-transport. Use a smaller container and pad it with stuffing or tissues or fabric or something. That is how I transport mine to my customers, and the more padding used, the less chance of it breaking. So now, I must get back to making my mini pumpkin patch. I may post a tutorial on here about how to make mini pumpkins, because I think they're adorable. Nothing I like better than sculpting mini pumpkins late into the night while watching The Muppets Treasure Island...:-)