My Studio...

Well, as promised, here are some pictures of my "Clayroom"!  It's pretty much all set up, just have a couple more things to unpack and find places for.  And I do have to figure out some kind of closet door...

I just love working in that room with those two nice windows, letting in all the light.  It was like Christmas a bit early, when I started unpacking my studio boxes - hadn't seen a lot of my stuff since 2007, when it was all packed away.  I feel so much more organized, and love having the tools I need right at my fingertips!  One of the best parts of that room is the bed - I will be adding more pillows so that it will be like a couch for people to come in and chat with me - then, when we have overnight guests, they'll have a nice place to sleep.  I am so happy to say that our first overnight guest will be our daughter!  She just sent me her itinerary for her trip here, and I was thrilled to hear that she'll be staying for two weeks - she'll be here for both Christmas and New Years!!  Her dad, brother and I are so happy about that, as are the other family members and friends here in Michigan!  We'll have time for all of our family traditions... making Christmas cookies together and attempting to make my family's Christmas Eve dinner. (Wish us luck on that one!)  It's a big traditional Italian Christmas Eve dinner (calamari, and two other fish dishes ~ as well as three different kinds of pasta dishes) which I have never prepared by myself, this will be the first time.  My daughter insisted that we try, we'll see how it turns out...  we will have fun either way, just being together. Times when we are all together are pretty rare now that my kids are all grown up!  I am so thankful for the precious moments when we can all be together!!

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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥Wishing you a sunshine filled day!
~Trina

Christmas Custom Orders...

I just finished creating two custom orders, and thought I'd post pictures to share before I mail them out.  The Snowman with the Ice Cream Cone is an ornament to hang.  I can make many of the creations that you see in my Etsy Shop into ornaments. I have a "Snowman With Ice Cream Cone" listed in my shop as a figurine. The buyer who purchased this one, wanted the snowman figurine for her granddaughter (who loves ice cream!) ~ but wanted to know if I could make it to hang on a tree.  It turned out adorable as an ornament.

The Santa is an order to go with a deer that I created.  The deer loves apples, and Santa always has a bag full of things that are much loved! :)  Here's a link, if you'd like to see the deer, and read about my inspiration to create it:
This Deer Loves Apples

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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥Thanks for stopping by ~ Have a great day!!!   ~Trina

A Prehistoric Looking Dragonfly...

I was just sitting here, looking through some photographs, listening to the wind and thinking that it's going to start snowing any minute now.  It's been very cold the past few days and yesterday we had light snow flurries.  It didn't amount to anything... but snow is definitely on it's way!

While looking through our pictures of warmer days, I came across some that my son had taken last summer when my daughter still lived here. We had spent a weekend at the lake, and one afternoon while we were out on our boat, we had a visitor come aboard.  A very prehistoric looking dragonfly.  As you can see from the first photograph, he's much bigger than the other two "normal" size dragonflies!  He sat for a while at the edge of the boat and then flew away, only to come back with his lunch... a good size bug!  He perched himself on one of the fishing poles and proceeded to eat his entire meal.  The activity on the boat (including our dog) didn't phase him one bit.  He took his time eating, and my son got pretty close to him to take these pictures.  At one point my daughter held up her hand to give some perspective as to how big he was... we were amazed - both at his size and at the fact that he stayed so close to all of us for such a long period of time.  When he was finished with his meal, he flew down to the edge of the boat once again and sat for a while.  That's when Emmi, our little dog, got quite curious about him and jumped up to get a closer look.  He didn't even flinch!  But we sure did... we moved Emmi away so that she wouldn't harm him. That dragonfly had been around for a long time, and we'd hoped that he'd live much longer.  Eventually he flew away... but we were glad to have had a very interesting visit from that very interesting dragonfly!

*Click on the pictures to enlarge the images...

Here's a link to read all about these very interesting dragonflies: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonhunter


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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥Wishing you a wonderful day! ~Trina

 

A Sweet Custom Order...

I just finished the last of four custom orders that I had this weekend.  I wanted to share one of them, because it's just so sweet.  A customer's family dog (Sadie) had passed away this past spring and she wanted a figurine of her, to give to her mom for Christmas.  She sent me pictures... oh how cute Sadie was!  She also gave me a description of what she had in mind, and this little figurine is what I created for her. The toy in the bed with her was her favorite little toy, and her family always covered her with a blanket in the evening.  So sweet and caring!  She was a very loved little puppy!

All four Custom Orders I finished today

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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥Thank you for stopping by ~ Have a great day!!  ~Trina

A Happy Thanksgiving Wish...

Thanksgiving is here!  A time to gather with, and enjoy family and friends and to reflect upon, and give thanks for all of our many blessings! 

To all my family, friends, fellow bloggers and artisans everywhere, I wish you and your families a VERY HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!  :)

Hugs!!
~Trina

My Newest Items on Etsy...

Happy Friday Everyone!! :)

Here are my two latest listings on Etsy.  I am in the process of creating other pieces to go with my Shepherd, so that I will have a complete Nativity set.  I will post the new items as I go along.  Stop by my Etsy Shop to see more of my holiday creations:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/trinasclaycreations
The little boy in his fuzzy bear slippers was fun to create!  I loved how the little bear slippers turned out.

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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥Thanks for stopping by!! Have a great weekend!
~Trina



 

My 'Jobs and Careers In Clay' Collection...

Sally the Hairdresser

With my two most recent custom orders, I realized that my collection of clay figurines celebrating " Jobs and Careers" is slowly growing!  Thought I'd post the pictures here.  The first two pictures were the custom orders, the others (along with the Hairdresser, above) are listed in my Etsy Shop.  These little figurines would make great gifts!

If you have an idea of a fun and whimsical figurine, representing a career, that would be a good addition to my collection, please let me know. Thanks and have a great day! :)

Cashier

Waitress

Fireman

Teacher

Marine

Nurse

Photographer

My New Studio and First Treasury... A Busy Weekend!

I have been working on getting my studio set up this weekend... I sure have a lot of 'stuff' here and there, in the basement and in the house!  It does accumulate, and for the longest time I haven't been able to unpack everything, so it feels great to get this done finally.  It will be so nice to have it all in one room and easily accessible!  Thought I would post a "before" picture - and hopefully I will be able to post an "after" picture (of the entire room) soon!  So far, I only have my work area set up.

I took a "time-out" from setting up my studio and I put together my very first treasury on Etsy.  I am a member of the Polymer Clay Enthusiasts Team (PCETeam) on Etsy,  and we have a "Weekend Treasury Challenge" going on this weekend.  I had never put together a treasury before, and had so much fun with this one.  I must say, it was very difficult to pick only 16 items!  So many wonderful creations by so many talented etsians!!!  

Click on the link (under "Read More" - below) and take a peek! :)

Flickr Pictures and Facebook Page...

I have been wanting to create a Facebook page for a while now, and last night I finally did it!  I also posted more pictures on Flickr as well.  One of the pictures is this pirate I created a while ago.  He is one of my favorite little guys!  The links are below, please feel free to take a peek.
  
Facebook: 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Trinas-Creations/161097673926490

Thank you to all who visit!! :)

(Click on "Read More" - below, for Flickr link)