An Important Prop for my Photographs...

First, before getting to the important prop for my photographs, I would like to share some great information with you.  My friend, and incredible polymer clay artist, Anita ~ of Melody O'Beau Designs ~ posted a two part series on her blog, highlighting her favorite polymer clay studio tools, gadgets and glues.  Both of the articles are filled with useful information and great tips for working with polymer clay.  I thank Anita for so generously sharing all this information with us!  Below are the links to each of her articles:

Click HERE for Part One

and 

Click HERE for Part Two

I have both of these bookmarked and I know I will refer to them often.

Thank you Anita!

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And now I'd like to share with you the story of a very important prop for photographing my Wedding Cake Toppers...

I'd been talking about how I wanted to create a prop for photographing my wedding cake toppers for quite a while, months probably... Never taking the time to actually sit down and DO IT.  While my Mom was here visiting, she made sure that I took the time to make that happen!  I wanted to somehow create the top tier of a wedding cake out of clay.  After much brainstorming and suggestions from my Mom, we decided to go to Michael's ~ We love Michaels!!  Anyway, we looked around, got sidetracked many times, and then I thought, why not look in the cake decorating isle... So my Mom went right to the 6" cake pan and turned it upside-down and we both said at the same time, "That will work!"  I was certain that she wasn't going to go home until this project was finished!  My Mom ALWAYS knows how to keep on task and get things done.  I really do hope that I inherited some of that tenacity!!!    As she prepared the outside of the cake pan, covered it with white clay then stamped in a floral design, I created clay roses and rope to decorate the 'cake' ~ It was such fun working in my studio with my Mom!  I really appreciate her gently nudging me to make the faux cake tier.  It works perfectly for picture taking...

Yum... Now, doesn't that cake look good enough to eat?

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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥  Thank you for visiting today!  Wishing you a beautiful day! 

~Trina

A Wonderful Visit With My Mom!

My Mom came up from Texas for a wonderful visit.  She was here for four days and we enjoyed every second!  We packed a lot in to our time together and it was great to see her.  We all loved having her here!!  Our time to say good-bye came much too fast, as it always does.  It's so difficult to take that drive to the airport when it's time to go home, especially not knowing when we will see each other again.  I'm so glad to have so many great pictures of our time together, sharing a few here today...

There's a little place I drive by every day, to and from work, and I've always heard how great their Apple Cider and Apple Cider donuts are... So we stopped by, it's such a quaint and fun place.  We had a yummy snack and shopped in the little store. One of the other customers was very nice to take the above picture of my Mom and me for us.

My Mom took this picture of the front of the little store.  
They had it all decorated for fall and Halloween.

George, our daughter Melissa, my Mom, George's Mom and I spent one afternoon in Bay City.  It was a gorgeous day, we had lunch outside on the patio of the restaurant.  Perfect day for dining outside!  After lunch we walked along the river.  They were having a 'History Weekend' on the banks of the river and there were all kinds of great things to see.  People dressed up from different times in history, sharing examples of how life was lived back then.  My Mom captured the next four great photos while we were there:

My sweet daughter threw me a surprise birthday party ~ My birthday isn't until the 23rd, but she wanted to have the party while my Mom was here.  It was such fun and I was definitely surprised!!  We ended the party with a bonfire in the back yard.  Thank you Melissa!!! You made my birthday EXTRA SPECIAL!!!  :)   On another day we enjoyed an afternoon at a Pumpkin Farm, and went through the corn maze.  I was so glad my Mom got to see some of the changing colors as we drove around!  We enjoyed stopping along the way to take pictures.  Here are a few that I took, it was the perfect day for picture taking!!!

 I love this!  My Mom took this picture at the pumpkin farm...  

The man who carved it was there last year too, and we enjoyed watching him carve.

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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥  Thank you Mom, for such a wonderful time while you were here!  

We miss you! ~Trina

Etsy Finds Friday - Diane Duda

It's *♥*Etsy Finds Friday*♥*

Today I am featuring the

Sweet  Mixed Media

Paintings Created by:

Diane Duda

of Duda Daze
 

I just love Diane's sweet and charming artwork!  

 In the Artist's Own Words:

Mom of three boys who enjoys creating charming little pieces of art. Not even sure that I'm self-taught yet. I'd say I'm still self-teaching. Take a look around and judge for yourself.

Wow. So much has happened since I first opened my Etsy shop and wrote that little blurb above.
I am now a rubber stamp artist for Sugar Nellie, have various other online shops, and a line of figures, shadow boxes and wall art through Demdaco. I never could have imagined any of that in my wildest dreams!  Best of all I've met so many new people through this shop and I still enjoy adding original art each and every week.

Still, those words I wrote when I first opened my shop remain true. Still the mom of three boys and still learning something new everyday.

 

 This is a print of my original, mixed-media painting, "She Believed in Pretty Dresses".
The newest edition to my popular "she believed" series.

 This is a print of my original painting "Walking the Bats"

 This is a print of my original painting "I Like Us"
A perfect gift for a happy couple.

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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥  Click HERE to visit Diane's Etsy Shop and see more of her Darling Mixed Media Paintings!

 

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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥ Thank you for stopping by for my Etsy Finds Friday post!!  Please stay tuned for next Friday's Find... It could be YOU! :)   Happy Friday!!   

~Trina

Etsy Finds Friday - Roberta Polfus

It's *♥*Etsy Finds Friday*♥*

Today I am featuring the

Beautiful Porcelain

Pieces 

Created by: 

  Roberta Polfus 

I love the earthy organic feel to Roberta's beautiful porcelain pieces 

and am happy to feature her here today!

In the Artist's Own Words:
I have always been attracted to natural objects, at least as long as my clothing has had pockets. My carved and sometimes gestural pieces are intimate forms that fit and feel good in the hand. While they are generally not representations of actual objects, they reflect the shapes, patterns, colors and surfaces that I am drawn to in nature.

I was introduced to porcelain about 14 years ago and we’ve been inseparable since then. I use a combination of wheel thrown and handbuilt forms that are altered, carved and sprigged. With a variety of airbrushed matte and gloss glazes that enhance the surfaces, the pieces are fired to a high temperature in a gas kiln, cone 10 reduction, around 2340 F.

I have many works in process and will be adding them as they come out of the kiln. Each one I've listed is made individually by hand by me.

 

Luster Flaming Shino Teapot

 

Hand Carved Salt & Pepper Shaker

 

Carved Porcelain Bud Vase

 

Carved Porcelain Starfish

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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥  Click HERE to visit Roberta's Etsy Shop and see more of her Wonderful Porcelain Pieces!

 

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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥ Thank you for stopping by for my Etsy Finds Friday post!!  Please stay tuned for next Friday's Find... It could be YOU! :)   Happy Friday!!   

~Trina

Cheetah, Renaissance and Pirate, Bride and Firefighter Wedding Toppers...

My Mom came up from Texas for a long weekend to visit all of us, and we have been having so much fun.  It's been perfect weather and we've been enjoying a few outside activities.  Later this week I will be sharing some pictures of her visit.  Today is her last day here and we are spending most of it in my studio, playing with clay!  It's been so nice to take time off work while she's here!  We don't get to see each other, and she doesn't get to see our kids very often, so we are enjoying every minute!  Before taking this mini vacation while my Mom has been visiting, I completed a few custom orders that I wanted to share today.  First is this adorable Cheetah Wedding Cake Topper:

I am sharing my custom made topper here today, as an example of a Wedding Cake Topper I can create just for you. This darling Wedding Cake Topper features eggplant and white accents, but can be custom made in the colors you choose. The Groom Lion is wearing a white boutonniere, and the Bride Lion has a white rose in her hair. The wedding bouquet of white and eggplant roses is laying in the grass in front of them. The cheetahs are sitting on a heart shaped patch of 'grass' with a leaf design stamped around the edge. The leaf design has been highlighted with gold mica powder to bring out the design. They sit approximately 2 1/4" high, the heart is approximately 3 1/2" at the widest part and 3 1/2" long.  Click HERE to see more about these Cheetahs in my Etsy Shop, Trina's Clay Creations.

Next is a custom version of my Renaissance & Pirate Wedding Cake Topper:

This is a custom Wedding Cake topper that I created, a Renaissance Bride and a Pirate Groom. It's is an example of a wedding topper that I can customize, personalizing the the dress and pirate outfit just for you. There is a lot of beautiful detail in this topper! This bride has her brown hair pulled back in a long ponytail with a rose hair clip in the back, at the top of the braid. Her dress is gold with burgundy trim and lacy flower embellishments. She is holding a single burgundy rose which matches the rose in her hair and the rose on the date plaque. The groom has a black goatee. He is wearing a gold jacket with black buttons and trim and a gold ruffled shirt. He is holding his sword, and a tankard is hanging from his belt. He has a golden feather and a green feather adorning his pirate hat and is wearing 'leather' boots. They are on a base made to look like sand, which is approximately 3 1/2" in diameter and they approximately 4 1/2" tall.  Click HERE to see the listing for this topper in my Etsy Shop, Trina's Clay Creations.

And last is a custom version of my Bride & Fireman Wedding Cake Topper:

 

A custom made Bride and Fireman! This would be a wonderful Wedding Cake topper, Wedding gift or Anniversary gift! The Bride is dressed in a beautiful champagne color wedding dress, she curly blonde hair and is holding a gorgeous bouquet of white and eggplant roses. The fireman is wearing his uniform with his number on his hat. Approximately 4 1/2" tall on a 3" round base.  Click HERE to see this listing in my Etsy Shop, Trina's Clay Creations.

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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥  Wishing you a beautiful day!  Thank you for visiting today!

~Trina