Very Cool Stuff tool container

I am really tired of looking at all the soup cans, peanut butter jars and other boring things that hold my crafting tools.  So I am on a mission to replace them one by one with arty, rustic polymer clay containers.  This one is my entry in the September PCAGOE challenge "Fun with ABCs" .  Since I have been putting corny/cute sayings on my containers, I figured why not use one as an entry.  I am really enjoying getting back to my artistic roots of painting with these newer pieces.  This is done with acrylic paint, alcohol inks, and chalk inks applied to a white polymer clay base.

This container is about 5 1/2" tall and holds some of my favorite tools.  Ball tools for sculpting and shaping, Christi Friesen tools, texture rollers and Sculpey Etch "n Pearl.  The container says "Very Cool Stuff" on the front and "Creative Zone" on the back. The sailboat comes from one one of my own stamps.  Sailboats are significant in my life; I sailed with my favorite uncle as a kid so the sailboat reminds me of him.  That makes this more special to look at while I am creating.

In progress view before the colors are applied.  You can see my toothpick holder and other sculpting tools containers (click on the photo for an enlarged view). These are made from ecru polymer clay and it is harder to get bright colors over tinted clay, but I do like the muted pastel-look you can achieve.

The back of the "Very Cool Stuff" container:

Another one just finished, for a smaller ball tools set:

My work area is getting cheerier every day!  

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy (PCAGOE): August Challenge winners "Fairy House"

Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy (PCAGOE): August Challenge winners "Fairy House": Top entries selected by the public 1.   Fairy House  by Linda of  Claymation3d    2.   Trixie's Fairy cottage teapot...

The Judge

The Judge is approximately 8" tall.

The idea came from: I came up with the idea because I am currently watching the series John Adams on Amazon Prime video, and I find the wigs fascinating.  So I thought it would be fun to do a character with one of those wigs with the rolls they wore in the day.

Construction: I started with the head.  I made a flat sided ball from aluminum foil, placed the face (made from a mold I made) on the flat side and covering the rest with Original Sculpey.  The Head was mounted on a 1/4" dowel for handling and shaping.  I cured this, and then added the wig with texturing.  When cured, I formed the body shape again with aluminum foil wrapped around the dowel and covered again with Original Sculpey, textured and added belt, collar, etc.  Cured and then colored with chalk and alcohol inks, acrylic paints, gold and silver pastes.

In Progress: Scarey!! The "antiquing" is done in bright magenta.  I thought what have I done? A pink judge!

Next I started layering in color with alcohol and chalk inks.  Feeling a little better about the magenta. In fact I am happy with it, because it added a warm feel to all the colors. 

Notice I avoided the face ... I always avoid the face! 

More views of the finished piece:

Thank you for stopping by and visiting me and the Judge.