Made with Love

Summerfest 2011 Trophies

2011-07-29T15:23:00.000-07:00

Some people at my church had a wonderful idea of having a "top chef" cook off this summer, for their birthdays. So they hosted an amazing party including a jumper for the kids, and people volunteered to cook their favorite recipes in hopes to win.. a trophy designed by yours truly!

Meat Lovers

Veggie Lovers

Sugar Rush

New Projects~

2011-06-02T10:41:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't been keeping up with my blogs... what with work (my day job), moving, family, friends, side job (etsy!), etc etc.... I haven't been able to do what I wanted to do, which was to update some new pictures of customers and the finished products!

Here are some that I've worked on very recently and am in process... hopefully soon I would love to do more customer appreciation blogs and showing how the real people were transformed into lovely cake toppers!

New Projects

2011-03-31T13:05:00.000-07:00

New projects!

2010-12-14T09:40:00.000-08:00

packaged ornaments :)

2010-12-11T23:54:00.001-08:00

all my ornaments!

2010-12-09T08:38:00.001-08:00

Updated projects... :)

2010-12-07T08:58:00.001-08:00

PIGGIES are almost done and ready to ship out THIS WEEK! Hoorah!

My mom told me the the monkey was the cutest, and it was in a Chili! I said IT'S A CHRISTMAS STOCKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So when I made the 2nd one, I made sure to make it look more stocking-esque!!!! No it is NOT a Jalapeno!

These were my favorite!... until....

This gold and cream koala!!!!

My first ornaments.. :)

Penguins and Guitar!

2010-11-24T11:00:00.001-08:00

Christmas projects...

2010-11-23T16:45:00.000-08:00

Uh Oh, so I'm slowly getting innundated with xmas stuff!!!

I need to finish non christmas stuff before the year is out too, so I have to be very diligent with my time. :) I'm enjoying it immensely though.. funny how you can work til 1 in the morning intently but not get bored of it! So different from my day job!

I have a commissioned christmas gift of a boy in a jersey with a football

Ornaments to raise funds for my church fundraiser.... 8 total. I've made 2 1/2 so far!

On my way, almost finished with Piggy!

2010-11-23T16:42:00.001-08:00

2010-10-28T00:17:00.001-07:00

New Project!

2010-10-25T10:16:00.001-07:00

Finished projects~ Hooray~

2010-10-19T10:43:00.000-07:00

Finished lambs for baby shower!

2010-10-15T10:56:00.001-07:00

New Project: My Sister's Baby Shower Part II

2010-10-05T10:47:00.000-07:00

Better quality pictures :)

2010-10-05T10:46:00.000-07:00

Small Mini Project: Siamese Cat !

2010-10-04T17:19:00.000-07:00

My Coworker is super nice, and her neighbor was going on a trip and was very sad to leave her cat... so she asked me to make a small version of the cat so her neighbor could take it with her! She is so nice!

Here are some pictures of the finished product! I'll update with better quality pics soon!

New Project: My sister's baby shower topper :)

2010-09-27T09:46:00.000-07:00

My sister wanted a cake topper of a book with baby animals on it... so I came up with this~

A baby lion, giraffe, seal, bear, and elephant! Stay tuned for finished pictueres.. I'm excited. I also want to put writing on the book so it looks like a reaaaaal book! :)

Gotta get in gear!

2010-09-22T14:24:00.000-07:00

My house is getting painted and refloored, so for a couple of weeks I was bouncing around to different places...

Now that we have to unpack everything back into the house this weekend, I'll be much more able to get back into gear.

That means:

Start/Finish a small cat figurine for coworker ASAPPPPPP like next week!
Finish Pig figurine
Start on baby shower topper for October
Continue work on People and Penguin toppers due in May and June next year
Start on a drawing for a new customer!

Wish me luck!!! :)

Finished penguins!

2010-09-20T09:18:00.001-07:00

(ALMOST) Finished Products!

2010-09-20T09:17:00.000-07:00

Notice anything missing???!! THE VEIL! OMG. Anyways thanks so much to my lovely customer for letting me send the veil separately. LoL. Silly me, I thought I made sure to package everything nicely and lovingly and here I am totally forgetting about her VEIL..........................! Let this be a lesson to me! :)

Surprise Baby Shower Topper!

2010-08-30T01:11:00.000-07:00

Surprise topper a hit!

2010-08-16T15:21:00.000-07:00

Yay~ last weekend we had our surprise birthday, and the cake topper was a hit! She was really surprised.... here it is!

After a long pause...

2010-08-13T13:46:00.000-07:00

Wow, sorry for not being able to post anything up for awhile!!!

I've been working on some projects and also been super busy and not able to take/upload pics..but on top of that, I got sick!!! :(***

Sooo.... without further ado, I am going to post up some new stuff to show you...plus I will be promising pics of something soon that was a surprise gift so I cannot put it up until next week! :D

tada!!! my cake topper prize winner had her wedding, and she sent me pictures!!!! Isn't her cake gorgeous???? And the ducks are so colorful!!! I hope she has the cutest cake out of all her friends (she has 4 more weddings to go to the next few months!) hehehehe!

Also, I'm planning to start on a baby shower topper due Aug 28, and work on a pig, new penguin project, and then the BIG "shabang" toppers (people and pets!) due in Oct, and May of next year!!!!!

Starting on new projects....

2010-07-23T09:29:00.000-07:00

i'm starting work on the pig! just realized that the head is kinda big but it's ok cuz i haven't baked it yet!

also, i have a 'secret' new project that i will only be able to unveil sometime in august! heehee~

and of course, working on : Baby shower Friend! Wedding Toppers from Etsy! woohoo!!!!! stay tuned for more pictures!

New projects..

2010-07-12T10:55:00.001-07:00

Ooh i'm going to be busy this month!

Baby shower topper for my friend~
Plus helping for invitations, and decorations, and planning!

Cake topper for customer due in October....

Piggy figurine for another customer...

Original FIRST customer cake topper still due in May '11 but want to finish early.

andddd

New penguin request!

Busy busy bee :).... excited!

Almost done: Lambs for baby shower

2010-06-30T09:39:00.000-07:00

Updated: Palm Tree Penguins!

2010-06-28T09:31:00.001-07:00

gonna add sand and some seashells!!!!

(ALMOST) Finished Duckies!

2010-06-21T09:32:00.000-07:00

The customer is debating between these 3 color shades for the base:

I'm so excited to be (almost) done !!! :D

Ok so the customer chose the slightly darker pink/fuschia base! Here are my finished pictures, once she determines how she will like the flowers glued, i will be SHIPPING THEM! Yay~ another order will be totally done and shipped! i like that feeling :) can't wait!

New Project: Baby Shower!

2010-06-15T15:49:00.000-07:00

I have two new projects! Baby showers are popular this year! Hahaha. A mother sheep and baby lamb...then a couple with a baby girl and bunnies.... and also a separate new project (piggy!)

I will keep you posted with new sketches and pictures as soon as I can! :D

Back from Japan!

2010-06-09T13:37:00.000-07:00

Whew, I had a great vacation in Japan.

Now back to work! I'm not looking too forward to my 9-5 job, BUT I am definitely looking forward to finishing up the projects I have in store.

Currently in line are:

Babyshower Lambs:     due by early July
Duck couple:                 due by late July
Babyshower Topper:    due by August
Penguin topper:             due by October
Couple + 4 cats:             due by October
Sports Couple + pets:   due by May 2011

This is a rough rough idea of the projects I will be working on. And I will be doing some at the same time as other ones, but ultimately want to finish within a timed schedule.

Thanks again everyone for helping me start my new business~~ It's been amazing so far, can't wait to see where this goes!

Air Force Project: FINISHED!!!

2010-05-24T13:43:00.000-07:00

New Project: Ducks!

2010-05-12T09:16:00.000-07:00

Uber importante

2010-05-09T18:42:00.000-07:00

i need to get a MOVE ON with this one.. it's due before I leave for japan! it's the one w/ the girl in a strapless dress and the guy in a uniform! I'm not sure how I'm going to do the uniform (probably i'll have to paint it to get details in...i haven't baked his body yet so i might have to redo it. make it Taller hahaha....) but i do like how the girl's dress is coming out! :)

New Penguins

2010-05-09T18:39:00.000-07:00

Calla Lillies bouquet!!! :D First time ever, and it was so cute and fun to make. AND i get to work on a new project (DUCKS), and i get to make PINK calla lillies!! yaaaaaay~

New Project: More Penguins!

2010-05-05T11:22:00.000-07:00

I'm starting on a penguin project that is not due asap, but because it gets me into the mode of being more artistic So That i can work harder on my people projects when i have a longer period of time. :)

Currently trying out new bouquet for penguin: calla lillies! :) yaaaay~

**Still waiting to hear from customer who's item was shipped.... hoping she gets it asap so she can say she got it! :)

Shaped Up and Shipped Out!

2010-05-03T15:41:00.000-07:00

Okie dokie. First shipped item for my 2nd customer on etsy. I can't wait until they receive it. I hope hope Hope they get it in time by this saturday so they can use it at their bridal shower! The customer said she was ok with it being sent later (the wedding is actually in November!), but I really wanted to try and get it done in time. Let's hope shipping to NC doesn't take longer than 3-5 days!

I also asked her to send me pictures of the bride and groom and the cake and the shower and hopefully the wedding and she said she would keep me updated, yay!! :D That's the best part. Creating and finishing is one thing, sending the product out and having the customer be happy with it? Priceless. I should have my own mastercard commercial! hahaha.

NOW I need to really focus on two things... my coworker's gift to her cousin for his wedding, the one in the air force, and a set of penguins with a palm tree for my 3rd etsy customer! (Thanks again R!) hehehe. My 3rd customer even ordered two items! So when I get back from my trip i can put all my time and energy back into the larger scale wedding toppers, the ones with the couple and their pets.

When I get back, I will devote my time and energy into finishing R's sports jersey couple with cat and dog, and F's bridal couple with 4 cats! :D and finishing up the penguins w/ palm trees...

:D

New projects!

2010-04-29T14:35:00.000-07:00

It's 4/29/10. Wow, it's been really busy!

I'm working on some new projects! AND I'm ready to ship my FIRST one out, to the east coast. The purple penguins! I also put my info and signed the bottom of the base... I'll upload a picture tonight! :) I'm going to wrap, package and ship out saturday, woo hoo!!!

I have a new project that is due asap because my work friend's cousin's wedding is June 5 and I'm leaving on my trip May 27! so i HAVE to finish asap! heehee! Here is a sketch of what I'm working on. He is in the air force, and she has a strapless gown with an updo :). the colors are tiffany blue and brown!

I also have a new customer referral from my First etsy customer!! (Thanks R!!!) she's been doing an awesome job telling everyone about me.. i'm so honored! and i have another penguin project AND a couple with 4 cats!! :D and each cat is DIFFERENT! This is going to be verrrry interesting! :)

Finished Purple Penguins!

2010-04-28T07:07:00.000-07:00

Purple Penguins!

2010-04-25T08:28:00.000-07:00

I'm working on a customer's custom order.. purple theme. It's funny how I'm it's Really hard to replicate original works! haha. I should put on my etsy that i do not use molds and everything is hand shaped and painted, and that no two items will look exactly alike. lol! these guys are a little bit fatter and larger than my previous venture. i think the lavendar is pretty and i'm excited to put the beaks and paint the eyes to see the final outcome!

New Customer from Etsy, Wow!

2010-04-22T14:24:00.000-07:00

April 21, 2010: I posted up pictures of my penguins on my etsy, and lo and behold, I got a customer asking about it 20 minutes after I posted it up!!!!

Crazy how the internet works! Wowzers!

I even asked her if she wanted to try and win them on the contest, and she said she'd just buy them from me right now, and that she wanted to be my 2nd sale and that "I deserved it"!

HOW NICE! omg. she wants black penguins with purple bowtie and flowers, so I'll have a different version to show of the two penguins when that's finished, Yay!!!!

***EDIT: 4/23/10 I just posted up an item for her to purchase on etsy! It'll be my Real 2nd sale!

working on business cards!

2010-04-21T12:47:00.001-07:00

wow! i'm going to make business cards, yay!

i'm so excited. :)

Ordered business cards and labels! maybe i'll change the design later, this will be a great experiment! :D

My First Sale!

2010-04-20T12:53:00.000-07:00

April 20, 2010 - my first sale on etsy! I'm so excited :)

Thanks So much to R for being my first etsy customer! She also graciously allowed me to document some of the process, as well as pictures of her and her fiance on my blog! Here is the cute couple, getting married in May 2011 ~ and the sketch of what is to become her cake topper! She was inspired by the sports and pets theme of the previous cake topper I made! Thanks for everything guys!

I worked on the heads and hair the other night! :) i'm excited.... i can't wait to start painting the jerseys and i can really see how it starts turning out. i think the pets are going to be a great challenge for me because of the many spots and stripes! this is awesome :). i really Really hope R is very very happy w/ the complete work! I think finishing earlier the better because she can talk to her cake people about how heavy it is, and what might be needed in order to keep it from falling or so on and so forth. i learned alot from Amy's wedding... hehe! Thanks for reading my updates everyone!

Here is a pic of the heads! I didn't glue them on yet. I just realized you can see a fallen penguin on the left hahahaha!

Tutorial: clay penguins!

2010-04-17T22:48:00.000-07:00

my friend amy over at the Relentless Bride offers free giveaways and prizes, and she graciously allowed me to participate! as a friend suggested i do a tutorial on my clay, i decided to take some pictures of the creation process of these two little guys.. take a look :)

this is the clay i normally use. sculpey or Fimo, both are very similar in texture. actually i think i'm a bit partial to fimo now. :) they are very soft and easy to work with. i'd say the only complaint is that sometimes the colored clay gets all over your hands and kinda stains your hands/clothes.

so i used the blue clay and shaped them into the penguin bodies... and i baked them at 230 degrees for 30 min as the fimo clay directions say to do.

then i took my paint (i buy at michael's) and did a first coat for the front of the penguins

this is what it looks like. i think you need to do 2+ coats when using this type of paint if you want it to look more opaque.

I also took some clay in order to create the feet and beaks. after i bake them, i'll need to paint them yellow (i didn't have yellow clay)...

also, this is how i made some flowers for the bouquet and the one in the girl penguin's 'hair'

here is a close up of the unpainted feet, a pair of wings, and the bouquet the girl will be holding..

here are the pieces i've baked and painted.. the bowtie for the male penguin, the feet painted yellow a few coats, and i went over the white a few more times, probably 4 coats of white paint for the penguin's bodies!

i'm gluing the pieces on w/ krazy glue! slowly but surely it is coming together :)

i used black paint and toothpics to do the eyes. it's pretty easy to mess up the eyes =T!!! sometimes i redo them multiple times. this one wasn't too bad. almost done!! just need to glue on the bowtie.......

and then glaze! i think i did 4 coats....i use sculpey Air Drying glaze...

tada!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chapter 1

2010-04-16T13:16:00.000-07:00

so i mentioned before that my sister got married last year. well, her maid of honor was engaged at the time, and now her wedding came up on march 2010.

she is already a wedding specialist extravaganza, who has her own blogs. Amy writes the Relentless Bride blog and manages the Weddzilla Blog! and ... she has many contest giveaways and just great hands-on information on photographers, cake makers, dresses, whatever you can think of, she writes about. she also got very hands on with her own wedding, and in the process she has so much experience, i would definitely recommend checking out her blogs when planning your wedding!

i volunteered to make a cake topper for her, as we got to know each other a lot better being bridesmaids together for my sister's wedding :). good times. she graciously said YES and as i was planning to create a traditional bride and groom wearing a tux and a gown, she announced that she would like her and hubby to be wearing... Jerseys! Sports jerseys!

Huh?! i was confused! i dont know anything about sports! but yes, that's what she wanted. and she also wanted her and his dogs! i've never made dogs before. that was a fun idea!

so she got me some pics of her and her fiance, and her doggies, and i started on a sketch.

The original sketch i made for the couple and their dogs:

And the finished project:

she took the funniest pics of the lil clay dogs and the cardboard cutouts she had from her wedding for her photobooth props! (that's a really fun, great idea btw!) i also really liked this pic she took of the toppers after her wedding was done:

Other projects...

2010-04-16T10:52:00.000-07:00

so....... after getting a little 'press' among my friends about monkeys, my friend who was starting a wedding business asked me to help create some gifts to give away for a raffle he was doing at the 'grand opening' party he threw! PROJECT!

:D

so he said he wanted to have a monkey wearing a tux, singing in his signature old style microphone. my friend is really good at singing and MC-ing, and i was so proud of him starting his own business. very professional, very talented guy. i was honored that he asked and trusted me to make something that represented him and his company - Adagio Wedding!!!

he chose the color of the bowtie too! yellowwwww! and he paid me. thanks for not paying me w/ a check that bounced! LoL.

after this, i had another pending project i needed to work on: a christmas/birthday present overdue long ago for an old friend of mine, that i got into contact only recently. he liked penguins, and he played music. so i decided to make him a penguin playing a guitar, and make the guitar removeable :).

this is the little guy playing his removeable guitar, w/ a small speaker behind him~

Networking...

2010-04-16T10:28:00.000-07:00

after the 'success' of my monkeys and the banana heart, i was keen to start on another project...but of course, after awhile, you can only make things for free for so long. i have a hidden desire to make a business out of this thing, and you can't have a business if you're always doing things for free!

hahaha.

so in terms of networking, i started showing pictures to people that i didnt' know as well, or new contacts such as the guy at the phone store, etc hahaha, and saying that i make these things and if they knew anyone that was interested, let me know.... and lo and behold, i got a request from a semi stranger/new 'friend'. he had just had a baby, and wanted a monkey family very similar to the one i made for my sister. i was excited because i thought it'd be uber cute to make a little baby monkey. hehehe!

so, this is what came out of that. i had originally made the braided heart and wanted to use the green wire with paper flowers for my sister's, but she wanted bananas, so i ended up using the brown heart for this piece and he loved it. :)

there was a little twist regarding payment, as i had only charged him $25, he gave me $40 in form of a check, which was sweet of him...but then when i finally deposited, the check bounced, and i was charged $10! i'm sure he got charged a fee too =T. and ever since then , he hasn't been in contact. but i don't care too much because i was in such an early form of business, not even real business transactions, so it's possible to run into trusting people too much, etc. i'm going to try not to make that mistake again. in either case, i do have a piece and pictures that i can show so there's really no loss there.

....and its really not about the money per se. if i can make people happy w/ my work, it makes me happy. and when i DO eventually start a 'real' business, this will definitely not happen nor affect me at all! :D

Title page....

2010-04-15T14:37:00.000-07:00

last year, june 2009, my sister got married. :) i got to use my creativity for her bridal shower games, gifts, and man was it fun. i hadn't really made any more clay crafts in awhile, but it was on my mind to eventually try and sell them somehow. i took an interest in etsy.com, and signed up, but didn't have anything to sell or promote. i did make myself a banner and post up some pics of my old snowglobes as my profile :). some things we made for the shower:

white paper lunch bags with
decoratively punched-out designs

small place cards with my sis's and hubby's initials. these were made out of ferrero-rocher candies with gold wire shaped into place holders (i found the idea online! do it yourself projects are so fun!)

chocolate lollipops

and chocolate pretzel sticks (used melting chocolates and molds from michael's) in her colors, brown and light green

pearl bracelets with a green ribbon (for a game). i couldn't find pre-made pearl bracelets so i ended up making them at home! needle, stretchy bracelet string, glue, and green ribbon. my sister and aunt helped out, it was harder than it looked!

and yes, i did make some clay friends for my sister's wedding.... a figurine that she didn't end up using for a cake topper, but this is what got me into the whole 'wedding' cake topper bit..... she wanted me to make something cute, and with monkeys. so this is a little process of what eventually turned into:

"Table of contents"

2010-04-15T14:15:00.000-07:00

this is the start of 'the start' before the START....

one of my friends must have seen some sort of potential of my clay-magination, because she forced $20 bones on me and said "MAKE ME SOMETHING. Something you would make for someone who gave you money for."

i tried to give her money back, she wouldn't take it. i tried to think of what to make her, and couldn't come up with one thing. then as months passed, i decided i would make her a christmas present.

i asked her what sort of animals she liked, and she replied "Penguin". after awhile, i came up w/ an idea of a penguin decorating a christmas tree, and this is what i came up with:

a penguin standing on a step ladder on one foot, reaching to put a candy cane on the tree. the christmas tree was decorated with needle and thread, and random buttons, confetti, and handmade clay candy canes. topped off with a glittered yellow star and fake snow? man.. this had all the elements i loved... especially glitter! you can never use enough glitter honestly. i have cans and bottles and never get to use it. yay GLITTER!

i also realized that i wasn't able to make all my good friends clay stuff the previous year with the snow globe escapade, so i asked a friend what animal she liked and that i would create something nicer for her this year. she replied "Koala!"... i'd never made or really drawn koalas, so i had to look up how their ears and noses looked. i bought some gray shiny clay, which was cool. i love fimo/sculpey :).

i decided, hey koalas usually hug or hang onto trees right? so why not have one hugging a christmas tree? here's what came out of the koala idea:

one thing i must note: it's SO hard to make something for the 2nd time. the first christmas tree was a lot easier for me to create; the 2nd one not so much. i had a harder time w/ the 2nd one....altho in the pics i guess the koala tree does look a little better, so maybe overall it does help to do them over and over....

again, glittered star + fake snow? perfection! plus i painted the base white which really complimented the fake snow. i was really proud of this one! tell me it doesn't make you smile just a tiny bit??? :)

Prologue

2010-04-15T14:01:00.000-07:00

i always loved making crafts. a friend of mine used to make clay "piyo piyo"'s and paint them. they were Amazing. smooth, professional quality. i was a great imitator and yet never achieved the same perfection that he did.

this was in high school. (btw, what is piyo piyo u might ask??

this yellow cute chicken duck thing is piyo piyo. he would make little ones wearing santa hats! it was very very cute and Perfect. i was enchanted.

i took the one that i had to college, and gave it away to a guy i liked. hehe! i attempted to make one for myself. it was ok. better than say someone who just lumped pieces of clay together, but not as perfect as the one that friend used to make.

i would buy clay and make random gifts for people when i was bored... i made giraffe's, winnie the pooh's (classic of course), whatever i felt like..... after awhile i forgot about all of that...

my friend from h.s. asked me to be a bridesmaid when she got married in newjersey! :) that was a great experience. and amazingly, she wanted me to make her clay cake toppers of a penguin and panda!!! they had a cute story, where she was the penguin, he was the panda, and he made a book with pictures of their stuffed animals all over boston at their favorite places, and he tricked her into finding it a book store. the best story ever!!! here is an O.G. ccarolee "made with love" clay cake topper hehehe:

honestly, i still need work on my paint skills. i had such a hard time painting these things! lol. but i guess it was a start! thanks to my friend for understanding all the bumps and lumps!

flash forward to a few years ago, i didnt have much money but wanted to give real gifts to my friends. decided to learn how to make a 'snow globe'. well...that didnt work out too well, so i ended up just giving out the little animals i created as the gifts themselves. they were a hit!

you can see the attempted snowglobe in the back..it leaked and the glitter/confetti i bought....not a good idea to put in there.....

of course, one of my friends did throw away the precious seal i made (albeit on accident).... but overall, i was able to salvage a project that was a success on one hand (brought some christmas spirit to my friends!), and yet pretty much a huge failure (in terms of the snow globe part).