PCAGOE JULY CHALLENGE WINNER!

Big congratulations to BeeTreebyME who was the July winner of the PCAGOE challenge!


The theme for July was "Summer Memories." What a STUNNING piece!

Here is her description of her inspiration for this entry:

“My summer memory is of being able to play outside after dark .

The world seemed transformed by the darkness.
My friends and I loved to catch lighting bugs .
We kept them for awhile in jars that became like lanterns!
We were captivated by the magical glow !
Summer nights still hold a special magic!
This little guy owes his light to the magic of “glow in the dark ” polymer clay!” m.e.

BeeTreebyME is one of our newest members of the PCAGOE, and has already been hard at work participating in the monthly challenge and other guild events and activities. Stop by and check out her shop full of gorgeous polymer clay work. Welcome to the group, and once again, CONGRATS!

The August challenge theme has been announced as "The Ocean." I've wanted to participate in the last two monthly challenges, but just been short on time. I'm not promising anything at this point, but I think a nice sit by the ocean is in order, and I'll see if I have an epiphany.

Coming soon, I'll be posting my first ever blog interview! If you're anything like me, this Etsy seller's work is going to take your breath away...

Thoughts on Hiatus and Promotional Supplies

As some of you already know, I have a second side business doing digital photo restoration. Yes, I like to overload myself with time-consuming hobbies that I love and hopefully can make enough money off of to support the habits in the first place.

Well, I'm in the midst of a big photo project, and a massive amount of un-fun things like taxes, appraisal classes, and getting ready for a Labor Day yard sale, and something has gotta give. So...

In the next month or two, I won't be making any polymer clay pieces, aside from any custom orders that come my way, which I am still always VERY happy to make. I will, however, be using these months for brainstorming new ideas, as well as thinking about improvements upon my techniques and my packaging/promotion/etc., and will get this photo job done, I hope (I must!) in time to get started on some new amazing stock for the holiday season.

THEN, after the holiday Etsy rush has passed, I'll have all this new work for my restoration portfolio, and will probably take that January-February stuck-in-the-house misery and put myself to work on a new website for Second Impression.

So that's where I am right now.

Now as far as promos go, I won't be ordering anything yet, but there's nothing like looking at promo catalogs. Oh, the things you can get for only 39 cents apiece!
However, I need to set myself some boundaries...

1. Size - the promotional product really shouldn't be any larger/heavier than my pendants, or my shipping is going to go though the roof. So no Pollyhyper mugs. Hmm, too bad.
   
2. Usefulness - I don't want to waste my money on giving away something that no one really wants or can use.
3. Cool factor - It should be cool(ish) and should, if possible, reflect my style. Which leads me to... what IS my style?

So those are some things I should think about. In the meantime, just because I can't resist, here are some ideas, for better or for worse.

I love these things.

Custom air freshener.

Custom sewing kit ($$)

Your basic button pin these could be fun with a good design, and I know people collect them

Custom measuring tape

And, of course, there's always the promotional pen. Or something handmade. I don't want to to spend a lot of time on these things, because that will take away from other projects, but I also don't want something crappy that screams "PROMOTIONAL PRODUCT CATALOG!"

PCAGOE July Challenge - Vote! Win!!

It's that time again, cats and kittens. Time for you to choose between the best and the brightest of this month's entries in the Polymer Clay Guild of Etsy's (PCAGOE) Challenge!

Voting starts at NOON (EST) today, Thursday, July 26, 2007.
This month's challenge was to " Create something inspired by your favorite summer memory."

As always, I ask you to please vote, and, if you know anyone in the challenge, to please be impartial and choose you favorite piece, regardless of who made it or who is your friend, etc., etc. We in the PCAGOE are all grown-ups who are looking for a fair competition, and we're all having fun and being creative, and that, not winning, is the point. BUT, that said, YOU, the voter, could win some cool prizes too!

While you're there, don't forget to sign up for the monthly PCAGOE mailing list (the sign-up form is at the top right of the page, just below our logo!) which yours truly is heading up, and which is due to start in all its glory at the beginning of next month! It will be full of fun, news, bargains, and sneak peeks!

Vintage Vandals at the Wurst Gallery

This project (this is one of many) is amazing and inspirational. And HILARIOUS.
Unfortunately, Blogger doesn't allow rollovers.















Check out some more Vintage Vandals at the Wurst Gallery!




Pssst! Also, voting starts tomorrow at noon for the PCAGOE JULY CHALLENGE!!! Don't forget to vote!

Thanks to BlockPartyPress (fellow PCAGOE member!) for pointing me towards Spell With Flickr.

Well, I thought I'd check in even though I've barely made much since I last posted. Summers are happily busy at my house. It's one of the benefits of living near the beach - everyone wants to come visit you during the summer. But everyone wants to come visit you during the summer. So while things are quiet-bordering-on-boring for the rest of the year, summer is nuts! I love it, though. I love the excuse to do the touristy things like go to the boardwalk and get Thrasher's Fries and Kohr Bros. Frozen Custard. Somehow sitting in standstill traffic in 98-degree heat doesn't seem so bad when you have friends in the car who are so excited to be sitting in traffic.

The point is, I haven't gotten my hands dirty with any clay lately. I haven't even had time to put all my supplies away, which I need to do before the weekend so we can use the dining room table to play some poker and the like.

I did make this page to contribute to the 2008 Diary Project being put together by Fantazya:



It looks like it is going to be a super-cool diary, made up of pages designed by different Etsy sellers and groups, and I can't wait to get my hands on one. I'll post when they go up for sale! It also gave me a chance to try out my new Wacom tablet for the first time, and to have some fun drawing with it and getting used to the feel of it before I start using it for my photo restoration & retouching. Which, by the way, is going to start taking up a lot more of my time, so I think for a while my Etsy shop will be limited to custom order and fits of fancy. No more mass produced pendants. Oh, and I think I see a price increase in the near-ish future, because with the USPS price hike, and using more materials these days, I'm not seeing much of a profit. So if you see something you like in my shop, BUY IT NOW!!!

For you fellow sellers, I thought I'd post a few links about the selling (versus the crafty) side of things I came across which might be beneficial...

• http://www.indiedesignermarketing.com Online promotional techniques for Independent Clothing and Accessory Designers
• http://etsyshops.com A guide to successful selling online for crafters and independent designers, with a focus on Etsy.com
• http://trythisathome.typepad.com
• Artrepreneur - the Collision of Art & Business
  

Just a quote for today

"I hope you will go out and let stories happen to you, and that you will work them, water them with your blood and tears and you laughter till they bloom, till you yourself burst into bloom."

-Clarissa Pinkola Estes

I found this on a blog quoting another blog, quoting another blog, quoting another blog. Coincidentally, Clarissa Pinkola Estes is the same person from wrote the quote on my Wild Woman necklace.




















Tomorrow I turn 31 years old. I don't know how I feel about that. Part of me feels like I'm still a child, and another part feels like I have wasted so muchprecious time, and that I am way behind "schedule."

Thoughts today of time, direction, childhood, youth, age, experience. I expect these themes will be apparent in upcoming work.

In the Spotlight!

SOHO Beads has featured myself and another amazing PCAGOE member, Scott Garrette, on her blog. Go check it out, and check out Scott's and SOHO's awesome talents while you're at it!

And don't forget yours truly! Stay tuned, because I've got all kinds of new tricks up my sleeve that will get listed in the coming weeks (months?)

HOUSEKEEPING! CHEAP BOOKS!

In an effort to get rid of some stuff (and trust me, I have a LOT) I am parting with my beloved collection of vintage (and a few new) craft, decorating, and gardening/herb books. Some are good, some are great, some are not-so-great, but they all have one thing in common - they are taking up space here and need to find some loving new homes.

To keep things as painless as possible for all involved, I am including my shipping costs in the price, so free shipping a la Media Mail for all within these great United States. If you need it faster, or internationally, let me know and we'll work something out.

I take whatever you can squeeze through Paypal at pollyhyper@gmail.com
If you want more than one or two books, I'm willing to be haggled.

Craft books and patterns can be found at pollyhyper.etsy.com
(they won't let me sell this stuff over there)

HOME DECOR - ooh la la!

• The Complete Basic Book of Home Decorating, Edited by William E. Hague. c. 1976 by Nelson Doubleday, Inc. Hardcover with dustjacket, 523 pages. VERY GROOVY.**** $12
  
• The Paris Apartment by Claudia Strasser. c.1997 by Claudia Strasser. Hardcover with dustjacket, 143 pages. Lots of color pix. "Romantic Decor on a Flea Market Budget"***** $6
  
• The Practical Encyclopedia of Good Decorating and Home Improvement, Vol. 1 (A-Ame), by Greystone Press. c. 1971 by the Meredith Corporation. Hardcover with dustjacket, about 200 pages, freed library edition. Super-groovy, lots of technicolor pix. **** $5
  
• The Practical Encyclopedia of Good Decorating and Home Improvement, Vol. 4 (Boo-Cen), by Greystone Press. c. 1970 by the Meredith Corporation. Hardcover with dustjacket, about 200 pages, freed library edition. Super-groovy, lots of technicolor pix. **** $5
  
• Budget Living's Home Cheap Home - a Room-by-Room Guide to Great Decorating, from the editors of Budget Living Magazine. c.2004 by Budget Living, LLC. Oversized paperback, 192 pages. ***** Great tips! $12
  
• Interior Decoration A to Z by Betty Pepis. c.1965 by Doubleday & Co., Inc. Hardcover with dustjacket - freed library edition, 224 pages. **** Lots of photos, mostly black & white. $5
  
• The NY Times HOME Book of Modern Design, Styles, Problems, and Solutions by Suzanne Slesin. c.1982 by Suzanne Slesin. Hardcover with dustjacket, 270 pages. Lots of pics. Very edgy for it's time - hey, it was a NYT publication!***** $9
  
• Creating a Look - a Practical Guide to Achieving 12 Looks From Around the World, by Liz Wagstaff. c.1999 by Quadrille Publishing, London. Hardcover with dustjacket, 160 pages. **** (a little ruffling of sleeve). THIS IS AN AWESOME BOOK. $8
  

GARDENING & HERBS - grow your own!

• The Herb Book by John Lust (for real), c. 1974 by Benedict Lust Publications. Paperback, 660 pages. ** $5 From the back cover:

Soothe your nerves, cure your cough, color your fabrics, perfume your bath, stimulate your lover, spice your sauces, stop your nightmares, freshen your breath -- with herbs... THE HERB BOOK: the most complete catalog of nature's "miracle plants" ever published.

• Suzanne's Garden Secrets by Suzanne Warner Pierot, c.1978 by Suzanne Warner Pierot. Hardcover with dustjacket, 240 pages. *** $4
  

"a harvest of gardening advice, lore, working observations, shortcuts, oddities fascinating and useful for all seasons -- sowing and growing to reaping and over-wintering."

• Make Friends With Your Bulbs by Jerry Baker. c.1973 by Jerry Baker. Large paperback, 95 pages, freed library edition. **$3
• Home Gardening at its Best - Productive Ways to Grow Your Own Fresh Vegetables, by Sal Gilbertie with Larry Sheehan. c.1977 by Atheneum/SMI. Hardcover freed library edition, 216 pages. $4
  

HOME REPAIR - fix it!

• This Old House Books - Essential Home Repair, edited by This Old House Magazine. c.1999 by Time Publishing Ventures. Oversized paperback, 120 pages. "A seasonal guide to maintaining your home." ***** $6
  
• This Old House - Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House by Bob Vila with Jane Davison. c.1980 by WGBH Educational Foundantion, Inc. Oversized Paperback, 270 pages. ***** $6
  
• This Old House Kitchens - A Guide to Design and Renovation by Steve Thomas and Philip Langdon. c.1992 by WGBH Educational Foundantion, Inc. Oversized Paperback, 273 pages. ***** $6
  
• Better Homes & Gardens Handyman's Book, c.1970 by Better Homes & Gardens Books. 5-ring binder, 393 pages. Lots of hand (vs. power) tools. ***** $6
  

OTHER BOOKS

• Tropical Aquarium Fishes - Freshwater & Marine, by George Cust & Graham Cox. c.1972 for the Metaframe Aquarium Book Club. Hardcover with sleeve, 144 pages. Lots of fish species included.*** $4
  
• The Chosen Puppy by Carol Lea Benjamin. c.1990 by Carol Lea Benjamin. Paperback, 87 pages. "How to select and raise a great puppy from an animal shelter."**** $4
• The Guide to Owning a Shih-Tzu by Teri Soy. c.2003 by TFH Publications, Inc. Paperback, 64 pages. "History, Selecting, Houstraining, Training, and Grooming."****
  
• 20th Century Pop Culture by Dan Epstein. c.1999 by CLB, Hardcover coffee table book, 255 pages. FULL of pix from decades of pop culture. I love this book. It's very heavy and chock-full of memories. ***** $15
  
• The Mullet by Mark Larson & Barney Hoskyns. c.1999 by Mark Larson & Barney Hoskyns. Medium-sized hardcover, 128 pages. ***** HILARIOUS. $6
  
• Swell - A Girl's Guide to the Good Life by Cynthia Rowley and Ilene Rosenzwig. c.1999 by Warner Books. Medium-sized hardcover, 136 pages. ***** $6
  

RANDOM STUFF

• South Park Domino Game - $13
  Packaged in a tin with a window through which five of the 28 dominoes can be viewed.
  New in unopened plastic shrinkwrap.
  
  This dominoes are described as being "super-sized." They measure 1 1/4" x 2 3/8".
  
  The back of the tin has the following message: The laughs continue with the South Park Domino Game! This collector's tin includes 28 Super-Sized Dominoes featuring all of your favorite characters like Cartman, Kenny, Stan and Kyle. Play traditional Matching games, or just Line 'em Up and Knock "em Down to watch Kenny fall over and over again!

STAY TUNED FOR MORE!!!