Ver-r-ry nice!! Both creative and well executed
Also my congrats on the 13 lbs... I hope you can find even more creative ways to lose weight re what you eat, when you eat, what you do
instead, etc.... every *tiny* thing helps IMO!
My wood turning's not up to much so she's a polystyrene egg with the bottom cut off.
Love the mixed media, but if you wanted you could also make kokeshi figures from polymer clay too (you prob. already know that, but I'll elaborate a little).
...If they're really small figures, they could just be made from solid polymer clay.
...If they're thicker than 1 1/4" or so, you might want to use an armature underneath to save clay (and also to make sure the clay doesn't crack if rapidly cooled after baking). Some good armatures for this shape might be tightly-scrunched aluminum foil, turned wood forms (even several glued together first), papier mache shapes, etc... one clayer made a kokeshi figure over a tiny glass bottle and used the head as a stopper; plastic Easter eggs (the rubbery, hinged ones work best) or polystyrene foam are also possibilities, but they will shrink during baking and may need an extra consideration or two (quite doable though).
There are even dissolvable or removable armatures that could be used if you leave the bottom open... like a carved potato or other foods that can be sculpted if necessary and soften when baked, or an eggshell (dissolve shell out after baking with a long soak in vinegar), various grain-based things like cereal and doughs, etc.)
There's loads of info on "covering" all those materials with polymer clay on this page, and on permanent and temporary armatures that can be used with polymer clay on these pages, if you want much more detail:
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/covering.htmhttp://www.glassattic.com/polymer/armatures-perm.htmhttp://www.glassattic.com/polymer/armatures-temp.htmhttp://www.glassattic.com/polymer/eggs.htmhttp://www.glassattic.com/polymer/BOH.htm (small glass bottles, stoppers)
Looking at your stuff, I think you'd also get into making your own polymer clay "fabric"... Joanne Banuelos made some fabulous clay fabric simply by painting small motifs onto her solid colored, baked clay (though she also added clay embellishments):
http://www.glassattic.com/~glassatt/imagesOBJ_SEAS_MISC/Hallow+/Joanne_Dia.htmBut there are also many ways to make the pattern totally from clay too.
In the case of the small isolated motifs like you have on your figure, the easiest way would be to make a simple "cane" of the motif first (like the cupcake or leaf), then cut really thin slices and apply them to a sheet of clay, rolling over to embed well (then use as fabric to dress the doll... or you could instead add the cane slices to the clay after it's been shaped (then roll over to embed with something smaller like a pen barrel or knitting needle).
If you're interested in making all-clay "fabric" and seeing more examples, check out the various ways on this page too:
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/sculpting_body_and_tools.htm(....click on Clothing > All-Clay Clothing...)
Diane B.
--- polymer clay "encyclopedia"
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/contents.htm
