Bunny/ Breakfast Mini Tin Advice, please?

[Synne]

I've fallen in love with polymer clay this year and had this idea in my head of making little mini scenes/plates on covered tins, and I came across these little mini tins. I made these:

This one was sort of triggered by wanting to adopt a bunny.

I've been making food-shaped stitch markers for my shop, and I keep wanting to put together things as meals...

This gives you an idea of the size...they're pretty small!
I listed the bunny tin on etsy.
I just put $12 down as the price (it took me over an hour to make it, plus the cost of materials...) but I'm wondering what you guys think about that. I worry that my clay techniques aren't good enough to warrant people paying that price for such a little tin, and it's not exactly earth-shattering art, but at the same time I put a lot of love into these little guys.

Any thoughts or advice on pricing or any feedback would be so so appreciated! (Sorry, that ended up being rather long-winded...I have a tendency towards that...)

Oh--and any thoughts on the photography, too--I'm getting better with it, but still...not a pro!

[jshires]

I think they are adorable! I don't have any clue as to fair pricing, though...Maybe look up similar items on etsy or ebay and see what they are going for? Anyhow the photography is pretty good, too. Good Luck!

[Diane B.]

Very nice tins! 

As for the price, I think it's okay but you might want to make a second one that's much simpler since they're so small, or just make a little larger one.  One good thing is that the more you make these and things like them, the quicker you'll get at it, and therefore you'll get paid "more" for your time.

You seem to have a nice eye for the colors and for making minis, but concentrating on "finishing" techniques would give more bang for the buck as you make more (plus, really careful finishing usually results in being able to charge more ) 

As an example, the clay next to the "lip" of the lid has an uneven edge (this wouldn't matter in many situations, but if you're selling it could). 
There are various ways you could create a straight edge there in the future... for example:
...you could make the whole clay top as one piece but make it too long (pressing the clay down over the sides, then flattening), then cut it with the tip of a blade riding along the lip
...or you could cut an even strip for the edge with a long blade, then apply it.... then cut a clay disk for the bare top that's the size of the top plus the side covering, blending the edge just a little... or you could apply the two pieces, then add a little rope or other embellishment to hide the join; see various examples on the Covering page link below, under Altoids & Tins).

You might also want to use various types of "cutters" to make the edges of things like the disk smooth too.  Or another way would be to flatten a ball of clay with something flat and clear till it's the diameter you want... that will result in a fairly evenly shaped disk, with nicely rounded edges.

Making the clay totally smooth and without lumpiness (especially when "covering" things) is another finishing technique... you can find various helpful tips on that on these pages (plus more info on ways to cover tins, make minis, etc):

http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/sculpture.htm (click on Smoothing Before Sanding... though the same techniques apply for sculpts which are not later sanded)
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/covering.htm (click on Altoids & Tins especially)

http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/cutters-blades.htm
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/miniatures.htm                                             
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/color.htm (mixing colors, recipes, marrbling, etc)                                             

You might also want to create more backgrounds which are sort of neutral but interesting... you've done this one by "marbling" the clay, but there are many other possibilities  ---as just one example, a "Skinner blend" makes an effective background. It can be done with any colors, and end up very subtle to very eye-popping... here are two examples of a blend being used as a background:
http://www.skygrazer.com/polymerclay/gallery/vessels2.htm (click on the small photo of a cactus silhouette on a yellow and peach blend)
http://www.tonjastreasures.com/vessels/tn14.htm (black to copper blend)
Skinner blends can also be turned into "canes" (single canes, or added to other canes) which give lots of depth and interest to even simple canes.
Look on this page for instructions and more ideas for Skinner blends:
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/blends.htm

As for the photography, yours is pretty good, but if you want even more tips for photographing small items to make them really pop, check out this page:
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/photography.htm


Keep showing us your stuff!


Diane B.

[Synne]

Wow, thanks for all the tips! I felt that I'm just on the tip of the iceberg with polymer clay, and your site confirms it, diane B.!
I don't have a pasta machine for clay yet, but it looks like I should be investing in one...Thanks again!
(and thanks for the encouragement, jshires!)

[Diane B.]

I don't have a pasta machine for clay yet, but it looks like I should be investing in one

Yes, you definitely should.  Even if you use it for nothing more than conditioning clay, mixing colors, and flattening sheets, it'll be worth its weight in gold. 

You can just buy a cheapie to start with if you want... Michaels has the Amaco pasta machine for about $25, but if you buy it with their bi-weekly 40% off coupon, it comes down to only about $16 including tax. 
Later, if you decide to really get into polymer clay and use the pasta machine a lot, I recommend buying one made in Italy though (rather than the Far East as the cheaper ones) because those will handle better, and hold up longer.  (I even have a motor on mine!)

There's much more info on buying, and using pasta machines (and how to be careful with them if you buy a cheaper one), on this page:
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/pastamachines.htm


And yep, just the tip of the ICEBER-R-RG!!! 



Diane B.