adventures in polymer clay

My first polymer clay project is now complete. 

I made little teacups and painted them the colors of the My Little Pony Friendship is Magic "Mane Cast".  I am extremely happy with how they turned out, and it was definitely a learning experience.

I started out with a hand-sculpted teacup that I designed in my brain in a half-waking state one morning before work. Then, somehow I remembered it later and put it down on paper. I used an air-dry modeling clay for the original.  The tiny details were difficult and I actually worked on this 1x1 inch little cup for about 2 days before I decided it was good enough.

So the next step was to create a mold using a silicone based molding clay. I had never used a clay like this before and had only a little experience with firing clay of any kind.

It was such a small shape, I figured I could bake it in the toaster oven.  This was a great idea, except that my toaster over was purchased at a goodwill and is probably older than me. So the elements do not heat properly or evenly and get really hot really fast. So....my first mold turned out like this:

You can kinda see the cup shape but it exploded outward a bit and looks really distorted. And charred to a crisp.

So I actually went out and bought a new toaster oven.  Kinda crazy, but whatever, it was only $29.

So I tried it again and this time it turned out awesome!

So after that I was able to make more and more little teacups. Each one still needed refining after coming out of the mold,  and some sanding/smoothing after firing.

Then, I had to paint them. I was most nervous about that part. I chose 3 different brushes, one for the base color, one for the hair color inside the cup, and one for the small details of their cutie marks.  Paint is not a big deal for me, since I've been painting for as long as I can remember, but the details were so small and it had to look as smooth as possible.  After the first few, I got into a rhythm and it was pretty simple.

This first batch is on eBay right now. I might make a second batch of the mane cast, then maybe some of the other ponies. (Including some G1 classics?)

I'll also be doing some teacups in classic designs like a blue and white floral, and.... something victorian?
Who knows?! But I think I've discovered a new favorite medium.