Wee Crystal and Wee Strawberry (b.30 January 2010)

I'd like to introduce you to Wee Crystal and Wee Strawberry! A couple of weeks ago, I was approached through the website by a lovely lady who asked if I could possibly make her up a menagerie of wee creatures - her husband had bought a couple of my Christmas cats at the Made-It craft fair in Harrogate, and she had just seen my wee horses.

In addition to Crystal, her horse, she asked if I could make up a mini version of her friend's horse, Strawberry, who sadly died last year. She also wanted her cats, Timmie Tiptoes, Hamish McTavish and Oscar, immortalised in polymer clay, as well as a frog for her frog-mad friend. And last, but not least, could I possibly make a wee Hungarian Vizler?!

Well, never one to shrink from a challenge, I set to creating this wonderful collection of creatures. I was greatly assisted by some super photographs, as well as some very funny narrative for each animal, which really brought them to life! First up were the two horses.

Crystal is a gorgeous bay with a lovely blaze and wee pixie ears. She also has one white sock, and this was the mane, sorry, main challenge for me. I rolled out some dark grey clay for the hooves, some of the rich brown clay used for the body and head, placed one on top of the other, and cut out a small circle. Then I lightly marked a quarter segment and nibbled out a thin layer of the brown clay, replacing it with white. It works!

Wee Strawberry was a beautiful strawberry roan pony who lived a long and happy life. Her coat had a wonderful two-tone effect, and I created this by using the Starry Night cane technique. I recently bought myself a mini food processor - a small Kenwood which has the dubious honour of being a "Delia Cheat" - and this has revolutionised clay chopping. So I roughly cut up a number of different colours - beige, white, salmon pink, etc. - and then blasted them in the food processor so they were reduced to small lumps. I tipped this out on the work surface, chopped it up a little bit more (I can never resist the chance to meddle), and then rolled it out to form a rough slab. I rolled this through the pasta machine a couple of times, cutting it in half after each pass and laying one half on top of the other, which created a fine 'hatched' pattern.

I reduced the cane down quite a bit so the pattern was even finer, and when I was happy with it, I covered a ball of scrap clay with thin slices from the cane and moulded it in the usual way. The Starry Night cane is such a useful technique for creating a flecked or two-toned effect.

I'll be posting more about the rest of the animals - I'm pleased to say that designs for Wee Dogs are coming along nicely, so expect to see a new addition to the Wee Beastie range very soon!

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