better late than never

I made this Darth Vader penguin shaker ornament for a friend. He's tiny - about 2.5 inches tall.

in a pizza treasury

Pizza penguin is in an etsy treasury. Treasuries on etsy can be "curated" by anyone with an etsy account, and basically they show a group of items that the maker enjoys. Often they have a theme (like pizza) or a color scheme. They're fun. I stopped making them when the system changed - there used to be a limited number - now there are gazillions of them. Still, they're fun to peruse. 

Thursday EART blog ring: creativity blockage?

Happy Thursday. The EART blog ring topic of the week is What do you do when your creativity gets blocked?

Well, here's the thing. I honestly can't remember a time when I haven't had a thousand ideas in my head fighting to jump out and get created. For instance, I could spend the next five years just making the penguins on my penguin list!

(baseball penguin)

I'm afraid it's time and energy that I lack - not ideas.

I try to write my ideas in a notebook. I guess if I ever do feel blocked, the notebook is where I'll start.

So... do my EART friends have creative blocks? Continue reading at PnkGeeni's blog.

Rudolpho the Red-Beaked Penguin

I love the comic book store

Despite the fact that I had never entered a comic book store until Buffy Season 8, I find that I feel very at home there. The little comic book store in my town is owned and run by one guy named Jim, who is sweet as pie.



I was very pleased to take some stuff over there for consignment/display - stake earrings, Firefly necklace, slayer ornament, and of course the vampire slayer penguin.

I'm finding that I love the comic books, and I'm having to hold myself back from buying more. I'm only allowing myself to buy the Buffy and Angel related ones, but I can't help wondering - do I need more superheroes in my life?



Visit and support your local little stores. Their proprietors love what they do!

penguins, what else is new...

I've started pulling penguin ideas out of a hat. Well, plastic bag, actually. Here are the first few: red hat penguin (oh, the irony of the red hat, but that's a post for another day...), stars and stripes penguin, and baseball penguin.


Here they are before baking.



And here they are after baking. It's like a penguin costume party.

Or a joke. "Three penguins waddle into an elevator..."

The penguins are living at the Palmyra Public Library for the holidays!

So in the continuing effort to make the penguins on my list of penguin personality ideas, I built good old Dorothy and her trusty dog Toto. I knew before baking that the hair wasn't quite right, but turns out that was the least of my problems. The whole deal fell over in the oven, thus squashing the ruby slippers and the hair and severing poor Toto's head. Now I have a better idea of how to put this one together, though, so I'll try again. I was pleased at how Toto turned out, since my sculpting skills are limited, to say the least. I don't think I'll be making a habit of building little dogs, but it's always good to try something new.

This weekend I took a break from penguins and made a boatload of Christmas and birthday cards, all collages made out of used cards. Somehow making these cards gives me a sense of satisfaction. I think it's the using up of materials. So to achieve that sensation with the beads, I would just need to make a 127-foot long necklace... OK, perhaps not.

Thursday EART blog ring: Holiday Planning

The question for this week's EART blog ring is How far in advance do you start planning for holidays?



Well, my answer is NEVER FAR ENOUGH!



Seriously, I always wish I'd started sooner. Usually I only make stuff for two holidays - Halloween and Christmas. Ideally, I'd like to be planning and creating about 8 months in advance. I'll let you know when that starts happening...

Usually, I'm cramming at the last minute. But this year I'm doing a bit better. I had Halloween stuff made and in my etsy shop by the middle of September, and now, beginning of November, I have most of my Christmas cards and gifty items ready to post. When my Halloween destash sale is over this Friday I will start listing for the holidays. We'll see what happens.
To see more responses to this Thursday's question, continue reading at PNKGeeni's blog.

Live long and prosper

Here's the penguin getting mailed to the winner of PenguinPalooza. Can you tell who he is? I hope she likes it!

Here's the list of all the ideas I got. Hope to be making a bunch of these soon!

penguin dressed up as a turtle.
penguin holding a jack-o-lantern.
bluetooth/cellphone penguin.
raking fall leaves penguin.
penguin in a space suit.
penguin in raincoat/boots.
penguin with a waistcoat & a watch! (like the white rabbit)
80s boombox penguin.
orchestra conductor penguin.
buzz lightyear penguin.
policeman penguin.
firefighter penguin.
penguin cradeling baby penguin.
librarian penguin.
penguin with huge jar of huge pickles.
mountain climber penguin.
penguin in a hot dog bun, or a hot dog suit.
baseball penguin.
oompa-loompa penguin.
Penguin dressed as a fairy!
Penguin vulcan!
Renaissance/medieval penguin!
Rainy day penguin with umbrella and slicker who has fallen into a mud puddle!
Disco penguin
Albert Penguin Einstein
Dorothy and Toto penguin
Glenda the good Witch Penguin
Wicked Penguin of the West
Phantom Penguin of the Opera
Pharmacist Penguin
Accountant Penguin
Star Spangled Penguin
Statue of Liberty Penguin
Red Hat Penguin
Under the Sea Penguin
Mermaid Penguin
Fa Penguin
Penguin as a birthday candle.
Penguin as a Pineapple.
Surfing penguin.
Star Trek Penguins
Lord of the Rings Penguins
Pilgrim and Indian penguins
Penguin as a turkey
Rudolph the red nosed penguin stuck in a chimny.
Snowman penguin
Penguin as a cupcake.
Hula couple penguins trapped in a volcano.
Missionary penguin in a stew pot.
barak,
bush,
hillary,
abraham Lincoln
PIRATE PENGUIN!
+ Leather penguin
+ Dominatrix penguin
+ Singing/Choral penguin
Michael Jackson penguin
+ Penguin in a wheelchair
+ Swine flu penguin (again not sure how you'd do it...my head is full of weird thoughts today)
+ Jogging/80s aerobic penguin
+ Photographer penguin
+ Disco fever penguin (fun with patterns!)
Dickensian choir penguins
An Internet one (wwww.penguin?)
Penguin in a kayak
Surfer penguin
Penguin on a slip and slide
Penguin dressed up as a pig
Workout penguin in his zumba gear
Jay Leno
Trumpet player!
Penguin dressed as a frog
Medieval Knight penguin
Painter penguin (possibly wearing a smock and holding a paint palette and paint brush)
Penn State Penguin
Scarecrow penguin with a crow sitting on its shoulder
Monty Python penguin
Ninja penguin
family of penguins (mom, dad and baby)
Phantom of the Opera Penguin
Musician Penguins..... guitar, drum sticks, microphone, etc.... :D
Penguin holding a fishing rod and wearing a fishing hat and a fishing vest
Penguin with swine flu...wearing a hot water bottle on his head and holding a box of tissues with a thermometer in his mouth
Suitcase, umbrella drink and a hawaiian shirt or lei!
Zombie penguin!
barista penguin
A fish with a penguin in it's mouth - you know, maybe hanging off of the penguin butt or something. Life in reverse!
bartender penguin - a little martini shaker in it's hand
Race for the Cure penguin
Breast Cancer Awareness penguin
Video game penguin. A penguin tangled in video game cords.
A penguin drinking many cups of coffee that looks very tired
A photographer penguin, with a big camera around his neck.
A nerdy penguin, with the glasses with the tape and the pocket protector.
A California penguin with a bikini or board shorts and sunglasses
A Hannah Montana penguin with the blonde wig for all those crazed kid fans
A Mickey or Minnie Mouse penguin
cheerleader penguin
6 of 1 size, 2 a little bigger, and the 2 more even bigger and then you have Jon & Kate plus 8
a bride and groom penguin
a penguin in a tiny wheelchair
a chef penguin with the little chef hat and apron
a doctor or nurse penguin with the lab coat or scrubs
A Veternarian Dr. penguin holding a little animal
Newsreporter penguin with a little suit and a microphone
racecar driver Penguin in a tiny car
Angel penguin
penguin with antlers to be Rudolph
penguin in a bunny suit with ears and tail for Easter!
penguin with t-shirt that either says Wildcats or High School Musical for kids
penguin dressed in camo for the military
Michael Jackson penguin with a leather jacket and a glove on one wing

Halloween destash sale

Cards, jewelry, penguins... All Halloween stuff is on sale at reduced prices to make room for holiday inventory!

PenguinPalooza winner

Thanks so much to everyone who commented on my blog, livejournal or facebook with penguin personality ideas!






Normally for a drawing, I would use an online random number generator to choose a winner, but this time I actually cut and pasted all the entries into a document, printed them out, cut them apart and physically pulled a random one from the middle of the pile. Why? Because I plan to put them in a box, draw them out one at a time and start making them.





There were so many good ideas - I'll post the list later this week.

The randomly drawn PenguinPalooza winner is SassyPackrat, who suggested Star Trek penguins! I love that idea.

Thanks for playing, everyone!

Still with the penguins...

Well, I'm not doing too well with the blogging this month, am I? Meh.


Anyway, this is the last week for PenguinPalooza! Leave an idea on this post to be entered in a drawing to win a fabulous polymer clay penguin ornament.

PenguinPalooza

It is time for PenguinPalooza!



Here's how it works:

I'm on a penguin-making spree. These penguins are multi-tasking - they can be used as decorations (they stand up on their little penguin feet), they can hang on your Christmas tree, and they each have beads inside, making each one a fully-functional rhythm shaker.

I am looking for penguin character ideas, the more creative and crazy the better. To play, just leave a comment with your ideas on this post, or at my facebook page, or at my livejournal. On October 23, I'll draw a random winner from all the ideas, and the winner will win a penguin (custom-designed or one from my shop). The more ideas you give, the more chances you have to win!



I'll take any ideas from the everyday obvious (teacher penguin) to completely off the wall (acrobat penguin with a broken leg)...

If you leave a comment on this blog, please make sure there's a way for me to contact you.

The penguins are in the process of moving into my etsy shop. Check them out! They will also be on display and for sale at the Palmyra Public Library in November and December.




Penguins I've already got include:
Ballerina penguin
Rastafarian penguin
Pizza guy penguin
Rainbow penguin
Film noir penguins
Steelers fan penguins
Shopping penguin
Sunglasses penguin
Clown penguin
Santa penguin
Hippie peace and love penguin
Trick or treating penguins
Vampire slayer penguin
Tangled up in Christmas lights penguin

Leave a comment to win! As many ideas as you want. Thanks for playing!

halloween, baby!

It's Thursday, which means it's time for another EART blog ring. (Let's not discuss the fact that I didn't manage to post any entries between last Thursday and this Thursday...)

The topic is: What's a-goin' on in your shop for Halloween?
And for me the answer is: Why, it's trick-or-treating penguins, of course!



These adorable trick-or-treating penguins are available in my etsy shop. To see what my EART friends have going on for Halloween, start here at IndigoOrchid's blog.

Fall Goals

It's Thursday - time for the EART team blogathon. Our topic today is "Fall Business Goals." Since my life is bordering on out of control at the moment, my goals are simple:

1. Penguins - make lots of them, and host penguin personality ideas contest - STAY TUNED FOR THAT ONE, friends! So far I've got a bunch of fun ones, including ballerina penguin, Rastafarian penguin, trick-or-treating penguin... It's going to be a penguinpalooza (photos coming soon). Also, the penguins will be on display/sale at the Palmyra Public Library starting in November, and 1/3 of each sale will be donated to the library.

2. Get etsy shop in shape with better photos and organization. Fellow etsiers, did you know we can rearrange our shops now?? Woohoo!

3. Start my line of Whedon-inspired items, especially ornaments for Christmastime - ie, get the ideas off the paper and into the clay!

Wish me luck :)

Keep reading, starting with the blog of IndigoOrchidDesigns to see what my EART teammates are planning for fall.

I've really got the penguin bug

This is my Film Noir Penguin Couple, created for the PCAGOE January Black and White challenge. Voting will be up starting on the first at pcagoe.com.

ornament workshop

When: Thursday, December 4, 1:00 to 3:00 PM

What: Penguin ornaments (or pigs, or cows, or chicks, or owls...)

Where: Palmyra Public Library, 325 Railroad Street, Palmyra, PA

Fee: $25.00, all materials included and tools provided

Register at the Palmyra Library by Tuesday, December 2. Or call the library at 838-1347.

Questions? Email me any time at admin@divadea.com.

more new stuff

It's time for ornaments. After pondering what I wanted to make this year, I finally decided to start with plastic easter eggs made into animals. So far I have 5 penguins, 2 pigs and a cow. I'd like to do some chicks, bluebirds and owls as well. But I gotta admit, I'm tempted to just make a million more penguins because they're so much fun.