Two New Tutorials up on YouTube!

So I finally managed to create some video tutorials of my polmer clay creations, and they're up on The Little Mew YouTube channel!

My first one is for some very cute little mermaids:

Here is the LINK

This is the first time I filmed myself and put my mug up on YouTube for the world to see. I did this mainly because I wanted to break out of my fear doing so, and I wanted people to be able to associate a face with the unmanicured hands that awkwardly create beautiful miniatures. So far I haven't recieved much feedback but at least nothing negative. The only constructive criticism I seem to be able to take is 'The only thing wrong with it is I have no idea how you're going to improve on this perfection.' hehe （ つ﹏╰）   I think this is because I work so hard (it took me two weeks to film and edit) at making everything as 'perfect' as I can, and try to find all the faults before anyone else can point them out. Gosh, being so fragile it's a wonder that I have managed to come this far in life without crumbling! Thank goodness that I have positive people in my life and positive people reading/watching my uploads! That being said, the sound quality of my voice in this video killed me! So did the length, going back and forth between tasks, and losing some footage. But I chalk it up to experience and aimed to do better in my next one, which brings us to...

My second Tutorial for the ADORABLE Catbug from Bravest Warriors:

Here is the LINK

I filmed this so quickly, all in one go and edited it the same day! I ended up filming a bit at night as well, but it worked out OK and helped to extend my 'usable work-day time' which is awesome. I realised that at least until I get more comfortable I should make slightly simpler tutorials. Although I recorded it the same way, the sound quality of my voice improved a lot, and I am really happy with how this video turned out! 

You can check out Catbug in Bravest Warriors on Cartoon Hangover HERE
The episodes are only about 5 mins long but jam-packed full of creativity, humor & action - I finished it in two days and them moved on to Adventure Time (which I LOVE).

I really can't wait to make some more tutorials. Next on the list is this Totoro:

Wild Totoro in its natural habitat :)

Let me know any tutorials you would like to see in the future! I am keen to make anything nerdy, from Disney, Adventure Time, Studio Ghibli, any animals or any kawaii character as well!

❤

Dress Form Jewelry Stand Tutorial

 

DIY Mannequin Jewelry Stand (Painting by Emily Winfield Martin aka The Black Apple)

 Hi everyone! Today I wanted to share with you a pattern and tutorial by Marie Browning which I used to make my mannequin jewelry stands. I didn't have all the 'ingredients' available to me at the time and I wanted to make it specifically usable for jewelry (hers is a pin cushion) so I made a few modifications. Here is a list of what I used:

Base: Plastic ribbon spool (5.7cm diameter)

Arms: Double-pointed knitting needles from a second hand shop (17.5cm long)

Arm Caps: Handmade polymer clay button shapes (1cm diameter)

Stand: Craft shop wooden dowel sawed to size (21.5cm length, 2cm diameter)

Stuffing: Unbleached felting wool (it looked like this when I bought it)

Body: Muslin or floral patterned cloth

Marie's Tutorial Here

Pattern Here

Here you can see my work in progress (meaning a big mess on the floor - why must I always move to the floor?). I drilled a hole for the knitting needles in the wooden dowel 3cm from the top. I then spray painted the makeshift mannequin base (spool, dowel, needle) with white enamel paint. Cutting the pattern and hand stitching was the most out-of-my-comfort-zone part but I managed to bend the cloth and thread to my will (muahaha, you are no match for me, sewing kit). After stitching the body form I turned it the right way round and stuffed it with wool. I crafted the arm caps out of polymer clay, baked, painted and glazed them. When all the parts were ready to go I put them together: I first pushed the wooden dowel through the stuffed mannequin body and added the base to the bottom. Next, I threaded the knitting needle through a hole in the stitching at the 'shoulder' (3cm from top of pole), the drilled hole in the wooden dowel and out the other side. I then used E600 glue where the cloth opens to the arms and stand to stop everything moving around. I also glued the base and arm caps in place.

As you can see, I decorated the non-paterned mannequins with peach chiffon fabric flowers.

I used a cupcake topper tutorial from Paiges of Style blog here to create the flowers. I had two shades of peach fabric and one duck-egg - I went a bit crazy with this as I thought of a hundred different uses for these little shabby chic flowers!

Chiffon Flower Puff Hair Clips

 Some similar fabric flower tutorials from other bloggers:

Love Wed Bliss: here

Wedding Bee: here

(are you guys sensing a theme? hehe)

Love Maegan: here

Some more pictures:

Floral mannequin laden with my jewelry - "Is that a Watch-Belt? Stylish."

Displaying an autumn themed bracelet I made for my Mum :)

I hope this inspires you to get creative and make your own useful display stand! As I said, I have very limited experience in stitching but the template from Marie was really helpful. If you need any more information about my own process, please go ahead and ask :) If you want to buy a finished mini mannequin for your jewelry I will be listing some on my Etsy shop soon so keep an eye out for them!