TIME MANAGEMENT & BREAKDOWN
A Busy Week in Kater’s Acres Polymer Clay Studio
Soccer Pens, Dinosaur’s, Fall, & Cane Making
It has been a VERY busy week. I know it doesn’t look like it from this measly little picture shown above. But just to demonstrate the amount of time spent on the polymer creations I make, I’m going to do a breakdown of time involved in making the items shown above. I’ve never done a blog post like this, so this will be an experiment for me. If you LIKE this kind of a post, please leave me a comment below. (NOTE: Most items are shown in round numbers rounding either up or down in 15 minute increments.)
- NEW Dinosaur Tutorial
- Researching Dinosaur Shapes/Patterns = 1 hour
- Designing the Dinosaur = 1 hour
- Making the Dinosaur = 1 hour
- Photographing every step for the tutorial = 2 hours
- Writing the Tutorial = 8 hours
- Kaleidoscope Cane
- Making the mini canes for the larger cane = 1 hour
- Combining into one cane section & shaping into triangle = 1 hour
- Reducing Cane (after overnight rest) = 1 hour
- Fall Polymer & Brass Leaf Necklace
- NOTE: I actually created 30 leaves, this necklace is just a sample of those that I created.
- Creating the color blend from scraps = 15 min.
- Cutting leaf shapes from blend = 15 min.
- Adding glitter & mica to leaves = 15 min.
- Shaping all leaves prior to baking = 15 min.
- One Dozen Soccer Ball Themed Pens
- NOTE: This was a special order for a special lady, I usually do not make special caned pens anymore.
- Making the Soccer Ball Cane = 30 min.
- Letting cane rest (3 days), reducing into 3 sizes = 1 hour
- Making blends for 12 pens = 2 hours
- Assembling 12 pens = 10 hours
- Sanding & Buffing 12 pens = 4 hours
- TOTAL TIME SPENT THIS WEEK: 34.5 hours
- And yet, this does not include writing blogs, listing new items, or any of the other aspects of Kater’s Acres. May I also remind you that this is a part time job … it’s no wonder I’m tired.
CONTRIBUTE TO THE CONVERSATION:
Tell us in your own words below, is your polymer clay a hobby, part-time, or full-time and roughly how many hours do you spend creating in your studio. Please do NOT include blogging, Etsy store upkeep, etc in your estimate.
Weekly Tidbits & Fun
- I love my Kindle Paperwhite (and no I’m not trying to sell you anything). I’m a bookworm. I love that a book takes me to unknown destinations & places. I just finished reading The Pines by Blake Crouch. It was an okay book. Definitely not the best, and I honest thought it should have been better.
- I’m really enjoying my Kindle Unlimited experience. I signed up because you get your first month free right now. And the best part is that not only does it include Kindle books, but it also includes audio books. Perfect for a long studio work week. In fact I listened to book 2 of The Lord of the Rings in my studio this week!
- I’m on my 3rd cup of coffee today (Java, java, java) … and I’m about to go for a forth. :-/
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Want to be an artist of inspiration for the week?
Every week I choose 1-2 artists whose work has caught my eye during the week. How do you catch my eye? It’s simple … use social media. Here’s a few easy ways to catch my attention: become part of FaceBook groups I am also on, showcase your work on your FaceBook page, Twitter, Instagram, Flickr, Pinterest, or even tag me @KatersAcres in your photos on FaceBook.
What are you working on?
What’s going on in your studio? What are you working on? Is there a project you’d like to see me tackle and feature on the blog? Let me know in the comments below. I’d love to hear your thoughts & ideas!
