I really love my first attempts at making a cake topper - these took me a long time to do, but it was a ton of fun to make them - the bride sent me photos of the dress she would have liked to have bought, but it was far too expensive for their budgets - a dream dress, so she asked if I could make a small version of her in it. Her groom is a chef and she requested that he be put in a chef's uniform - pictures were sent along with  pictures of the bouquets and their personal picture as well.  Being that this was completely my first attempt, I could not guarantee any likeness to their images as I am not familiar with doing faces. Its totally foreign to me, but I did try.  I made the bride's hair in the way of the photos provided. I wasn't even sure of how to  position this couple - I wasn't sure of where I would find a base to put them on - fortunately I found cardboard discs in the cake accessory section of my local Bulk Barn - the discs were around .45cents a piece - I bought three and glued them together and then covered them with silver polymer clay.  This topper took me close to 15 hours to make but it was worth taking the time and getting use to the process of putting clay "people" together.  I hope to do more figures, but will obviously have to figure how to make the time to make them more efficient.  It was a real opportunity for me as this young bride was in a bind and needed a topper within 2 weeks.  Her beloved groom hadn't taken the cues to "get on" this task sooner and when he did approach their wedding cake maker, she was too booked up to make a custom topper too.  Good ol' Etsy saved the day for this bride and since she need someone local she typed in cake toppers and a her locale and the Etsy search engine lead her to my site.  So, I am thankful I had the opportunity to participate in this couple's special day and I know they were delighted and ecstatic that I was able to come through for them too!

A Morning with Davis

A while back, as the school days were approaching summer, I had the pleasure of minding our close friend's son.  He's 11 years old and happens to be one of Pook Designz greatest fans.  He happened to be with me this one morning because his "tummy" wasn't feeling right and his loving Mom called to see if my son, was available to watch him for a few hours.  As my oldest had a full time job for the summer, I informed my friend that he wasn't available - but I was home because I had some figurines to make for upcoming markets. 

    Davis arrived and quietly settled on our family room couch and channel surfed until he found something he liked.  He landed on Sesame Street. Content to watch Sesame Street (although he admited to being too old for this show). He, like me, loves the artistic value of it. The puppets reminded him of my clay creatures and I relayed to him that they have often inspired my work. Their colour and their whimsical and wild characteristics, like the big buggey eyes, the feathers and the fur, really encourage my creativity and he readily agreed that they did this for him too.  I marvelled at him because its not often that such a young person has such a sensitive heart to appreciate and take delight in artistry that can be found in the creative genre of a show like Sesame Street. Both of us tuned in to watch the show being aired.  I, realizing my time was limited, got up to finish my chores.

    As Sesame Street ended, I noticed that Davis was up and about.  I asked him if he would like me to read to him - I couldn't pass up the opportunity to share something from  CS Lewis's Narnia series.  He agreed and found comfort  in our living room rocking chair - I flipped through our large collective volume of all Narnia series, one of my daughter's favourite Christmas gifts, and I asked Davis what Narnia movies he had seen or which Narnia book he's read. He had never read any but he had seen the Narnia movie: The Lion, the Witch and Wardrobe.  We settled on the first chapter of  "The Magician's Nephew".  I thought he would be so enthralled by the mystery of the first chapter that I was surprised to see that he was getting restless.  Hmmm, what else could I offer up him to do?  He seemed to be feeling much better, so surely there would be something I could give him to keep him busy.  We don't have all the fancy channel packages so we were lacking in good television programming and I wasn't going to give any chance to play video games. I wanted him to have a memorable experience while with me.  I know I had some more clay projects to do so I asked Davis to come help me with my claying. Sure, you're probably thinking, "taking advantage of free child labour are you"? Can you blame me?  I thought, "Hey, at least he will be doing something with his hands". Well, his eyes lit up instantly and right away he was quickly heading downstairs to my disheveled studio - full of clay bits and full of creative opportunity. Somehow, the tummy aches mysterioulsy disappeared and I didn't feel so bad inviting him to help me out.

  I got him settled with his own chair and a little work table - tv trays are great aren't they? Right away, he started telling me a lot of things.  Eager, and without ceasing, I listened to his wonderful intentions of building a website with his Dad so he and his friend, James could post pictures of all the clay creations they made and were going to make. This really made my day. Davis chatted a lot to me about what he would like to try with the clay, and he wanted to see examples of marbled clay.  I asked him to help me make "mud" clay so that I would have a layer of scrap clay to cover my foil bodies of the Pookeez so that the finishing layer of clay will be more smooth. He loved the way the colours all marbled when the clay passed through the pasta machine.  With consecutive rollings the clay become a solid shade of some kind of brown.  He was gleeful, and content and right "into it" as some would say.  Seeing that he was really having a good time settled my heart.  

    He has taken many of my workshops and has hosted and attended my "Pook Parties" so he was completely familiar with my simple operation and he was more than happy to help out. This was so encouraging - depending on whether Pook Designz grows - Davis will have a job waiting for him, that's for sure!   I may not be a professional art teacher, but for the accolades and admiration of my work that I received from Davis that morning, this would really stoke the fire in a "teacher's heart".  What a blessing it was for me to share that time with Davis, and to know that I had a hand in igniting his creative spirit.   It's what makes teachers want to teach and love what they do.  So, I have to thank Davis' Mom for needing someone that morning to mind Davis, because in many ways this turned out to be more of a blessing for me than a favour for Davis and his Mom. Funny how life offers up these kind little moments that add depth and meaning and stir the inklings in the heart; somehow ecnouraging what may be my purpose and my true calling in this world: Teaching.