Polymer Clay Charm Creation Challenge! Take 2!

Welcome! To the Polymer Clay Charm Creation Challenge! Take 2! I'm always so inspired seeing the wonderful work others share with me, and the first swap turned out to be a lot of fun! so I've decided to give this another go! I have also changed most of the categories around to keep things interesting!

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY, for this swap will be very demanding of your crafting talents! (Or lack there of!) And time consuming as well!

~This swap is for all crafters with a 5.00 rating, no 3s or 1s, and at least 20 type 3 swaps under their belts. I will be doing this swap as a USA only due to postage costs, although this time around I will also be hosting an international version! Feel free to join both if you'd like, but keep in mind how demanding these swaps will be and allow yourself plenty of time to complete :) ~

Unfortunately the conditions are non negotiable, due to the complexity of this swap. If you do not meet the above mentioned requirements, you will not be permitted to join at this time, however, in the future I may make a simpler newbie friendly swap, so be on the lookout!

Now down to the nitty gritty!

For this swap, we will be crafting 6 Kawaii Polymer Clay Charms for our partner. We must make ONE charm, for each category mentioned below! The only guideline is that we must have ONE charm for EACH category, totaling SIX charms when we've finished. Otherwise, the sky's the limit!

Now some of these categories may seem intimidating. One may be something we've never tried before. But that's okay! This is our chance to give a new topic or technique a shot! It doesn't need to be perfect! However I do expect us all to put forth our best effort :)

As with all works of art, use your imagination and allow your individuality and creativity flow! There is no right or wrong when creating, so do your best!

Here are your categories!

1. Sweets! One of your charms must be of a sweet! This can mean ice cream, cupcakes, candy, anything that would satisfy your sweet tooth :) I've decided to keep this category from the last swap, as Sweets is such a vast topic!

2. Valentines Day! For one of your charms you must do your best to create a charm that embodies Valentines Day! This could include items synonymous with Valentines, such as hearts, candy, teddy bears, or chocolate covered cherries. Or you could create a charm using the associated colors, such as reds, pinks, white, or purples! As far as topic, anything goes! Sweets, characters, your own interpretation of ideas. As long as when you look at this charm, you can immediately relate it to the holiday, you've done your job :)

3. San-X! One of your charms must be a character of the popular Kawaii brand San-X! This may include popular characters such as Rilakkuma, Mamegoma, Tare Panda, or some of the lesser known characters such as Homekoro, Tohoho na Dog, or Flying Elephant! As long as they exist in the San-X universe. Check out this website for San-X references http://san-x.cupped-expressions.net/p/characters.html :)

4. One of your charms must incorporate your favorite Anime! This may be a chibi character charm, however does not HAVE to be! You could create a charm of a weapon such as a Kingdom Hearts Keyblade, a mascot character such as Kon of bleach etc. Anything goes as long as it is related to your favorite Anime!

5. One of your charms must be your best attempt at a nature scene, or landscape! This is another tough one, so give it your all and I know you'll make something great! This could be a polymer clay version of a pond, a stump on a small patch of forest, an ocean wave with some sand and maybe a critter etc. Koi ponds seem to be a popular topic in relation to Kawaii Polymer charms, and YOUTUBE.com is a great tool for tutorials regarding this topic, or find a photograph and try your hand at replicating it with clay! Just use your imagination and have fun with it!

6. Last but not least, One of your charms must be a profile surprise for your partner! Take a look at their profile and pick one thing they've mentioned that inspires you! Do your best to make them a charm that fits that subject matter! For example your partner could list Totoro as a like, or cupcakes, or owls! Whatever you choose, do your best!

So there you have it! Quite the line up of charms, but I'm confident we'll all have a great time making these and we'll gain a great deal of experience having tried so many new things!

PLEASE ONLY SIGN UP IF YOU ARE WILLING TO PUT THE TIME AND EFFORT INTO MEETING THESE CHALLENGES, AND REALLY WANT TO DO YOUR BEST!

Please keep in mind that packaging is very important when mailing charms! Please CAREFULLY and SECURELY package all charms so they won't be damaged. I like to wrap my charms in tiny bubble wrap, or tissue paper, and place them inside of an empty pill bottle with a wide mouth. Then I'll use an appropriately sized box to mail the bottles! With 6 charms total, empty pill bottles, or small boxes are a great way to fasten them for the shipping adventure!

I do not recommend using bubble mailers as in the past I've had charms arrive broken, even after being wrapped in extra tissue, or more bubbles inside the package. Bubble mailers are still flexible and not as sturdy. Packaging in a small box gives them less chance of being stepped on or smooshed during transit.

There may not seem like there's a lot of time between the sign up date, to the send by date, However, as the only one that is profile specific is the 6th category, you may begin crafting the first 5 charms as soon as you sign up, before partners are even assigned. If anyone still feels the time is too short, just let me know and I'll adjust accordingly. Likewise with any other suggestions!

Thank you all and happy swapping!

~All photos used are copyright their respective owners, I do not own any of these images nor do I claim to. They were all found off Google search images.~