[Creator of the Week Interview] MagicByLeah

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[[ Find MagicByLeah: Main || Artfire Shop || Etsy Shop || Tweet: Twitter || Fan/Like: FB || Read: Blog || || Read: Giveaways ]]

Coupon for readers: Get 10% off MagicByLeah's Artfire Shop by using the code BYHANDGIVEAWAY10 at checkout (limit one coupon code per customer).

The amazing feature of the week is MagicByLeah -- a shop specializing in OOAK (one of a kind) handmade figurines, animal sculptures, trinkets and whimsical jewelry; all sculpted from Polymer Clay.



MagicByLeah started about a year ago, "It's a dream I always had. I put sculpting aside between college and military service. After returning from deployment and finally settling down it seemed like a good time to start."

Moving from the dream to actually creating is MagicByLeah's biggest challenge, "[I have to] stop dreaming and start sculpting. I'm always dreaming of what I want to sculpt [so] I forget to actually START."

A recent accomplishment for her was finishing a particular piece, "I'm in love with my little Dutch bunny (seen above) and almost didn't want to post him for sale."

For inspiration, "I browse google, I'll type in a random word like 'fairy' or 'magic' and see what comes up. Swimming also works but obviously takes more time. There's nothing like a good workout to get my creative juices going."




Besides your shop what makes you tick? "My alter ego runs a private tutoring company Leah4sci.com."

A tip for other sellers: "Keep at it, and be sure [not to] under-price yourself. I did that at first [because I was] afraid people wouldn't pay my proper rates; when I raised my prices and still made decent sales my confidence grew and I was enthusiastic to continue sculpting."

A great way to promote: "It's no secret, the more you put your stuff out there the more people will find you. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, word of mouth, forums, teams..."

Sweet resources: "I am a big fan of the artist Natasha of the Morezmore estate (morezmore.com). My Sculpt-n-blog follows her style of tutorial-like step by step blogging."

Take a look at her current project: "My latest undertaking is a 2012 collection of '30 Bunnies for Spring' as can be seen on my blog: magicbyleah.blogspot.com."

Most popular item OR favorite thing for sale: sock monkey pieces.


As for giveaways, "I run giveaways whenever I feel like it or whenever I'm asked to sponsor a giveaway. I've also just started a giveaway blog featuring other artists and their giveaways: magicbyleahpresents.blogspot.com."

A sweet thing MagicByLeah won, "I've recently won two beautiful handmade glass items from MTBaldyGlassworks, one is a multi-color modern-art pendant, and the other is a beautiful handmade candle holder. I was beside myself when I found out that I had won. It was so exciting!"

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