Funky Friday Favorites: Little Lazies

Hello, and happy Friday! This week I've got a great little post about an artist who does these super cute monster sculptures out of clay! Please welcome Leah Williams!

So Leah, tell me about yourself!

Hello Melanie, and hello all the readers of Curious Little Bird! I am Leah the Lazytulip and I make cute, clay creatures I call Little Lazies! Each of my Lazies are handmade, one of a kind, and ready to be adopted. Not only do I love my Lazies, I also adore music, doodling, cake decorating, and enjoying the little things in life (cliche, but true!)

Visit her:  Shop ♥ Facebook ♥ Twitter

Tell us more about what you make!

My Lazies are my babies and I make each one with love (yes it sounds cheesy, but that’s just how I am!) I not only make them out of love, but every creature is made of polymer clay and sometimes a touch of glitter or paint here and there. I also find joy in drawing my Lazies on the boxes they’re packed up in - it’s a clever way to create ideas, while having fun too. While I love making my creations into mostly little monsters, sometimes my mind wanders into making other creatures; from video-game inspired to cartoon characters, from cutesy animals to pirates - whatever comes to mind, I create! 

How did your crafty business come about? What made you want to start it?

I always had a passion for art, even went to school for it, but in the end I decided to do cake decorating (another passion of mine). So one Autumn day, as I was decorating a cake for my sister’s birthday, I had a ball of green gum-paste in my hands (it’s like edible clay) and I thought to myself, “I am going to make her a cute little monster for the top of her cake!” I sat there for hours, making her this miniature monster, and little did I know that I was developing my style right then and there. I finished the monster and of course I showed all my friends the cute creation from the cake, and to my surprise they all wanted one, but as a figurine to keep! So instead of gum-paste, that will eventually fall apart, I decided to make my creatures out of clay that would last forever. With tons of love and encouragement from family and friends, I decided to create the world of Little Lazies and with that, a shop emerged and more! I still cannot thank my friends enough for their support; I don’t know what I would do without them (you know who you are!)

What inspires you to create?

Inspiration for me can come from a lot of things - film, music, nature - but I am most inspired by Japanese culture and animation. Japan is just full of creativity (sometimes very weird, but still creative, can’t deny that) - the style and culture brings a smile to my face, so why not be inspired by something that makes you happy, right?

 

What is your favorite project or most memorable thing you've created?

I am not only a lover of clay and my Lazies, but if you know me, you know I adore t-shirts - collecting and wearing! I have several favorite t-shirt designers, all of which I respect and admire, and most of the time I am in awe by their creativity and skill. With that said, one day Wotto, a favorite artist of mine, decided he needed a Little Lazy. (Ahhh, you can imagine my excitement at that point!) He got in touch with me and I created a custom “Moishe”/“Where the Wild Things Are” inspired figurine for him. To have an artist that you admire request a piece of art from you, it’s a wonderful feeling and obviously my most memorable moment, that’s for sure.

Aside from crafting, what do you do for fun?

Fun to me is music - listening while I go for walks or while I work, discovering new bands, going to shows and smiling the whole time. Fun to me is tees - wearing them proudly, collecting, exploring new brands, and blogging all about them. Fun to me is seeing the sunrise - quiet, peaceful and such a beautiful, natural phenomenon.

What are your favorite blogs or websites that everyone should check out?

I love t-shirts, have I said that yet? ;)  Hide Your Arms www.hideyourarms.com is a blog all about tees, and guess what? I blog there too when I am not doing Lazies or decorating cakes - so you guys should check it out when you can! It’s a good place to find deals and news about the best brands.

Also some great artist blogs/sites I follow (and I am sure you might like them too!): 
 
Jublin: http://www.jublin.com/
Beastpop: http://www.beastpop.blogspot.com/
Wotto: http://www.wottoart.com/
RecycledWax: http://www.themaxwax.com/
Megan Lara: www.meganlara.com
Jimiyo: www.jimiyo.com
 

I have to ask a totally random question, so here goes. If you won millions of dollars tomorrow, would you do with your little business?

Oooh that’s a hard question, Melanie, (I have so many wacky ideas swirling around in my mind), but the first thing I think of is making a business that incorporates cake decorating and my Little Lazies somehow - a Lazy Bakery if you will. To run a lovely, little shop that sold specialty cakes along with my Lazies would make my world complete. Not only that, I would put the money towards designing Little Lazy vinyl toys to sell that everyone would love and want to collect, as well as a t-shirt line dedicated to Lazies - that’s my dream and I know with ambition (and mainly money) it could happen!

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I hope you’ve enjoyed getting to know Leah and Little Lazies, because I certainly did. You can find more of her and her clay buddies here: Shop ♥ Facebook ♥ Twitter