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"Melt My Heart" Penguin Part One By Laure Estep Dawndove Note: Be sure to use foil or wads  of paper towel to prop up the sign and wings before  putting them in the oven so they won't sag or break off. Tent a sheet of aluminum foil shiny side out (very important) over the figure before putting it in the oven.  This helps reduce the risk of the white discoloring.  Bake according to recommended  temperature for 45  minutes and let it cool in the oven. Supplies:  Polymer clay (Premo was used in this project):  Cobalt Blue  White Pearl Raw Sienna Cadmium Red Mixed colors: (note: mix lighter colors first and clean hands between colors to minimize accidental color bleeding) Face and belly:  1/3 of a quarter bar of a 2 oz. package white  + 1/3 of a quarter bar pearl Feet and beak:  1/8 bar of cobalt blue + 1/4 bar white + 1/4 bar pearl Main body:  1 bar cobalt blue + 1 bar pearl 2 black seed beads 2 toothpicks ball-point, sharpie or gel pen needle or other pointed tool blush or colored chalk pasta machine or rolling pin   Step One: Take about a 1/4 of a bar of raw sienna, roll into a log 1 3/4" long and 3/8" in diameter.   Slowly thread a toothpick into the log by swiveling it into one end leaving 3/4" remaining out of the  top.  Don't worry if it's not perfectly straight, a  bit smashed or lumpy.  It just adds to the character of the log. Step Two: Flatten a 3/4" diameter ball of white on a #2 setting on your pasta machine (second thickest) or 1/16" thick. Using the protruding end of the toothpick to  measure the white, cut the signboard square just a hair above the tip of the toothpick and 1 1/2 as wide.  Cut  a matching square in white. Step Three: On one side of one piece use a pen to write "You Melt My" on one side, leaving room for the heart. Take a pinch of red clay, form into a flattened  teardrop.  Use a needle point or toothpick press a  cleft in the fat end to form a heart.  Press it to the sign. Step Four: Sandwich the toothpick between the two layers of signboard.  Trim and smooth the edges.  Lightly texture the pole part with long, slightly wavy strokes of the needle irregularly spaced around the pole Part Two Part Three   Copyright 2002 Laure Estep