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There is truly a bottomless pit of design, ideas and ability inside your head but you feel you don't have the talent to do anything with it.

Most folks think that way. Countless times, through necessity and just plain hard times, I've discovered things about myself that I never knew were there. I get amazed sometimes.It's inside you, too. You've just never been determined enough.

Sounds like I'm pushing my own product but the fact is that when I learned how to manipulate my world with mold making, I opened up a whole new world inside myself.

Part of my own succcess came through insatiable curiosity. I always had to know, "How did they make that?"I just happened to have a creative grandmother who lived 700 miles away. When asked if I could find a way to replicate an animals jawbone, in miniature, for a project, I wrote to my grandmother. By hand-written letter, she gave me instructions for building a rubber mold out of rubber latex. It was trial and error but I managed.

I spent a childhood, finding and creating things with raw clay. When I discovered the world of poured ceramics, later in life, it only fed the fires of curiosity. Learning the in's and out's of pouring clay was not enough. I looked to those molds in wonderment and that just pushed me further.

When life handed me a raw deal, I weasled my way out by learning, the hard way, how to design for ceramics and make the molds. I managed to eek out a living while staying safely tucked in the underground world of women hiding from the gun of an ex-husband.

The cherished part of that chapter in my life was the discovery of what all I had inside me, hidden even from myself.Nothing would thrill me more than helping others discover this very thing within themselves.

The ideas are there and you don't have to copy. What is in your own head, can be perfectly marketable.What is it that makes you stop and notice? Flowers? Clouds? Old things? Babies? Puppies or kittens?How about a list of things that spark your interest.

Make one of your own. Something like:Carved and polished wood.Polished stones.Scroll work on clocks.Water fountains.NeedlepointSculpture d wall hangings. Old cars.Twisted tree roots.Exotic fish.Snakes.Turtles.Whatever happens to be favorites for you, regardless of how simple.Now realize, you're not alone. Others find these things fascinating.

Those others could be your end customers.Let's say you have a thing for turtles. We'll start there. If a formed object, where all could a turtle be and what could a turtle

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