Good day Steemians! Today, I am going to present to you the entries and announce the winners of this week's #clayartcontest run 7: A Childhood Toy. Click here for more details about last week's contest

On Clay Art Contest Run 7

I had a lot of fun seeing the entries for this week with their childhood toys. Most of them really brought me back to my childhood days as well. Those were really great moments where technology didn't take over children's lives, when our hands were occupied with handling tangible toys instead of swiping through computer screens. It was a short trip down memory lane for me also the Steemians shared a bit of insight as to how they spent their childhood.

I was expecting a scarcity of entries this week because of the smaller number of rewards for our clay artists. This really concerns me as I surely plan to keep this contest up as long as I could without compromising my own author payouts nor that of our generous sponsors. Nevertheless, I received some great support from @thealliance family! You guys are just awesome. In fact, #clayartcontest was featured in @killerwhale's #killerpix contest #26. Head on over to @killerwhale as well for more contests. A lot is going on over there karaoke, crypto, photography, art and resteems with great contest.

On another note. I am making a few changes with the rules of the contest as well. To those who are interested in joining this week, I hope you take note :D

Commitment to Reward Quality Clay Artists

With that being said, I continue to pledge my dedication to rewarding quality clay art in Steemit. This wouldn't be possible without the generous offers and support from our sponsors, local community, fellow steemians and loyal contestants. I do hope we reach a much bigger audience in time. I owe my gratitude to everyone who helped me with this contest and who are with me in rewarding clay artist on this platform.

Announcing the Winners

Without further delay, I proudly present the contestants and winners for this week's #clayartcontest:

1st place

@grace44

Childhood Days- Childhood Toy Clay Art Contest

We have here the Teletubbies, a Doll, Jackstone, A Hula Hoop, and what appears to be a Slipper. @grace44 claims to be a 70's kid which explains how these toys are most prevalant during her generation. Definitely brings back the old days.

2nd place

@chellelbaguio

My ENTRIES for A Childhood Toys -Clayartcontest #7

She presents to us some really appealing combination of modern toys. I urge you to click the link to see each of these toys close up. I really marvelled at the how she managed to make each of these toys with such elegance and detail

3rd place

@tonie

Clay Art Contest # 7 - A Childhood Toy

This was almost a late entry but Im glad it came in time before I started to pick the winners. @tonie shares to us a glimpse of her childhood playing with jackstone, rubber bands and toy blocks & fruits. Those must be really famous during their time.

Other Entries

@anabelgb

Clay Art Contest: Childhood Toys

I just found out that @anabelgb is around my age and I shared how Pooh, the doll house and rubber duckie were familiar toys for me, coming from the same generation.

@littleblue

Clay art contest and googly eye entry

Just take a look at that creation! @littleblue has been submitting entries intermittently with chartoon characters as his themes. I can really see a big potential with this guy as an artist. Keep honing your skill bro. I know you will go really far. Thanks for entering my contest once more.

@purplemagic

A Childhood Toy- Clay Art Contest #7

We have a rising star in our contest with @purplemagic entering the second time. I'm sorry I wasn't abel to include the entry as part of the winners since I decided to take the 4th place last week. I do highly commend your work. It is worth applauding. I hope you make something for us next week @purplemagic!

A Big Thanks to all the previous sponsors and supporters!

_{My appreciation to @killerwhale, @ybanezkim26, @jassennessaj, @smaeunabs, @girlbeforemirror. These are such great Steemians which is why I invite you to check their blogs and see for yourself}

This Weeks Clay Art Theme: The Best Gift You Have Recieved

_{This was one of the best gifts I have received recently, If I were to join my own contest, I would make books stacked on top of each other}

I urge you to make clay art featuring the best gift/s you have received. I believe that gifts are a reflection of the giver and the one who receives the gift. It is a delicate relationship which requires a certain amount of rapport to be able to find a gift for someone. I am interested to learn about the things you received from others. Hopefully, it will reflect you as well. Let your imagination run wild with the texture, colors, sizes and designs. Please add in a short story in your write-up. Have fun!

About This Week's Contest

Here are the details for this week's #clayartcontest:

Inclusion Rules
Like all contests here in Steemit, I need to lay down a few ground rules for everyone. I will use this as a basis whether your entry is considered official or not.

• Upvote this post: Hope that doesn't sound too much. I believe more upvotes on this post will merit more rewards later on :D
• Resteem: Not everyone is totally on board with this one as it disrupts the delicate layouting of their blog. But I do need a bit of exposure. You may resteem before making a post so your latest post appears on top.
• Make a post and use #clayartcontest as your main tag: This will make it easier to look for the entries
• Post the URL of your entry at the comments section below. I would also appreciate it if you upload the photo with your comment and URL so everyone can see your work!

Other Rules

• As of the moment, you may use any type of molding material. But I do prefer if you use modeling clay.
• Your post should include a short write-up. It could easily be a short explanation on how you made your entry. It does help to make your post more appealing. We are after Quality Content after all ;D
• Please nominate someone who you think would love to make clay art with us. Tag his/her name in your post for the nomination. He/She doesn't necessarily have to make an entry but it does make the game so much better.
• ADDITIONALLY, you could also suggest a theme for next week's contest. I want you guys to take part in the success of this endeavor. I surely wouldn't want to command anybody to just make clay art as I wish. So if you have an awesome idea, leave your thoughts below.

Judging

• The contest will end 7 days after posting.
• I will be the judge for the contest.
• Criteria 1: Quality of clay art. In terms of intricacy of design, color match, fine details, effort
• Criteria 2: The Write-up. How you present your entry will affect your entry as well. Go for winning posts as well.
• The more out of the box the entries are, the better chances of winning

Rewards
I received a suggestion from @thealliance family to reward contestants with this post's payout instead of a defined value since the post payouts are just so minute this time of the year. I know what you are thinking, there is a lack of security to it. Of course, the effort you put into your work is proportional to the reward you want to reach. Am I right? Trust me, I have been in a lot of contests in Steemit as well and I know how it feels when contests mention "rewards as post payouts" but for the mean time, I hope you guys bear with me. I will however be setting a bar with the prizes as a fail-safe mechanism in case this post does not reach the usual payouts.

• First Place - 0.8 SBD (Minnow Food) + 40% of post payout
• Second Place - 0.6 SBD (Minnow Bite) + 30% of post payout
• Third Place - 0.4 SBD (Minnow Scrap) + 20% of post payout

Benefits

• It's fun! How therapeutic what that be to spend a few minutes of your time molding clay into the desired theme. It won't take you long.
• All the entries will be featured in the next posts. I will also be occasionally resteeming a few entries which I find to be really spectacular so everyone can see it.
• Minnow Food awaits you.

If you want to see more Clay Art Entries or why I started this, you may click here:

• Clay Art Contest # 7
• Clay Art Contest # 6
• Clay Art Contest # 5
• Clay Art Contest # 4
• Clay Art Contest # 3
• Clay Art Contest # 2
• Clay Art Contest Initial Run

Again, I urge every participant to share this with their local community and fellow clay artists so they could be rewarded and featured for their great work as well

This is Aaron, Jose the Giraffe
_{@steemph.cebu | @steemiteducation | @air-clinic | @thealliance | @steemph}