LET ME admit a strange thing ? I am very addicted to two milk teeth.

And I?m not alone.

Just on Facebook, ickle and Lardee have close to 16,000 fans from all over the world. There?s no doubt about it, they?re the most popular milk teeth in cyberspace. Oh, sorry, I meant, ?milk teef.?

Milk teeth

My Milk Toof is the creation of Inhae Renee Lee, a visual artist from Korea who now lives in Berkeley California.

The idea began while Inhae was watching a film. ?The term ?milk teeth? came up in the movie and got me curious. I was vaguely familiar with what it was and after a little research I thought it was a really cute term,? she said.

Inhae was inspired to mold a little tooth out of polymer clay, which she soon started photographing around her apartment. ?I started posting the images on a blog and everything sort of just grew from there.?

Inhae wasn?t exactly new to using polymer clay. ?A year ago I made my first polymer clay toy as a gift for my boyfriend. It was a whale holding a Panda holding a birthday cake. After that, I began playing around with the medium for my own projects.?

In the beginning, there was only one ?milk toof.? ?When I was young, I placed my baby teeth under my pillow and when I woke up I?d find a shiny new quarter. But whatever happened to those little teeth? Where did they go? Would I ever see them again? Many years later, a little tooth was standing at my door. It looked familiar. Its name was ickle. Welcome home, my milk toof!? Inhae wrote on her blog.

Ickle is a well-behaved little tooth who enjoys taking warm baths, loves naps, likes taking care of plants and spends windy Sunday nights reading. ?ickle was the first toof to arrive and live with me. He?s smart and curious, and always tries to do the responsible thing,? said Inhae.

Mischief

Then Lardee ? the more mischievous of the two ? came along. ?Lardee is a bit of a baby. He is more shy and sensitive and often requires the watchful eye of ickle to protect him from getting into trouble.?

Inhae says ickle and Lardee were also inspired by her nieces. ?I actually modeled ickle and Lardee?s character and relationship after my two nieces, Jamie who is 10 and Chloe who is three.?

Together, ickle and Lardee have fun adventures which can all be seen on Inhae?s My Milk Toof blog. They search for a turtle, play hopscotch, make a ?spaseship,? hang out with snails, go swimming and get sunburned, watch movies and eat ice cream. They even take baths together.

Inhae gets inspiration for ickle and Lardee?s adventures from her own life. ?A lot of them are things I remember doing around the house when I was a kid. I grew up with two sisters, so I know what it?s like to, say, not want to share your ice cream with a sibling. I also collaborate often with my boyfriend who is an animation story artist. He helps brainstorm and edit ideas with me.?

One of Inhae?s favorite adventures is ?My Sweet Wilting Tree,? which features Lardee trying to take care of a sick plant. ?My favorite so far is ?My Sweet Wilting Tree,? an entry I did early on. When I was little and living in Korea, I brought home a dying plant and took care of it, much like Lardee did in the story. The title is named after my favorite childhood book ?My Sweet Orange Tree? by Jose Mauro de Vascondelos.?

Cuteness

Aside from cuteness, the most remarkable thing about Inhae?s creation is her attention to detail. ickle and Lardee have everything in the perfect size ? from books, bags and sunglasses to towels, lifesavers and ice cream cones. Inhae said, ?Props come from all over the place. Some I got from a trip to Japan, others are from thrift stores. There was a bath story and I needed a really small rubber ducky that I ended up just making out of clay.?

Inhae takes a lot of time in creating ickle and Lardee?s adventures. ?Recently the stories have been getting more and more ambitious, taking well over three weeks to finish. The hardest part is when new toof models have to be sculpted. Writing and storyboarding also can be quite time consuming.?

But it is time well spent, considering that Inhae, ickle and Lardee now have a huge following around the world. ?Around April of this year, I began receiving lots of fan-mails and blog comments from all over the world. Some are so sweet to write even when their English is so limited. Often people will just write in their native language, regardless if I can understand it or not. Either way I am so grateful for them to take the time to reach out.?

She appreciates how much My Milk Toof fans love ickle and Lardee. ?Readers have been so supportive and encouraging, and it helps me to keep going. The best compliment is that people are relating and emotionally invested in ickle and Lardee as real characters. This is the hardest thing to develop in a story, to bring life to a character, and I?m glad that people care about them.?

The reaction to My Milk Toof wasn?t something Inhae expected. ?I?m still really surprised! The whole project was meant to be just a creative outlet for me and now it?s turned into something of a full-time job.?

Happily retired

Inhae used to be a part of the video game industry, working on Nintendo Gamebody and DS games like SpongeBob, Dexter?s Lab, X-Men and others as a pixel animator and senior artist. Her last project was the mobile phone game version of Guitar Hero. ?But I am happily retired from that industry,? she said.

Now, she is glad to spend her time creating adventures for ickle and Lardee. ?Seeing the blog reach so many people across the world has been the most fulfilling experience. To be a part of something that can connect with others beyond language and cultural barriers is quite fantastic.?

Fans have been begging Inhae to come out with books, toys, merchandise, even a movie. One of these things might be a reality soon. Inhae said, ?Right now I?m working on finding a good publisher to get the book out there. Having a well published, quality book that I?m proud of is my priority right now. After that, if there are opportunities for further things like merchandise, I?d love to explore them.?

In the meantime, My Milk Toof fans can keep checking the blog for new adventures. ?I want to keep providing great stories on the blog. As for ickle and Lardee, they have some fun stuff prepared for the coming holiday months so stay tuned!?

Visit http://mymilktoof.blogspot.com.