Worry Box with Stars

I can't believe that this is my last post as 

a designer for Creative Paperclay ®.  The last two terms have been a time

for me to grow creatively using a new medium. I hope that you have dug out your 40% off coupons, and bought a package of Creative Paperclay ® at your local craft store.  

Whether a novice or professional, this product will add interest to projects from paper crafting, sculptures, to home decor and jewelry!

Today, I'd like to show you a fun project that will be perfect for worry warts...

and yes, I tend to fall into this category from time to time!

Supply List:

Creative Paperclay ®

gesso

tools as needed

Glue Dots ® adhesive

ribbon

papers as needed

brads

cord

acrylic paint

A few months ago, I had a bit of Creative Paperclay ® left over. 

I wasn't going to use it any time soon and I didn't it to dry out.

So, I rolled it out and cut out star shapes...and stored them for some future use.

If you need a more in depth tutorial about rolling, cutting, and sealing, Click to this CPC Blog Post.

Today, I painted my stars with gold acrylic craft paint.  

I painted the bottom and sides first. Then, a nice coat on the top.

A certain Dollar Spot sells these adorable mail boxes, from time to time.

And apparently I buy a few of these from time to time to time to time...but I digress.

I thought it would make a great Worry Box.

What is a Worry Box?

Well, you write down your worry...you stick in the box...

and you just let life move on...without losing energy on silly fretting. 

I have read that it's great for younger kids too.

Parents can sneak in and read their kids' fears...if their child isn't coming forward on their own.

I like the idea of putting the worry into a box...and moving on.

But...on to the project...

I used papers to decorate and embellish the plain white mail box.

Pop Up  Glue Dots ® are strong and make a GREAT adhesive for these star embellishments.

Back View...

Yes, I was tempted to add even more bling...but I refrained,

for now!  lol

Inside, I typed up a quote from Corrie ten Boom, a woman who lived through World War II, and tried to help others as best as she could, despite danger to herself and her loved ones.

 “Worrying is carrying tomorrow's load with today's strength- carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Worrying doesn't empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.” -- Corrie ten Boom

Then, I stamped stars on matted 3 x 4 inch cards, where I can write my worries down. 

But, I have a sister who admires Corrie ten Boom, and probably has enough worries (hehe)

to fill this mail box, I'll be giving it to her at Thanksgiving!

Thanks so much for visiting the Creative Paperclay ® Blog today.

Dawn Mercedes, of Sunnyside Up 

(Where I will continue to create with this fantastic product!  I hope you'll visit me!)

Barbara's Tips for October

Hello everyone, and welcome back.  Well, Halloween is almost upon us, and before you know it, the hustle and bustle of the holidays will be in full swing.  However, this will be my last post as a design team member for Creative Paperclay®.  My term is up and, boy, did it go fast.  I have really enjoyed my short time here, and I hope I have been able to inspire you to play with clay along the way.  The new design team is going to be awesome, so be sure to come back and see what great ideas and projects they have in store for you.

That being said, I have a few last tips to share with you before I go.  

When rolling out the Paperclay® between two layers of wax paper, I discovered that you need to roll the clay in two directions from the middle, first one way, then the other. This will prevent the clay from becoming thick in the middle of the piece.

The second thing I discovered was that part of the reason it was forming this thick part in the middle is because the clay was sticking to the wax paper, which was not allowing the clay to move freely between the two wax layers.  So, in addition to working in two directions, I would also occasionally lift the wax paper and free it from the clay to allow the clay to spread out evenly again.

The wax paper is still quite helpful because my roller is not sticking to the clay as I work, and the Paperclay® removes from the sheet quite easily.  The wax paper does cause some wrinkles in the clay, but this is easily remedied by a wet finger rubbed over it, or texture added from a stamp or texture plate.  I always keep a large spray bottle filled with water nearby so that I can mist my Paperclay® as needed.

The next thing I discovered is, this technique will also work in your clay-dedicated pasta machine, if you have one.  Just free the clay from the wax paper, and insert the whole thing through the opening in the rollers, and give it a go.  Do this each time before decreasing the thickness, and you shouldn't have any problem.

Did you know that if your clay is sticking to your molds, you can mist water onto the mold to form a release?  It allows the clay to be removed from the mold without ruining the clay.  I was using these push molds and the clay would not come off of the mold, even after pushing it through the cutter.  So, I know that water, when misted on clay molds, will release  polymer clay, so why not try this technique and see if it works for Paperclay®.  Much to my amazement, it DID!  I was once again a happy camper.

As you can see in the photo below, the clay remained on the craft sheet, not the mold cutter itself, even though I had to press into it to get the embossing.  

I hope you find these tips helpful.  The more I work with Paperclay®, the more discoveries I make about the product.  It truly is easy to work with and quite versatile.  I hope you will continue to visit the Creative Paperclay online store and blog for the new team's  upcoming creations.  It should be fun and inspiring.  

As for me, you can always find me at Black Hole Art Studio.  Please stop by every now and then and say hello.  I am about to embark on another exciting journey, and I would love for you to follow along.  More details about that to follow.  Thanks so much for stopping by today, and as always, have a wonderful week, and keep on claying!!!

Barbara

New Design Team

Terri Sproul Design Team Leader

 Terri Sproul is the force behind a fun paint called “Terri Sproul Mixers” from Sakura Hobby Craft and of a DVD called "MasquePen Magic" to see more of her video check out her Youtube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/terrisproul and on her Tuesday Night Live stream, http://www.linqto.com/rooms/terrisproul. She is a diverse and experienced CHA Designer, design team leader and instructor for multiple companies in the paper craft world including “ Robin Nest”, “Creative Paperclay®”, “Sakura Hobby Craft” and Arnold Grummer!”. Terri and her husband Marc have the pleasure of living in San Diego County on top of Palomar Mountain. She has received a Bachelor of Scrapbooking Arts from Creating Keepsakes and Bachelor of Scrapbooking Education from EK Success. Terri’s passion is teaching fellow Scrapbooker’s and Stamper’s new techniques, and to think ‘out of the box’ and ‘off the Page.’ Visit her website and blog to see all the exciting stuff she does at http://www.terrisproul.com – link to blog is also there.

Rachel Whetzel

Rachel Whetzel specializes in creativity and mixed media art through thrifting, up-cycling, re-purposing and new design. She has had the privilege of being published in several Stampington Publications, and is a contributing artist in Seth Apter’s newest Mixed Media book, “The Mixed-Media Artist: Art Tips, Tricks, Secrets and Dreams from Over 40 Amazing Artists”. Rachel owns the art journaling prompt blog, A Year in the Life of an Art Journal and the photography inspired, Monday Mugshots. This is Rachel's third term as a member of  the Creative Paperclay®  team. She loves breaking rules, and is married to a cop. (is that like a double negative?) When she's not obsessively refreshing her Facebook page, Rachel likes to create things with thrift store findings and things other people call the J word… (that’s JUNK) When she's not creating things, she's neglecting her housework, spending time with her family by the river in the summer, playing horseshoes with the kin folk, cheering too loudly and possibly cursing at her kid’s games, and milking her goats. Not necessarily in that order, except for the neglecting house work part. You can find Rachel on line at the following places!
Website: www.RachelWhetzel.com (link to my blog at www.MineToThine.com is also there)
Pinterest: http://Pinterest.com/WhetzelMomma
Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/RachelWhetzelArt

Diane MacNaughtan

My name is Diane MacNaughtan, Owner of Dianie Mac Designs. I live with my husband, in the same small town that I grew up in. Our home is nestled on a quiet street, at the foothills of the breathtaking Wasatch Mountains, in Brigham City, Utah. Alan and I have 3 amazing grown children and 6 gorgeous grandchildren. I started creating as early as I can remember. As a child, I'd rather be home drawing, painting or making paper mache' dollies then being outside playing. Both my parents were very supportive and would make sure an endless of creative supplies were available. in my early adult years, I spent most of my time drawing and painting. Then I discovered clay, and it was love at first touch. I experimented with many a clay, but when I found Creative Paperclay® , I knew instantly it was my clay of choice. I enjoy trying new mediums. I am fascinated with mixed media art, and enjoy learning from other artists. When I'm not in my studio, you might find me thrifting, re-purposing something old to something new, cooking up some delicious food, or being one with nature camping and spending time with my family who love deeply. Oh, and running after those grand-babies!
Find Diane on her blog: http://dianiemacdesigns.blogspot.com/

Susan Owenby

Susan Owenby Yep, I do that too and so can you! I have long suspected that there is no one in the universe that defines “Jack of all trades, master of none” as well as I do. I LOVE to create. I know pretty quickly which mediums inspire me.I can always spot a winner when I have a 100 ideas of what I might like to try with it almost as soon as I touch it. I recently had the opportunity to try Creative Paperclay® and knew I had my hands in something special. I'm looking forward to learning the material and sharing my experience with you!
Visit Susan at her website: http://theboredzombie.com/

Lulu Lancaster

 Hello I am LuLu Lancaster an artist living in rural Northern California. I have been been painting and creating since a small child. It wasn't until a trip to SFMOMA many years ago that I began to create art dolls. An exhibition of Picasso and his sculptures that served as his models for several paintings spurred an idea to create dolls and use them as a model for paintings. Once finished with the painting I found myself overrun with several dolls. Soon the dolls overtook the paintings and launched me into the world of creating art dolls. Since that start into Art Dolls I have created many Dolls with their own stories to tell. I love a good story and you could call my dolls emotional wrecks ;) My art is drawn on both personal history and that of others along with unfulfilled dreams. The irony of the choices in life made along the way and the result of those choices that lead us into situations we find ourselves in as adults. Sometimes not pretty and sometimes a little cheesy mostly all overly exaggerated.
You can find me
Facebook: http://facebook.com/lulusappledolls
My blog: http://lulusapplesauce.blogspot.com

Carole Lassak

Carole Lassak In addition to paper crafting and mixed media projects, Carole enjoys a variety of handcrafts and fiber arts, including jewelry making, needlepoint, crewel, knitting, crocheting, beadwork, and lacemaking. She regularly travels abroad to study the art of handmade bobbin lace. She incorporates mixed media techniques to create unique jewelry and paper art pieces. In addition to her “real” job as Communications Manager at Delphia Consulting, her “fun” job is working with the Create & Craft team on a variety of creative endeavors. Carole holds Tombow Techniques Basics and Zutter Bind-it-All certifications. Her design team memberships include Sakura Hobby Crafts (Apr. – Sept. 2011), Amazing Mold Putty (Oct. 2011 to Mar. 2012; Apr. to Oct. 2013), The Robin’s Nest (Jan. – Jun. 2012), and Arnold Grummer's Paper Making (Oct. 2012 to date). Her favorite food is sushi, especially sea urchin. “I think any piece of raw seafood on a pillow of rice would delight me.”

Lynda Jeffs

Hi everyone, I am Lynda Jeffs - back for my 2nd term on the design team! I am married to a wonderful man named Del - who truly has been one of the best things that has happened to me! We have 8 kids together (4 boys and 4 girls), and just had our 8th grand-child (3 boys and 5 girls), with one more on the way! We currently live in Sparks, Nevada...I've lived in 3 states since June 2012 - I hope this is one of my last and final stops! Creative wise, I have made cards for almost 23 years now...my first project was my almost 23 year old daughters' birth announcements made out of a Disney stamp and cardstock! I have been making scrapbooks now for over 15 years now and love to create one of a kind items! One of my favorite thing right now is using Creative Paperclay® with my scrapbook templates to make one of a kind embellishments for my cards or pages! I also love to alter things, to make them in to something else which you can check out my ideas for all of these on my blog at www.memoriesintyme.blogspot.com/ . On a side note, I love to read, watch HGTV...spend time with my family, bake when I can...and collect fun ideas to create later on! This is me in a nutshell!
Visit Lynda's blog: http://memoriesintyme.blogspot.com/

Gloriann Irizarry

 My name is Gloriann Irizarry. I was born and raised in the beautiful Caribbean island of Puerto Rico. Ever since I can recall, I always had my hands on crayons, scissors and paper. My parents knew from the start how much I love to create! I remember taking my dad’s catalogues and cutting everything out to play with the pictures and to create collages. I had so much fun doing this. My dad, well, he really was not sure how to place his order from my collage! When I turned 10 years old, I moved to the eastern coast of Puerto Rico to live with my dear Irizarry grandparents. There too I attended Ana Roque High School. My experiences at this school helped to make one thing crystal clear to me: I LOVE ART! I took a freshman art class with a wonderful art teacher. I never left the classroom (or so it seemed!). I became addicted to art and came back every semester for more classes. I could not stop! I loved how our teacher motivated us to create and craft, how he guided us, and how he helped us improve our skills. He also organized expos and fairs so that our art pieces had a place to be shown. Yes! I ended up taking a total of 6 semesters of Art classes with him and graduated the top of the Art class from the Escuela Superior Technologica Humacao in 1996. It was a great learning experience. Once I graduated from high school, I went to the El Turabo University for a year before I moved to upstate New York in 1998 . I now live in the beautiful Mohawk Valley here in central NY with my family. As a mother of three young wonderful daughters, I find myself working, caring for my family, and taxiing kids from here to there for various sporting events. I have to say I’m never bored! I enjoy every little moment I spend with my girls, but will always continue to work time to create art into my daily schedule as that means doing what I love the most. My girls are learning the joys of creating also! I love to sculpt and will never stop creating. I was born this way and for that I thank GOD every day. Art has been a great way to be creative and to express myself. I like to keep my hands busy creating – whether it is unique jewelry, art dolls, ooak sculpture figures, fairy wings for all your project needs, or even wigs and clothing for your sculptures. I love all the variety in art! Why? because ART is so rewarding. Seeing your creation take form is an awesome feeling. All my available items will be for sale at my store. If you have any questions, email me at littlegardencrafts@yahoo.com. Do come and check out my store! Click the different store tabs to view all the items. Commissions are accepted for custom one of kind orders. Right now I’m open for commission: feel free to contact me for details. I hope you enjoy my site and will come back to visit again.
Web http://www.byglori.com/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/byglori
You tube Channel https://www.youtube.com/user/littlegardencrafts
Twitter https://twitter.com/bygloricom
Instagram http://instagram.com/bygloricom/#
Pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/byglori/boards/
Tumbler http://www.pinterest.com/byglori/boards/
Google plus https://plus.google.com/u/0/100529651667360428303/about

LeeAnn Kress

 LeeAnn Kress Hello! My name is LeeAnn Kress. My passion is creating one-of-a-kind holiday folk art for my online sweet shoppe, Charmed Confections. Halloween is my favorite subject to sculpt, but whimsical / fantasy and faerie art is a close second. I starting taking ceramics classes as a child and as my love for art grew, this developed into sculpting my own porcelain / art dolls. I have been sculpting in many mediums over the years - testing out different polymer clays, professional doll clays, and apoxies. I have to say, Creative Paperclay® is my favorite clay so far! (I think, I’m actually addicted to it!) Why? … The possibilities are endless, it’s easy to use, and the results are fast! I am thrilled to have my Creative Paperclay® art dolls published in the August 2013 issue of Art Doll Quarterly Magazine.
For more information on my art, please visit my website at www.charmedconfections.com It is an absolute honor to be selected as one of the Design Team Members for Creative Paperclay®. I hope during my time here, you fall in love with this product as much as I have. Get ready to get your hands dirty! We’re about to make some magic!

October Tip from Rachel Whetzel

One of the things I love about  Creative Paperclay®, is how quickly it dries on low heat in the oven. Once in a while, though, I like to create molds for my  Creative Paperclay®. Lots of us here on the  Creative Paperclay® team like to use the clay in molds. Thing is, the clay doesn't dry as well when it's smooooshed up against a non porous surface. My solution is to use Amazing Mold Putty when I make my molds, which can be heated up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. That way, I can heat my paper like I do when I DON'T mold pieces... and my mold won't melt. Being able to heat your mold helps your clay dry in a timely manner, and makes for speedier projects so that this:

Can become THIS, with very little wait time. 

Jess B's - Octopus

Hello Everyone,

This will be my last project with Creative Paperclay® and I've enjoyed every

moment sharing and creating with this awesome design team for two terms.

I've learned many fun techniques with Creative Paperclay® and know that

this will be an essential tool to have in my stash.

Octopus!

 

Thank you Terri Sproul and Creative Paperclay®  for allowing me

to be a part of the family and creating new friends along the way.

The new design team is going to wow you!

That'z Uneek

Lynda's October Tips -

I can't believe it has been 6 months for being on the design team!  The current team has helped me so much, in more ways you can imagine!  The new team coming up - excited to see what they come up with for sure!  
I love working with the Creative PaperClay product for so many different reasons!  If you rubber stamp, you already have a ton of things you can make with those stamps including ornaments and one of a kind embellishments!  If you happen to scrapbook - and have those plastic templates for shapes and alphabets, those will come in handy here!  

Tip #1: Think outside of the box when you are looking at creating with the clay!  What do you have that you can use - so that you can buy more CLAY!  
Tip #2:  Water should become your very best friend when you are using this stuff!  A little bit of water on your fingertip will help to smooth out surfaces, especially if the clay is a bit more "dry". 
Tip #3:  Have a basic crafting toolbox for all of the basic supplies you need for the crafts you do.  This way - everything is in one place, versus all over - or scattered.  
Tip #4:  Make sure you clean up your tools after you have used them with the clay.  This seems like such a "no brainer", but if you use your supplies for multiple things, take the time to clean them between uses.  

I have had so much fun the past 6 months, and have learned more about Creative PaperClay than I thought was possible.  This team has been awesome, and I thank each of them for their friendship and kindness shown to me during my time here!  I thank each of you for your kindness and support as well!  

 Until next time,

Lynda Jeffs

Creative PaperClay Design Team 

and Memories in Tyme

Link Up Party Winner

We Had a wonderful

turn out on our Link Up Party

Thanks So Much

Our Winner is

By: LeeAnn Kress

Thanks Again for all the wonderful comments, 

please continue to visit, we are announcing 

a new Design Team Soon

Dawnmercedes' October Tip!

Here's a tip for you from me...

All about SANDING!!!

Your project is done...but you might want to check out the surface of your piece.  Do you want a smooth looking finish?


One idea is to try to smooth your Creative Paperclay ® design before it starts to dry.
Use you fingers to mold and model that product!


Another idea...smooth it out as it is in process of drying and still a bit pliable.
I would recommend using a damp paper towel.  The water will smooth bumps and hills out, so wipe carefully!  Too much water, and your piece will be too wet and may lose its shape.


After your design is dry, use fine sand paper to sand your piece get your desired smooth finish.

Thanks for visiting us this week!

Dawn Mercedes, of Sunnyside Up

"Fall" Back Roses

With the brisk fall weather finally upon us and my toes tucked inside shoes instead of free to enjoy the warmth outside, I decided to bring thoughts of warmer weather out into the studio.  With that in mind, I give you the Creative PaperClay Rose pendant (or ring or bracelet or headband...whatever you would like to attach it to).

The supplies are simple: Creative PaperClay, Prismacolor markers (or any watercolor marker), a damp paper towel, a cutting tool, and your hands

Begin by pulling off a bit of PaperClay from the package.  Knead it a bit and then flatten into a "pancake".  Dab the pancake with your chosen marker color.  Begin folding and squishing the color into the PaperClay.  Once mixed in, look at the color.  Not dark enough??  Repeat the process until you are happy with the color.  Now time to start the rose.

Roses begin with small marble sized balls of clay.  Of course, the size can be adapted depending upon what size rose you would like to end up with.  I will start with a small rose.  Roll 3 marble sized balls from the colored clay.  Cover the remainder with the damp paper towel (this will keep it from drying too quickly). 

 

 

 

Roll 1 of the balls into a short log.  Flatten slightly along the length.

 Then pinch one side firmly between your thumb and pointer finger from end to end (this will thin the edge to give a more realistic rose petal appearance).

Immediately roll the log up from one end to the other (like a cinnamon roll).  Flare out the thinned edge slightly.  This is the center of your flower.  Set aside.

For the other 3 balls, flatten each slightly and then pinch into a teardrop shape.  Along the curved edge, pinch firmly to thin the edge.  Be sure the center of the petal stays thick as this gives your finished rose stability and strength.  Repeat process until you have 3 "petals". 

Now, retrieve the center of your flower.  Place one petal next to the center and press into place at the base. 

Add a second petal, overlapping the first one slightly and press into place.  Finally add the third petal overlapping edges with the other 2.  Press into place. 

Flare out the upper edges by pulling back and pushing up (all one motion)...I hope that makes sense!

Once the rose is complete, use the cutting tool to even up the bottom so your rose will sit flat. 

Repeat process until colored clay has been used.  Larger roses can be accomplished by adding a second layer of petals (5 marbles instead of 3).  Set aside your rose garden to dry (about 24 hrs).  Once dry, glue onto pins, pendants, headbands, etc using tacky glue (I use The Ultimate by Crafter's Pick).

I hope this brings a bit of warmth to your day.
P.S.  The process also works with Delight Air Dry Modeling Compound ;-)

Fall Candle Ring

Hello everyone, and welcome back to the blog.  I am so glad you stopped by today.  I think Fall is finally in the air, and today, I wanted to share something with you that was quite easy to make and would make wonderful gifts for the upcoming holidays.

I knew I wanted to make a "wreath" like piece, but not so big as a wreath.  So then I got the idea for a candle ring.  Yes, that is perfect, not too big, not to little, and would be so pretty to display for this time of the year.  I even found a pillar candle in my stash and decided to decorate that to match.

Supplies Used:

Creative Paperclay® modeling material
Corrugated cardboard
Circle cutter
Leaf Molds (Makin Clay)
Leaf Cutters, Sunflower Cutters (Lisa Pavelka)
Acrylic Paint:  Burnt Umber, Sunflower, Light Avocado, Tomato Red, Yellow Ochre
Helmar 450 glue
Burgundy 3" fluted pillar candle

Directions:

Cut a 4" circle from corrugated cardboard.  Cut the center out, leaving about 1/2" along the perimeter.

Paint the chipboard with Burnt Umber.

Mold several leaves and sunflowers and allow to dry partially.

You can also speed up the drying time by hitting the clay gently with your heat gun.  At this point, I did not want it completely dry because I still need to be able to manipulate the flowers, and particularly the leaves.

Make seed pod indentations in flower center with rubber tip tool

Adhere the sunflowers and some leaves to the candle using Helmar 450 glue.  Normally I paint my pieces before putting them together, but I was afraid to paint them while my clay was  still damp.  So I painted them after application.

I painted the sunflowers after applying them to the candle.

I placed the chipboard ring around the candle so I could better see how I wanted to place my leaves around it.  I painted the leaves, front and back, before adhering to the candle ring.  I began by gluing and bending the leaves in a pleasing manner to the chipboard.

side view

side view

I hope you enjoyed my project today.  Wouldn't these make great gifts for your friends and family?  Or make one for yourself for a festive holiday table setting.  So visit the Creative Paperclay® blog and online store for more fun seasonal and inspirational projects from the rest of the team this month.  

Happy Fall to one and all!

Barbara