Bunnies Everywhere!!

Hi, there!! Carole here with a great new product to tell you about that you can pair with Creative Paperclay materials. It's ComposiMold, a mold-making material that can be re-melted and re-used.

To begin, anchor your original piece in a mold box. I used a one pint deli container as my mold box, and used a strong glue dot to anchor my original. I liberally coated the original piece and the interior of the mold box with a mold release agent, then sprayed everything with a bubble reduction agent. Both of these agents are available in the ComposiMold online store.

Next, I melted my ComposiMold in the microwave in 30 second intervals until it was completely liquefied. I used a wooden craft stick to stir the ComposiMold between each microwave session. Then, I slowly poured the melted ComposiMold over the original. I found that pouring slowly down the side of the mold box helped to reduce bubbles. Here's my partially filled mold.

Now, you have to wait a bit for the mold to solidify. Here's a picture of my completed mold with the original removed.

I cast my little bunny using both Creative Paperclay® and Delight™. After sanding, I finished the Creative Paperclay® bunny by painting with white pearlized acrylic paint. I used mica powder to tint the inside of the ears. and a dot of black acrylic paint for the eye. 

I finished the Delight™ bunny by tinting the inside of the ears with mica powder, painting the eyes with a dot acrylic paint, then coating the entire bunny with USArtQuest's Duo Adhesive. Duo dries clear, and is just tacky enough to hold the glitter that I coated it with. I think it looks like a sugary peep ;) 

Here's my whole litter of bunnies—just in time for Easter!!

Carole

A Family Friendly Easter Project

Grab the kiddos for this fun and quick project to bump your Easter egg decorating to the next level. I designed this project to be quick, easy, and all ages friendly. In this sample, we’re turning our egg into a bunny. You could also try a chick, dogs, cats, pretty much anything with feet and ears.

Supply List:

• Creative Paperclay Modeling Material
• Eggs (I used paper mache eggs. Boiled eggs or wood eggs would work just as well)
• Hot Glue (grown-ups only please!)
• Any decorating supplies you have on hand

Start with the base of your animal on the wide end of the egg. In the case of Mr. Bunny, I made three balls of clay, two for the feet and one for the tail. I massaged the feet ball around until they had a rough foot shape with three toes and squished the tail around to look fluffy. Once the feet and tail have their basic shapes, press them against the egg to make sure they bend at the right places to be a perfect fit. When you’re happy with the shape and fit, set them aside to dry. 

Next, repeat the process for the ears and any face embellishments you want. I made Mr. Bunny two ears, two cheeks, and a nose. You may want just a nose or no 3D shapes at all. After you have fit your nose and face to the egg, set them aside to dry as well.

While the clay is drying, decorate your egg. (If you don’t want to wait for the full natural drying time, try the oven!) The sky is the limit here! If you’re using real eggs you could dye them as you normally would. Paint, crayons, stickers, and glitter glue are all options. I went with a classic spring paint job on my paper mache egg. 

Now that the pieces are dry and the egg is painted, I’m going to attach the feet, tail, ears, and face with small dots of hot glue...

... then paint them.  Painting them before you attach them is absolutely an option; however, I find that little hands work better when they have more to hold on to. Give it a try both ways!

These eggs come together so fast, you and your little ones could literally make 100s (OK, maybe 10s) for Easter Egg Hunts, Easter Baskets, table decorations, work gifts, or teacher gifts.

Thanks so much for checking out this project! Be sure to browse around this site for more projects and visit me, Susan, at TheBoredZombie.com for even MORE projects. As always, you if you make this, I want to see it! Send photos/blog posts/etc to susandowenby@gmail.com

How to choose the right sealer for your project by Gloriann Irizarry

Welcome back to the Amazing Creative Paperclay® Blog Spot. 

Hi my friends is Gloriann Irizarry once more with information and tips.

In this Creative Paperclay® article I will be sharing my own experiences with the many type 

of sealers I try so far and the many effects and results I obtain . 

I hope this will help you make a inform decision choosing your spray sealer. 

You spend countless hours working very hard to get your piece completed. 

Well it is time for the very last step. Now sealing the Art piece is very important. You spend so much of your time creating and sculpting the pieces and all you hard work need now to be protected and will stand the test of time it self. Since there is so many products to choose from out there i will share my own experience so you can make a well inform decision 

There is so many brands and types of sealers out there in the marked making it hard choose from. Since this is the very last step and the most important you want to make sure you made a very well inform choice . Many of the sealer in the market have different capabilities some are good and not so good benefits.

Read carefully before your trip to your closest Crafts Store. I will detail the Sealers i like the best . These sealer are available in a wide range of hobby and crafts stores so feel free to grab a sticky note and lets get ready to take some notes.  

Aleenes ( Matte and Gloss finish)

Americana  Has a very wide selection of finishes too choose from .

I have to say i did use the Americana and Arleene's Sealer and I found them to be good. The spray coverage has a great easy to apply thickness.  Now when your using this kind of thicker spray have in mind it will take a little longer to dry so give your self more time for the layers to dry specially before adding a new layer. Since is ticker coated the surface will dry slowly and some dirt or debris might stick to you final piece.

Place the project in a close clean area while it dry. I do like this sealer very much but is not really good for fast ASAP dry projects. Make sure you wash all the nozzles out every time after your done spraying the can or the tops will be plugged and will spray the sealer all uneven and dripped all over your next  project.

  

How about adding some glitter while your sealing?

Well lets seal and sprinkle some magic with these great options out there sealers. 

To give your project a little sparkling one of a kind  touch I like to sprinkle some glitter.

 I know is not easy for glitter to be spread or to work with it in their loose powder stage.

 Now I don't  have to worry about any powdery glittery mess with these Krylon Spray Sealers.

 These cans are amazing and they  will work twice has hard for you. 

It will seal your Creative Paperclay® Sculpt and evenly spread a nice glitter magic coat all in one step.

I used the glitter every so often like in this moon before I added the Creative Paperclay® made owl. See it will sure not only seal but also give a nice finished.

Let seal your Dollie Crafts 

Creative Paperclay® doll sealer. Your finally done with your weeks or months of work and you want to seal to protect it from dirt, UV and keep your one of a kind ball joint doll (BJD) safe for display,

But you want her too have a very nice and natural skin tone. So here is my trick to create a silky looking skin. I use the sealers name Frosted Glass. This spray will cover the piece and dry very frosty. This is the one I prefer the most.

These are commonly found at the hardware store. Many brands to choose from  but the concept is the same. The way this spray dry it unique and will give you that milky naturally skin and protection you need.

The Foreign Sealer



Another sealer I know will protect your Creative Paperclay® dollie or BJD sculpt is the Mr Hobby
Now this one is a lot harder to find and pricey but it is all worth it . I personally like to seal my paperclay with the Flatt  but it comes in many styles. Check the photo below

Well I do hope all this information will help you choose your Sealer. It will sure enhance the final Creative Paperclay® piece and allow you to enjoy it for many years to come.

Feel free to leave me you any questions or comments below or email me directly.

Now go ahead try your own choice of sealer on your next project.

Have a bless day and always happy crafting !

Sincerely 

Gloriann Irizarry 

Using WireForm® as Armature for your Creative Paperclay® Sculptures - Tip #5 by LeeAnn Kress

Hi Everyone!

It's LeeAnn and I am back to give you a little more information on how to use wire contour mesh as a possible armature option in addition to aluminum foil when building your armatures.

Earlier this month, I posted a tutorial on how to sculpt a jointed bunny.  I showed you two different ways to create the bunny's ears.  One using aluminum foil and one using wire mesh called WireForm® (See the picture above.)  Today, I am going to give you a little bit more information on using the wire mesh.

WireForm® comes in a roll shown in the picture above.  I usually buy mine at www.dickblick.com  - this is a wonderful art supply company and has a multitude of items perfect for incorporating with Creative Paperclay®.

The wire mesh I use is very pliable, however it comes in several sizes and gauges depending on what you are going to use it for.  The roll above is 10 ft long - 20 inches wide.  It is the 1/16" pattern.

When incorporating wire mesh with your paperclay, the wire mesh (since it has holes in it) acts like re-barb would to cement.  Creative Paperclay® sticks nicely to it and fills in all those tiny holes for a super strong armature.  Because the wire mesh is pliable, you can bend it and form it any way you want. The sky is the limit to the possibilities of posing your sculpture.

Here are the suggested uses -- WireForm® is an excellent sculpting medium for light armatures and crafts, gently sculpt, pull, stretch, gather and twist the WireForm® into a shape or lift impression by pressing and stretching the mesh over an object.  Seam edges or join pieces by folding, crimping or hot gluing.

I love the fact that you can use scissors with this.  It is not hard to cut a piece off, in fact you can even tear off a piece.  I would suggest wearing some kind of protective gloves when you are scrunching it for a inner armature body shape.  The edges do get a little sharp.

I realize that there are a lot of us that use aluminum foil for inner armatures ... I do too.  But now that I have had some time to play with WireForm®, I have learned that I can also incorporate this with foil.  For example, maybe the body is made out of foil, but I want some really cool wings or a tall collar coming off my sculpture, with this wire mesh, it makes it so easy to do.  Personally, I think the mesh has more flexibility to bend and conform in the intricate shapes I want better than foil.

My suggestion is to use your foil for more bulkier parts of your armature and use wire mesh for your thinner more delicate parts like bunny ears, wings, long tails, horns, collars, etc.

WireForm® contour mesh is just another great option out there to put into your Creative Paperclay® toolbox.  That is why I love Creative Paperclay® so much -- it works with practically everything!!  I hope you give it a try someday!

Thanks for stopping by the Creative Paperclay® blogsite and if you have a little more time to spare, stop by my site at www.charmedconfections.com

Until next time!  LeeAnn

Dimensional Art Canvas with Rachel Whetzel

HELLO, Creatives!! Rachel here, to share with you, a project that my art student created, and I helped her with. It is a beautiful dimensional mixed media piece that she designed. Originally, when she and I were talking about what kind of projects she'd like to try during our time together, her idea was to create the piece as one dimension. As we talked about her inspiration, and what elements she wanted, I realized that her piece would be really great as a dimensional piece, and of course, I knew we'd use Creative Paperclay® for that!

WHAT YOU'LL NEED to make your own flowers:

• Canvas that you'd like to add dimension to. Paint the layers that will go behind your dimension before you layer! 
• Creative Paperclay®
• Paints. I use Folk Art acrylic craft paints.
• Glue. I use Crafter's Pick : The Ultimate

To create the roses on this piece, I started by rolling out three small balls of Creative Paperclay®. 

 Next, start smooshing the edges of the ball, and creating a flat circle. Don't worry about making a perfect circle, just smoosh well.

 Keep working until the edges are thin.

 Once your edges are thin, wrinkle your piece and create petals.

 Roll the center of your piece to create a base for attaching the rest of your petals.

 Repeat the process with each ball, adding the new piece to the outside of the first.

 When you have finished, use some scissors to cut the stem off the flower.

 Once your pieces are dry, you can start painting.

Paint your base with the lightest color that you will use, and then with each layer of darker color, wipe off the layers to expose some of the lighter color. This will help the dimensions show well. When the paint is dry, start layering! 

It was my student's idea to use the chevrons behind the original image she used for her piece! We used a piece of plywood for a canvas, and she drew the anchor onto the piece using a sharpie marker. I really love the way that it all came together. 

Thanks for reading! If you'd like to keep up with me, and see more of what I'm up to, I'd also love it if you'd visit MY BLOG and Subscribe! You can also find me on FACEBOOK!

Creative PaperClay® March Tip using pencils with LuLu Lancaster

Hello This is LuLu Lancaster with a quick little Tip to color your Creative PaperClay®

I have been using watercolor pencils and Derwernt Inktense Pencils for years to add color to my dolls. But recently discovered a little brush that makes this all the easier :) 

A water paintbrush is fantastic little tool to keep with you. I use the AquaStroke watercolor brush, they come in many different sizes :)

I am also using here Derwent Inktense pencils. They really are inktense and the colors are extremely vibrant :) These are all available on Amazon and at Jerry's Artarama.

You will simply draw on your subject, here I am using 2 face cabochons.

Next using the water brush you will "paint". start with the lighter colors and work into the darker ones. Your brush can be wiped off with a paper towel.

The great thing about using the pencils is you can keep adding more and still maintain a translucent look.

Have fun and Thank you for following along :)

LuLu

Facebook LuLus Apple Dolls

Altered Easter Basket Project -

I drink entirely WAY too much coffee - MJB to be exact, just like my dad!  Oh I was never like that, life prior to Del, my husband of almost 14 years that is!  Since then, it's 99% MJB - only drinking other stuff if we have to!  So, I end up with a lot of coffee cans - and hate to throw them away!  I started altering them instead, and with Easter coming up next month - this was the perfect time I could make another one! 

 

Supply list:  

Creative PaperClay

Craft paint - (I used light green and light blue)

Gloves

Flower and leaf molds

Scrapbook paper (I used Colorbok 12 x 12 sheet cut in half)

Flower die cuts

Green checkered paper

Brads

Small Ziploc bag's for leftover clay 

A bit of yellow paint for the inside of the daisy's

Hot glue gun

Directions:

Step one:  Put your gloves on, this first part is very messy!   Take your Creative PaperClay product and start to roll a bit of it out.  You will need to decide how much clay you will need for both colors.  Flatten out the clay a bit and start to add a bit of paint to the clay. You will need to kneed it in to the clay - which will make it marbleized depending on how much paint you use!  

Step two:  After you are done with one color, such as the blue for the flowers - get them molded.  I molded 3 of each of the 2 flowers I used, and many of the leaves!  Repeat with the other color you didn't mold.  Let these dry (normally overnight at least)

Step three:  Cut the 12 x 12 paper you have selected in half.  Add one of the pieces to your can, and then overlap the other sheet of paper.  Fold the 1" or so at the top into the can, using a bit of hot glue to keep the edges down. 

Step four:  Taking your green checkered paper, start to make stems for each of the flowers you are going to use!  I ended up with 9 stems, some having 2 leaves, some 1, all having flowers.  

Step five:  Taking the flowers (after they have dried), leaves, and the stems, start to add them to your can starting at one of the points where the papers overlap.  Follow it around the whole can - making sure you have flowers at both of the two points.  

Step six:  Add a bit of tissue paper to the inside of the can, adding the fun contents to the can as you get them!  

Thank you for checking out my project today!  I see all of these huge projects made out of this fun stuff, and I just love my little embellishments I can make for my scrapbooks, cards and altered projects!  I am amazed at the talent of this team, and honored to be such a part of it!  

Thanks for stopping by,

Lynda Jeffs

Memories in Tyme