Making Magic!

Earlier this month one of my crafty friends sent pictures of some wands she created.
I was so inspired that I thought I'd try making my own wand with clay.

To make the wand you will need:

Creative Paperclay®modeling material
3/16" x 12" wooden dowel
small screw-eye
drill
white glue
trinkets, yarn, or other embellishments
acrylic paint
sandpaper
rolling pin
craft knife

Start by drilling a small hole in the center of one end of the dowel and inserting a screw-eye just far enough to hold it firmly.  This will be what you hold on to while sculpting, and what enables you to hang your wand to dry.

Using sandpaper, taper the other end of the dowel and round off the tip

Coat the entire dowel with white glue, thread a piece of string through the screw-eye and hang the wand to dry.

Roll clay slab to approximately 22" x 14" and 1/16" thickness.  The dowel should be able to fit as shown.

Cut clay along the edge of wand, then into a triangle with curved edge as shown.

Dampen the dowel and place it at the edge of the triangle.  Pull clay up and smooth/attach it to the dowel.  Roll the clay around the dowel.  When the triangle is rolled onto the dowel, wet fingers and smooth as desired.  I chose to leave mine with an irregular spiral along the length.


Hang wand to dry.

While the wand is drying, gather up some embellishments you might want to use for your wand!

After my wand dried, I decided to add another spiral of clay wrapped around the wand with runes drawn into it.

If you choose to do this, cut the strip of clay, attach one end to or near the bottom of the wand by wetting the dry clay then pressing the wet clay onto it.  Continue wetting the dry clay and adding the strip a little bit at a time all the way up to the tip.  The runes were pressed/drawn into with a toothpick AFTER the strip had been attached to the wand.










Paint and embellish as desired.


I used layers and washes in several shades of blue & green, walnut, and iridescent blue, then added a simple gold cord and star drop earring.

Thanks for joining me here again!  As always, play, experiment, and have fun


Tori
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Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! I've made 2 more accessories to complete my costume. I used the lighter "Delight" clay. It was very easy to work with and dried in a fraction of the time. The basic instructions for creating the shells is the same as the belt I created on my October 10th post.   These instructions are also posted below. My apologies for the shadow, I couldn't get a true color shot without one.
*SEE the entire costume at the end of this post.
 

SUPPLIES:
"Delight" Modeling Clay by PaperClay
Mold N Pour, Color Mist: Stream - Ranger Ink
Glimmer Mist: Suede - Tattered Angels
Colorful Glossy Cardstock: Deep Sea - Murdock Country Creations
Blue Metallic braided thread-Kreinik
Other: Velcro, Clear Acrylic Spray Sealant, faux pearl beads, sea shells, beading wire, plastic tiara, mini brads or eyelets, needle.

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Create various molds of real shells with Mold N Pour.
2. Cast multiple "Delight" molds of each shape, 2 starfish are needed, one for the head piece and one for the necklace. You will need 4 clam shells and 2 other shells.  Let air dry completely.















3. Using a wet brush and a bit of water, brush the shells with Stream Color Mist then spritz with Glimmer Mist.

 

 4. The starfish was colored by first spraying with the Glimmer Mist, then brushing Stream Color mist on the peaks only. Let dry or use a heating tool.

5.  Glue a starfish to the center of the tiara and flank with 2 clam shells.
6.  Glue a few plastic pearl beads in the empty spaces.
7. Use a needle and beading wire to string the remaining shells and starfish. Place 3 or more beads between each piece.
8. Poke the needle through the clay shells, add one bead and exit front to back.  You can add jewelry closures or just tie off the beading thread.

The finished costume!  A paper doll mermaid :o)

Happy Monday!
Make art every day :o)
Becky

Halloween Costume Accessories: Mermaid

Hello Crafty People!  I've started creating my Halloween Costume. I will be a mermaid (with a little twist of course).  The first piece of the costume is a decorative belt.

Supplies:


Creative Paper Clay
Mold N Pour, Color Mist: Stream - Ranger Ink
Glimmer Mist: Suede - Tattered Angels
Colorful Glossy Cardstock: Deep Sea - Murdock Country Creations
Other: Velcro, Clear Acrylic Spray Sealant, faux pearl beads, sea shells

Instructions: 
1. Create various molds of real shells with Mold N Pour.
2. Cast multiple Creative Paper Clay molds of each shape, except only 1 starfish is needed for the belt. Let air dry completely.

3. Using a wet brush and a bit of water, brush the shells with Stream Color Mist then spritz with Glimmer Mist.

 4. The starfish was colored by first spraying with the Glimmer Mist, then brushing Stream Color mist on the peaks only. Let dry or use a heating tool.

5. Cut a 12x12 piece of decorative glossy cardstock into 3" x 12" strips. Glue them together to make one long waist band.
6. Trim to size for the waist and add Velcro for the closure.
7. Find the front center of the belt and lay flat.  Hot glue the Starfish into the center and work outward on both sides, gluing shells into place.
8. Glue pearl beads as a filler between the shells and a small swirl off to each side.
9. Spray the entire project with clear sealant. Let dry.


Happy Monday!
Make art every day :o)
Becky