Potted Hearts and Ornaments

Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching and if you are looking or an easy and fun way to decorate check these out.  Have the kids help too!

All you need is:

Creative Paperclay 

Acrylic paint - I used red and pink

Knife

Rolling pin

Small pot

Foam 

Moss 

Skewer

Stencil, lace or something to make the pattern 

Take about 1/3 of a package of Creative Paperclay (More if you want to make a lot of hearts) and using your rolling pin flatten out the clay.  

Once the clay is flattened as thick as you would like your ornaments to be gently roll over your lace or stencil so the pattern becomes part of your heart.  Next,  draw a heart on scrap paper and then cut it out for a pattern (HINT: choose a side you like best of your heart and fold it in half before cutting it out so that both sides are the same).

Now using your heart pattern, use a knife to cut out hearts.  Have the whole heart covered in a pattern or only a portion of it.  Push a skewer into the bottom of your heart if you want to pot it up and then set it aside to dry.  Alternatively, use a skewer to create a hole near the top of the heart to create an ornament.

Let them dry out for a day or two!  Hint: Flip them over and use a book or two to help keep them flat as they dry.

Now grab your paint and paint them!  For mine once they were painted and still wet I used  a paper towel to remove most of the paint on the patterned sections to highlight them.

Once the paint is dry it is time to pot them up!  

Cut the foam so it fits into the pot and glue it in (I used hot glue).  Next poke the skewer with the heart on it into the foam (Add some glue to keep it in place).  Then put moss on top to hide the foam and complete the pot.

For ornaments just add yarn or string to hang them and you’re done!

I would love to see all your hearts!  Comment your photos below.

Cheers until next time!

Kelly Martin

Paper Hibiscus

www.Instagram.com/PaperHibiscus

www.PaperHibiscus.etsy.com

Simply Hearts Magnetic Photo Frame

 My February project from last year was a photo holder, and this year I'm making another one.  This one is a simple project that kids can work on too!



To create your own, you will need:

Delight™ air dry modeling compound
metal cookie sheet
magnetic tape or strips
pencil
paper
plastic wrap
acrylic paint in your choice of colors
acrylic varnish
masking tape
scissors
ruler
photo
plastic baggies
craft knife
*optional - heart-shaped cookie cutters
















After choosing the photo you'd like to use, place it on the paper and trace around it,  Add a 1/8" to 1/4" line inside the tracing on each side.  This will be used as a guideline for your frame.
When you've finished making the pattern, tape the paper to the back of the cookie sheet and cover it with plastic wrap.  Tape the plastic wrap in place as well.

 Now cut the magnetic strips to fit around the outside edge of the frame and lay that in place.  It doesn't have to be exact (my daughter is making one of these with me, and hers is the very neatly done one on the right)

Cover the magnetic strips with a layer of modeling compound.  We just pushed ours all around it, but you could also roll it into strips and lay it over the top.

Color some of the clay with acrylic paint by putting the clay and paint into a baggie and squishing both together until they are combined.  Start with just a few drops of paint, then add more to get to the desired color.

Now press or roll out the colored clay, and use cookie cutters, your own heart shaped pattern, or just freestyle cutting to create heart shaped pieces of various sizes.  Add these to the frame as desired.

Continue layering heart shapes until you are satisfied with your design.  Set the frame aside to dry.

When the frame is dry, carefully peel it from the cookie sheet.  Use scissors to trim any ragged edges or areas you want to change.  I rounded the corners of my frame and trimmed the little bits of clay off from where I had pushed it onto the cookie sheet.

Varnish with desired finish and you're done!  Put your photo behind it and stick it to the fridge or other magnetic surface, and enjoy looking at your loved ones!

Thanks for joining me here again this month!

I'd love for you to join me for more projects & art adventures on my personal blog

Find me on Facebook, or peruse & ponder pics with me on Pinterest

Gilded Valentine Embellishment

Christmas 2014 is now just a memory, and we're moving on to the next holiday—Valentine's Day.

We started with Creative Paperclay® and a clay mold. Molds are a great way for young ones to complete successful projects.

Next, we roughly rolled out three large clay logs.

We pressed the logs into the heart-shaped mold.

To get a flat back on our piece, we turned the mold and clay over onto our Teflon mat and pressed to flatten it.

The next step is always the hardest—waiting for the clay to dry. After it was dry, I trimmed the excess away and sanded the edges.

The last step was gilding the embellishment. First, we sealed the piece with an acrylic medium. When that was dry, we coated it with Duo Adhesive. When dry, the Duo is a tacky, sticky adhesive, perfect for applying gilding. 

This is our finished piece after the gilding was burnished and polished.

We're not sure how this Valentine embellishment will be used, but we have some ideas. Perhaps on the cover of a special journal or photo album. Embellishment on a greeting card. Part of a Valentine wall decoration. However it is used, Chloe and I are ready for Valentine's Day.

Carole	Chloe
Table Cell	Table Cell

Sculpting Creative Paperclay® to Mold with Rachel Whetzel

Earlier this month, I shared a tip that stamping on Creative Paperclay® was easy, and simple to do! This week, I'm sharing a little twist on that same idea. Molding and stamping Creative Paperclay® to use in making a mold! I had the idea that I could make some Valentine's Day decorations using  and resin, so I got to work trying it out.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

• Creative Paperclay®
• Stamps
• Molding Material (I used Amazing Mold Putty) 
• Resin (I used Amazing Casting Resin with Alumilite Red Dye) 
• Acrylic Paints (I use Folk Art) 
• Hole Punch
• String and Needle

Start your project by shaping your Creative Paperclay® into the shape you'd like. Make your surface as even as possible, and don't make your clay so thin that stamping would cut through the clay to your counter top.  I used some sculpting tools to write LOVE on my heart, and a Tim Holtz clock stamp. I had 'love endures forever' running through my mind while I was working. Set your clay out to dry. 

Once the clay is dry, sand your edges, and fine tune any bits that you need to. I used a carving pick, and evened out the word LOVE. I also used a bit of water to smooth out that area. 

Once your surfaces are smooth, and ready, mold your piece, and then pour your resin!! 

When I pulled out my cured resin, some edges needed trimming. I did that while the resin was still a bit soft, and then used my hole punch to create holes where I planned to put stitches later.

Before I put my stitches in, I used craft paint to fill in all the indents that my stamps made, and wiped off the excess. Then I put the stitching in! Such a simple, easy thing to do, and now that I have created the mold, I can replicate my original Creative Paperclay® piece with ease!! I can also pour my resin a bit thinner than the clay, making it easy to use the pieces on cards or a scrapbook page! 

What custom pieces can you imagine making over and over? 

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think! CLICK HERE to visit me at my "house" too!! Thank you so much for reading!! ~rachel

Don't MISS IT!! We're hosting a Valentine Link Party on Feb 8th!! 

Easy Delight™ Kids Button Valentine Project by LuLu Lancaster

Easy Kids Valentines

Hello There :) This month I have a super quick and easy Valentine that your children can do with a little help from you.

This has been 5 year old approved :D

All you will need is

1-package Delight™ 

a small hole punch 

thin ribbon

a marker 

assorted buttons

tacky glue 

heavy card stock or scrapbook paper

a paint brush

and scissors

Start with a small heart shape.

You or your child can make a triangle out of Delight™

Using your paintbrush end make an indent at the widest part.

And there you have a heart :)

Using assorted Buttons press them into the center of the heart

Next cut out squares of card stock or scrapbook paper approx. 4"x4"

We chose red because we were not going to paint the hearts. You could paint them after they dry or sprinkle with glitter :)

Using a small hole punch create an even number of punches across one side

Next you can write your sentiment leaving enough room for your Delight™ heart

While your hearts are drying you can start to lace your cards with a thin ribbon.

You can cut cards out in heart shapes as well, embellish your cards with paint or glitter too.

Once your hearts have dried you can remove the button you will see an indent in the heart. A little dot of tacky glue will hold the button on the heart ;)

Next glue your hearts to your Valentines ;)

 Happy Valentines Day! I hope you have enjoyed this little project.

LuLu

http://facebook.com/lulusappledolls

Jess B's - Sacred Heart Shrine

Hello Everyone,

February is here and Love is in the air!

today I created 

a

SACRED HEART SHRINE

Creative Paperclay®  mixed with red acrylic paint

Painted cross black

 used candy mold to shape hearts

 

Used toothpicks, glue, and glitter

pierced holes along the heart to be able to insert the toothpicks

baked Creative Paperclay® according to directions

 

love the imperfections in the heart

added glittered toothpicks

decorated the cross

 added Tim Holtz idea-ology adornments

(added some turquoise acrylic paints to give the patina look

added some roses to complete

HISTORY

The Sacred Heart (also known as Most Sacred Heart of Jesus) is one of the most widely practiced and well known devotions, takingJesus' physical heart as the representation of his divine love for humanity.

This devotion is predominantly used in the Catholic Church and among some high-church Anglicans and Lutherans. The devotion especially emphasizes the unmitigated love, compassion, and long-suffering of the heart of Christ towards humanity. The origin of this devotion in its modern form is derived from a French Roman Catholic nun, Marguerite Marie Alacoque, who said she learned the devotion from Jesus during a mystical experience. Predecessors to the modern devotion arose unmistakably in the Middle Ages in various facets of Catholic mysticism.^[1]

In the Roman Catholic tradition, the Sacred Heart has been closely associated with Acts of Reparation to Jesus Christ. In hisencyclical Miserentissimus Redemptor, Pope Pius XI stated: "the spirit of expiation or reparation has always had the first and foremost place in the worship given to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus".^[2] The Golden Arrow Prayer directly refers to the Sacred Heart.

Devotion to the Sacred Heart is sometimes seen in the Eastern Catholic Churches, where it remains a point of controversy and is seen as an example of Liturgical Latinisation.

The Sacred Heart is often depicted in Christian art as a flaming heart shining with divine light, pierced by the lance-wound, encircled by the crown of thorns, surmounted by a cross and bleeding. Sometimes the image is shown shining within the bosom of Christ with his wounded hands pointing at the heart. The wounds and crown of thorns allude to the manner of Jesus' death, while the fire represents the transformative power of divine love.

The Feast of the Sacred Heart has been in the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar since 1856, and is celebrated 19 days afterPentecost. As Pentecost is always celebrated on Sunday, the Feast of the Sacred Heart always falls on a Friday.

Thanks for stopping by

Composimold Review and Honeycomb ATC

Hey Everybody, It's Edie, Do you ever buy random things because you just KNOW you’re going to make great things with it… someday??? That was the case with the neon green, silicone pot holder I bought several months ago. It looked like a honeycomb and I just KNEW I could make something super cool with it. I wanted to use it as a stamp, put it in a painting and at least five other projects came to mind just by holding and squishing that piece of random inspiration. The problem was, I didn’t want to USE the potholder because I only had one. I thought it was impossible to mold because it is so flexible and thin that is, until I discovered Compisimold! Compisimold is a pourable, food safe silicone mold that you can melt and remold over and over again and it was exactly what I needed for this project.

You can view BOTH full video tutorials below. I don’t own a microwave, so I melted my Composimold on the stove and poured it over the potholder. Once it was completely cooled, I removed the original and I had a reusable mold that looked just like my potholder! The Composimold did have a lot of bubbles which would ruin most molds but it actually enhanced this particular project, so I didn’t mind too much in the end. The Composimold instructions recommend stirring often, but I think that is what caused all of the bubbles. If I had just let it sit and melt, I don’t think I would have had near as many bubbles. Once the mold was ready, I broke out my Creative Paperclay® and started playing. I rolled out my Paperclay over the top of the mold which gave me an absolutely fantastic honeycomb texture, and then I cut my ATC out of the textured Creative Paperclay®. I let the ATC dry completely and then I painted it, glitterfied it and added the honeybee embellishment. I wrote out my quote, painted the paper and glued it to the ATC and then I covered the text with Glosssy Accents to make it shine.

Overall I was pretty happy with the Composimold and I plan on making more projects with it. If you have something that is an awkward shape or just too soft to mold, you may want to give Composimold a try. It worked great with the Creative Paperclay® and I am really happy with the way this ATC turned out. I hope you enjoyed this project and I hope you have a Valentine’s Day that is filled with love! BIG HUGS!
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