Holiday Angel Tealight Candle Holder

Hi!


 For my last project of 2016 I thought I would try using modeling metal mesh with paperclay.

I wanted to create a holiday candle holder. I don't have any angels, and I decided it would be fun to have my first one be one that I designed and created myself.

If you would like to create one yourself here is what you will need:

 Materials
Creative Paperclay®
Metal mesh
Container of water
Damp paper towels
Clay shaping and rolling tools
Sanding tools
Wing mold
Cardboard
Hot glue and gun
Acrylic paint
Gesso
Matt varnish
Weather wood paint product
Crackle paint
Antiquing paint
Glamour Dust
Paint brushes
Tea light

Instructions 

1. Cut a gumdrop shape of wire mesh.
2. Roll it to form a cone shape.

3. Roll out a thin sheet of paperclay.
4. Place the cone on the clay and roll it onto the form.

5. Roll a ball for the head and two tubular shapes for the arms.

6. Attach the head and the arms to the body form.

7. Roll out a small flat piece for the tray.

8. Attach the tray to the arms using more clay so that the tray, the arms, and body form one piece. (see image below)

9. Roll out several strips of clay for hair and lay it on the head. Let it drape over the arms and attach at the ends. Separate the hair in the back leaving room for the wings to attach to the body.

10.Use a wing mold or cutter and create the wings.

11. Trace the bottom of the tealight in the clay. Cut out the circle and a small strip to wrap around the circle to form a cup.

12. Set everything aside to dry.( Because parts of the angel might collapse during drying I suggest making cardboard props.)

 11. When the pieces are 50% dry, remove the cardboard and finish drying them in a 250 degree oven. Time will vary. When your piece appears white they are ready to remove. Let cool. Caution: Pieces may be hot.

12. Sand down all your pieces. Wipe down with a damp paper towel to remove any sanding dust.

13. Apply a coat of gesso to all of the pieces.

14. Paint the candle holder and wings. While the wings are still wet, sprinkle Glamour dust on the them. 

 15. Paint the angel hair brown, and the body with a cream colored acrylic paint. (I used titan buff).

16. Paint the body ( not the face) and tray with weathered wood and let dry.

17. Apply a coat of crackle paint.


18. Apply a coat of antiquing paint on the body and the tray. When dry, wipe off the excess with a damp paper towel until you have reached the desired effect.

19. Apply a coat of matt varnish on all of the pieces.

20. Attach the wings to the back and the candle cup to the tray using hot glue.

The wire mesh was really helpful in this project. I will be using it again.

I hope this tutorial helped inspire you to to make a one of a kind, handmade by you, holiday candle holder.

Happy creating,
Shari

Make a Mandrake with Glowing Eyes

Of course it's not too early to start working on Halloween decorations!  This year one of the "themes" of the Halloween party is going to be a spooky/haunted garden, so we started making mandrakes.  These are so simple and fun to make, we might have a whole greenhouse full before Halloween.

To create your own you will need:

Delight™ air dry modeling compound
an empty clear plastic bottle
scissors
fake foliage
white glue
acrylic paint
gallon size plastic bag for mixing clay and paint, if desired.  You can just mix it with your hands if you prefer
LED tea light
newspaper or stuffing of some sort to support the bottle during sculpting
planter with dirt

Start by cutting off the bottom of the bottle, I cut mine at an angle so it would sit back a bit in the pot.

Next mix the modeling compound with some acrylic paint until you get the color you prefer.  I mixed burnt umber and brown in part way and decided I wanted to leave it with the mottled look.

Stuff some newspaper or stiff paper into the bottle to keep it from collapsing while you work on it.  Roll or squish the clay flat in the baggie, then pull off sections and apply to the bottle.  If you have a problem with the clay sticking to the bottle, apply a layer of white glue to bottle and allow it to get tacky before adding the clay.

Cover the bottle completely - you might want to put it on a tile or piece of cardboard to stick it down before sculpting the face and adding foliage.

Use bits of clay to build up and sculpt the face, and add extra clay for arms or hands.  Remove clay from the inside are of the eyes (and mouth, if you like) so the light will shine through.

Cut foliage into individual stems, then insert them into the top of the bottle and put clay around them.  Again, if you have trouble with the clay sticking, use some white glue.

 I am making the hands separately to make it look like the mandrake will be climbing out of the pot. The hands for this one are just roughly sculpted from rolled clay to (hopefully) give them appearance of roots.

When everything is dry, brush a layer of acrylic wash over the piece to bring out the sculpting.  Turn on the tea light and place it in the planter, remove the stuffing from the bottle, then "plant" the mandrake over top of the light and push some of the dirt around the base.  Obviously, I went with a different pot than the one I used for sculpting, since my daughter had made one that fit the clay pot better and I thought mine looked better in this one.

Here they are together and with a few extra decorations

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

Tori West

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

Conversation Hearts Photo Holder by Tori West

I have been having a lot of fun learning about Delight^TM  Air Dry Modeling Compound!  One of the things I like about it so far, is that when mixed with acrylic paint it retains the color in pretty much the same intensity when dry, as it had when wet.  While trying my paint experiments I came up with a lovely shade of pink, which reminded me of the candy conversation hearts in the stores this time of year.  For Valentine's Day I decided to make larger versions of these sweets and turn them into a photo holder  (this one holds a photo of my husband and I about to go on a romantic Valentine's Day carriage ride in Seattle!)  The "secret" to the assembly staying in place is it's weighted base.

For this project you will need:

Delight^TM  Air Dry Modeling Compound

acrylic paint - I used Delta Ceramcoat "Hydrangea Pink" and "Bright Red"

matte varnish

craft wire - 18ga. red

emery board or sandpaper

hot glue gun and glue sticks

pliers

wire cutters

masking tape

craft knife

cutting mat

corrugated cardboard

20-30 stainless steel washers

tracing paper

letter pattern

rolling pin

strips of wood or dough bands in 1/4" and 1/2" thicknesses

plastic wrap

pencil

soft lead colored pencil (Prismacolor "Process Red" or similar)

optional: ribbons, colored card stock or paper, specialty scissors

Start by cutting two heart shapes from corrugated cardboard - if you are using my pattern, note that the heart on top is slightly smaller than the one on the bottom.  The dotted lines to the inside of the hearts are the ones to use for cutting the cardboard pieces.

Use the hot glue gun to attach washers to both sides of the heart you will be using for the bottom.  Add an extra row or two of washers to the lower portion on each side, until your heart will stand in place on it's own.

While that is cooling down, mix about 1/2 package of clay with paint - for this candy pink color I used 4 drops bright red & 8 drops hydrangea pink.

Roll the clay out to a thickness of 1/4".  Place your weighted heart piece on the clay and cut out around it, leaving about 1/8" all the way around to fold over the edge.

 Repeat the process for the other side, then press and smooth the clay around to cover the edges of the heart.  Roll the clay out again, this time to a 1/2" thickness, and cover the second cardboard heart, making it the same thickness as the first.  Set these aside to dry.

If you have extra clay mixture store it in an airtight container.  When the hearts are dry, sand and do any additional smoothing or shaping necessary, use the saved clay if you need to make any changes or fill any gaps.

Apply masking tape to your pliers to avoid scratching the craft wire.  Using an emery board or sandpaper, file the end of the wire on the spool just enough so that it isn't sharp (to prevent scratches to your photos and yourself!).  Starting with the curl in the center of the wire heart shape, bend wire in double-heart and then straight down as shown, then clip to length.  Don't file this end down, the point will help poke the wire through the hearts & cardboard.

Lay hearts down on pattern sheet, then guide wire into position through the center (you're aiming for the cardboard section) hold the wire close to the heart and push a little bit at a time to poke through the corrugated sections.  Don't push the end point all the way through the bottom heart.

Trace lettering in reverse onto tracing paper.  Turn the tracing over and position on hearts, then, holding the pattern in place, transfer by going over the letters lightly with pencil.  Don't push so hard that you indent the clay surface.  (the straight lines on the letters above indicate the width I want them to be.  Tracing the center line and width is much easier and more accurate than tracing and transferring the whole outline of each letter)  The transferred pattern will be very light, but make sure you can see it before moving the tracing paper.

Now color and fill out the lettering with light, short strokes of the colored pencil.  Apply matte varnish to seal the pencil and clay.

Add ribbon and decorations as desired.  Since my photo had a primarily blue over all tone, I layered it with a piece of red card stock and scalloped white paper.

Thanks for joining me here again, and have a very Happy Valentine's Day!

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

Connect on Google+ or see what new creations I may have on Etsy

Photobooth Prop Phrenzy with Rachel Whetzel

Happy HOLIDAYS, Creatives!! Rachel Whetzel here! I've been a busy elf this season, helping with some projects for the Christmas Party at my husband's work. One of the larger projects we're doing, is creating a photobooth area. Employees can get dressed up, and be silly while taking their pictures at the party! We've made a TON of the props, some signs, and fun festive frames, but I wanted to do more than the usual paper cut outs on a stick for a few of them. I got busy making THESE using Creative PaperClay® Modeling Material. After our party, I'll share more of the projects that weren't Creative PaperClay® related on MY BLOG.

This is my last post here on the blog for a while!! I'm taking a break from some design team commitments, and spending HUGE amounts of time at basketball games. Thank you all so much for your support, and for the love you show each of us designers here! I have enjoyed being here so much. Of course, I won't stop creating, farming and generally misbehaving, so if you'd like to keep up with me on my other interweb haunts, I would love that. (links at the end of this post) Now, ON TO BUSINESS! 

WHAT YOU'LL NEED to make your own photobooth props:

• Creative Paperclay®
• Paints and Brushes I use Folk Art acrylic craft paints and Krylon Spray paints
• Foil
• Empty and clean large can
• Headbands
• Various decorations... (holly, berries, hat band ribbon, metal pipe cleaners, bells
• Sturdy small dowels
• Drill (I use a hand drill) 
• Glue (I used E6000) 

Gather your supplies for your creations, and get cracking smooshing and shaping your foil into shapes! I created the core for my carrot nose, rudolph's nose, and Frosty's pipe. 

Wrap and twist your foil around a headband to create the core for your antlers.

Cover your pieces with Creative PaperClay®, and place them in the oven to speed up your drying time. I usually put mine in at about 190 degrees F. 

To add stability to my pieces attached to headbands, I added a layer of Creative PaperClay® to the underside of the headbands. Here they are, complete with paint. 

Once your pieces are dry, sand them, and paint them, and add your decorations! I put some holly, berries and a hat band around the hat:

Some orange spray paint, and shading using stain to bring out the "carrotness" of my carrot nose:

Some red paint and glitter to Rudolf's nose:

And some bells and pipe cleaners wound into coils to his antlers. I also painted the headband red, to imitate his halter. 

Once everything is painted and decorated, add your dowels by drilling a hole into the pieces that will need a dowel, and glue them into place. Now you're READY FOR ACTION!! 

Thanks for reading! I have loved every second of my two years here as a Designer for Creative PaperClay® and I hope to be able to return in the future!! In the mean time, if you'd like to keep up with me, and see more of what I'm up to and keep up with me, I'd also love it if you'd visit MY BLOG and Subscribe! You can also find me on FACEBOOK!

Family Thanksgiving Project: Custom Board Game Pawns

Custom Board Game Pawns

Hi There! It's Susan from TheBoredZombie.com with my first Design Team project. I've cooked up a family project that is suitable for all ages and all skill levels and a perfect Thanksgiving day project for everyone to work on together between turkey and heavy napping!

Supply List:

• Creative Paperclay® Modeling Material
• Sculpting tools you have on hand
• Glue (My favorites: E300, hot glue, or Aleene's tacky glue)
• Finishing mediums you have on hand (paint, markers, etc)
• Small embellishments (optional)
  

Everyone's will be different, rather than step by step, here are some guidelines to get the family started:

■ Because your pawn is going to be very small, keep your shapes simple. For example, a little one might want to make a small red car, but probably doesn't want to attempt Lightning McQueen.

■ Small pieces attached by pressing on to the main shape will likely fall off when dry. That's ok! A little dab of glue will fix that right up.

■ When finished, It needs to sit flat on the game board. No balls, hot dogs without buns, or other round things that might want to roll right off the table.

■ LeeAnn recently posted an amazing set of getting started tips for handling the clay.  It's a good refresher and reference for the true newbies.

■ Your family might be the type that produces some professional doll house quality miniatures or you could be more like my daughter and me. We're not making masterpieces. Small cracks, imperfect shapes, glued on pieces, and simple shapes are not only OK, but celebrated! This project is all about the experience and family time - no perfection required!

After the sculpting is complete for the pawns, put them in the oven at 210 degrees for 8 minutes. Turn them so the bottoms are exposed and bake another 8 minutes. They will likely be ready for painting, but if they still feel tacky or moist, give them 5 minutes at the time until your satisfied they are ready to finish.

We finished ours with some metallic permanent markers we had in the junk drawer from an old school project.  The markers worked really well for the little hands - they weren't too messy and a bit easier to control than paint. You could use any sort of finishing medium though. Good kid friendly choices could be washable markers or washable paints. 

If you all are feeling adventurous, go for it! Add embellishments like beads, threads, rhinestones, or small trinkets.




For the curious - I'm the joystick, snowman, and bluebird. My daughter is the snake and sea turtle.

The sky is the limit! Here's some my daughter and I thought of but didn't make - palm tree, coffee cup, birthday cake, baseball cap, tennis shoe, piggy face, owl, mustache, and camera.What would you make?

Optional Side Quest: Instead of making your own pawns, draw names from a hat and make pawns for each other!

Thanks so much for coming by the blog today and taking a look at my project idea. If you want to hear more about the inspiration for the project, come on to my house, theboredzombie.com. I love to hear what you think! Please feel free to drop any comments you have right here on the blog. If your family gives the project a try I REALLY want to see it, send me pictures or link me to your site!  

Jess B's Eclectic Tree Ornament

Hello Everyone!

It has been pretty 

busy around here

and brain is working on overtime with 

creations to share

Sometimes things you envision comes

out different in the process

ECLECTIC TREE ORNAMENT/GIFT

I used star shaped cookie cutters

and put them to good use

 After following the directions for 

baking the Creative Paperclay®

 I painted the stars with Lumiere Acrylics
 Halo Blue Gold and Pearl White on one side

Mod Podged
 with Martha Stewart's Aquamarine Crystal and Tinsel Glitters

Rolled and used Tim Holtz Distress Stain

Brushed Pewter to create balls to be placed between the

stacked stars

I added pearls underneath the faux leaves/branches ;0)

This can also be created with your 

children and given to their teachers for the holidays

just changed to your color palette

and add beads or metals or whatever your heart desires   

Thanks for stopping by

will see you soon