Creativity Inspired by Paint Brush Muses

Hi!
We all could use a little inspiration from time to time to stir the creativity from within. I created this set of paint brush muses to help me out.

The largest one screams for me to not be afraid to use color. The second one  reminds me that my art is beautiful and to create from my heart. The third one says for me to think outside the box, not all art needs to be so black and white.

Here's how I made these fun little muses out of used paintbrushes, acrylic paint, and Creative Paperclay®.

Supplies
Creative Paperclay®
Paintbrushes for muses
Multiple colors of acrylic paint
Gesso
Tacky glue
Palette knife
Clay carving tolls
Clay sanding tools
Matt acrylic sealer

Instructions
1. Take a ball of clay large enough to fit on the flat of the brush just below the bristles.You are making your face on the brush.

2. Form the shape of a face. Now you can carve the details of your face into the clay, make 3-d facial features, or paint the facial features on.

3. Remove your face from the brush using a pallet knife slipped gently between the clay and the brush.

4. Lay flat to dry or dry in a 180 oven till the clay turns white.

5. Sand your faces.

6. Paint your brushes and clay faces with gesso.

7. Use tacky glue to adhere the faces to the brushes and let dry.

8. Here's where the real fun begins! Use any colors or patterns on your muses. Let your muse's personality form with each addition of paint. Finish with a matt sealer when your paint is dry.

 I hope my muses inspired you to make your own creative posse. Thank you for visiting!

Happy Creating,
Shari

It's Never Too Late (to add on to a sculpture) -- Tip #3 by LeeAnn Kress

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to the Creative Paperclay® Blogsite!  It's LeeAnn with my Tip #3 for you!

Have you ever sculpted something, sanded, painted and varnished it, and then thought ... gee, I wish I would have sculpted more to it?  Most of the time, I do all my changes to my art piece in the sketch stage.  This is where I will draw up a picture, erase a million times, and then finally come up with a concept I like.  I will then continue on to sculpt the piece.  Well, sometimes my finished sculpts still need a little something.

This is what happened to a little witch I have currently been working on.  I know ... witches in January?  Let me explain.  I belong to an artists group that does Halloween 365 days a year.  So, it's Halloween for me all year long. Good thing, I absolutely love it!!

I am going to show you that it is never too late to add Creative Paperclay® to an already made up piece.  

Here is my little witch.  You can see that her face and body are already painted and ready to be embellished.  Well, the more I looked at her, the more she needed fingers.  So, even though she is was in the final stage, I pulled out my Creative Paperclay® and added her missing fingers by sculpting right on top of the finished area.

I thought that I might have to sand the area before the clay would stick, but no.  That is the beauty of Creative Paperclay® ... it sticks to anything!  Love that!!   I just added a "little" water to the area I wanted the clay to attach to and it stuck.  Amazing!!

Here I am adding clay to another witch body.  (I usually work on several pieces at a time.)  I love to use paint brushes to sculpt with ... I'm kinda like those gals who use paintbrushes to sculpt acrylic nails.  Ha! Ha!  The paintbrush lets me smooth out the clay and really get into those tiny areas.  I just wet my brush a little and go.

In the picture above, you can see how the clay is clouding up my painted black area.  Once your hands are sculpted, wipe down the surrounding areas with a slightly damp cloth. When my sculpted hands are completely dry, I will sand them to blend them into the original sculpt.  Then I will seal the clay, paint again, touch up any area I might have damaged in the sculpting process, stain and varnish the piece again.

Here is a picture of my witch and her pretty gloved hands.  Now that's more like it!  

With Creative Paperclay® it is never to late to add on to your work of art!  

Hope you enjoyed this tip!  Come by and see me on my blogsite at www.charmedconfections.com and say hello.  If you have any questions or comments, just post them here and I will get back to you!

Have a wonderful week!  Until next time ~~ LeeAnn Kress 

Golden Christmas Bowl

Hi! Its Me Debbie again.

I don't know about you but I love gold at Christmas. I wish everything twinkled and shone and there was real gold and silver and gems everywhere. But unfortunately that is just not a reality for most of us little people.....

But wait! Lets fake it and make a golden bowl out of Creative Paperclay®!

Please note: this bowl cannot be washed in water. It cannot be put in the dishwasher.

You will need:

• Time
• 1 and half blocks of 8oz Creative Paperclay®
• Gold and Burnt Umber Acrylic Paint
• rubber stamps by Viva Las Vagas Stamps (I used unmounted "Three Wise Men" and "Decorative Frieze")
• Clear embossing powder with heat gun and Versamark Pad.

 

Decorative Frieze

Three Wisemen

  Now to show you how. A video in side form. Hope you don't mind. ;)  Thanks for watching.

Make Your Own Stamp Magnets Tutorial

This is a very fun rainy day project for the whole family!

What You'll Need

Creative Paperclay

Rolling pin

Non-stick craft mat or wax paper

Assorted stamps

Sharp pottery tool or butter knife 

Acrylic paint

Paint brushes

Small cup of water for sculpting and paintbrush washing

Paper towel

Strong glue

Magnets

What To Do

1. Roll out a lump of paperclay to 1/4-1/2 inches thick.

2. Lift the paperclay off of the craft mat to ensure that it is not sticking anywhere.

3.  Press your favorite stamps into the paperclay.

4.  Remove stamps to reveal impressions in the paperclay.

5.  Take sharp pottery tool or butter knife and cut around impressions. I prefer straight lines, but feel free to go with curves and circular shapes as well.

6.  Smooth edges with a bit of water.

7.  Bake in toaster oven at 220 degrees for 10 minutes, flip over and bake for another 10 minutes. You can also let the pieces dry overnight.

8.  Once dry, paint to your liking!!!

9.  One the paint dries, glue magnets (small round ones are best) to the back. Allow glue to dry.

10. Stick your new magnets onto your fridge or filing cabinet and enjoy those rainy day memories!!!