Rosy Creative Paperclay® Bouquet

I love adding Creative Paperclay® and dimensional objects to my paintings to give them texture and depth. Creative Paperclay® was used three different ways. - stamped, embossed and image transfer applied circles.

SUPPLIES
Creative Paperclay®
Chartpak Admarker colorless blender
Toner images of roses
Bottle caps in different sizes






 

I used different size bottle caps to make the circle shapes on the Creative Paperclay® rolled onto my art panel. Once the shape was made, I trimmed off the excess Creative Paperclay®. I then let it dry before sanding.

Showing before and after the circles were made.

I taped an edge of the toner image of a rose and transfered it to the clay disk with the Chartpak Admarker colorless blender. I work in small areas with the blender, burnish it down and repeat until I have covered the complete disk. You can add color glazes and colored pencil after this is done.

Detail of finished roses. Of course, the art was sealed with an isolation coat of polymer medium before finishing it off with a MSA satin spray by Golden. Now it's off to my dealer in California.

Dream in Color and Take Time to Play

— Darlene Olivia McElroy

"Handy" Halloween Decoration - Poseable Skeleton Forearm and Hand by Tori West

Halloween is on the way!  It's one of my favorite holidays, and I can never have too many decorations.  Good thing it's also so much fun to design and make Halloween projects too!

I figure an extra skeleton hand around the house is a great addition for this year's party, and since it's poseable it can be used in many different ways.

To make a skeleton hand & arm like this one you'll need:

Creative Paperclay® modeling material
18 gauge wire
pliers
wire nippers/cutters
sandpaper, and/or files  Sandits sanding sticks are also helpful
scissors
white glue
coffee filters (other paper may be used, but I recommend using the filters)
corrugated cardboard
thin cardboard
acrylic paint
     -  I used Delta Ceramcoat black, walnut, burnt umber, magnolia white, spice tan
pattern

skeleton pattern free pdf file

reference material - if you don't have any "on hand" gather some from the web or library;
- do an image search for "human skeleton hand and arm bones" and print out the images you think will be most helpful.  Try to get views from all different sides.
- artist's books are sometimes more helpful than medical books when it comes to sculpting reference, with the exception of the classic "Gray's Anatomy".  Some good examples of art source books are: "Anatomy" by Walter T. Foster, and "An Atlas of Anatomy for Artists" by Fritz Schider.

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Print hand and arm patterns and begin creating armature by bending wire around hand pattern as shown.  Try to keep the wires flat and right next to each other, not twisted together.  This configuration will help prevent the finger bones from twisting sideways accidentally.

Once the wire is bent, wrap with strips of coffee filter - start at the ends of the fingers, hold the strip at an angle and apply some white glue.  Fold the top of the filter over the end of the finger, then start wrapping the strip around the double wires.  Again, try to keep the wires flat and as close together as possible without overlapping or twisting.

Here is what the wrapped wires for the hand look like when completed -

Paint the wrapped wire black.
Next glue the hand pattern to a piece of thin cardboard, then use your craft knife to cut out the sections outlined in red (on the pattern in the photos there are red sections for the fingertips as well - they are not in the pdf pattern for this project because I realized they aren't necessary)
Put the pieces back in place on the cardboard, then add a line of glue along the center section of each of the pieces you cut out.  Carefully lay your wire armature on top of the pattern/sections and press into place.  Allow it to dry, then lift it out from the pattern.  It should come out like this.

For the arm bones, print out the pattern and create another wrapped wire armature as shown.  You can also use a heavier gauge wire if you choose.

Glue this pattern to corrugated cardboard with the "grain" or corrugation peaks running across the pattern (scroll down to side view showing the wire bending step).  Next cut out the red sections and follow the same process to apply the wire as you did for the hand, then glue the arm and hand armatures together making sure to leave enough space for wrist movement.

When the glue is dry, bend the wires in the arm bones (the radius and ulna bones) to show their placement according to your reference material.  You will also need to bend and cup the large end of the ulna to form the "cup" shape where the bone creates the joint with the upper arm, which is why there is no wire in that end of the armature.

When the cardboard and wire are in the desired position, add a layer of clay along the top and sides.  Push the clay into the corrugated sections to fill the cardboard completely.  Allow the clay to dry.

Add a thin layer of clay to both sides of the finger and wrist bones and allow that to dry also.

Using pliers, twist the double wires at the base of the thumb so that it points towards the hand rather than lays flat with the other fingers.

From this point on, it is just a matter of adding a layer of clay at a time and sculpting according to your reference.  I suggest building up the hand by starting with the wrist bones, then moving on to the fingers.  Sculpt the bone nearest the wrist on one finger and allow it to dry so that you can fit the bone next to it perfectly onto the dry clay.  You can sculpt the fingertips, etc. while waiting for the larger bones to dry.  Move around the bones shaping the joints by first allowing one end of the joint to dry, then forming the other side of the joint over that one with fresh clay, leaving only a small amount of space for the joint to move.  When both sides of the joint are dry, if necessary you can slide a folded piece of sandpaper in between the bones and sand until the joint moves freely.

Remember that with Creative Paperclay® you can sand, re-wet, and add more clay throughout the process and as many times as necessary - have fun, take your time, and you will be amazed with the results!  If desired, add a few thin washes of dark colors to enhance the recesses, and a few touches of thinned white paint for highlights.  Use tan, browns & black washes after the first have dried to age the bones as desired.

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

Creative Paperclay Organization Tip

Hello everyone, I am healing nicely with the hand, which means more creating and blogging - so this post is actually ON TIME this time!  I wanted to thank Terri, our design team leader for being so understanding with all of this - she truly is a remarkable leader!  I love working on this team, and love the things I have learned from the people here with bigger projects they have done!  I can't wait to share with you the fun things we are all creating for our design team blog hop on Halloween, as well as my idea for the month!  If you end up creating something with either product for Halloween - we are also having a link party where you can link up your project to our blog from the 15th - 31st!  Make sure you check back for the ideas!!!  
One thing I can't stand, is having my creative stuff all over the place, I like to have it organized for the most part. I recently found these containers at the dollar store and bought 4 of them, I can't believe how much stuff they actually hold!  Size wise - they are 10.5" squared - so actually quite large if you ask me!!!  In this container alone  I have all of the supplies I use with these 2 products - 

• Product (both)
• Rolling pin
• Toilet paper roll (empty)
• Larger tall round rolls (empty)
• Pill bottle
• 2 containers with molded images to use
• Bag with Composimold stuff
• Red box with molds, tin foil, slip, tools exclusive to these products
• Scissors
• Projects to work on
• Scratch paper for painting
• Notepaper for projects and notes  

When I work on projects, there are certain things I use a lot - or I don't use them with other crafts.  I also don't like everything thrown in a box no matter what it is craft wise, I really like to have everything organized a bit more either in smaller containers, or organized in a way that is easy to understand and get to!  This just works best for me!   
You can see in the photos above how I have various containers - they are for different things.  The clear and black containers have a lot of premolded items - so that when I need to use one, they are already molded and dried and ready to be customized to that project!  I keep my molds and other supplies in the red striped box (pictured at the side here), which is a recycled box from Christmas last year!!!  I hate to throw things away, as you can tell!  I also like being able to grab a container - and work on what I need to, not having to keep the whole box out!  When I am done, I can put my stuff back where it goes - perfectly organized!    
**Tip - When you go out to eat, look at the containers they give you - are they washable, and can they be reused?  I get all of mine at either Carl's Jr, Jack in the Box or Applebee's!  If they have lids on them, they are great for projects you are working on to keep everything in one place!  I also keep things I am working on in them, with the papers and embellishments in the entire container, pulling it out when I have time to create!  This also helps with dust, and making it so you don't loose any pieces!  
I hope you enjoy my tips for the month!  I am really enjoying working on the blog hop and idea for the month, and since I paper craft as it is - you know there will be fun layouts and projects throughout this month on my blog (link below), so join me there for more paper crafting ideas!  

Lynda Jeffs

Memories in Tyme and

Creative Paperclay Design Team

     

October First Friday Fan Day

Need some inspiration for your next Creative Paperclay® project? Check out what folks are making with Creative Paperclay™.

	Modern art sculpture Birds on a perch Bird in a teacup
	Mending Creative Paperclay® projects Halloween ornament
	Embossing with Creative Paperclay® Paperclay snowman

HELP US FIND YOU!!

1. Use the hashtag #CreativePaperclay on all your social networks.
2. When using Facebook, be sure the your posts and images using the #Creative Paperclay hashtag are set to public, otherwise we won't be able to find you.
3. Share your projects on the Creative PaperClay® Facebook page.

I'm always trolling the web, looking for great Creative Paperclay® projects. If you find something, post it on our Facebook page.

GOT QUESTIONS???

Find the answers to your paperclay questions. See what other folks are creating. Stop by our Facebook group and say, "Hi!" Creative Paperclay Q&A

Carole

Fall/Halloween Tree Detailed by Linda Hess

My Creative PaperClay tree has dried and now it is time to embellish it.  First I painted it using brown and bronze acrylic paints. The hole in the tree got a touch of burnt umber.  I received some fabulous Halloween chipboard sets from Gina's Designs (http://www.ginasdesigns.net/Store/).  Perfect for fun details on and around my tree.

One of the 1st pieces I pulled was a large spiderweb from the "Spiderweb Shape Set" and placed it under the tree.  With the tree off to the side it makes the perfect base.  I painted it white, let it dry, then attached the 2 pieces together with a bit of glue.

Next, what is a spooky tree without a ghost?  I love the ghost shapes from the "Spooky Shape Set" and the "whispy" end is easy to poke into the top of the tree!  I decided to test the ghost in the tree before painting it and it worked perfectly...yea!  A bit of white paint and I pushed it into place.

Thsi one is not being glued into place, so that the ghost can be removed and the tree used for other displays.

Final touch: the tombstone.  I mean seriously, what is a spooky tree and a ghost without a tombstone??  I went to the "Tombstone Stand-Up Set" and tested a few tombstones next to the tree.  I know that sounds silly, but I wanted the perfect size...not so large as to dwarf the tree and not too small to disappear beside it.  I found the perfect one.  Small bits of Creative PaperClay will transform the flat chipboard to a dimensional tomstone.

First, flatten a piece of clay between your fingers and then smooth it over the tombstone shape.  With your fingers, press the clay over the shape and extend over the edges.  Rip off excess clay even with the edges.  Texture the face of the tombstone with a scrubbie sponge.  I found a spiderweb stamp in my stash, so I gently press that onto the top of the stone.  Lettering is created with small rubber stamps.

I decided the stand called for a bit of sprucing as well.  A bit more clay, flattened between the fingers and then pressed over the base covered the shape.  A pen tip helped to remove the clay from the "stand up" groove before I pressed the tombstone into it.  NICE!  It needed one more touch...fallen leaves.  These were created from a pea-sized ball of clay.  Flatten the ball into a round, pinch one end, make a vein down the center with your finger nail, and (voila!) a leaf. I quickly added a few to the display.  Set aside to dry.

Once dry, the ground and leaves can be painted or left aghostly white.

Fall/Halloween Tree by Linda Hess

I have been teaching an after-school polymer clay group for years.  This year I have a group of middle school students (yippee), so we can work on some more involved projects.  Yesterday I showed them how to make an armature from foil and then wrap it with polymer clay.  HMMMM, wouldn't it be great to use my air dry Creative PaperClay® instead?!  I set right to work...

The materials are easy:  Creative PaperClay®. foil, a damp paper towel, and your hands (Optional: cutting tool)
1) Pull off a long piece of foil (mine is about 2ft long).  Crumple it together at the bottom only (keep the top loose).

 Be careful how tightly you scrunch it together...foil can always be made smaller as the design progresses, but it is very difficult to make it larger without ripping.
2) Flatten the bottom of the trunk by pressing against the work surface.  Do not worry about it standing at this point...adjustments can be made as the tree progresses and the branches help to balance it.
3) Now to work on the branches.  Beginning at one end of the foil (about 3"-4" from the end), carefully rip it down towards the trunk.

Do not rip it off as this will form a branch.  Scrunch the foil together (as shown),

folding onto itself to shorten the branch (if desired).  Continue to rip and scrunch branches until the top is completely done.  

As you can see from the photo, no 2 tree armatures ever turn out the same (OOAK creations).

4) Now it is time to apply the Creative PaperClay®.  Cut off a piece of clay from the block (NOTE: A tree of this size shouldn't take any more than 1/4 block of PaperClay).  Place it onto the damp paper towel.  Fold the towel over the clay to keep it moist as you work.
5) I like to work with small pieces and then smooth as I go.  Pull a blob of clay off the cut piece.   Flatten/thin the blob between your fingers

before applying to the tree armature.  Begin work at the bottom and work your way up to the branches.  

Since this is a tree, I don't want it to be super smooth...the seams are smoothed together, but texture is left behind.  If the clay doesn't want to go together at the seams, dip one finger into water and smooth over the clay.
Continue until the tree is completely covered.

6) Step back and take a look...do the branches look "full" or does it need a few touch ups?  My tree looked a bit bare, so I added small bits of clay onto the large branches by pressing small bits on and then smoothing along the seams.

Perfect.

7)  Final touch, fattening the bottom and adding roots.  Add blobs to the base of the trunk, smooth into place, and then pull out some of excess clay to form a triangle.

Twist the triangle gently to create roots.  

Once you are happy with the look, set the tree aside to dry.

Tomorrow: Finishing the tree and embellishing