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!! 

January Tip by LuLu Lancaster

Hello and Happy January!  This is LuLu Lancaster and I have a design Tip for you ;)

I have cleaned out my studio this last month and purged things that were not useful. Rearranged and tucked away things I thought I may not need immediately. I set up my work table with stations and what I use all the time within easy reach. Guess what is front and center? My Creative Paperclay® it is true!

My Tip this month is to Play to Dream and to just get your hands in the clay. :)

I have to say that Creative Paperclay® has become one of my most important tools in my Art toolbox. 

Almost every piece of art I create has this amazing air dry clay incorporated in it somehow.

Whether they are full sculpts or small accessories, paper clay is my go to clay.

(tiny gargoyles,pumpkins and bones)

I am a spur of the moment, not big on planning, just like to get going kind of person.

 Creative Paperclay® is perfect for immediate satisfaction. Just start with a little lump of clay and start playing.

(small frames)

I tend to grab a package of clay and just dig in. I love having an assortment of little sculptures at my disposal. I create in batches and let the last little sculpture dictate where the next one will begin. 

(spoon,bottles and bunny head soup)

The next time you are scrapbooking, mixed media, sculpture or what have you, you will have many little original treasures to choose from if you just start to play.

(gargoyles,pumpkins and bones incorporated into graveyard scene)

Let your imagination guide you. Use up the whole pack and see where it takes you!

Thank you for reading along ;)

LuLu

http://facebook.com/lulusappledolls

Kid Friendly Paper clay Kitty Cutie with Creative Paperclay ®

Creative Paperclay ® Anime Kitty Cutie

Design Samantha Ellard.

Hi my dear friends this is Gloriann Irizarry creating a new tutorial that will be kid friendly. 

So friendly I had my 13 years old making her own design of this Cutie paper clay kitty.

The Creative Paperclay ® Anime Kitty was designed by Samantha Ellard and she completed this project all by her self. We both had so much fun making this critter. I will be describing each step so you or your little helper can complete this easy to sculpt cute cat friendly  project.

Material List

Delight Air Drying compound

1 Styrofoam ball

Acrylic paint (Gray, Pink and Black)

Water mist bottle 

Plastic sheet

Air Dry Ascent Black liner

School Scissors

Paint brushes

Plastic Cake decorating tools (safer for little hands)

 And my trusty roller.

  

Roll a clay sheet to a 1/4 thickness. 

Mist the clay lightly with water.

Place the Styrofoam ball in the middle 

Now grab the clay sheet and pinch it to close it tightly. 

Cut away any excess of clay.

Moist the clay ball. 

 Smooth so it look like a nice sphere.

For the ears you are going to create 2 triangle shapes.

Place the triangle on to of the paper clay ball.

Blend the triangle to the now kitty body.

  To make the little paws cut 4 pieces  and create 4 drop shapes.

Lightly water mist the drop shapes.

 Attach the drop shapes in the opposite direction from the ears to make her little paws.

Blend the leg unions to make a nice smooth piece.

To create the little tail is so easy. 

Roll a little clay into a worm shape.

Water moist to attached to the kitty body.

 

 To make sure your little round critter do not roll away from you.

Let's roll a little ball.

Water moist the ball.

Place it were you want you kitty to be standing.

Press the clay ball against a flat surface.

Since Samantha decided this cat is a little cat will be a girl she will be making a nice bow.

Cut  4 even pieces about 2 to 3 inches long depending how big you want the final bow to look.

Roll the clay in little worms.

 Bend two to create the one U shapes and stick them together.

Use the other 2 worm to create to the little draping down ribbons.

Choose your favorite position and moist to stick it safely.

Let the whole piece dry over night.

 Use a pencil to draw the face details. 

Paint 2 coats of the gray acrylic paint.

Detail the little cheeks with pink acrylic paint.

 Also paint the bow pink.

Use the back acrylic paint to create the cute eyes.

Oppsy!! We got some blue paint all over her hands. 

Sam wasn't too sure if her kitty would have a blue or pink bow. 

Well my friends it seem pink some how always end up winning at my house. 

We were looking for a 3D effect to the whiskers and mouth so we decided to use 

Air Dry Ascent Black liner to paint them up and create the look we were looking for.

Here is the little Kitty Cutie final piece after shes been seal with a Glossy finish.

Cutie Showing off her little tail.

Many other animals variations can be achieve using the same technique show above. 

Feel free to explore and exercise your imagination were everything is possible once you put your mind to it.

 If you have any questions feel free to email  me at Gloriann@byglori.com.

I hope you had fun creating this cute critter and remember my friend to have a bless day and happy crafting. 

Sincerely always.

Gloriann Irizarry and Samantha Ellard 

Gloriann @byglori.com

www.byglori.com

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 

Looking for Inspiration

Hi, there!! Carole here with a tip on sources of inspiration. I find there are times when my idea well has run dry. This is when I need to search for inspiration. Here are my top sources for inspiration when my creativity has zoned out.

1. Pinterest—But, I don't just look for clay projects. I especially like looking through Architecture, Art, and Design boards.
2. Catalogs—Especially ones from museums and ones that have jewelry offerings.
3. Toys—I find that lots of kid's toys can be recreated in clay or serve as a springboard for a project.
4. Journal—I keep a journal of ideas. All kinds of notes and comments go in there. Not every note is project related, but I'm sure to find something in my journal that will jump start my brain.
5. Online—Natalie Kalbach's Creative Jump Start is loaded with ideas. This is a must-have for all your creative types. 
6. Walk—No matter where I walk—going from room to room in my house, an walk outside or a stroll through the mall—I'm sure to see at least one thing that sparks my creative imagination.
7. Blog Posts—I start reading through past blog posts right here on the Creative Paperclay blog. It doesn't take too long before inspiration strikes.
8. Creative Paperclay—I just knead a ball of clay. Move it in my hands. Let the clay do what it wants to. Pretty soon I've got a real project underway :) 

How do you find inspiration when your creativity takes a vacation?

Kid-Friendly Worry Moon

Hello out there in blog land! It is Susan from TheBoredZombie.com with a family friendly project suitable for all skill levels.

When I was a kid, I remember coming across some worry people. They were small people that you carried around or put under your pillow. You can whisper your worries to the little people and they carry the weight of the worry. I did a little research - and they exist as tiny as I remember! They are probably OK in the hands of a 10 year old, but a little small for the younger ones. When I saw the moon face silicon mold in my stash - I instantly thought of a worry charm!

For you or your little one to make one of your very own, you'll need:

• Creative Paperclay® Modeling Material
• Glow in the Dark Paint
• Silicon Face Mold
• Small scrap of fabric

I wasn't sure which face I wanted to use, I went ahead and molded them all!

I pulled out the ones that were way too small or awake and was left with the biggest one as my favorite. I sanded him smooth and added several layers of glow in the dark paint.

For my moon, I went simple and painted a marionette tattoo inspiration. You can go wild and decorate him anyway you wish! I bet some rhinestones would be fantastic! I will tell you -I struggled painting over the glow in the dark paint a bit. The glow in the dark dries almost plastic-like and the black really didnt want to play with it. My lines aren't as solid or consistent as I would like, but I think it is worth it when you turn off the lights!

It seems to me that a worry charm you can't find isn't very useful! I made a simple pocket for mine that is completely suitable for little hands. I cut a piece of scrap fabric to roughly .75" larger than the charm on the two sides and bottom and 1.5" larger on the top with a fold on the bottom.

On each of the "tops", I folded the fabric over 1/4" twice and sewed them closed.

One the tops were sewn down, I folded the fabric right sides together and put a quick seam down each side.

Turn the pocket right side out and the Worry Moon should slide right in there. My daughter and I are going to pick a place on the flat sheet or the pillow and sew the pocket on. Now if she wakes in the middle of the night or has trouble going to sleep, she can grab her Worry Moon and transfer all that bad stuff to him for the night. No worries, he will sleep right through it!

Thanks so much for stopping by today and taking a look at my project. Don't forget! The Valentine's Day Link up is February 8th! I hope you're thinking about your project!

details: https://www.facebook.com/events/213247485529968/

Beginner Tips

Creative PaperClay is a lot of fun to work with, with any of the crafts you are working on!  I really like being able to create my own "thing", whether I am using it for a scrapbook embellishment, a card, or a craft item to decorate with!  I love being able to customize the project I am working on - to the person getting the gift or item!  As you are just starting to use this fun stuff, here are a few beginner tips to help you get started!

1. If you do other crafts, use your basic tools when using the paperclay.  Simply add everything to your toolkit to make it easier when you want to create, instead of having to hunt things down when you ARE creating!  
2. Learn to use other things if you don't have that "perfect thing" to use, like
   
   a glass for a circle, or a scrapbook template instead of cookie cutters!  
3. Along the same lines, look at your local thrift shop or go to yard sales to pick up any type of tools you think you can use instead of shopping at the stores at full price!  
4. Look back at the tips and ideas you will find here on this blog to use Creative PaperClay!  Learn to use what YOU have available, instead of spending a bunch of money!  

I have learned to use what I have available...without spending a bunch of money on supplies that I just can't afford!  Look at tool's or things you have for other purposes - to see what you can use for this as well!  I don't bake much - so I use my rolling pin to flatten out my clay.  I have also seen a PVC pipe used as well, so...use what you can if you can't afford to spend a ton of money on "extra's"!  I brought out my scrapbook templates and stamps, and have had fun in creating one of a kind Valentines Day craft items for my family!  I can't wait to show you what I have been playing with! 

Thanks for stopping by, 

Lynda Jeffs

Memories in Tyme