Animal Tassels July Project with LuLu Lancaster

Hello! This is LuLu with a cute animal project.

I love red foxes and thought adding some around my home would be an adorable whimsical touch. You can create these tassels with any sort of animal head you can think of. :)

For this project you will need 

Creative PaperClay®

assorted ribbons

wire 

craft glue

 1 small paint brush and acrylic paints

Start by sculpting a small head.

These are easy about the size of a pingpong ball. 

The features are in the paint so a rough head is fine :)

Make a ball and with wet fingers pull up ears and shape.

Pull out the nose and two points below for the "fur"

Take a small section of wire and create a loop.

insert the loop into the top of the clay.

Let dry :)

using orange acrylic paint cover the fox head ;)

create two eyes with dots of black and a crescent shape black nose.

with white paint create some fur at the nose ears and bottom "tufts of fur"

take lengths of assorted ribbons simply glue to the bottom of the fox head

Now you have an adorable little animal head tassel!

Thank you so much for reading along. I hope I have inspired you to create your own animal tassels just think of the mini zoo you can make <3

LuLu

LuLus Apple Dolls

First Friday Fan Day July 2014 with Rachel Whetzel

Hello, once again, Blogiverse!  Rachel Whetzel here! Can you believe it's already JULY!? I don't think it's just me... this year seems to be flying by at a break neck speed. This month, I have been browsing the web, looking for creations from YOU using Creative PaperClay®!
I hope you hop over to the links I'm sharing with you today, and let your fellow Creative PaperClay® lovers know you saw what they shared too!

FACEBOOK

On Facebook this month,
Darlene McElroy shared THIS amazing piece she recently made, along with THIS ONE!

PINTEREST

Check these pins out!!
Ellen Harris' Dolls were pinned HERE, by Tere Wood 

Lisa Beem pinned THIS bracelet cuff on Great Craft Ideas

CraftersExChange pinned a SCARY TREE tutorial from MiniMotion.com

TWITTER

Diana Welte tweeted her DOLL IN PROGRESS

AROUND THE WEB

Design Team Member, Susan Owenby saw THIS amazing HARRY POTTER piece shared on the world wide web by Jen of Cake Wrecks on Epbot.

HELP ME FIND YOU!! 

Use the hashtag #CreativePaperclay on all your social networks. Be sure, when using Facebook, that you make your posts and images using the Creative PaperClay® hashtag are set to public, otherwise, I won't be able to find them. You can also share your projects to the Creative PaperClay® FACEBOOK PAGE. Each month, I'll browse the interwebs looking for projects from YOU, that I can share here! Be featured next month! START SHARING NOW!!

Thanks for reading! If you'd like to keep up with me, and see more of what I'm up to, I'd also love it if you'd visit MY BLOG and Subscribe! You can also find me on FACEBOOK!

Lynda's July Tips

One thing about being a part of this group of women - you learn a lot!  Each of us have our own style - or our own particular "expertise" you might say!  There are many different types of projects on this blog, with many different women sharing their Creative Paperclay projects before this team of women.  My area of "expertise" is more scrapbooking and card making - only recently making larger projects as I am more comfortable in creating, thanks to our fearless leader Terri!  So this month, you not only will get a few tips - but you also get a challenge as well!!!   

Now - your challenge this month - is to find projects from this blog that you want to recreate...and to look back at all the tips that everyone has put down here and start to keep track of the ideas and tips you like! If you have a Pinterest account - here is my link, and here is the Creative Paperclay link while you are at it, just type "Creative Paperclay" in the search bar and you will get a lot of projects you can do!  Find your favorites and get started!


A few tips for you:    
1.  Let water be your best friend when you are creating!  Don't be afraid of the clay and in using water to take care of the slight imperfections you might get when you are working with the clay!  
2.  Look at containers you would normally throw away - as a "base" for things you can make!  I turned a cleaned out creamer container into a snowman this past Christmas, so look at what you have - and have some fun!  
3.  Your scrapbook templates can make great one of a kind projects - such as magnets, embellishments for your pages and cards, or to add to larger projects!  Check out what you have at home already before you go out and spend a ton of money!  

   

Kid-friendly Magnet Project

Today I have an easy-peasy project for kids of all ages. Magnets made from Delight™ air dry modeling compound. I like using Delight™ for this project because it is so light weight when dry that the strength of the magnet focuses on holding up the paper you're displaying (probably a child's artwork!!), and not keeping the magnet face in place.

Here are the supplies that Chloe, my grand daughter, and I used to create our magnets.

First, we used that cute pink and white rolling pin to roll a piece of Delight™ to a thickness of about 1/8 inch. Next, we used the canape cutters—3/4 inch and 1 1/4 inch diameter— to cut out our circles. First part of the project done!!

After the magnet faces were dry we stamped a small design on each one using StazOn Timber Brown ink. So far, Chloe's done all the work, but I did the resin coating on the top of each magnet face. This step is optional. I thought it added a professional finish to our magnets—plus I like working with resins.

Last, was gluing the magnets to the backs of each piece with liquid glue. Here is a sampling of our finished project.

Variations on this project include coloring the Delight™ with food coloring prior to rolling and cutting. Just knead a couple drops of coloring into the Delight™. You could also use stamp pad inks or acrylic paints.

For an older child (Chloe is four) you might want to use larger cookie cutters and let the child paint the magnet faces. Or, instead of cookie cutters, freehand cut the Delight™ with a clay tool or blunt knife. 

Note: When I showed Chloe the blog post featuring our last project, she was excited to see "her" creation online. She asked why my picture was at the bottom of the post. I explained that it was because I did the project for the Creative Paperclay design team. She thought for a moment, and then said, "I did the project, too. Where's my picture?" So, I've included a photo of my co-designer on this post. :)

Carole	Chloe
Table Cell	Table Cell

Adding the Narrative to Your Art with Creative Paperclay®

As a narrative artist my work is about visual storytelling. I often add words to my art as a background or an accent. It may be handwriting, collaged words or dimensional words either store bought or made with Creative Paperclay®. Using it as a sweet spot in a painting, I find it is a great element for drawing the viewer into the art. These samples are details from three separate paintings I added it to.

Supplies:
Creative Paperclay®
Alphabet stamps, texture plates
Paint

So easy — the clay was applied to the art and stamped. When clay was dry, I added a burnt umber or red oxide acrylic paint then applied a gold rub when the paint had dried.

As always, thanks and dream in color! — Darlene Olivia McElroy

Creating Clay Cutters from Paper mache forms By Gloriann Irizarry

Creating Clay Cutters from Paper mache forms 

Hello my dear  friends. This is Gloriann's June Creative Paperclay Tip

I will show you a neat trick to make oversize clay sheet form cutter.

Paper Mache forms come in many forms, sizes, styles and shapes so feel free to choose your
favorite and let me show you how to used it over and over for many projects to come . 

I start by using my favorite roller and rolling a clay sheet to the desire thickness.

I will not roller thinner than 1/4 so it will stay strong when it dries.

I choose a cute peace sign of paper mache I found at my local craft store.

They do come solid so a little cutting is required only on the once side of the letter. 

Be careful to cut it has even has possible and use a sharp blade or saw. 

This is how it will look once the entire side is cut off

Now put the shape on top of the clay sheet to like an oversize cookie cutter and use your roller 

to make sure the pressure is even distributed and the clay will cut nicely

Remove the paper mache for to reveal the amazing oversize print sheet ready for you to create anything you will like to used it for.

carefully remove any excess and let it dry completely before using it.

At this stage you can sculpt, stamp or imprint any detail to your letter then let it dry.

I like to place my shapes to dry on cookie cooling trays because the air flows better than laying on the table.

 

Now this technique can be apply in just about anyt paper mache form 

making the possibilities endless for you to create.

Now you will never see the Paper Mache Craft Store section the same way on your next visit.

Feel free to comment , explore or make any question and has always have fun creating. 

Many Blessing and Happy Crafting !

Sincerely Gloriann Irizarry

Creative Gift Boxes with Rachel Whetzel

WHAT YOU'LL NEED to make your own gift box:

A box that you can repurpose, or a new box. Either should be made with a paper like finish.

Creative Paperclay®
Paints. I use Folk Art acrylic craft paints.

Stain. I used Valspar antiquing stain, and Ranger Ink Distress Inks (walnut)
Paint brushes
Scissors
Papers (I used an old dictionary page)
Glue. I used Elmer's School Glue for this project. 

Texture Plates, Rubber stamps, and other items for creative texturing. 

Wet the surface of your box, and start pressing clay into it.

When the top is completely covered, start pressing texture into the wet clay. I cut some punchinella, and pressed that onto the top.

To get a lot of my pieces pressed well into the top, I would turn the box top upside down and press into the counter tops.

I kept layering stamps and texture plates until I got the look I liked.

Once the top was dry, I sanded the sides of the box smooth, and glued dictionary pages around the outside. Once the glue was dry, I trimmed the excess paper.

Then I painted the top of my box! Once the paint was dry, I layered in shading by using stain (black paint would work too) and wiping the surface, leaving black in the crevices of the piece, and allowing the blue paint to show through. I used some of my Alumidust BRONZE to add a fun bit of color and shimmer on the US Art Quest stamped area, by using my finger to lightly dust the piece and rub the bronze in.

When I was all finished with my layering, I finished off the look by using Ranger Ink's Distressing Inks to darken up the edges of the box. Then I topped the whole thing off with a pretty white piece of twine.

I also played a bit with the twine placement, so that the lid could be removed without taking off the twine. Now I have a really cool, totally unique gift box to put something pretty in!!

Thanks for reading! If you'd like to keep up with me, and see more of what I'm up to, I'd also love it if you'd visit MY BLOG and Subscribe! You can also find me on FACEBOOK!