How to Make a Heart Pendant for a String Necklace Using a Paint Blocking Technique

 

Hello and happy Friday everyone, Cinnamon here and I am going to show you how I created this pendant using a paint blocking technique with artist tape. I chose the Pan African Flag design to celebrate Black History Month, but you could apply this technique to any design that you would like.

Supplies:
Creative Paperclay®
artist tape or masking tape
Sand paper
Skewer
Leather string for a necklace
Thin 22 gauge wire
Acrylic paint
Sealer, Varnish

Start with the amount of clay that you would like to use for your piece. Since this piece is small, I didn't use any type of filler to cut down on the amount of clay that I would use as I normally would. Create the shape of your choice and smooth it out as much as you possibly can, I chose a heart.

Make the hole for your string with your skewer before the piece dries. Make as many adjustments to the hole as you need. Set the piece aside to dry for at least 24 hours or until it feels dry to the touch.

When the piece is dry, this would be the perfect time to sand it. I am happy with the imperfections of this heart so I chose to leave it as is.

I painted this first with a layer of black paint. I chose black for the underpainting so that it could show a bit through the top layer for a rustic worn look. Set the piece aside to allow coat of paint to dry.

After the coat of paint is dry to the touch, use artist tape to block out any part of the heart that you don't want to paint on by accident. I like to use artist tape because it is designed to not damage paper if you remove it from artwork. You could sub it out for masking tape as well but just make sure to be extra careful when you are removing it. I blocked out the middle of the piece with the artist tape so that I could get perfectly straight lines on the top and bottom.

I painted the top and bottom with a dry brush technique so that the black layer underneath could show through.

When the paint dries pull the artist tape up to see if any of the paint layers needs to be touched up again. If you are happy with the finish, spray your piece with protective coating and set it aside to dry.

I had a wide flat leather string, so I was not able to tie a knot in it as I could if it was a thinner piece. I had to improvise by wrapping a piece of wire around the base to pull the strings in the front and back together and also separate them in the front as shown in the second photo so that the pendant would lay flat.

This is what it looked like after I was done. Tie the loose string in the back to the length that you would like the pendant to hang.

This dress form is 1/4 scale, so the pendant looks way bigger then it actually is.

Thank you all once again for stopping by, and I hope that you enjoyed 

today's tutorial! You can find Creative Paperclay® at the following 

retailers Creative Paperclay® Online Store, Michael's, Amazon, Joann's.

See more of my work at Melandolly.com, catch updates on 

my Instagram page and here is a link to my shop!

How to Create a Wall Plate Sculpture

Hello everyone Cinnamon here, I am hoping that you all are home safe and sound. I've been doing some home improvement projects since the quarantine, so I decided to work on a wood wall plate cover that I brought some time ago. I will walk you through the steps that I took to create this project.

Supplies: Creative Paperclay®, unfinished wood base switch plate cover, 

Pencil, Sand paper, Acrylic paint, Sealer, Varnish

I started out my design by sketching out my idea directly onto the plate with a pencil.

I went with the robot that I created in a previous tutorial out of a vinyl toy. He was inspired by a toy that I had as a child.

Creative Paperclay does well with adhering to porous surfaces such as wood. In the

photos above, I am painting water onto the areas that I want to stick clay to. I dabbed

a drop of water onto the clay as well and mashed small pieces to the damp surface of

the plate until they were held securely. I shaped the clay as much as I could in this 

damp state with my clay knife and continued to fill out the sketch.

 After you are done building up the clay and shaping it, sit it aside 

and allow it to dry which would be roughly 24 hours. You can always

come back and add more clay by using water as I did above.

When the piece dries and no longer needs clay to be added

to it, sand it down to smooth out the rough edges. I am using

an 800 grit piece of sandpaper to get it nice and smooth. 

The great thing about paperclay is that you can draw on it. Here

I am mapping out some details from the robot to be painted later.

I am used acrylic paint to finish up the piece. I find

it easier to work on the background first and then 

work my way up to painting the smaller details.

He looks a bit different from my first robot Alphie, 

but they at least look like they can be related. I have a

hard time painting small letters so I left them out this time.

Here is the plate out in the wild. Thanks for following! 

*****Stay Safe, be well and take care!*****

You can find Creative Paperclay® at the following retailers

Creative Paperclay® Online Store, Michael's, Amazon, Joann's.

See more of my work at Melandolly.com and 

be sure to catch updates on my Instagram page!