Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary....

I have fallen in love with Mixed Media pieces!  They allow me to use a bit of THIS and a bit of THAT accumulated over the years in my studio.  Last week, after a visit to our local Farmer's Market such a piece was born. 

 I fell in love with these flowers.  The fuchsia pink with bold orange centers screamed to come home with me.  Come home with me they did, BUT (as we all know) cut flowers only stay with us for so long :-(  Why not extend their life with a custom piece of art??  An idea began to formulate in my mind (do you hear the cogs turning??)

I went first to the Delight Airdry modeling compound to create some beautiful flowers, just opening pods, and green leafy components.  I rolled a piece of the clay through my pasta machine to flatten (for those of you without a pasta machine, 2 Popsicle sticks and a rolling pin will work just as well).  Then I used teardrop shaped Kemper cutters (2 different sizes) to start my petals. 

To shape each petal I pinched the edges between my fingers to thin and then used a needle tool to create veining down the center of each.  As each petal was complete, I placed them next to each other on my work surface and the flower began to take shape.  **Please note: pinching the petals gently together or overlapping a bit will help your flower to stay together as you build.**

After one layer of petals was completed I began with a second and then a third (note: 3rd layer used a smaller teardrop cutter), stacking layers as they were completed.  A final touch for my flower reproduction was a vintage glass button pressed into the center.  Once completed, the flower was set aside to dry (about 24hrs). 
I began work on the pod in the same way, but with a much smaller teardrop cutter.  I created the leaves first, pinching and veining just as with the flower petals.  I then rolled a ball of Delight clay about 3/4" round.  The top edges were shaped and veined with the same needle tool until I was happy with the look.  The pod was then pressed into place on the leaf ruffle and set aside to dry with the flower.

 

What to do while waiting for the flower components to dry?  Why work on the canvas, of course!  I sponge painted the canvas using 2 or 3 different green acrylic paint colors.  I used the edge of the sponge brush to add some gold veining.  Never known for letting something be so simple/plain, I knew it needed something more.  Time to pull out the Paperclay!!

I recently purchased a Delta stencil (Checkerboard Medley) and knew that would add the perfect background for the flowers.  I mixed a bit of the Creative PaperClay with some water to make a soft paste.  With the stencil placed on top of the painted canvas the paste was smeared into the open spaces.  Be patient...a light touch will lead to less frustration than a heavy hand.  Work the palette knife back and forth scraping paste into and out of the stencil.  Add more paste as areas need it.  Once all open areas are filled the stencil can be removed to reveal a raised texture.  WAY COOL!!  (**please note: the stencil cannot be replaced once removed without much smearing!**)
Set canvas aside to dry.

Flash forward 24 hrs...
...the flowers have dried and now it is time to paint!  Painting the flowers tends to be a messy process.  Normally I use Pinata inks and rubbing alcohol for this, but I wanted the flower color to be a bit more intense.  In my box of inks I found my Color Box Crafter's Pigment Ink Refill in a gorgeous color called Peony.  I mixed a little of the ink refill with rubbing alcohol and began to paint.  Areas where the color was too harsh were softened by going back over it with a bit of plain rubbing alcohol.  During this process my layers began coming apart :-(  Bummer!  No worries...as each portion was painted they were put back together before drying.  Be sure all areas are painted: top and sides especially.  The bottom will be glued down to the canvas eventually, so it really doesn't need to be painted...just a time saving thought. 

 

The process was repeated for the green leafy pods using Color Box Ink Refill in "green".  As I looked at the color, it was a bit brighter than I wanted, so I mixed a bit of Pinata Color in "Burro Brown" and added that on top of the green.  The brown seemed to soften the bold green.  A few dots of "peony" ink refill placed directly onto the pod center finished the look.

Placing the flowers on top of the canvas I waited for it to "speak" to me...Please, do not call the white coats yet :-)  The canvas asked for a few things: something along the edge, wording, some additional texture, and a few polymer clay components (you didn't think I would get through a whole project with out at least one, did you??)

Back to the studio to search....
...where I found some beautiful decorative leaf components, multiple alphabet rubber stamp sets, and a FABULOUS Mrs. Grossman's metal "Fall Vines".  The vine edging was the perfect touch both in size and color!! 

Woohoo...I placed a few leaves behind the flower and placed the green pod in the corner...Hmmmm, something not quite right.  I added a few decorative leaf accents behind the flower...getting better, but still something not quite right.  Hmmmm, I think some words are needed.  To the clay and stamps I go....

Perfect.  But still something is not quite right.  I searched through my polymer clay components and found a beautiful butterfly and a flower.  I finally realized that as much as I like the painted leaf pod, it just wasn't working the way I wanted.  Remove the pod, add the butterfly and polymer clay flower, plus some more wording...FINALLY!!! 

Use tacky glue (I use "The Ultimate" from Crafter's Pick) to affix everything to the canvas (note: Vintage glass button made need to be attached with super glue rather than tacky glue).  Let dry, the hang and ENJOY.

Materials list:
Delight Air Dry Modeling compound, Creative PaperClay modeling material, Kemper cutters, stretched canvas, acrylic paints, Color Box ink refills, rubbing alcohol, Ancient page ink pad, Mrs. Grossman's "fall vines", Delta decorative stencil,  Crafter's Pick "The Ultimate"glue, palette knife, q-tips, small mixing cups, miscellaneous components

 

 

Birds and Bees Coaster Tiles Wall Hanging

Hello Paperclay® fans, and welcome back.  It is so hard to believe that the Summer is almost over and Fall is just around the corner.  It is plenty hot here, so it still feels like Summer to me.  And there are plenty of bees buzzing around, so I wanted to do something cool (no pun intended) with the honeycomb pieces I showed you how to make in my last post.  If you missed it, you can click here to see it.  This project is so easy to make, "even a caveman can do it".

Supplies Used:

Creative Paperclay® modeling material
Delight™ air dry modeling compound
Three 4"x 4" square coaster tiles
Six 4" x 4" squares print paper (Close To My Heart-Buzz and Bumble)
Push Molds (Mod Podge)(Premo)
Flexible plastic texture sheets - Music Background, Honeycomb (Carolee's Creations)
Distress ink (Wild Honey, Black Soot, Vintage Photo, Tarnished Brass, Brushed Pewter, Antiqued Bronze)
Acrylic Paints (Folkart Yellow Ochre)(Ceramcoat Charcoal)
Twinkling H20's (Mandarin Citrine, Golden Monarch, Ginger Peach, Mystic Blue, Iridescent Blue, Key Lime, Golden Jade, Rose Petal, Jasmine, Wild Plum)
Cropadile
3/8" gold metallic eyelets (8)
4 large jump rings, 2 small jump rings (Tim Holtz)
Decorative hanger (Melissa Frances)

Directions:

Make a 4" x 4" template from a scrap of printer paper, fold in half, and punch a hole through both halves near the edge, as shown.

Use this to mark placement of your holes for hanging your three coasters together, as shown in photo.

Cover each coaster, front and back, with the CTMH print papers, reversing the patterns, as shown.  (TIP:  Re-punch your holes each time you add the paper so you can find them easily.)  Now is a good time to distress ink the coaster edges.

Add eyelets to each hole, not only for strength, but to also finish off the holes.

Paint the honeycomb pieces first with Charcoal paint, then hit the tops with Yellow Ochre.

For the music background, spread a very thin layer of Paperclay® over the texture plate, the same as done for the honeycomb.  Allow it to dry before removing from the plate.

I was going for an old parchment paper look, so I added a very watered-down wash of Yellow Ochre, dabbing with a paper towel to get the color variations desired.  

Hit the high spots (the music notes) with Charcoal.

Next, I had made quite a few embellishment pieces using the Delight™ modeling material and various push molds.  Delight™ dries more flexible, even when it is a bit thick, so I used it for my embellishments in case I needed the flexibility.  So I laid out my three coasters, arranging my tiny pieces to see how I want to place them.  Nothing is glued down at this time.  

Color the various pieces to your liking.  I had a blast coloring these, and my inky fingers were a testament to that fun.  I colored the pieces using not only the acrylic paints, but also the distress stains and Twinkling H20s.  If my colors were too bright to my liking, I added a light coat of Vintage Photo distress stain.  That always tones down the brightness of colors.  And if you look carefully, you can see that the bird on the branch is so delicate and it broke apart into three pieces.  I am still going to use it and I am going to show you later on.

Now the fun of seeing your piece come to  life begins.  Adhere your Delight™ pieces in a pleasing arrangement, as shown on each of the three tiles below.

Add your jump rings through each of the eyelets, as shown below.  The larger jump rings go through the eyelets, then a smaller jump ring is used to join them.

Here are some close-up views of the pieces.  Don't you just love this little bird nest?

My cute little bumble bee.

And how about the rusty look on this key?

I was going for a bit of a rusty wrought iron look on these flourishes.

And remember the broken branches on this piece?  Normally, this would be my little secret, but I really wanted to show you to never give up because so many things in our art work can be "fixed" or "covered up".

Here is an example of where I layered one piece on top of another.  I love how the tiny pink flowers add to the piece.  I used them as fillers to bring all three coasters together.

These flowers and leaves were a bit too bright for me, so this is an example where a light coat of the Vintage Photo distress stain toned down the brightness.

Whew, I know this is a long post, but I have to admit, I had a blast making this piece.  I absolutely love working in mixed media, and Creative Paperclay® and Delight™ are certainly going on my list of mixed media to use for my altered art.   So, what will you make with it?  Well, you have a chance to show us.  

We are having a Halloween blog link up on 5 October.  What better way to showcase your work and share it with the world!!!  And you never know, you could win one of the prize giveaways.  So go ahead, give it a try.  Create something with Creative Paperclay® products and link up to the blog to enter to win!  

I am so glad you stopped by today, and I hope you enjoyed my project.  Please check out the Creative Paperclay® online store, and visit the blog for more inspiration.  I would also love it if you could visit my blog at Black Hole Art Studio.

Have a wonderful week, and play with some clay for the link up!

Barbara

Halloween Pumpkin by Rachel Whetzel

Hello, Creatives!! It's Rachel here! The weather here is feeling more and more like Fall every day, and it's gotten me in the mood to create some goodies for Halloween!! Today, I'm going to share my process for making this spooky Jack 'O Lantern Pumpkin using Creative Paperclay® modeling material.

If you'd like to make one for yourself,
YOU WILL NEED:

• Creative Paperclay® modeling material
• News Paper and Tape 
• Water
• Candle Stick
• Acrylic Paints (I use Folk Art)
• Crepe paper 
• Needle 
• Thread 

I started by creating my base shape using the techniques I have shared with you in PREVIOUS POSTS.  Once the base' clay is dry, I made "ribs" for the pumpkin by rolling out some rough shapes.

 Then I laid the ribs onto the base shape, and pressed the ribs into it while they were still wet. To make the dry clay and the still wet clay stick, use some water to wet the dry clay. This will create a good bond between the two pieces.

 Here's what the ribs looked like when I was done pressing and shaping them onto the base.

 Once the ribs were dry, I painted grey stripes into the valley areas of each rib. Then I followed behind the stripe with some stain to shade and blend the lines a little bit.

 Next, I painted a Jack 'O Lantern face onto my pumpkin using black paint, and then added more shading with the stain. While that paint was drying, I made a crepe paper collar and glued that to the top of my candle stick. Then I turned the stick upside down to help hold the collar into place while the glue dried.

 Here is the finished piece!!

 

Have YOU got any ideas for something spooky to create with Creative Paperclay®? Leave me a comment, and let me know what you 're planning!!

Don't FORGET!!

 We'll be having a Halloween Link Up on October 5th, here on the blog!  

Be sure to get your creative juices flowing, and come share YOUR Halloween projects with us!

 

I would love for you to visit me at my "house" too!! Thank you so much for reading!!  ~rachel 

Jess B's - SHE Silhouette

Hello Everyone,

Sharing with you another fun way to use Delight®

I was listening to Maxwell - A Woman's Work

It made me think about all the things we do day in and day out

It's never ending and we keep pressing!

Dedicate to all the Women of world

I mixed the Delight® with black acrylic paint

I had a unfinished canvas board that I took out of my stash
found the silhouette on line

I rolled out the Delight® and did some free hand carving using the silhouette as my guide

I pressed the floral flourish textured tread to give more texture

Added a butterfly made with with Delight®

INGREDIENTS

Delight ®

Black acrylic paint

Rangers Melt Art Texture Tread - Floral Flourish

Jacquard - Lumiere - Peal Blue

Bling

.

A Woman's Worth

A woman's beauty is not only

In the glow of her skin

But the depth of her eyes

And the warmth of her heart

A woman's strength is not only

In the bow of her back

But the magnitude of her tears

And the softness of her words

A woman's wisdom is not only

In the value of her words

But the knowledge of when to hold them

And the journey she takes to learn them

A woman's courage is not only

In her determination to fight

But her willingness to walk away

And confidence to say no

A woman's grace is not only

In the way she dances through her day

But in the love notes she leaves

And the wonderful meals she prepares

A woman's love is not only

In the kisses she gives

But in the sacrifices she makes

And the moments given to you alone

A woman's worth is not only

In the things she does

But who she truly is

And who she helps you become

~ Mary Costanza -A Woman's Heart And Soul

Motivational Poem of the Day

Don't forget about our Link Up Party

Lynda's September Project

 

I am so excited to bring you today's project...and since I scrapbook more than I craft you get more of those type of ideas from me!  I absolutely love doing vertical paper bag albums - being able to customize the covers to match the papers inside!  With this project - it was made for my sassy sister Allison's birthday!  (The one shown in last months post!)  I can't wait for her to see it!!!   

 

I started with the basic Creative PaperClay product, added my alphabet templates for scrapbooking I haven't used in a while, and my Xacto knife!  It is a bit tricky to cut out the letters with the clay, but the look of it was perfect!  As you are cutting out the letters, simply use your finger to fix any imperfections when the clay is being cut out.   

 

As I let the clay pieces dry out - I always turn them over about 12 hours in to things to allow for the other side to dry too.  After the pieces have completely dried, grab your paint and paint the clay letters.  I also molded and painted the 2 flowers on the left side, painted them with the same paint as the letters are. 

 

The inside of the album will be shown on my blog - Memories in Tyme tomorrow with each of the inside pages detailed, so check that out for sure!   I am in love with this clay - fun embellishments I can make myself, use a bit of paper, punches, paint and extra's to get the look I am wanting!  I hope you enjoy today's project! 

 

Lynda Jeffs

Memories in Tyme and Creative PaperClay Design Team 

Lynda's August Tips

I just noticed this did not post on 8/20...so you get 2 posts today!  Creative Paperclay® and their Delight product is just amazing to work with.  If you are in to scrapbooking - I have used it for one of a kind embellishments on my pages and cards!  Recently I pulled out some of my old scrapbooking templates to see what I could come up with!  On the next project I am showing you, you will see how I made clay names to put on the front of a paper bag album cover for my sister!  My tips for this month is all about using templates with your creations!  

• Use scrapbook templates to create shapes cutting them out with an Xacto knife when the clay is wet.  You can also use cookie cutters, but if you already have templates for scrapbooking, then this works just as good! 
• If you have any edges that you have cut in to - simply flatten it against the clay to make it smoother.  When using the Xacto knife, you will get flaws in your edges as you cut the clay out.   
• Look at both sides of the clay you are working with for the best side before you cut into the clay with the knife.  This way you get the best side, not one that has a lot of flaws in it.  
• Find something that is round, such as an old bottle of some sort that you can use to roll out the clay.  You can use something smaller - such as a pen or pencil...but it's harder to use when working with the clay!  
• I've said it before - I will said it again...DON'T be afraid to play with the clay at all!!  You never know what you will end up making!  Also - don't be afraid to use different things to create with if you don't happen to have exactly what it is you need!  Sometimes the best things made have been made with substitutions!  

 I hope you have enjoyed my tips for this month as much as I have had fun in bringing them to you!  I can't wait to show you the fun things I have made with this awesome stuff!  

Thanks for stopping by,

Lynda Jeffs

Creative PaperClay Design Team and

Memories in Tyme