Blue Flower Grass - An Experiment in Art

A few months ago I was lucky enough to receive a copy of the book Artful Paper Clay - Techniques for Adding Dimension to Your Art by Rogene Mañas for review.  I really loved this book, and was excited to try the techniques, but at the time, was living in a hotel room while we looked for a new house.  The day finally arrived that we had our new home and I had my art supplies back (Hurray!) so I decided to try the technique with a three-dimensional project of my own design.

Sisyrinchium demissum - stiff blue-eyed grass

For this project I used:

Creative Paperclay® modeling material
a 5 x 7 shadow box
gesso
acrylic gloss medium
acrylic paints
rubbing alcohol
sculpting tools
wood scrap
sandpaper

 I started with a simple sketch of how I wanted the flower placed.

I prepared the two background pieces - one of illustration board and one of wood, by cutting them to size and coating them with gesso (I had more gray gesso on hand than white, so I saved the white for the clay coating)









The upper piece is cut at an angle so only the edge of the wood will be visible, helping to create the illusion that the piece is floating against the background










I taped the larger background piece to a work board, masking off the edge that was needed to fit the board into the frame.

Clay was rolled out to approx. 1/8" thickness and applied to the board, then I pressed in random lines to indicated grass.











I wanted to have more texture in the background, so rolled and crinkled up some Kraft paper and pressed that into the design at various intervals.

















Here is the first background piece, set aside to dry.

I sculpted the second background piece, flower, and stem separately.

When the large background piece was dry I cut a frame into it, per my design.

When the other pieces were dry, the edges were cleaned up, and some of the sections were sanded.

All of the pieces were given a coat of white gesso, then glued together and given another coat of gesso, then two coats of clear medium, as per the instructions in the book.

Next the scary part - painting the entire thing with Mars Black and allowing it to dry.

After the paint was dry, the top layer was removed with rubbing alcohol and then I started adding color to the piece.

















I colored all the layers, then decided the background was more of a distraction than an enhancement, so added a dark wash of green over it.

This is the final piece, with the darker background and with highlights added to the grass stem, some of the grass, and the flowers.

I enjoyed creating this piece and trying the new techniques.  This was one of those cases where the work didn't match my vision of it before starting, but that's okay, I learned new ways of working with clay and acrylic paint, and I will definitely be trying these techniques again.

Thanks for joining me here again!  As always, play, experiment, and have fun!

Tori

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Making an Aged Frame with Delight®

I love the marshmellowy feel of Delight®. It is perfect for the series of frames for some old tintypes to give as gifts. Delight is light when dry and takes texture well.

SUPPLIES

Delight®
Textures
Micaceous Oxide paint
Salt



Cut off strips of Delight® and push down on them to roughly form the shape of a frame.

I used rubber stamps, a latex mold and embossed wall paper to add textures to the Delight®.

After it was trimmed into a rough square shape I added some of the cut off pieces to the fron plus some cast flowers. Then I stamped it with alphabet stamps.

I finished the frame shape by painting a wash of micaceous oxide acrylic paint. While the paint was still wet, I salted it to give it a aged look. Now to find the right tintype for the window. At this point, I can still make the window larger if needed to fit the image.

Play with art and dream in color!

Darlene Olivia McElroy

Easily Recreate a Sage Burning Bowl

Good Morning!

I love this small bowl that I purchased to burn sage. When I went to buy another one for a gift, they no longer sold them. I was so sad!

Instead of trying to search everywhere for one that I loved as much, I decided to recreate a handmade one using Creative Paperclay®.

Today I am going to show you how I made this. I will also show you how I changed it up a bit and gave it my own personal touch.

One of a kind handmade gift....score!

Supplies 
Creative Paperclay®
Clay roller
Pasta machine for clay(optional)
Clay knife
Paint brushes
Water
Spray vegetable oil
Paper towels
E 6000 glue
Mod podge® ultra gloss
DecoArt® Metallic Lustre
      Black shimmer
      Iced espresso
      Majestic purple
      Elegant Emerald
Dazzling Metallics
     Worn penny
Multi surface acrylic paint
      Black
      White
      Teal
      Purple
      Gold

Lets make this!  

Helpful hint...You can lay your clay on the inside of the bowl or the outside, depending on the size you want.

The Bowl

1. Lightly spray oil on the side of your bowl you are going to mold, including the edges. Wipe off any excess.

2. Roll out a piece of clay very thin, enough to cover your piece.

3. Smooth the clay out with your wet hands and/or a brush.

4. Trim the edges with a clay knife. Smooth the edges with a damp brush.

5. Let Dry

6. When dry, remove the piece.

7. Clean up the edges.

Faux Raku

1.. Turn bowl upside down and apply small amounts of various colors of the Metallic Lustre® on the bowl.

9. First with your fingers, and then a wet paintbrush, spread the color around the bowl.

 2. When dry, I painted the inside with Metallics®worn penny paint.

3. Seal all over with the  Mod Podge ultra gloss.

The Dragonfly

1. Roll out a small piece of clay large enough for your stamp.

2. Push the stamp into the clay to make an impression.

 3. Trim around the dragonfly. Smooth the edges with a wet paintbrush.

4. When dry paint the dragon fly. 

5. Attach the dragonfly to the edge of the bowl with E6000 glue.

 

 

I hope this tutorial helped inspire you today. 

Happy Creating,

Shari

Lyndas Tips For Using The Products

Being a paper crafter for the most part - I use both products - both for different reasons!  Other people on the team - will create elaborate sculptures and items...but for me - I am all for the embellishments I can make with the Delight and Creative Paperclay products!  Some things I have learned when creating with the products - 

• Delight is more airy to work with - and dries quickly!
• Delight doesn't have to be painted - the white is a great color to start with if you like!   
• Creative Paperclay can be smoothed using your fingers and water!  
• Creative Paperclay can be painted - making them customized for each item made. 

Save things like tuna cans - coffee cans - boxes....and create your own customized items!  I am re-purposing a tuna can now - adding Delight and a candle...I can't wait to show you what I end up creating!!!  I am also going to create another one using the Creative Paperclay product, to show you the differences between the two products!  
Depending on what you want your items to look like -will depend on the product you start with!  Light and airy for the Delight - the Creative Paperclay a bit harder, and you can customize this product with paint a bit easier!  Either product is fun to use!!! 

Thanks for stopping by,

Lynda Jeffs

Memories in Tyme and

Creative Paperclay Design Team 2016

    

November First Friday Fan Day

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

	Snowman and Button Ornament Embossed Star Ornament
	Snowman Ornament Rose Made with Delight!
	5 Christmas Ornaments Paperclay Cupcake

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

Creative Paperclay: Making Animals (part 2 of 2)

If you missed the first part of this article, you can find it here.

Once our first layer of clay is dry, we can add a second layer to put in the details and textures.  A paper craft armature is an easy way to see where to put details.


For this next part, we want to fill in the face, build up muscles, add fur (or scales, depending on the beast  you're making).


With a clear position of the location of eyes, ears, nose and mouth, I often start adding the details to the head.


At this stage, the eyes look like they are bulging, the ears and nose too big, but keep in mind that we will be adding more dimension to the cheeks and neck and a whole layer of fur to the body.


It may take a little practice to determine how much clay to add and where to add it.  This may be a good time to look at some reference photos.



Your paper armature shows you where everything goes.  A few reference photos can help you see how everything fits together.



Try to find photos that show your animal from a variety of angles.  The more realistic you want to make it, the more you will need reference photos.



The best advice I can give at this point is to add clay a little bit at a time.  Work on one part of your animal, then another so that you are building it up proportionately.  This will help you decide which areas need more work.


If you're not sure about an area, then let it dry and work on other areas.  You can come back it to it the next day after it dries and look at it with fresh eyes to determine if it needs more building up or smoothing down.



Creative Paperclay sands and carves easily if you need to remove some bits or carve in some texture.  After working on my bunny and having the first layer dry, I decided to change the position of the head, so I just cut it off with a craft knife.  I then used a little wet clay to reattach it and hide the cut.

A note about making textures

I am always on the lookout for items I can use to texture my sculptures.  For the bunny's tail and chest hair, I used the head from an old action figure.  He had a full head of curly hair which worked well just by pressing and turning it in the wet clay.


Don't be afraid to use unusual items for textures.  Plastic, glass, metal and non-porous materials work well because the clay doesn't stick to them or if it does, you can easily wash it off with water.

A note about scale

When making paper craft armatures, remember you are not limited in scale.  The larger bunny was made using the same paper craft armature printed at a larger scale. 




The little guy turned out looking like he had some attitude,







so I call this piece, "Biggie and Lil' Attitude".

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Tori's Tip - Embellish with Delight™

3" x 3" package tag - layered paper, rubber stamps, Delight™ cut outs, watercolor

My tip for this month is to keep some rolled out, dry sheets of Delight™ Air Dry Modeling Compound on hand for when you need to embellish a card, art project, package, etc.  The dry clay cuts easily with scissors.  Punches can also be used to shape the clay.  Color to you heart's desire with markers, paints, or whatever you have on hand.   The clay can also be cut and put under sayings to lift them from the page and add dimension.  Shapes can be cut and punched and hung from ribbon, layered over one another, used to make a frame around a photo....the possibilities are unlimited.

Thanks for joining me here again!  As always, play, experiment, and have fun!

Tori

Find me on Facebook, or peruse & ponder pics with me on Pinterest