Saturday, July 30, 2011

Simple Delight Earrings

I've been wanting to make jewelry for a while and finally got around to it for this project. I have never made earrings before. In fact, the only jewelry I have ever made was a necklace with clay beads at a local art museum. I was eight years old, I picked out the prettiest beads they had...but they were also the heaviest beads! I swear that necklace weighed five pounds! Anywho, I digress. So here's my tutorial on how to make your very own, very simple earrings with Delight, Paperclay's light and fluffy air dry modeling compound product!

What You Need
Delight
Jewelry Fundamentals' Fancy Earring Findings & Fancy Headpin Kit (Available at Jo-Ann's)
Nail Polish
Round Nose Pliers
Wire Cutter
Glass Beads
Ruler or measuring area on craft mat
Water for sculpting





What To Do
1. Take a small amount of Delight, roll it around a bit to soften it, and then roll out a five inch long snake.

2. Line the snake up with a ruler or the measuring area on your craft mat. With a head pin or a butter knife, divide the snake into equal 1/2 inch pieces.

 

3. Pick up a section of your divided snake and shape it a bit. I decided to go with a Chicklet type of tape for my very simple earrings.

 

4. Use a little water to keep the Delight modeling clay moist. This stuff is delicate and it dries really quick! Once you have the desired shape, run a head-pin through the bead. Twirl the bead around head-pin a bit and then stick it into a styrofoam ball for drying.

 

5. Now this was incredible! I thought my little Chicklet earrings would need at least 2-3 hours to fully dry. Not so much! In less than an hour, these beads were ready to be painted!

6. I have this nail polish which I love and thought it would look great on a pair of earrings!
Paint your beads and allow to dry completely.

 

7. Now it's time to put together your earrings! I placed a silver glass bead on the head-pins first, followed by one bead, followed by another silver glass bead.

8. Next, I followed the instructions on the Jewelry Fundamentals package which included twisting the head-pin around the fish-hook with the round nose pliers.

9. Cut the excess wire off and voila! You have your very own, handmade, simple dangling earrings! And you can match your nails to them since they were painted with nail polish!!!

 

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial! I sure did!!!

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Easy Daisy Hair Comb - 6 Steps

By Amanda Marks

Many of you remember my Poppy Hair comb from the last project I did.  I really wanted to do a daisy for this project.  Shasta Daisies are my favorite flowers and I really wanted to make a daisy hair comb for a party we are attending at the end of the month.  Since the technique is very different than the poppy hair comb I thought it would be acceptable to share as my second project for the month.

Materials:
1 Hair Comb (mine was recycled)
Paperclay
Rolling Pin (I use a Fondant Roller)
Sculpting Tools (your choice)
Scissors
Paint
Hot glue


 My recycled Hair Combs.


1.  Roll out a 2" snake.  Flatten it with a rolling pin.  Take sculpting tool or scissors and create a rectangle.

2.  Cut fringes down the length of clay with scissors leaving about a 1/4" at the bottom.

3. Take another piece of clay about 1/2" wide.  This will be the center of the flower.


4. Spread water along the edge of the fringe  Wrap the fringe around the ball smoothing the bottom as you go.

5.  Spread flower petals out.  Let dry for 24 hours.

6.  Paint and seal flower.  Hot Glue flower to comb.

Finished - Hope you enjoyed this easy tutorial (my daughter loves the hair comb.)

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Paperclay Book

Good morning friends

Today I want to share a project that I am extremely proud of.  I love working with Creative Paperclay for embellishments for my scrapbooking and cardmaking, but recently I experimented a little with it for something brand new to me...bookmaking.  So, now I am not going to start a business in making books , but I might make a few gifts.  This was extremely easy and so much fun to make.
Here are my step by step instructions, kinda picture heavy.
First I rolled out my paperclay and layed my cuddlebug folder
right on top of it and cut around it with my craft knife.
This will be the size of my book.
Then I layed the cuddlebug folder (open) ontop of
the paperclay and gently pressed it into the clay.
Don't press too hard or it will distort the clay.
I let the paperclay dry for about 6 hours so that it was still pliable.
Then I inserted it into my zutter machine and punched the holes.
That worked so slick.  I then painted the cover and back
with some white acrylic paint.
After the white paint was completely dry, I added a green wash
over the top.  I mixed some green paint with alot of water.
I did that to both the front and back cover.
Then I did the same thing with a blue paint and water mix.
Using a paper towel I "dried" off some of the color to give
it more of an antique look.  The pictures really don't do it justice.
Then I cut all my pages 1/4 inch smaller than my book and
put them in my zutter to punch the holes.
They are all punched.
See how perfectly they are aligned.
Pretty proud of myself.
Now I had to bind it together.  Make sure that you
follow the instructions when binding.  You MUST
rotate your back cover over your front cover.
Do not just place the back cover ontop.
Standing tall
And it's finished.  Now it may not be perfect,
paperclay does shrink and warp a bit, but I love it.
I wish you could feel the way it feels.
 It has a leathery feel and look to it.
Isn't it just gorgeous?  Well, I think so anyway.  Every year we go on a trip to Northern Minnesota, near the Canadian border and I take a journal with me so I can keep a detailed diary of our trip and then I make a scrapbook with it.  This will be my journal this year.  It will fit nicely in my day pack and will be handy to keep my every thought in, wait I might need to make a bigger one...just kidding.  I hope you liked my Creative Paperclay project today and I will see you again in about 2 weeks for another project.  I hope I've inspired you to create your own journal using some Creative Paperclay.  You can see more of my creations at http://createbyburffrau.blogspot.com

Friday, July 22, 2011

Paperclay Jewelry

I had a lot of fun making this project, and had to make a video for you..
This project could be just embellishment for a scrapbook page, card, mixed media, But I made mine into Jewelry.








Supplies:
Paperclay
Stamps: Viva Las vegastamps!
Mica Powders - color of choose
3-D Crystal lacquer - Sakura or Viva Las Vegastamps!
bail - Sakura
Chain or ribbon

Hope you enjoy this project..

TTFN
Terri Sproul -stop by my blog and see more of my video and projects.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

A Fruit-Themed Necklace for the Kids to Make



I wanted to design a project that is easy for the kids to do before they have to return to school. Something summer-like. And of course, something fun and colorful. This necklace can easily be adapted if your son would prefer not to wear a necklace made of fruit. We'll get to some ideas on that later in this tutorial.You won't need much for this project, as far as tools go. Just a few household items, such as an ink pen, a skewer or needle tool, and your hands. Then a little paint after the pieces have dried.

Rather than using the standard Creative Paperclay product, we'll be using Delight, which is a lighter, fluffy product, similar to marshmallow fluff, without the stickiness. It's also an air-dry medium, but you don't want to try to rush drying in a low oven, so give yourself at least a couple of days to dry, before attempting to paint it. Three days in humid weather. You can add color to the clay before molding it, but I would only use food coloring, if little hands are going to be in it. An adult could probably try powdered pigments, or even a bit of paint. I'll try it later and get back to you on that one.




Start by making balls of Delight about an inch wide. Roll on one side of a ball to taper it slightly into an apple shape, and a bit more rolling on another ball to shape it into a pear. Do one at a time to avoid drying. I found that wetting the palms of my hands a bit with a damp sponge really helped to make the balls smooth, and keep it from drying too fast.




After getting the apple and pear made, use the ink tip of a cheap pen to create the stem opening on the top, and a small bud opening on the bottom. Then insert a small stem made from Delight. Use the ink tip of the pen to gently poke small dents all over the ball that will be an orange. An optional stem would be a whole clove glued in after painting. You could insert it, then remove it while the drying and painting are going on. On the orange, you would want to insert it deeply, and just leave a bit out to be seen.



Here I have made a wedge of watermelon, too. Try to get the edges sharp on it, so it will look like it was cut. Then to make a cluster of grapes, you will make a 1/2 "cone shape from Delight, and cover it completely with small balls. I found that touching them against the damp sponge helped the ball to stick. When you are done,it will be about an inch high. Insert a small stem of Delight in the top of the cluster.



Now you will want to decide whether you fruit will become beads for a necklace or perhaps a keychain before making the holes. If you want to make a keychain, I would drill the holes more top-to-bottom, than from the side. You could stack all the fruit on top of one another for a keychain, or just use one piece per keychain. It could be a bookmark if you string a cord through it that is long enough, like about 8 inches at least. Or a cell phone fob, etc. Your kids might have ideas all their own.

But if you are going to do a necklace, it would be best to drill the beads side-to-side. And don't make the holes half-way up, but more toward the top of the bead. To make holes, use a skewer, toothpick, or needle-tool and wet it first. Using a drilling motion, insert it into the fruit until you feel it drilling through the other side. Remove it, and complete drilling the hole by inserting the tool into the hole on the opposite side, where you felt the tool coming through. Again, wet the tool first. That will make drilling a breeze, and be less likely to distort your bead. And keep the tool rotating as you go. Once the tool is inserted completely through the fruit, remove the fruit, and place it in a safe place where it won't be disturbed for up to three days if necessary.


Once dry, the fruit can be painted. I found it easier to re-insert the skewer while painting, and then you can leave it on while the paint dries.

Mine was made into a simple necklace with a hemp cord, but the possibilities are endless. I think some brightly colored pony beads would look nice, or perhaps it could become a lei, by threading on some smaller silk flower sections.
Don't limit the fruit to what I have made. I think a lot of kids would like bananas (perhaps accompanied by a monkey head?), kiwi, plums, peaches, etc.. Even limes and lemons would be nice. And by using Delight, you could put fruit on a necklace by the dozens, since it is almost weightless. You could even make a fruit hat like Carmen Miranda wore and it wouldn't be heavy at all.
Find Creative Paperclay products at Hobby Lobby and Dick Blick's, as well as ordering them direct from the company at http://www.paperclay.com/

Please feel free to follow me on: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/NightmaresAndDayDreams and on my art blog at http://nightanddayartetc.blogspot.com/

Monday, July 18, 2011

Bath Salts Jar for a friend from Creative Paperclay!!

 
Folks I'm just so excited about my project for today I can hardly contain myself!!!!!!! It really turned out so amazing.  I started out with a plain old jar and lid:

I then covered both the jar and lid with paperclay. It really looked plain but that's when I started workin' it :

This was just too plain for me so I took the lid and made a rose out of the paperclay and put in the center. I then fashioned rosebuds and placed around the large rose and added a few leaves for good measure.


Now things got to be a lot of fun.  I started out by painting my rose and buds a light pink and then painted the jar the same pink. I painted my leaves green and highlighted the rose and buds with glitter. I also glittered around the edge of the lid. Lid now finished! I cut out a victorian picture and Modge Podged it to the jar. I then sealed the jar and glued off white rick-rack around the picture and added a little butterfly to the side of the picture. 

I think it all turned out just beautifully don't you? Now to just fill the jar with some lovely bath salts and give to a good friend!

Barbara

Friday, July 15, 2011

Bookmark For Your Summer Novel

So I'm on vacation this weekend. Of course, I must pack a small craft bag. As we are camping, I really have to taper my craft bag down to a few items. So, I brought a couple of pre-made, unfinished Paperclay bookmarks, a cheap Daler Rowney acrylic paint kit, some paint brushes, and a package of Delight (just in case I feel like sculpting a bit!) But tonight, it was all about painting those bookmarks. I find it is always good to have ready-made crafts on hand for quick and easy project fun!

What You Need:
Creative Paperclay
Rolling pin
Non-stick craft mat or wax paper
Butter knife
Straight edge or ruler
Toothpick
Acrylic paint
String, thread, or embroidery thread
Beads (optional)

Camping Craft Kit


What To Do:
1. Roll out a clump of paperclay really thin to 1/16th of an inch. Make sure you do this on the non-stick craft mat or wax paper.

2. Cut out bookmarks with the butter knife by guiding it along the straightedge (or ruler). Or have a blast with some cookie cutters! Make sure you take the toothpick and make a whole big enough for your string to fit through. Also, make sure the whole is not close to the edge as this may promote breakage.

3. You can try baking your cut-outs at 230 degrees for up to 5 minutes. I have found that allowing them to air dry for a 3 hours, placing them under a heavy book over night, and then allowing them to dry for a few more hours in the morning is best for a really flat bookmarks. This is why I make several at a time and keep them on hand. Patience is not a virtue I have a lot of!

4.  Once dry, go ahead and paint to your heart's content!

Put Down That Flyer From The Camping Office and Be Messy!!!
5.  Once the paint is dry, run your string, thread, embroidery thread through the whole. Add a bead to the end if you wish! And now you have yourself a lovely, paperclay bookmark for your summer reading books!


           
Or You Can Put Your Bookmark in Your Latest Edition of Art Doll  Quarterly

Love Summer Reading!!!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Easy Poppy Hair Comb in 8 Steps

By Amanda Marks

Materials:
1 Hair Comb
Paperclay
1/2" circle Clay cutter
Rolling Pin (I use a Fondant Roller)
Sculpting Tools (your choice)
Paint
Hot glue

 I guess the first step really is to have some inspiration and some old Hair Combs to recycle.


1.  Roll out clay and use the cutter to make a circle.

2.  Make 7 lines around the piece of clay

3.  Take a sculpting tool to dome the middle out  This will make it easier for the ball of clay to stay in place.
4.  Around each line on the end to form the petals.  Draw lines in between the petals smooth out with water.

5.  Add ball of clay.  Stab clay with the tip of an Exacto knife or use a sculpting tool  This will look like the center of the flower.

6.  Let dry.  Repeat steps 1-5 for each flower.

7.  Paint red and green for the inside.

8.  Hot glue to the hair comb.  Seal with sealant.