Creativity Inspired by Paint Brush Muses

Hi!
We all could use a little inspiration from time to time to stir the creativity from within. I created this set of paint brush muses to help me out.

The largest one screams for me to not be afraid to use color. The second one  reminds me that my art is beautiful and to create from my heart. The third one says for me to think outside the box, not all art needs to be so black and white.

Here's how I made these fun little muses out of used paintbrushes, acrylic paint, and Creative Paperclay®.

Supplies
Creative Paperclay®
Paintbrushes for muses
Multiple colors of acrylic paint
Gesso
Tacky glue
Palette knife
Clay carving tolls
Clay sanding tools
Matt acrylic sealer

Instructions
1. Take a ball of clay large enough to fit on the flat of the brush just below the bristles.You are making your face on the brush.

2. Form the shape of a face. Now you can carve the details of your face into the clay, make 3-d facial features, or paint the facial features on.

3. Remove your face from the brush using a pallet knife slipped gently between the clay and the brush.

4. Lay flat to dry or dry in a 180 oven till the clay turns white.

5. Sand your faces.

6. Paint your brushes and clay faces with gesso.

7. Use tacky glue to adhere the faces to the brushes and let dry.

8. Here's where the real fun begins! Use any colors or patterns on your muses. Let your muse's personality form with each addition of paint. Finish with a matt sealer when your paint is dry.

 I hope my muses inspired you to make your own creative posse. Thank you for visiting!

Happy Creating,
Shari

Holiday Angel Tealight Candle Holder

Hi!


 For my last project of 2016 I thought I would try using modeling metal mesh with paperclay.

I wanted to create a holiday candle holder. I don't have any angels, and I decided it would be fun to have my first one be one that I designed and created myself.

If you would like to create one yourself here is what you will need:

 Materials
Creative Paperclay®
Metal mesh
Container of water
Damp paper towels
Clay shaping and rolling tools
Sanding tools
Wing mold
Cardboard
Hot glue and gun
Acrylic paint
Gesso
Matt varnish
Weather wood paint product
Crackle paint
Antiquing paint
Glamour Dust
Paint brushes
Tea light

Instructions 

1. Cut a gumdrop shape of wire mesh.
2. Roll it to form a cone shape.

3. Roll out a thin sheet of paperclay.
4. Place the cone on the clay and roll it onto the form.

5. Roll a ball for the head and two tubular shapes for the arms.

6. Attach the head and the arms to the body form.

7. Roll out a small flat piece for the tray.

8. Attach the tray to the arms using more clay so that the tray, the arms, and body form one piece. (see image below)

9. Roll out several strips of clay for hair and lay it on the head. Let it drape over the arms and attach at the ends. Separate the hair in the back leaving room for the wings to attach to the body.

10.Use a wing mold or cutter and create the wings.

11. Trace the bottom of the tealight in the clay. Cut out the circle and a small strip to wrap around the circle to form a cup.

12. Set everything aside to dry.( Because parts of the angel might collapse during drying I suggest making cardboard props.)

 11. When the pieces are 50% dry, remove the cardboard and finish drying them in a 250 degree oven. Time will vary. When your piece appears white they are ready to remove. Let cool. Caution: Pieces may be hot.

12. Sand down all your pieces. Wipe down with a damp paper towel to remove any sanding dust.

13. Apply a coat of gesso to all of the pieces.

14. Paint the candle holder and wings. While the wings are still wet, sprinkle Glamour dust on the them. 

 15. Paint the angel hair brown, and the body with a cream colored acrylic paint. (I used titan buff).

16. Paint the body ( not the face) and tray with weathered wood and let dry.

17. Apply a coat of crackle paint.


18. Apply a coat of antiquing paint on the body and the tray. When dry, wipe off the excess with a damp paper towel until you have reached the desired effect.

19. Apply a coat of matt varnish on all of the pieces.

20. Attach the wings to the back and the candle cup to the tray using hot glue.

The wire mesh was really helpful in this project. I will be using it again.

I hope this tutorial helped inspire you to to make a one of a kind, handmade by you, holiday candle holder.

Happy creating,
Shari

Shari's tip of the month for November- Unexpected Paperclay Molds

Good Morning!

I was recently shopping for some new mixed media elements. I was ready to recycle the plastic form trays that they come in when I realized they were an  exact mold of the original. 

I found another to make keys. I started thinking even more outside the box and found a plastic mold off of my cupcake papers that will work too!

 I would suggest that you lightly spray the mold with cooking spray before adding your paperclay. Let the clay dry partially before removing it from the mold. 


I was really excited to share this tip with you. I am now looking at everything I purchase to see if I can use it as a mold. I love the fact that I not only have great molds but I reused something that would have normally been tossed or recycled.

I would love to hear what interesting items you have used to make a mold.

Happy creating,
Shari

Shari's October tip of the month- Filling the Gaps

Hi!

My tip of the month is short, sweet, and saved the day. I happened across it when I was creating a project last weekend.

Late Friday night I was just about done with a mixed media piece. I have been struggling on this piece and so I was down to the wire.

The last piece, a dowel rod, need to have the dowel cap on it. No problem! I had the dowel cap.... or did I? The cap I had purchased was too large for the dowel. The project was due in the morning before any of the craft stores opened.  Panic!

I started looking around my studio and when I opened my paperclay drawer an idea popped into my head. I took a small piece of  Delight® (white) air dry modeling compound and kneaded in a small amount of Tacky glue. I filled the cap with the compound, inserted the dowel,(the compound will ooze out over the edges),and wiped away the excess.

When dry, paint the compound the color of your cap.

 Voila! A perfect fit.   

Happy creating!
Shari

Let's create a Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) Banner

Hi!,
I love that fall has finally come to North Texas. Chilly mornings, an extra large cup of coffee, and crafting on my patio. Pure Heaven!!

My inspiration for today's project comes from a Dia de los Muertos (Day of the dead) festival in my town of Denton Texas.

When the first of October comes to north Texas you start to see tons of sugar skull decorations. Getting ready for the celebration this year, I decided to create a sugar skull banner incorporating Creative Paperclay® for my potion shelf.

 Supply list
Creative Paperclay Delight
Sugar skull  cookie cutter
Heavy cardboard banner
9" of 36" wide fabric
Black felt
Colored hemp cord
Decoupage for fabric glue
Flowers with skulls
Corn starch
Acrylic paint (white, black, neon blue, neon pink, light purple)
Tacky glue
Scissors
Fabric pencil
Ruler

Lets get started 

The skulls

1.  Roll out your delight clay 1/4 inch. (Delight is much lighter than original paperclay and perfect for this type of banner)
2. Dust the edge of your cookie cutter with corn starch
3. Press cutter into clay. Lift out and lay flat piece on the table
4. ( If you have a cookie cutter with details like mine, turn over the cutter and press the face imprint into clay)
5. Make two more faces
6. Set aside and let dry

    7. Paint the front and back of the skulls white and let dry
    8. Finish the features using your acrylic paints and set aside

The banner flags 

1. Use one of the banner flags as a template 
2. Lay fabric(wrong side up) on a table
3. Using a ruler and a fabric pencil trace 1/4" edge extra around your template
4. Glue the fabric on the cardboard.  
5. Snip of the corners
6. Put glue on the fabric edges and fold them over
7. Using the template cut a piece of black felt and glue it on the back

     8. Take 3 strands of colored hemp and braid them together

   9. Thread the cord through the banner pieces. (leaving room for the skulls)
  10.Glue the skulls on the cords using tacky glue
  11.Glue the flowers to the banner using tacky glue


Thanks for stopping by. I hope that you can be inspired to create a banner of your own.

Happy Creating,
Shari

  

Shari's tip of the month for September - The Stash Box

Good Morning!

My tip for this month is something that you may not think of when you are creating. Its simple but can save you tons of time.

Every time I open up my paperclay and make that first piece for my project I stop and I think. Should I make another for my paperclay stash? Of course!

Need a common shape that you could use on another project? Check your paperclay stash. Are you doing multiples of a project and are short that one piece and no more clay on hand? Check your stash box. Hate waiting for pieces to dry? You could have a piece all ready to go in your stash.

Once you create one piece it's always easier to make another right away. Don't forget about those "mistakes" you make also. Don't toss them! It might be perfect for another project. Put it in your Paperclay stash box.

Here is some of my Creative Paperclay® stash. I keep it in a clear container so its easy to see what I have.

 

Hope this tip will help you when making magic with Creative Paperclay®.

Happy Creating,

Shari

https://shariwelch.blogspot.com/

Create a Cute Halloween Goulie Wand

Hi!

I don't know about you but I am so ready for fall to begin!

Today I am really excited to show you how I created my first fall craft of the season. Let's get ready to make this easy, adorable, Halloween Goulie wand.

What you will need:
Creative Paperclay®
Styrofoam balls
Americana® multi-surface acrylic paint
Wooden round dowels
Dowel caps
Matte Mod podge 
Feather trim
Ribbon
Black Hemp string
Painters tape
Clay roller/tools
Raffia
Pencil 
Hot glue gun/glue
Paint brushes/water/paper towels

Lets get started:
1. Take a Styrofoam ball and a stick. Push the stick half way into your Styrofoam ball. Set stick aside.

2. Roll out your paperclay to about 1/4 inch thin.
3. Lay your Styrofoam ball on the clay and trim around the ball. Leave a little extra for wrapping around the ball.

4. Form the clay around the ball, removing any excess clay and making sure not to cover the hole.

5. Smooth the clay out with damp hands.
6.Let dry completely.
7. Paint 2 coats of white paint.
8. With a pencil , lightly hand draw out the face.
9. Paint in the face with black paint and a fine detail brush.
10. Seal it with a Matte mod podge.

Finishing Mr. Skeleton

The wand
Paint the stick white.
Use painters tape to create a striped effect.
Paint the space between the tape with black.
Paint the cap black and hot glue it on the stick.
Seal all with matte mod podge.

Glue the head on the other end of the stick with hot glue.

Creating the mini bat head.
Roll out a small ball of clay.
Flatten the ball with your finger.
Using a cutting tool, cut a triangle on the top of the circle.
Trim the other edges to create a bat head shape.
With damp fingers, smooth out the bat head.
When dry paint the face black and the eyes yellow.

The bow
Cut 3.5"of black ribbon and lay on the table.
Cut 8 strands of orange raffia various lengths and lay on top of the ribbon.
Cut a 5" piece of hemp string.
Pinch the ribbon and raffia together.
Wrap  the hemp string around them and tie it in a knot.
Tie the collar with the hemp string around the stick.
Hot glue in place and trim the ends.

Assemble 
Hot glue the bat head on the middle of the knot.
Cut 2"of feather trim.
Attach it around the back of the skeleton head, attaching to both sides of the back of the ribbon with hot glue.

My 4 yr. old grandson loved Mr. Skeleton! Because I had so much fun making him, I ended up creating a few more. Meet my monster and pumpkin Goulie wand.

I hope you enjoyed my first fall craft post. Come back later this month for a helpful tip that I use when creating with paperclay.

Happy Creating,
Shari
My Altered Life blog

Shari's Tip of the Month

Hi!,

Today I am going to share with you a tip on fixing a broken ceramic piece with Creative Paperclay®.


I found this ceramic garden art piece at my creative reuse center Scrap Denton. As you can see it is in horrible shape. The film covering it was peeling off and it had a pretty good crack that someone had tried to glue together.

Just like Charlie Brown's little Christmas tree I felt the need to bring it home and give it some tender loving care.

I don't mean to burst your bubble, but probably like myself, I was under the asumption these kind of pieces were hand painted. Apparently I was wrong. It is some kind of shrink wrap.I peeled off the film as much as I could and took a utility knife to scrap off the rest. I then sanded it down and wiped it with a damp lint free cloth.

I dampened the cracked area slightly. I added paperclay being sure to work it deep into the crack. When all the cracks are filled I will then smoothed it out with my damp fingers. Let this sit for several days before you attempt to sand the area. Once it's ready I can truly give it the hand painted finish it was meant to always have.

I hope you enjoyed my tip of the month. Sadly, this will be my last post for Creative Paperclay®. I have been asked to be a blogger and outside artist for DecoArt ®.

I have so enjoyed being on this design team with such lovely creative artists. Creative paperclay is a product that I will continue to create with. Thank you for believing in me and allowing me to join the team. I will miss you all!

I would love you all to continue to follow my creative journey at My Altered Life's blog and My Altered life on facebook.

Shari

The Imperfect Heart

 
 Hi,

Today I am showing a few mixed media techniques to make your creative paperclay piece pop.

I have heard that black wings symbolize imperfections. Showing that everyone makes mistakes and its okay to make mistakes.This was my inspiration for my mixed media piece "The Imperfect Heart"

The Supplies

Creative Paperclay®
5x7 canvas
Heart and wing mold
Sandits®
Cheese cloth
E-6000 glue
Water mister
Golden® matte medium
Tim holtz distress stain (wild honey, vintage photo, chipped sapphire, broken china)
Americana multi-surface satin paint (black tie, red barn)
Americana crystal gloss glitter paint (black)
Dylusions ink spray (post box red)
Pearlescent liquid acrylic (galactic blue)
Various sizes of paint brushes
Hair dryer 


Let's get started

Cut off a few small pieces of cheese clot.Spread a small amount of matte medium on the canvas, then lay the cheese cloth on top of it. Next add matte medium on top of the cheese cloth to secure it into place.

Dot  several colors of the distress stain on the canvas. 

Use a water mister and spray on the canvas. Pick up with canvas and tilt it in different directions to create a unique flowing look. 

While still wet you can spray on Dylusions and  Pearlescent liquid acrylic.  
Time saving tip:Use a hair dryer to dry your paints, stains and mediums in between steps.

I create the heart and wing piece from a candy mold.
Note: When using these kind of molds with your paperclay be sure that the clay does not spill out over the edges of the mold. Let it dry some before you try and remove it from the mold.

Clean up the dried paperclay mold using Sandits®.
These are the best products that I have found to clean up small detailed areas of your paper clay.

Finally paint your piece using the Americana multi surface and crystal gloss glitter paint. Attach it to the canvas using E-6000 glue.

I am so glad you decided to stop by and take a peek at my tutorial.  

Shari

I have been creating art for as long as I can remember. I studied graphic design in Portland, Oregon before moving to Denton, Texas and putting all my focus on creating mixed media art. In addition to being on the Creative Paperclay design team, I am a contributor for the Robin's Nest Design Team, an article writer for Mixed Media Art, and a blogger and outside artist for DecoArt.

I strongly believe in giving back. I volunteer at Scrap Denton Creative Reuse Center where I teach workshops, art camps, and perform art demos. I am very passionate about mixed media art and enjoy helping and watching others discover their creativity.

Our Special Fairy Garden

Hi!

Today I wanted to share a fairy garden that my grandson and I created with a little help from Creative Paperclay®

He picked out some fairy garden items at the store, but I wanted to make it an extra special experience by creating some of our own. We had so much fun!

We created stepping stones, a pond with fish in it, some mushrooms, and flowers with faces.

Let me show you how we created the pond

I used wire mesh to create a curved shape and added paperclay to it. I rolled a tube of paperclay, cutting pieces to create the bricks on the edge of the pond.

I painted it using Americana multi-surface paint. My grandson added sticker fish and I covered them with glossy accents to make it appear they were under water. Note: The glossy accents will be cloudy when you first pour it but will be clear once it dries.

 

This is how we created the mushrooms

My grandson took a piece of paperclay and rolled it into a ball. He took another piece and rolled it into what would look like a tootsie roll. I took over and formed the ball into the mushroom cap and the roll into the stem.

When dry, glue the cap to the stem and paint.

 

Lets make the stepping stones

My grandson made several small balls and flattened each of them with his palm. I helped to smooth the edges. When dry he painted both sides.

Creating the flower faces

I have a silicon form that has several sizes of faces. I chose the smallest size and painted them.

I picked up some small flowers at the craft store and glued the faces to the centers of the flowers.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Here are some more pictures of our fairy garden.

 

 

 

 

This was such a special day of fun and creativity for my grandson and I. 

 

Like most boys, this fairy garden adventures involved large bugs attacking and magical gnomes coming to the rescue!   

 

Thanks you for stopping by! I hope this has inspired you to create some special memories with the little ones in your life using Creative Paperclay®

Shari

I have been creating art for as long as I can remember. I studied graphic design in Portland, Oregon before moving to Denton, Texas and putting all my focus on creating mixed media art. In addition to being on the Creative Paperclay design team, I am a contributor for the Robin's Nest Design Team, an article writer for Mixed Media Art, and a blogger for DecoArt.

I strongly believe in giving back. I volunteer at Scrap Denton Creative Reuse Center where I teach workshops, art camps, and perform art demos. I am very passionate about mixed media art and enjoy helping and watching others discover their creativity.