Shari's Creative PaperclayTip of the Month - January 2017

Hi!

Welcome to my Creative Paperclay® tip of the month for January. Can you believe it's 2017 already?!?

When finishing my paperclay pieces, I absolutely love my Sandits® tools. They are great for getting into those places that sandpaper just cant touch. They come in a several shapes and grit. They are one of my "go to" tools for paperclay.

Recently I was sanding a piece and came to an area that I could not reach with any of my tools. Nothing would get to the area I needed to have finished. Then I thought of a great idea. I got out my fingernail files. It worked!

Fingernail files come in several different grits, you can cut them to any shape you need, they bend easily to get into those hard to reach spots, and they are very inexpensive.

I hope this little tip might help the next time you are working with Creative Paperclay®.

Happy Creating!

Shari

No Bake Cake with Creative Paperclay®

Make a permanent cake for a friend's birthday or wedding. This would be great for table decorations also. I have painted my white with clear glitter but it could be painted in wild colors or your friend's favorite color.

SUPPLIES
styrofoam
toothpicks
Creative Paperclay®
acrylic paint
paint brushes
dimensional paint
molding paste
fondant mold

I stuck two rounds of styrofoam together with toothpicks. You can also use white glue or styrofoam glue. Since I am going to cover the whole shape with Creative Paperclay® this was enough strength for this project.

Next, I covered the form with Creative Paperclay® and stamped into it.

I applied molding paste into the recesses of my fondant mold and waited 24 hours for it to dry. I used the molding paste because it is flexible and I could glue around the curve of the cake shape.

I made and applied roses and cast leaves while I was waiting for the next batch of cast molding paste to dry. I dipped my finger in water and smoothed out the rose petals and let the piece dry.

I added finishing touches to the clay and sanded any rough edges with Sandits then painted and added glitter and a tea light.
















The last step was to paint my piece white, add some glitter and a tea light. This would be great presented on a plate with a doily.

Have fun and dream in color — Darlene Olivia McElroy

Bags & Tags by Linda Hess

Wow! It has been a whirlwind of activity in my household and life over the past 2 weeks.  Sadly 2 funerals in 1 week, first my father-in-law at Arlington National Cemetery and then the best man from my parent's wedding, one of those life long friends (60 yrs!).  We also had our middle child graduate from James Madison University (2 graduation ceremonies in 2 days) with her degree in Engineering...GO Katie bird :-)  Add to that my normal life as an Art Teacher and my after gig as a polymer clay teacher and I am ready for a break.  Only 3 weeks until Summer (wow).

The end of the school year used to have me making thank you gifts for all of the teachers.  With one out of college, one in college, and one entering her senior year of high school I don't give as many teacher presents as I used to, but why not come up with an easy peasy project that could be used as a gift or a tag or a card topper??  Naturally I pulled out the Creative PaperClay and set to work.

Materials:
Creative PaperClay®
texture sheets of choice
Pinata Inks
assorted cardstock (for cards)
assorted ribbons and trim (for tie-ons)
plastic bag (to protect work surface from inks)
Sandits™
optional: heart shaped cutter, Kemper© circle cutter or knitting needle

Procedure:
1) Pull or cut off a bit of the Creative PaperClay (I used about 1/8 of the block).  Rewrap any leftovers tightly in plastic wrap to prevent drying.
2) Separate the piece into smaller pieces and then roll each into a ball (mine were each about 1" round). 

3) Place 1 texture sheet on your work surface with the texture facing up.  Place one of the balls of clay onto it.  Place a second texture sheet or rubber stamp on top of the clay ball and press (think clay sandwich). 

 

Remove textured piece and repeat with other clay balls.

4) If desired, use a knitting needle or the circle cutter to put holes into the pieces.  This will allow you to easily tie components onto bags or card tags.

5) Place all clay pieces onto a plastic bag.  Time for coloring.  Drip Pinata Inks over the clay "shards" until you are happy with the look. I love how the inks flow into the nooks & crannies easily. 

If too much color is applied, dab with a paper towel to remove some of the ink.  Once complete, set aside to dry....OR pop the pieces into an oven (remove from plastic bag obviously!) and bake at 275° for ~20 minutes (NOTE: drying in the oven will not completely dry the piece...air drying will complete the process)
6) If you used a heart cutter as I did, the edges may be rough.  Edges are easily cleaned up by using a cool little tool called Sandits™.  Just rub it along the edges and voila! all the jagged bits disappear quickly.

 

7) Now the clay pieces can be added to cards, bags, boxes, etc.  The heart could even become a gift with the addition of a jump ring and lanyard hook! 

I hope you have enjoyed this project.  I think you can see with a few simple steps anyone can achieve WOW results that will have the gift recipiants wondering "How did she do that?!"

 

Creative Paperclay Material Sanding Tips By Gloriann Irizarry

 

Tips and tricks by Gloriann Irizarry for Creative Paperclay®

 

Welcome back to your Creative Paperclay® Blogs spot. Today I have a great tip to finish and clean your Paperclay creations.

 

If your like me and like to have a clean sanded project you see your self all cover in white and spreading all the dust everywhere.

 

 

Well I manage to cut down on dust by reducing the amount of sanding by using a nice

soft square flat brush before the piece completely dry.  

 

 

With the combination of these brushes and water will significantly reduce the amount of sanding.

Your probably wonder how, Well is not that difficult to do. Simply dab your brush in water once your done with your piece and before you place it to dry smooth any edges with the wet brush.

Make sure every so often you clean the brush in a washcloth to remove any Creative Paperclay® build up from the brush.  Once your satisfy with the look you can go ahead and set the piece aside to completely dry. I found this technique very helpful by cutting my sanding process in half.

 

If you smooth and rough edges before it dry with the brush it will less clay you need to sand off to make it look smoother. Keeping the brush with clean water will leave a nice smooth surface for you to work on when it dry. Go ahead try it. The softer the brush the better results you will get.

 

 

Another tip is also to get better results on your next  Sandits™  sanding project make sure you gently wash your Sandits™ tip with a toothbrush and warm running water. This will removed any fine Creative Paperclay® excess and give you the nice porous surface the tools need for your next project.

 

I hope these tips help you on your next Crafting project and remember.

 

 

Sincerely Gloriann Irizarry

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Shari's Tip of the Month

Good Morning!

 Today I am coming to you with 2 tips!

I am working on a project that I wanted to have detailed funky flowers. I tried stamping into clay but it wasn't giving me the image I wanted.

 I wandered into the baking isle at Hobby Lobby® to find exactly what I needed. These fondant flower punches were exactly what I was looking for.

 I loved the way these flowers turned out but they really needed some cleaning up. Regular sandpaper would be difficult to use to clean these delicate beauties and still keep the detail. I turned to a product we were recently given to try out.

Sandits® worked amazingly well!!  http://shop.sandits.com/
They gave me all the control I needed. It was easy to see what I was sanding because of it's design. There are several shapes and sanding grits you can choose from to adapt to all your needs. It gets into those small spaces that you would have struggled with before. I am sold!

I am always on the lookout for new tools I can use with Creative Paperclay®. Use your imagination and think outside the box.

Thank you for stopping by. I would love know if you have found an unexpected tool or a new find that works great for you.

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. 

Follow more of my creative life at My Altered Life's blog page and My Altered Life on FB

Faux Pottery

Hi all, glad you came to visit today! This is Donna from Memes Art Place! I love pottery, I love the funky shapes and shiny surfaces. I thought I think we can do this with Creative Paperclay®. In fact I thought heck lets try!

Wouldn't this look cute with some cute little yellow flowers!

Supplies needed:

Creative Paperclay®

Acrylic paints

Saran wrap

Varnish High Gloss

Roller to roll out Creative Paperclay®

Brushes

Sandits

Sandpaper

Roll out Creative Paperclay. I put Saran wrap over so that it does not stick to my roller.

You will need to add plastic around bottle or whatever else you may be covering so it does not stick to the item.

I utilized the paint bottles to roll out once on bottles.

Once you get it to the point it is nicely wrapped around the bottle, you can then start to shape your vase. I love the funky look!

I made four different styles.

You will let these set for a few days and then twist the paint bottles out. Take plastic out if it does not come out with bottles. If inside of vases are not dry, let dry before sanding.

This post is a two for one....project and tip!

This tip is one of the best I have been able to give. Read below!

I received these in the mail and this project is absolutely perfect for these! These Sandits made sanding in my funky curves a BREEZE! I am SOLD on these! They fit inside of the curves and under the edges of these funky vases. This saved me so much time and gave me a nice smooth finish that I don't think I could have achived as fast as I did or as clean as they came out!

They come in different grit sizes and are on both ends of the stick.

I used these also on a paper project and they worked beautiful! Got into a little area and sanded the paper right off! Easy!

On to our finished projects.

 I love the bright reds and the high gloss finish.

 Love the daisy flower on this one. My Grand daughter has claimed it as hers!

Last one is one that I liked the ripped curled edges and decided to try some staining and adding some metallic gold just for fun! 

If you get started now.....I could see these in pastels and Easter grass for a cute addition to your Easter table!

I am so glad you were able to stop by and visit the Creative Paperclay® blog today! Keep checking back as all of our team have awesome tips and projects!

February Tip, Sanding with Sandits™ by LuLu Lancaster

Hello and welcome!

 this is LuLu Lancaster with a tip on sanding

 your Creative Paperclay® sculptures using Sandits™

These swab like sanders are perfect for getting into small spots where a piece of sand paper even a little torn piece just doesn't do the trick.

 Sandits™ have two sides a 120 and 180 grit. 

I have used the courser side to get "spots and raised areas" off my sculptures. 

And then follow with the finer grit in a circular motion, almost twirling the SandIts ™to define areas around eyes, nose and lips.

Nostrils have always been an area on clay sculptures that tend to flatten when sanded. Using the very end tip of the Sandits™you can twirl the rough edges of the nostril without flattening it.

Hands are another area that can be hard to sand. Using the Sandits™ you can get the edges of the fingers, and by again twirling the sander you can create a pocket of the palm

here I have started to sand the top of the hand showing better definition.

And here is a palm.

The sanders can get gunked up quickly. A few swishes in water and a good brushing with an old stiff paintbrush will clean them right up. 

  And these sanders can be used wet also :D

Thank you for taking the time to check out my Tips on

 Sandits™ sanders 

and be sure to check out their website while you are at it and grab some for yourself :)

LuLu Lancaster

 LuLusAppleDolls