clay in my hands....

Hello everyone! I'm glad you've stopped by for a little creative inspiration!

Recently, I was inspired by a project done by our DT member Karen. On her project she used clay embellies... Well, I have looked at clay many times while wondering my local craft store, but I was slightly intimidated by it. My Play-Doh creations didn't always turn out so well. LOL!

I decided I needed to face my fear and try my hand at clay. And guess what... I'm not very good at it. *sigh* Oh well. I'm going to keep trying.

Now I'm sure you are all wondering at this point if I have a point... Well, I do. =)

I have a project too. And, because I am not a skilled clay artist, it is a simple project that even kids can do.

What you need:

Clay (I used a light weight air-dry polymer clay)

Stamps (ones with texture works the best)

Baby powder

Clay rolling pin (I got my clay tools cheap in the kid's clay section)

Clay knife

Nail file/sandpaper

Creative Inspirations paint (2-3) shades

Faux Antique Metal Embellishment

Step 1: condition a lump of clay by kneading it in your hands

Step 2: roll clay out to desired thickness using your clay rolling pin. You want all your clay to be a consistent thickness

Step 3: Dust your stamp with baby powder. I used a paint brush, but you could just sprinkle it on from the bottle.

Step 4: Shake off loose powder from stamp.

Step 5: press stamp firmly into clay

Step 6: carefully remove the stamp. Check to see if you have a good impression. If not, start back at step 1. (One thing I love about working with clay is it is forgiving.)

Step 7: When you are happy with your impression, cut the image out with your clay knife.

Some images might be easier to cut a shape around (like a circle, heart, or square) instead of trying to follow lines... If you want to make it into a charm, it is easy to cut a hole now.

Step 8: Follow the direction on your clay packaging to cure the clay. Mine was air-dry, so I left it over night. Other clays need to bake.

Step 9: When it is cured (and cooled), you can use a nail file or sandpaper to smooth all rough edges.

Step 10: Apply your first color of paint. This should be your medium shade. I am using Antique Silver.

Step 11: When you first layer is dry, dip your finger into the darkest color of CI paint you have chosen. You don't want too much on your finger at a time. Here I am using Coal.

Step 12: use you finger to rub the dark color into the crevices of your piece. (This is why textured stamps work the best). You can do this to the whole piece, or just antique portions depending on the look you want.

Step 13: Get a Fantastix slightly wet. I do this by spritzing water onto a non-stick craft sheet and rubbing the side of the Fantastix through the water.

Step 14: Lightly use the side of the damp Fantstix to gently wipe away random areas of the paint.

Step 15: using you fingers like before, gently rub a little of the lightest color over the areas you just wiped paint away. This will give you a few highlighted areas. I used Silver Frost for this.

Here is a close up of the corner of my finished frame. You can see some of all three colors in this shot.

And my finished project using this technique:

Paper: White cardstock, Watercolor paper

Ink: Archival, Distress

Stamps: Artful Inkables "A Bird's Song", Fancy Pants "In My Words"

CI paint: Antique Silver, Coal, Silver Frost, Denium

Other: ribbon, clay, rhinestones

Well, that's all from me today!

Thanks to all those who took the time to vote on our polls! The information is very helpful!

Have a fabulous weekend!

~Kassi