Creative Crafting

Archive for the ‘Polymer Clay’ Category

Just a quick note to ask who stole my fairie?  Dorie Lorie was stolen from my garden rock this week.  No clues were found, only an empty rock!  The suspect is about 6 inches long, reddish brown fur, white around the eyes and a black nose!  Usually this suspect just takes the peanuts, but lately has been storing up on all sorts of little goodies.  

If you should see this little fairie, please bring her home!

Since seasonal jewelry often has a whimsical sense of fun, try experimenting a little by mixing and matching. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about with these candy corn and pumpkin lampwork beads , which were used for making earrings for Halloween. Wear a matching pair or mix them up and wear one of each.

A friend found these earring and used 24 gauge round gold-filled wire that she curled on the end to form a wire coil head pin, then added the beads, and finished the top of the earrings by using the wire wrapped loop technique. Once the dangle part of the earrings were assembled, she just added a gold-filled ear hook.

This fun project can take on whatever look you want. Whether it’s a marbled design or one of more solid color, kids will have a blast putting them together.

What you’ll need:

*  Modeling clay: Red, yellow, blue  (Polymer Clay can be used for this project, just follow package instructions, or if you prefer use any modeling clay.)
* Wooden skewers
* Clear crafting lace, or your choice of material to string the beads.

How to make it:

1. Pinch off small pieces of modeling clay, one pinch from each color. Start with red and yellow and knead the together long enough for them to form a marbled effect.
2. Once you have the desired effect, roll the clay in your hands into a ball.
3. Slide the clay ball on to a wooden skewer, twisting as you go to create the hole in the bead.
4. Repeat this process for as many beads and as many color combinations as you like.
5. Let the beads dry on the skewer; be sure that they are spaced enough apart so that they are not touching each other.
6. Remove from skewer when dry, about 3-4 hours, and thread onto crafting lace. Tie and wear!

Is it a gnome or a troll?  I asked my son that very question when he made it.   I was told he is just a guy enjoying his fishing spot.   My son is laid off right now and is a little bored.   But I think he came out rather well; both my son and the figure

The fish in my pond have been nibbling at the bobber that was attached to his fishing pole.

Isn’t polymer clay great!

I am having so much fun making the gnomes and fairies. I can’t believe with very little practice how easy these are to make. I highly recommend Fairies, Gnomes and Trolls  for showing you how to make faces of all sorts. The principles are the same whether you are making a human or make believe face.  I am working on a Troll at the present time….it is presenting some new challenges!  But I will get his face right yet!

It is getting so bad, I am now naming my creations.   They are becoming real; part of the flower/pond neighborhood.

The Green Man is looking out for my garden and all it inhabitants:

The garden is flourishing under his constant care:

Coral Bell Mermaid is lounging by the side of the pond:

A couple of weeks ago the children next door found a toad in the yard and wanted to put it in my pond.   So over they came (5 and 3) to place the toad in the water.   I had to remind them not to step on the flowers…the little girl asked me why and I could have stated the obvious about killing my flowers, but instead I told them that my garden was full of fairies and gnomes, and that if they weren’t careful they would hurt the little people.

Of course, this led to more questions about what were fairies and gnomes and how come they couldn’t see them, where did they hide and so forth. We sat on my porch eating Ed’s chocolate chip cookies and milk for about an hour and talked about fairies and gnomes. If you have inquisitive children of your own I am sure you can imagine the questions put to me. Their mother was just as enraptured by the questions and answers as she was by Ed’s cookies!

It has been awhile since I last posted.  I have been busy planting my gardens, learning more about polymer clay, and having fun with different projects.   All of which I will be posting about in the coming weeks.

Here is one such project that has been keeping me busy.  I made some for myself, my daughter (who also has a beautiful garden), my new daughter-in-law who hasn’t learned the fine art of relaxation with gardening, but I made a set for her anyway just in case!

I put pictures of the project at the end of the article….so have fun!

Design by Roxane Burkett, Sheryl Eggleston – Stamp Studio

Materials and Tools:

Desired Creations has a great tutorial for creating life like hands for any project.

The dime is included to give a sense of scale. Simple tool set: #2, 3, or 4 knitting needles and blade (tissue blade or single edge razor blade, etc.)

A.   Start with a nice little ball.

B.   Roll ball into a cylinder about 1.5 inches long and a little larger at one end. The smaller end will become the wrist.

C.   Use your thumb to flatten the larger end until it looks like a flat paddle.

D.   Use a blade to cut away a little notch on one side.

E.   The little segment that remains after the cutout? – pinch, pull and shape into the thumb. Smooth and round any cut edges using your finger tips and the knitting needles.

F.   Make three cuts, as shown in F. This is the beginning of making four fingers.