Always Wear Your Invisible Crown Shadowbox Assemblage

Always Wear Your Invisible Crown Shadowbox Assemblage
by Iris Rodriguez

Hello Makers!

I like inspirational quotes. I’ve always thought of a quotes as tiny burst of wisdom wrapped in a phrase; that pack a big punch of sense. So that is why I got inspired to make a little assemblage piece with a quote.

Materials:

Small Shadowbox
Makin's Clay® Red, Brown, Blue, Natural, Yellow, Green, Black
Makin's® 

• Florals Push Mold
• Roller and Cutter Set

Makin's Professional® Cutting Mat
Cardstock Paper
Black Inkpad
Gold Mica Powder
Blue Mica Powder

White Gesso

Blue and White Acrylic Paint

Clear drying adhesive 

Paint brush

Making the Shadowbox

Use a small box, box lid or small shadowbox, I used a lid from a box, measuring 5” x 5”. Paint the box with white gesso and blue acrylic paint.

Making the Bird

To determine roughly how much clay you will need to make the bird, take a small chunk of clay, make a quick teardrop shape and measure it inside the box. Add or break off clay as desired. Then sculpt the bird. I used a picture for reference. The basic idea for sculpting a bird is as follows: 

1. Start out by making a teardrop shape
2. On the pointed part of the teardrop sculpt the tail
3. On the rounded end of the teardrop, shape the head by sculpting a mound upwards
4. On the head, sculpt the mouth, by simply making triangle shape
5. For the eye roll a tiny piece of black clay into a round shape and place on head

6. For the wing, make a teardrop, then flatten with the clay roller

Note:  Fresh clay sticks to fresh clay without additional adhesive.  If needed, moisten clay with a touch of water before adhering, or if preferred, use a clear drying adhesive. 

Making the Crown

To make the crown, roll out a small piece of yellow clay using the clay roller.

Measure the circumference of crown on the bird.

Cut the length and width to size.

Then with a sharp cutting tool, cut out the triangles or zig zag shapes.

To give the crown some bling, dust on some gold mica powder.

Making the Tree and Flowers

To make the tree, roll three different size log shapes of various sizes with brown clay. Always use odd numbers for branches.

Using the logs, measure them inside the box, until the tree shape and size is satisfactory. Then attach the logs (branches together), by blending together with a little water.

To make a bark texture, use the dull size of a cutting tool to make striations.

For the flowers, push the clay into the Floral Push Mold.  The molds are flexible, so you do not have to wait until the clay has dried to remove the elements.  Trim any excess clay from your molded shapes.

To make pink clay, blend Natural or White with Red.

Let all your pieces cure for at least 24 hours.

Putting it all Together

Print the quote on cardstock, or stamp it. The quote looked lonely at the bottom, so I decided to jazz it up with the baroque (swirl) shape from Makin's Clay® Florals Push Mold. I used part of the shape and cut out the rest. I also brushed on some blue Mica Powder.

Assemble and glue all the pieces together.