Creating Texture with Makin's® Texture Sheets

Design Team Member Leila Bidler recently shared this project on her blog.  She used Makin's® Texture sheets to create texture. 

Halloween in a Bottle - Glow in the Dark!

Halloween in a Bottle by Leila Bidler 

For this project you will need:

Makin's Clay® Glow in the dark

Makin's Clay® White

Makin's Clay® Black

(The quantity of clay depends on the dimensions of your jar!)

Makin's Professional® Ultimate Clay Machine®

Makin's Professional® Cutting Mat

Makin's® Basic Tool Set

Glass vial or jar with cork top (any dimension you like)

Clay texture sponge

Black embossing powder

Acrylic Paint black

Small paintbrush

Small deco pebbles

Colored dry deco moss

2 eye pins 

Small jewelry pliers

Instructions:

- In this tutorial we will use the awesome Makin's Clay® GLOW IN THE DARK to create a little ghost scene in a jar - the perfect decoration for Halloween!

- Take some black Makin's Clay® and roll it thru the widest setting of your Makin's Professional® Ultimate Clay Machine®. Turn it 90° and run it thru the second setting. Now run it thru the first setting again with a texture sponge to get a nice deep textured base for our little Halloween / Graveyard scene.

- Using the jar itself or the top, whatever is more comfortable to you, cut out a disc of this textured sheet of clay, since during drying it will shrink a little bit it will fit perfectly on the bottom of your jar once it is dry.

- Mix some white clay with a tiny amount of black clay you can always add more to make it darker and add some black embossing powder to give it the look of granite.

- Roll out the clay on the thickest setting or your clay machine and cut off a long stripe, then fold it in half, now you have a piece of clay that is twice the thickest setting of your clay machine. Using the tools from your Clay Basic Tool Set cut out the shape of a basic headstone.

- Using a paintbrush or the tip of your finger moisten the base of the headstone with some water and wrap the stripe around it so the headstone can stand up by itself (photo 007)

- Make some markings in the stone, draw a cross, some symbols or the classic "R.I.P." on the headstone and put it aside for now.

 

- Let's make a Glow in the dark skull now! Take your Glow in the Dark Makin's Clay® and make a small ball, pinch the bottom part to form an egg shape.

- Using the small tip of your tool poke two roundish holes for the eye sockets and two small ones for the nose.

- Cut off the bottom sides to make a sharp jaw line and draw one horizontal and 5 vertical lines for the teeth.

-Put a drop of water on the black base and add the headstone and the tiny skull so they will stick while it all dries.

- Now we need a little ghost! Using the Glow in the Dark Makin's Clay® form an egg shape and pinch the sides to form two "arms."

- Insert an eye pin on the top of the head and carefully close the hole around it. It will get permanently stuck once your clay dries.

 

- Let everything dry for a day.

- When everything is dry use some black acrylic paint on the headstone, the skull and paint a little face on the ghost:

- Take the second eye pin and insert it in the bottom center of the jar lid. Since it is cork you just need to push a little, no need to drill holes or use glue.

- Suspend your little ghost from that eye pin, if he hangs too low, just push the eye pin further into the cork lid - the fun part is that using two joined eye pins the ghost will move if you just touch the jar.

- Now put the base with the headstone and the skull on the bottom of your jar, use some white clay to glue it in and sprinkle some small decor stones and colored dried moss all over. Decor moss comes in all colors, I used light green and orange, it is a very soft material that you can easily pick a part with your fingers or cut with a pair of scissors. 

Want to see the ghost in motion?  

https://www.instagram.com/p/B2Y4AxeoBV3/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Expose to a light source then turn off the lights and enjoy!

Clay Tags

Design Team Member Leila Bidler recently shared how she made colorful clay tags using Makin's® clay cutters.

Polymer Clay Flower Curtain Holder

Flower Curtain Holder by Leila Bidler

For this project you will need:

Makin's Clay® Green, Red, Yellow, Black 

(I highly suggest the "Vineyard Tones" and the "Multi Color" 4.2 oz packs!)

Makin's® Clay Roller

Makin's Professional®  Cutting Mat

Makin's® Basic Tool Set

Makin's® Push Mold "Floral"

Makin's® Push Mold "Leaves"

2 small round magnets

Acrylic Paint white and gold

Soft paintbrush

Hard bristles brush

Fabric ribbon (approx. 10 inch)

Superglue

Instructions:

In this tutorial we will use two awesome Makin's® Push Molds: "Floral" and "Leaves".

I choose the flower in the top right corner and start by taking a small amount of yellow Makin's Clay® and pushing it right into the center. The best way to use different colors with these molds is to look at them from the front while you push the clay in from behind, this way you can see if you have enough, need more or if you need to take off some.

Now take one or more colors of your choice (I am using the Makin's Clay® "Vineyard Tones" and "Multi Color" purple and red here) and fill in the petals of your flower.

To make an interesting leaf or two mix two different greens from the sets mentioned above to create a variegated color blend

Proceed using the "Leaves" Push Mold as you did with the flower.

With these push molds you do not really need any release agent, if the clay is too soft just let it sit for a couple of minutes and it will come out nice and clean.

Now we need a base to put our flower and leaves on, so using your clay roller

flatten a ball of green clay big enough to hold the flower and part of the leaves and push one of your round flat magnets into it. This will be the backside where we will glue the ribbon on.

To fit the leaves and the flower nicely together put the flower on top of the biggest leaf and using your tool mark the leaf around the outline of the flower petals. Cut then off the part

that is under the flower.

Use some water to wet the base and put the leaves on, push the edges down and put the flower right on top in the center of the base.

Get your green Makin's Clay® and make a small ball the will be the counterpart of our curtain holder and push the second magnet into the center.

Let everything dry for 24 hours.

When everything is dry use some acrylic paint to highlight the texture on the flower and the leaves:

Check if the magnets are loose (they should not be, but make sure and if they are use some

superglue to glue them in. Now you also need the ribbon to connect the two parts of our curtain holder. Spread a few drops of superglue on the surface of the two parts and attach the ribbon.

All done and ready to use!