Love Birds Ornament

Love Birds Ornament by Leila Bidler

This is a perfect little gift to brighten someone's day, you could even make it make with your children!

For this project you will need:

Makin's Clay® Natural, approx. 60g or less

Makin's® Clay Roller

Makin's® Clay Cutter of your choice

Makin's® Clay Tool Set 

Gold leaf flakes

Metal leaf adhesive

Needle tool

Hand drill

Chalk pastels (I used raw sienna, burnt umber and dark red)

Soft paintbrush

Firm paintbrush

Twine

Gold/metallic sewing or embroidery thread (and needle)

Superglue

Instructions:

Roll out your Makin's Clay® natural and cut out a center shape. In my example I am using the small heart shaped cutter from the Makin's® Mini Geo 37004 set. 

After cutting out the center shape cut out the basic house form and two stripes for the roof. You can do that freehand, place it on the clay and cut out the shape using you Makin's® Clay Tools. Put one stripe for the roof near the house shape to see where to best trim them/how long to make them.

Take a soft paint brush and wet the "roof" with some water to be sure everything adheres permanently and then use the Rasp from your Makin's® Clay Tools Set to trace lines on the "roof" to mimic wood.

Now use Rasp and Chisel from your Makin's® Clay Tools Set to create alternating lines and dots on the surface. Follow the example below or invent your own fun pattern! Poke a hole also on the center top to be able to string it (you could also skip this and glue a magnet on the back if you with to make a magnet instead of an ornament to hang).

Now we need to color our tiny house, to do that grate off some chalk powder form your chalk pastels, we will first use raw siena and burnt umber on the house and then add also some red for the roof. Wet your paintbrush just slightly, pick up some of the light color and brush it onto the house vertically. Then add some of the darker brown. You want it to be almost "dry brushing" to imitate wood, not a uniform coverage of color. If you do not like what you see or add too much color, no problem at all, just wipe it off with a wet towel and paint over it again.

Now on to making the 2 tiny birds! Start by rolling a small ball of Makin's Clay® Natural with your hands, then shape it into a crop and pinch the rounded end into a tiny head shape: 

 Make a second little bird and with the help of your paintbrush and a drop of water adhere them to the house and with your needle tool give them eyes. 

To complete our ornament we now need a heart shaped bead. Roll a piece of Makin's Clay® Natural into a small egg shaped ball and then use your needle tool to indent the rounded top to form the heart shape. Using your needle tool also poke a hole from top to bottom so we will be able to string it.

Let your creations dry for 24 hours.

After they are completely dry use your soft paintbrush to apply your Metal Leaf adhesive on the birds and the heart shaped bead. Tip: put the bead on a skewer to hold it while applying the glue and the gilding flakes!

When the glue is fresh it is milky-whitish, let it dry for about 10-15 minutes and it will turn completely transparent and sticky. 

The easiest way to apply Gilding Flakes is to keep them in a jar with a lid and to just push in the creation, lift it up, but keep it above your jar and using a paintbrush with firm bristles brush off the excess, back into the jar to use again. 

 

Use a small hand drill to make the holes in your pattern large enough for needle and metallic floss, if needed.

Thread the metallic floss thru the holes and secure it on the back with small nods. To be sure the nods will hold you can also use a drop of superglue to secure them.

 

Now you can use some twine that you can pass thru the top hole and the heart shaped bead to hang your ornament.

Moms Rule Canvas

Moms Rule Canvas by Iris Rodriguez

Hello Makers!

May brings flowers (the result of those April showers), warmer weather and Mother’s Day.  In my humble opinion, moms are the best and that is why they rule. Fittingly, I decided to make a mixed media canvas expressing such a sentiment. The rulers are made of stamped clay. Yes, you could use real rulers, but then you would be breaking the rule(r) and you don’t want to do that...sorry had to throw that corny pun in there, could not resist.  Now, on to the canvas!

Materials:

Small Substrate; Canvas, Wood or Medium Density Fiber (MDF) Board
Makin's Clay® Natural, Red
Makin's® Roller and Cutter Set

Makin's Professional® Cutting Mat

Chipboard letters or Makin's® Clay Alphabet Cutter Set

White Gesso

Acrylic Paint (desired color for background; black and yellow and/or gold)
Clear drying adhesive 

Paint brush

Ruler Stamp

Paper Towels

Baby Wipes

Instructions:

Preparing the Substrate

1.   Start out by painting the substrate, I used a 6” x 6 “ MDF Clayboard. I chose purple, light purple and antique gold (matte). I brayered some of the colors, to give that random, distressed look.

Making the Rulers

1.   Roll Natural clay to a little less than 1/4" thick.  Stamp the ruler stamp onto the clay and trim the excess clay. I knew I wanted to put something in the center, a heart, or the lettering. For now, I blocked it off with a piece of clay. As I kept making my rulers, I laid them out on the canvas around the blocked area, to determine what pattern I wanted to make. I ended up making 14 individual rulers.

Because the nature of Makin’s Clay® make it’s so easy to stamp and mold, it's easy to create several pieces quickly and without mess.  If the clay begins to dry, it’s very easy to trim the excess clay with a cutting tool or scissors. After completing the rulers, let the rulers cure for 24 hours.

1.   Gesso the rulers. Then apply desired colors. I used a bright yellow and antique gold (matte). Tip: I used masking tape, sticky side out to hold down the rulers and keep from slip and sliding while painting them.

1.   Apply black paint into the crevices; with a paper towel or baby wipes, lightly rub off the paint on relief areas only.

1.   Using this technique will naturally stain the entire ruler a little, giving it that antiqued look. You could stop here and go with that look, or you can give it a cleaner look by taking a very flat thin brush or your fingers and touching the relief areas.  

Making the Hearts and Words

 

1.   To make the hearts, make teardrop shapes, then cut a triangle in the center of the wide area of teardrops. Then round out the cut area and shape a pointy tip at the bottom. Make your hearts fun and whimsical by giving them a wonky pointy curve and if it’s uneven, even better.

2.   To make letters, simply lay them out on the canvas to determine a good fit, then paint the letters.

1.   Assemble the pieces and glue them onto the substrate. If it is necessary to cut the rulers; you can do so with scissors or a cutting tool; make sure to touch up the edges with paint, as you will see the natural white color of the clay, when you cut the ruler.

2.     Give to mom, see her smile and make her day.