"Family" Steampunk Ornament

Design Team Member Patricia Krauchune recently shared  this customized steampunk Christmas ornament.  Pat used an image transfer technique to transfer the photo to a sheet of clay.  She used a Makin's® Texture Sheet to create her background texture.

Makin's Clay® at NAEA

Makin's Clay® is proud to be a part of the Nasco Arts & Crafts & Triarco Arts & Crafts booths at NAEA in NYC this weekend.  Tom Volz is sharing the broad range of applications of Makin's Clay® with attendees.

Let it Snow Holiday Decoration by Steph Ackerman

Hi everyone, Steph Ackerman here today.  Can you feel the crispness in the air?  It's almost winter and it's time to start getting ready for the holidays.  I find there is nothing more enjoyable than creating holiday decorations.

Supplies:
Makin's Clay® Cutting Mat
Makin's Clay® Roller & Cutters Set
Makins' Clay® - White clay
Mod Podge Mold - Alphabet
Stampendous Stamps
Clearsnap® Ink and Embossing Powder
Tombow Markers
Pennant Board
Beacon™ Tacky Glue

Instructions:


Roll out white Makin's Clay® to desired thickness using the clay roller.

Once you have the desired thickness, stamp a large snowman stamp onto the clay using black ink.

While still wet, carefully cut around the image using an Xacto knife.

  

Once you've cut out the image, color in the scarves, hats and noses with Tombow Markers.

Next, create the letters by placing white clay in a letter mold.

Stamp and emboss snowflake images on the pennant board.  Using Beacon Tacky Glue, adhere the snowmen in the center of the pennant board and place the letters around it. 

I hope you like my snowy project.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Steph

Hand-Made Gift Ideas DIY Video by Cindi McGee

Cindi McGee re-shared a 2014 When Creativity Knocks DIY video on her blog featuring Makin's Clay® and many other great products combined by she and other Artists Jonathan Fong, Judi Watanabe, and Ana Araujo to make some creative hand-made holiday gift ideas.   Makin's Clay® was used in Cindi's monogram wall-art project, and in Ana Araujo's stitched, stamped clay bracelet.   We thought we'd share it here for our viewers too!

http://whencreativityknocks.net/videogallery/all-star-designers-holiday-series-last-minute-gifts/

Halloween Candy Corn Test Tubes by Steph Ackerman

Design Team Member Steph Ackerman recently shared these cute "test tubes" full of candy corn on her blog!  We think this is a clever idea and we love how she embellished them with spooky Makin's Clay® accents cut with our Halloween Clay Cutter set!

Witchy-Boo! Halloween Card by Martha Lucia Gomez

We love how Design Team Member Martha Lucia Gomez incorporates Makin's Clay® into her beautiful paper crafting projects.  Recently she shared this fun Halloween card here on her blog.   She used Makin's Clay® and our Halloween Clay Cutter Set to create her witch's hat and ghost embellishments.

Trick or Treat Goody Card for Halloween - DIY Video featuring Judi Watanabe

Makin's Clay® is a sponsor of the When Creativity Knocks All-Star Designers Holiday Series.  In

this episode, Judi Watanabe from JudiKins shows Cindi Bisson McGee her adorable trick or treat card with a hidden goody.  Judi used Makin's Clay® to make her spooky dimensional clay bat embellishment.

Back to School! Makin's Clay® Zipper Pulls Video

Cindi shows you how to create cute zipper pulls using Makin's Clay® and Makin's Brand® clay cutters  for book bags in this video.

Trinket Box made with Makin's Clay®

Did you know the Makin's Clay website has many project ideas with instructions?    Here's another example of a project that is simple to re-create, yet gives you a great finished project -

http://www.makinsclay.com/Netherlands/english/pg/tech_detail/tech_detail_a1.html

This is a great example of covering an item with Makin's Clay® to create something totally new - why not try it with something around your home? - Cindi Bisson

Stamped Clay Beads - Tutorial Video from Cindi Bisson featuring Makin's Clay®

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSxaYkEoVIo

Cindi Bisson is sharing a simple technique for creating unique stamped clay beads using Makin's Clay® and Makin's Brand® tools. Makin's Clay® is perfect for these beads as it remains lightweight and flexible when dry. Find out how to create your own stamped tube beads here in this episode of Creatively Crafty with Cindi Bisson -

Makin's Clay® Incense Pouch

What a great idea this is from the Makin's Clay® website - find out how to create this incense pouch here.  Wouldn't these make fun bridal shower, baby shower, or wedding party favors?   Endless options for the shapes - and endless scents to experiment with - I'm definitely going to give this idea a try!   - Cindi Bisson

A Great Technique with Makin's Clay®

This project tutorial for a fun barrette on the Makin's Clay® website features a great technique for layering clay, cutting it with Makin's® Clay Cutters, and slicing it to create unique patterns - I am anxious to try this technique on my own Makin's Clay® projects and will share my results soon - Cindi

Shamrock Pendants

Ready for St. Patrick's Day?  Designer Sue Kelsey designed these fun shamrock pendants with Makin's Clay® and Makin's® texture sheets.  Why not make a few and share with your friends?  

Clay Faux Seals

I found these great faux seals made with Makin's Clay® on Lisa West's blog.   She also offers them on her Etsy page!  Check out both her blog and Etsy page to to see lots of great examples for your projects.
- Cindi

Makin's Clay® Coin Purse

Makin’s Clay® is truly the “ultimate” artists medium.  It can be used for jewelry, home décor, scrapbooking, fashion, and more.  Makin’s Clay® can be textured, molded, stamped, die cut, punched, cut with scissors, sanded, drilled, painted, sewn, and more.  Amazing colors can be created by blending clays, or by mixing in artist grade acrylic or oil paints, pigment powders, and more. One of the most unique properties of Makin’s Clay® is that it remains lightweight and flexible after drying.    Today we are sharing instructions for making a coin purse using Makin's Clay® and Makin's Brand® tools.

Designed by Cindi Bisson - Behind These Eyes™

Materials:

120g package Terra Cotta Makin’s Clay®
Makin’s Clay® – Ultimate Clay Machine TM #35054
Makin’s Clay® Cutter wheel & hand roller from Roller & Cutters Set TM #35001
Makin’s Clay® Sand Texture Sheet – Makin’s Texture Sheet Set A TM #38001
Makin’s® Pinking decorative edge scissors
Non-stick surface
Rubber stamps – Cat and verse stamps designed by Cindi Bisson
Stewart Superior Noir Black Palette inkpad
Earth Safe Finishes Copper Shimmer Opaque
Regular edge scissors
Paper trimmer
Embroidery needle
Fibers of choice
Crop-A-Dile punch or hand hole punching set
E-6000 Adhesive or any brand strong permanent adhesive
Black Sharpee marker or any brand black permanent marker with bullet tip
Krylon Matte Spray Finish
Magnetic closures
½” Wide faux “cheetah” print furry trim

Instructions:

Back of coin purse

Begin by using scissors to cut an approximately 2”x 3” piece of Makin’s Clay®.  This is approximately ½ a 120g package.   Remove from clear packaging.

Gently kneed in your hand to form a 5” tube of clay. 

Place 5” tube of clay onto Makin’s® Ultimate Clay Machine™ set on #5.  Roll clay through machine. 

Place rolled clay onto non-stick surface. 

Lay Makin’s® Texture Sheet™ over rolled sheet of clay.  (Sheets are double sided, debossed and embossed, just select which texture you want for this project).  Use Makin’s® Roller tool to gently apply pressure to Makin’s® Texture Sheet™ and transfer texture to clay. 

Gently lift one edge of texture sheet, while holding clay down with opposite hand, and peel off texture sheet.   Trim any excess clay around the transferred textured image using Makin’s® cutting tool.

Cut a 2nd piece of terra cotta Makin’s Clay® approximately 1” wide and roll into a 3-4” tube.   Adjust Makin’s® Ultimate Clay Machine™ to #6 and roll through clay.  Set on non-stick surface and allow to dry.

Allow rolled clay to dry for 12-24 hours.  24 Hours is recommended to assure clay is completely dry, but clay rolled this thin is workable in approximately 12 hours.

To create the coin purse, using a template if desired, or free cut, rectangular shape from dry sheet of textured clay using decorative edge scissors.  For this project, I used pinking edge scissors to cut a 4”x6” rectangle.

Fold down top (4”) edge of clay approximately 1” to create fold-over cover.  Fold bottom section of clay up to meet fold line for cover.

Fold flat again.  For added pizzazz and iridescence, use your fingertip or a paintbrush to apply a thin layer of Earth Safe Finishes Copper Shimmer Opaque over entire textured surface of clay.  Allow to dry for approximately 5 minutes.

Refold purse to closed position. Use smaller hole punch (3/16”) of a Crop-A-Dile to punch a row of holes along both outside edges of coin purse.   Holes should be approximately ¼” apart.

Thread an embroidery needle with fibers of choice.  Tie a small knot at one end of threaded fibers.   Begin on bottom hole on one side of coin purse, and using an over/under stitch, stitch side through punched holes.   Tie off using knot at end.  Repeat on 2nd edge. 

Ink stamps with permanent black ink.  Stamp onto smooth sheet of clay.  Allow to dry for approximately 1 minute.

Use scissors or paper trimmer to closely crop stamped images into square and rectangular shapes.  For this project, I used the pinking scissors on two edges for added interest. 

Using a black permanent marker, apply a thin black border around outside edges of stamped pieces. 

Using a strong permanent adhesive, mount stamped verse to folded over cover portion of coin purse.  Mount stamped cat image to left side of front of coin purse.  Allow to dry.

Cut strips of furry faux cheetah trim to same width as coin purse.  For added strength at fold lines, use E-6000 adhesive to mount strips of fur trim over fold lines.  Let dry.

To ensure your coin purse stays closed in your purse, use a strong permanent adhesive to add magnetic closures to the inside cover/flap.

If desired, spray finished project with a clear sealant such as Krylon Matte Spray.

Makin’s®  Push Molds are perfect to make embellishments for your coin purse or other artwork.  For

this pink coin purse, white and bright pink clays were blended using the Skinner Blend method, then rolled and textured.  The floral embellishments were made with the Makin’s® Florals (#39005) push mold.  Once dry, the finished flowers were coated with Earth Safe Finishes Shimmer Opaque.  Other embellishments such as covered chipboard accents, faux flowers, gemstones, and more also work well.  The monogram coin purse features 2 shades of clay blended, texturing, and Shimmer Opaque.  A covered chipboard monogram colored with alcohol inks, then sealed with a clear lacquer serves as the accent.  The third sample is blended clay, textured, also with Shimmer Opaque, with a faux flower embellishment.