Fancy Fish Pendant

Fancy Fish Pendant by Patricia Roberts-Thompson

Materials:  

Makin’s Clay®  - 30g Black 

Makin's Professional® Ultimate Clay Machine®  

Clay roller 

Clay blade, scissors

Brushes

Small ball tool, needle tool, plastic straw

Foam mat

Baby wipes

PVA white glue

DuraClear Matte or Gloss varnish

Pendant cord

Pearl-Ex Powders, Born Pretty Chameleon Powders or metallic paints to color the fish

Directions:  

Using approximately 30 grams of black Makin’s Clay®, make a one inch ball for the body, and set aside the remainder to make the fins later on. 

Fig 1: Form the ball of clay into a fish, a pointed tapered shape for the head, and pinch the clay at the tail to make the tail fins.  I kept the fish flat on the backside, and more rounded on the front. The tail can be as fancy as you like.       

                                                                                                                                                                Fig 2: I used scissors to trim the tail into two sections. Place the fish on a piece of foam matting, and press in the lines on the tailfin. I only did the front, but you can do both sides if you like! Then I added details to the head, I made a curved line for the gill and a mouth. I added an eye with a small ball tool. Next, I cut a piece of a small plastic straw to make the scales of the fish.

Fig 3: I rolled the remaining black Makin’s Clay® on the third setting of the Ultimate Clay Machine®  and then cut a fin shape from the sheet of clay. The width of the fin is as long as the body of the fish, from the gills to the tail. Height of the fin should be high enough to fold over, making a bail to hang the fish from.  Place the fin on a foam mat, and press in lines, front and back. 

Fig 4: I made a groove in the back of the fish, added some white glue and inserted the fin, taking care to smooth and attach it securely. When it is well attached, fold the fin over, and attach the fin to the back of the fish. You can add glue, or just wet the clay to get it to stick. The photo shows a paintbrush inserted in the folded section to keep the fin bail from collapsing as it dries. Fig 5 shows the back view.

Fig 6: Finally, make two small fins, one is attached behind the gill, and the second one, on the belly, just below the first fin. I made a small groove to add the lower fin, adding a bit of glue before inserting. I used Blue Russet Pearl-Ex powder on the body of my fish, and Born Pretty Chameleon Powder, GRB20 for the tail and fins. Metallic paints work very well also; make him whatever colors you like!

Varnish the fish when he’s dried, add a necklace cord, and enjoy your awesome new pendant!

Four Leaf Clover Pendant

Materials:

Makin’s Clay® - White 

Makin’s® - 

• Mini Geo Clay Cutters 
• Round Clay Cutters - 3 piece set 
• Clay Roller 

Makin’s Professional® - 

• Cutting Mat 
• Professional Clay Tools 

Gold satin cording 

DecoArt® Dazzling Metallics™ acrylic paint - 

Paintbrush 

Assorted green mica powders 

Plastic wrap
Craft knife

Circle cutter about 1/2” wider than first cutter 

Beacon Tacky Glue™ 

Instructions:

Roll white clay to about 1/4” thick.    Place plastic wrap over rolled clay and use heart shaped cutter to cut 4 hearts to form a shamrock.  Use craft knife to cut stem for clover and trim any "extra" clay remaining as shown. 

Use largest sphere tool from Professional Clay Tools to make random indentations over entire surface of clay to mimic hammered metal.  

Sprinkle on assorted green mica powders, carefully brush/press to adhere to fresh clay (I found it worked best to use my finger to gently pat the powders and adhere them instead of using the brush - I wanted the different shades to blend slightly but not completely blend together).

Roll additional white clay to about 1/4” thick.  Place plastic wrap over rolled clay.  Use larger clay cutter to cut circle. 

Use sphere tool to texture the circle, front and back. 

Paint with gold paint.  Let paint dry and paint back side.   

   

Apply a small amount of tacky glue to the back of the shamrock disc and glue to the gold

disc.  

Make a small hole in the top for the cording.   

Let dry 24 hours.   Add gold cording and sliding knots for closure. 

"Open Your Heart" Pendant

Open Your Heart Pendant by Cindi McGee

"Open your heart and love will find it's way inside"....

Materials:

Makin's Clay® - Vineyard Tones Multi-Pack - Merlot 

• Makin's Professional® 
• Ultimate Clay Machine®
• Professional Clay Tools
• Cutting Mat 

Craft knife 

CreateAlong.com mica powders - red and gold 

Gold satin cording

Instructions:

Roll Merlot Makin's Clay® in Ultimate Clay Machine® on setting #1.  

Use craft knife to cut freeform heart shape - I intentionally made mine "uneven". 

Use craft knife to cut out areas one half of the inside the heart, repeat pattern on opposite side. 

Use the handle of a paintbrush or a similar tool to gently "soften" the edges of the cut out areas and the outside of the heart.  

Use the large sphere tool to add indentations over the surface of the heart. 

Apply red mica powder over the surface of the heart. 

Add gold mica powder just on the edges of the heart and extending just slightly over the surface blending with the red mica powder. 

Flip heart over and apply red mica powder to the back of the heart.  

Let dry 24 hours. 

Add gold satin cording. 

Beetle Pot

Beetle Pot by Patricia Roberts-Thompson

Did you know that Nail powders work wonderfully on Makin’s Clay®? Here’s a little Beetle pot that uses the new Chameleon Nail Powders by Born Pretty.

Materials:             

Black Makin’s Clay® 120 G

Makin's Professional® 

• Ultimate Clay Machine® or Makin's® Clay Roller
• Cutting Mat

Born Pretty Chameleon Nail Powders. I used GRB20, RGB20 and BYB20. You can substitute PearlEx powders or Metallic paints

Round cutters – 3 ¼”, 2 ¼” and a 1 inch diameter

Light bulb (Standard size) or Bath Bomb mold, bottom of a large Nestea Ice Tea soda can or other curved surface. You can use a larger light bulb also

Clay blade, craft knife, toothpick, paint brush

Aleene’s Tacky Glue or white glue

Instructions:

Step 1:     

Roll 60g Black Makin’s Clay®, on the thickest setting of the Ultimate Clay Machine® (#1) (or use clay roller).  Use the 3 ¼” round cutter, or a large lid as a template,  and cut one circle. Mark the center to help with the placement of the circle onto your light bulb or bath bomb form. Put the remaining clay into a ziplock bag with a wet wipe.  Place the center of the circle on the center of the light bulb and begin to Press the clay to the glass, using the palm of your hand. Work the clay in quarters to lessen the amount of distortion. When you have it pressed evenly on the glass, use a clay blade or craft knife to straighten the edges.

Step 2:                    

Use the leftover clay to make the foot of the pot. I doubled the clay, and used the 1” round cutter to cut a circle, which I added to the center of the clay pot.  This can be done now or after the clay has hardened. I used a little water so the clay would bond better. If you choose to wait, use a bit of glue to attach the foot.

Step 3:                    

To make the lid, roll out the remainder of your clay on the thickest setting. Cut a 2 ¼” circle and place it on a curved support. You’ll want the curve to be more shallow than the light bulb.  A large round light bulb would work well for this, or the bottom cut from a large can of Nestea Ice Tea. ( it’s bigger than a regular soda can).  Roll a bit of black clay into a ½” ball and taper it slightly. Flatten the bottom on your work surface.  Use a toothpick to press a line near the narrow end, to divide the Thorax from the Abdomen.  Press another line to define the Head. Smooth the head and press it back toward the Thorax. Next, use the toothpick to press a line down the center of the Abdomen, curving it left and right to indicate the wings of the beetle. I used a bit of Aleene’s Tacky Glue to secure the Beetle to the center of the lid. Coat the Beetle with the Born Pretty Chameleon Nail Powder GRB20,using a brush to apply, or mica powders, or you could choose to wait until it dries and paint it with Metallic Acrylic paints.

Step 4:                  

Let the bowl and lid dry for 24 hours, then loosen the top edge of the bowl from the lightbulb, and it will come off the glass. The third photo above shows the fit of the lid. Don’t worry if it doesn’t fit as well, as you can roll out a snake of clay, and add it to the top edge with a bit of white glue. Put the top on and adjust the fit. Remove the top, so the new edge can dry. If you didn’t make the foot for the bowl, now is the time to add it. I added powder to the rim.

Step 5:                    

You can decorate your little pot any way you like, I choose to add bits of powdered clay.  Roll a little black clay as thin as you can, and brush the Chameleon Nail Powder on 3 sheets, then tear the colours into tiny pieces. Using a brush, add some glue to the lid and add the pieces randomly. Use scissors to trim excess from the edges.  Add glue wherever needed to secure the rough edges of the pieces. A few lifted edges are okay, and add to the “look”.

Step 6:                     

Apply white glue with a brush, and add the torn pieces to the bottom of your little pot.   Use scissors to clean up the edge around the foot, then let everything dry.

Enjoy your cute little Beetle Pot, just the right size to hide a small treasure!                                

                                    

Floral Treasure Chest by Steph Ackerman

Floral Treasure Chest

Designed by Steph Ackerman 

Hi everyone, Steph Ackerman here today with a treasure chest.

Supplies:
Makin's Clay® - Yellow, White, Green, Blue, Red
Makin's Clay® Push Mold - Florals
Earth Safe Finishes Ann Butler Designs Iridescents - Sheer Silver, Sheer Copper
Earth Safe Finishes Ann Butler Designs Iridescent Powder Kit - Silver, Yellow
ColorBox® Crafter's for Ann Butler - Sunshine, Limelight, Deep Woods
ColorBox® Background Basics for Ann Butler - Checks1
Flowers - Bazzill
Wood Box
Rhinestones

Instructions:

Using the Florals mold, create assorted leaves using green clay and assorted flowers using yellow clay.


Once the roses have been removed from the mold, paint them with Sheer Silver Iridescents, then sprinkle with Yellow Iridescent Powder.  The roses take on a wonderful sparkle.  Check out how different the roses look when the Iridescent Powder is added.



I created purple clay by mixing red and blue clays until I had the color I liked.  Then, using the Floral
push mold, I created two corner flourishes.  After they were removed form the mold, I painted them with Sheer Silver Iridescents.

Lightly white wash the box, then stamp around the edges with Sunshine Crafter's Ink and the Basket 1 stamp.

To age the box, use Crafter's Ink Deep Woods around the edges, then use a baby wipe to remove and blend some of the color.

Add 3 large and 2 small yellow roses to the front of the box.  Adhere lace around the lid.

Adhere the purple flourishes to the corners and yellow flowers to the center.  An assortment of dew
drops finishes the edges.

And there you have a treasure chest that can hold lots of amazing items.  With Mother's Day coming up, I think this would be a lovely gift for Mom.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Steph