FALL Mixed-Media Wall Art

Design Team Member Steph Ackerman recently shared this fun mixed-media wall art project with Makin's Clay® accents.  Steph used Makin's Clay® and the Makin's® Leaves Push Mold to create her embellishments,

"Thankful" Autumn Cards

"Thankful" Autumn Cards by Bea Grob

Fall is around the corner, I did spot already some colorful leaves. That and because I need some cards anyway inspired me to make some “faux fall leaves.”  Embellishments from Makin's Clay®are easy to make and once the Makin's Clay® is dry it is acid free, so perfect for going onto cards, scrapbooks and what not.

Supplies

About 40 gr (1 ounce) of white Makin's Clay®

Makin's® Push Mold Leaves SKU 39001

Cutting Matt

Several colors of mica powders

Materials

I started with a rolled ball of clay approximately 1 cm diameter.  Push it into the mold.

Make sure that the backside is flat, by smushing excess clay away from the leave. Continue to make as many leaves as you would like. 

While the clay still is fresh, right after you have made the backside flat, pull the leaves carefully out from the mold. Sometimes it is helpful to bend the mold a bit which can be done, as the mold is flexible. Make a bunch of leaves and make sure that they don't dry. I sprayed mine with a little bit of water, while working on some more leaves. For the next step the Makin's Clay® still needs to be damp.

 

Grab several colors of mica powders you like. I have chosen greens, golds, copper, yellow. I also added a hot pink. I added them in different spots onto the leaves with a brush. Simply dip into the powders and then dabb it onto the leaves.

I let them dry overnight.

The next day I grabbed some papers, ribbons and card bases to make two cards.

On some craft colored card stock I have printed on my computer the word thankful and then I cut it to size. I mostly always add some black outline with a permanent marker. 

For the card base and the mat I use some glue, but for the word and the leaves I use some foam tape to raise them up a bit.

Now you have some beautiful fall themed cards which would also work well for Thanksgiving day.

Spring Bloom Polymer Clay Magnets

Spring Bloom Magnets by Naomi Scarparo

Spring will be here soon in Australia. I already see the first signs of flowers blooming in my garden and it inspired me to make these colourful flower magnets for my fridge and to remind myself to stop and smell the flowers...

Materials:

Makin’s Clay® - White

Makin's® Clay Roller or Makin's Professional® Ultimate® Clay Machine 

Makin’s Professional® Cutting Mat 

Makin's® Clay Push Molds - Floral Item #39005

Small, Soft Tip sculpting tool

Black Stamp Inkpad

Stamp with Quote - used ‘Have a Blooming Good Day’

Circle cutter 5cm diameter

Soft small tip paintbrush

Lumiere By Jacquard 573 Pearlescent Magenta, 557 Halo Violet Gold, 571 Pearlescent Turquoise, 554 Sunset Gold, 572 Pearlescent Emerald Green

Weldbound glue

Magnets 

Instructions:

Roll out your Makin's Clay® White, to the thickest setting on your clay machine, put some plastic wrap on top of your sheet of clay and press down firmly with the Circle cutter. This will give you perfectly rounded edges… (which I forgot to do, oops… but no big deal… just smooth the edges with your fingertips).

Ink your saying stamp ‘Having a Blooming Good Day’, then gently press the stamp into the clay and remove it leaving the stamp impression (don’t worry if the ink did not press into the clay clearly).

Using the Lumiere paints, Starting with the lightest colour - 571 Pearlescent Turquoise dab with a slightly damp small brush apply over the whole circle. 

  

Then using Lumiere - 573 Pearlescent Magenta, dot along the edges of the circle as if a blooming branch is leaning over.

Apply Lumiere - 554 Sunset Gold with a fine tip paintbrush in the impressed stamped quote. Then apply Lumiere - 572 Pearlescent Emerald Green around the base of the circle as though there is bush or shrubs around.

Allow the pain to dry. As the paint for the Quote magnet paint is drying, start making the flowers using the Makin's Clay® Clay Push Molds - Floral Item #39005. 

To use the molds

Lightly dust the push molds with cornstarch, shaking the excess off. This will help to keep the clay from sticking to the mold. Using the white clay, roll into a smaller size ball than the mold. Press the clay into the mold starting in the centre and working towards the edges. 

Tip - the clear view mold can be turned over to check for any air bubbles that need to be pressed out and to make sure that the areas are all filled.  

Remove excess clay that overlaps the edges of the mold. Remove the moulded flower gently by pressing the mold from the front side or use the clay chisel to help lift the mold out. You can clean up the edges using your fingertips and a soft pointed tip sculpting tool. 

Set some of the flowers in an arrangement that you like, an example of what I used is in a photo below. I used a mix of the 3 vine leaf and Roses (opened flower and bud). Place then together using some tacky glue or if still slightly damp a spritz of water. 

Paint the flowers using the Lumiere By Jacquard paints. I painted the flowers individually and once touch dry, I added 554 Sunset Gold to highlight areas like the centre of the flowers.

 Cut the clustered flower (pictured below) using the circle cutter, to add the top and bottom decoration, attach them sing tacky glue, and reshape if needed using the Soft tip sculpting tool.

Paint edges of the flowers and allow to dry for 24 hours.

Once dry turn over and paint the backs of the flowers. Allow to dry. 

Attach magnets to the back of the flowers with tacky glue. 

Tip - Check which side of the magnet is magnetic and ensure that it is glued facing out. 

Makin's Clay® is light weight and perfect to make magnets with as I didn’t have to worry too much about what strength of magnet is needed. I used an old business card magnet, cut into strips. 

Enjoy making your magnets to pretty up your fridge...

Embellished Baby Photo Frame

Baby Frame for Oliver - by Panarili

Tools and Materials

Makin's Clay® white 

Makin's® texture sheet Dots

Makin's® push molds Baby

Makin's Professional® cutting mat

CreateAlong.com tag cutter

Cutter

Roller

Cookie letter stamps

Pasta-machine

Eye shadows

Chalk pastels (blue, pink, light orange, yellow and red)

Markers (black, blue)

Soft paint brush

Tacky glue

Two sided puffy tape

Glass from a photo frame (can be of plastic as well)

Scrapbook paper

Plastic bag or foil

Nail pile

Prepare the glass from a regular photo frame.  Mine is actually not glass but plastic, but it is also fine as we are working with Makin's Clay®.

Open white clay and cut the amount needed, in my case it is about half a package, and place the rest in a zip-lock bag with a wet paper towel or baby wipe. Run the clay through the thickest setting of the pasta machine, that makes about 2mm thickness.  Make 2 appr. 4cm wide stripes. Mine are about 15 cm long.

Place the stripes on the Makin's Professional® cutting mat and cut them even.  Place the glass from the frame over the stripes. The stripes edges should be wider than the glass about 1 cm on each side.  

Then add horizontal stripes. Fresh clay will stick to fresh clay, if your clay has begun to dry brush some water in the places the stripes will touch. 

Place the Dot Makin's ® texture sheet over clay and pres gently with fingers everywhere.

Use the roller to make the texture even.

Remove the texture sheet.

 

Now add some pearl accent using eye shadows (chalks or mica/pigment powders would also work, as would pan pastels).  I do it either with a soft brush or my finger.

Take some more white Makin's Clay® out of the bag, and leave the rest in the zip-lock bag with a wet tissue.  We will be colouring it with chalk pastels.  We need flesh colour, so make some chalk powder from pink and light orange.   For the blue add some blue chalk pastel powder to the white clay.

It is time to make embellishments. We will need Makin's®  Baby push mold.  Let us make the pacifier first, the rest are similar to make.  First, we use a small amount of the flesh colour we have mixed and place it in the push mold exactly, where it will be, once we are finished.  Makin's® push molds are clear, so you will see where you put it.

Then add some blue.  And finally, make a small snake and add the handle.  Press well and then take it out.  

For the bear I used the blue clay we have made for the whole toy.  Make two small dots, where the eyes are and place white clay balls in there.  Then I colour the eyes and the nose with a black marker and add some shadowing with blue chalk pastel.

I also made two 2 baby bottles, some buttons, and a duck.

Now we will make a baby name tag.  Take some white clay out of the bag and roll it out 1mm thick.  Prepare the letters we need, in my case it is Oliver. Stamp it.

Cover the clay with a plastic bag or plastic wrap and cut a name tag with a CreateAlong.com cutter.

Take the plastic and the excess clay away.  Make the edges smooth with your finger.  Add some shading with a blue chalk pastel on the edges,  Then make dots with a blue marker and colour the letters with a blue marker as well.

Let it all dry.  24 hours was not enough for the frame, and I recommend putting something like a book over it for the frame to remain flat.  I let mine dry for another 24 hours.  To make the edges of the embellishments nice and smooth, I used a nail pile

These are all my dried embellishments.

Once completely dried, I put some tacky glue on the back side of the frame.

Place it on scrapbook paper and cut out the frame.  

Place the glass/plastic from the frame on the back side in the middle.

Stick the two-sided puffy tape on the edges that are not covered by the glass from the frame – from both sides and on the bottom, leaving the upper side without the tape.

My tape is rather wide, so I cut it off.

Cut out a rectangle the same size our frame is from a scrapbook paper and attach it from the back. The two sided puffy take will hold it together well and leave the space for the picture and the glass if wished.

Add the embellishments  - adhere with tacky glue.  And add the most important embellishment - a picture of Oliver!!!! 

PANARILI