Red Starfish Polymer Clay Pendant

Cindi McGee recently shared this summery red starfish pendant.  Cindi used her favorite Makin's® Sea Shells Push Mold to make her starfish centerpiece for this pendant.

Sea Turtle Polymer Clay Pendant

Sea Turtle Polymer Clay Pendant by Cindi McGee

Materials:

Makin’s Clay® - Olive, Grape Leaf, Neon Green 

Makin’s Professional® 

• Ultimate Clay Machine®
• Cutting Mat 

Makin’s® 

• Clay Roller
• Texture Sheet Set A - Cobblestone
• Clay Cutter Set - Bugs 

Eye pin 

Pearl

Decorative bead (I used a starfish shape) 

Satin cording 

DecoArt® Metallic Lustre - Iced Expresso 

Beacon® 3-in-1 Adhesive 

Instructions:

Begin by making a blend of the three shades of green clay.  I cut pieces approximately 2 1/2”, and 1/4” wide of each color.  Align them as shown with Grape Leaf in center, then Neon Green on each side, then Olive on the outsides.  

Roll with the clay roller to begin to flatten and create a sheet.  

You can continue to roll with the hand roller at this point, but I find it quicker to use the Ultimate Clay Machine®.  Roll the sheet through on setting #1.  Fold in half so ends of “stripes” are touching and roll again.  Continue until the shades begin to blend.   I pushed the outer edges inward each time to prevent a wide strip instead of a longer strip from forming.   I did not want to create a true, finished Skinner Blend, so I stopped blending when I got the effect I desired to mimic the shades of a sea turtle’s shell.   My finished “sheet” is a little less than 1/4” thick. 

Select the area you want to use for the shell and use the turtle clay cutter to cut out.  

Trim legs and head from around shell.   Place the The cobble stone texture sheet, with the texture facing upward (you want the raised texture, not the inset texture) and roll with the clay roller to transfer the texture.  Apply enough pressure to begin to flatten the shell and cause it to expand a bit so it will extend beyond the body and over the legs a bit.  I did not want a perfect circle, as real turtle shells are not round and do not have perfectly smooth edges... 

Roll the scraps from the head and legs to create a small ball about 1/4” in diameter.  Flatten slightly.  Place the shell over the flattened ball and use the palm of your hand to gently press to adhere the two pieces together (fresh clay will stick to fresh clay, if needed moisten slightly with water or add adhesive).  Using the palm of your hand ensure the shell remains in a rounded shape.  I allowed the edges of my shell to extend beyond the mound in the center.

Carefully re-blend the remaining clay and roll again to a little less than 1/4” thick.  Place the texture sheet over the clay with the texture facing upwards and roll to transfer texture to clay.

  

Use turtle cutter to cut out a second turtle from textured clay. 

Re-blend scraps and roll out again, cut third turtle. 

Add pearl and decorative bead to eye pin.  Apply an even coat of 3-in-1 Adhesive over entire surface of last turtle cut.  Place eye pin over head of turtle so that the beads extend out from the head.   Place the textured turtle over the top and gently press with your fingers to adhere the two layers together everywhere. 

Add adhesive to back of turtle shell and mount to body of turtle. 

Use fingertips to apply a very light touch of Iced Expresso Metallic Lustre.  This highlights the texture and gives the mottled effect much like real sea turtles have on their skin and shells. 

Let dry 24 hours. 

Add satin cording and closure.

  

Faux Ceramic Starfish & Seashell Jewelry Set

Design Team Member Patricia Roberts-Thompson recently shared this lovely starfish & seashell jewelry set made with Makin's Clay® and our Makin's® Sea Shells push mold..  Find out more about how she created this effect here on her blog.

Assemblage Under the Sea

Assemblage Under the Sea by Bea Grob

Today I come to you with an assemblage project. I had these artifical fish laying around since a while and I knew that I want to make an assemblage, but just those fish is a little boring, and finding the right things to go with it, seemed impossible. That's exactly when the Makin's Clay®  comes in handy. You can make anything you need with it. So I grabbed some black clay and started to make some underwater flowers to go with my theme.

Materials: 

Makin's Clay® - Black 

Makin's® 

• Sea Shells Push Mold
• Clay Tools 

Cigar box 

Adhesive 

Patterned papers 

Wire

Mica powder 

Faux fish, fabric, beads 

Scissors

Instructions:

I used about a walnut size of black or white clay for my flowers. I formed first a ball and then flattened it to a more or less circular shape.

Next, I placed it on my knuckle to form it into a cup shape and set them aside to dry. I let them dry overnight.

  

I have poked a piece of wire in the middle, just in case I would need it.

The next day I started covering the cups.  I rolled balls and flattened them to make covers for the cups.  Before I added them I added some holes with a ballpoint tool. I simply poked and swirled around a bit.

I made the shape slightly oval and then simply pressed the uncured clay the already cured clay and smoothed it out a bit. No need for extra glue it sticks together just like that.   If you do have issues with fresh clay adhering to cured clay, a bit of clear drying adhesive can be used. 

When everything was dry, I  added acrylic paints, embossing powders and Mica Powders. There are so many ways to give the clay the colors and shine I want.

Next, I prepared the cigar box with some old bookpages, maps and patterend paper and started assembling everything. I usually have more things on my table then what I use in the end.

The starfish you can see I made in May in the claycamp in Goldbar, also with Makin's Clay® of course.

 

I have used modelling paste and/or glue to attach all the flowers and embellishments.  For the hanging fishes and the anchor I did drill holes and then used wire to attach it.

To cover up the wire ends I used the Sea Shells Push Mold to make shells with the clay, and accented with mica powder, and then simply put them still uncured onto the top. 

And, I did apply little balls of black clay to the "anchor“ as those gaffs are quite sharp.

I have also added some fabric and beads to complete the look I was after.

Seashell Magic

Sea Shell Magic by Sherri Welser 

I love the ocean and collecting sea shells so when I found out Makin's Clay® had a push mold that was sea shells and a starfish,  I just had to create something with it!

Materials:

Makin's Clay® - White, Earth Tones 

Makin's® 

• Push Mold - Sea Shells
• Clay Tools - Roller

Makin's Professional® Cutting Mat

Mermaid rubber stamp 

Mason jar

Rust paste paint

Raw umber paint

Weld Bond Adhesive

Gold Glitter Glue

Needle tool or craft knife

Optional:  Metal "Believe" charm

Instructions:

Start by adding several of the Earth Tone clay shades together to incorporate the colors for a more realistic appearance.  (But don't over mix.) 

Take small amounts of the clay and use the push mold to make shells.  Make one 1" ball to sit on top of the lid and support the starfish.

Trim any excess clay around the molded images with a needle tool or craft knife (or with scissors when the clay is fresh or after it has dried). 

Optional:  mount a metal "Believe" charm to the center of the starfish.

 

Roll out white clay to about 1/4".  Roll enough to fit the mermaid stamp, with some extra on all sides. 

Stamp to make an impression (un-inked). 

Gently pull away the excess clay from around the mermaid image.

Let dry 24 hours. 

Apply rust paste paint to all elements.  Let dry.

Use the raw umber paint to apply a thin coat to the clay pieces and then rub off the excess with a paper towel.  This will add depth and highlight the details of the shells and the stamped image.  Let dry.

Add some touches of gold glitter glue for a little added sparkle.

Use Weld Bond Adhesive to mount then clay ball to the center of the lid, then mount the starfish on top.  

Mount the remaining shells around the starfish on the lid.

 

Glue the mermaid to the front of the jar.