It's a Creative World

Cute Stick Pin Embellishments...

Hello, Mandy here, back from a long (life-changing) trip to Kenya, Africa.  It's good to be back with you all, I've missed crafting so much!

After I'd caught-up on my sleep and hung out big time with dh and the pile of teenagers that live here, I came up for air and needed to get crafty inspiration i.e. blogs and sites of the crafty online variety.  Of course I checked out IACW and all that I'd missed while away (inspiring as always).  Then, while I was browsing on 2 Peas  I noticed a swap for scrapbook embellishments that caught my interest.  It was a stick pin (and toothpick) swap organised by a crafter called gus-gus.  I decided this was just the gentle start to getting back into crafting I was looking for.  I'd never taken part in a swap before and decided it was about time ;}     I checked it was OK to join in the swap from here in the UK and was warmly welcomed (crafters are so friendly!).  I didn't want to make stick pins with beads and decided to use air dry clay.  These are what I came up with...

I began by putting out what I expected to use.  The air dry clay is very lightweight, just right for scrapbook embellishments... it's called 'Super Clay' came in 12 colours and was only £4 from Home Bargains.  (Click on the photo below to make it bigger)...

Then I settled down, radio on, to play and have some crafty fun.  I used to use FIMO quite a lot in the past, making canes, beads etc so was surprised at how different the Super Clay was to work with.  Soft is an understatement (the packaging says 'Super Soft' and they were not fibbing) ...

B-U-T within a very short period of time (like 10 minutes) the clay changed and began to dry.  Instead of being 'stringy' and pliable it started to 'snap' (like blu-tac) and not be so easy to work with.  They had provided a zip-lock bag in the packet and I found that I had to keep putting the clay back into the zip-lock bag and only take the smallest pieces that I was going to use right then.  Saying that, two colours marbled beautifully together.  I knew I wanted to use a teeny heart cutter and after trial and error, this is the best way I found of making hearts on the end of the quilters pins I was using (they're longer than normal pins as specified in the swap a minimum of 2" length was asked for).  Make a larger than pea sized ball of clay.  Splat it and lay the pin as shown...

...fold over the clay and gently press it down...

Position the cutter and carefully press each edge of the cutter with the pin inside...

The finished heart totally covers the quilters pin head.  I also enjoyed playing and making a cupcake, mini eggs and a chocolate chip cookie...

I pushed the pins into a pin cushion to dry over-night...

Here are the six sets of 4 stick pins that I decided were going to be sent off in the swap (and notes on how they were made)... 

I covered the clay in 'Glossy accents' to add a shine, then left them overnight again, to dry hard... 

 

I used some teeny MM eyelets that I've had in my stash for a long time to decorate an egg and a heart.  They did need a tiny bit of Glossy accents to make them permanent in the clay.   I think these are my faves.  Oh, and a small sprinkle of purple glitter jazzed up a plain pink heart...

 The finished pins looked super cute on a new pincushion that dd bought me at the weekend...

 BUT, they needed packaging up into sets to be posted over to the USA for the 2Peas stick pin swap.  The postage was only £2.07 in a jiffy bag.  Can't wait to see what pins I get back in the swap. 

Cheap, fun and ready to personalise a scrapbook page (or card).  Ticks my boxes!

See you later in the month,

Mandy McK 

 

Just what you knead for Christmas

Whether you are three or seventy-three, there is something appealing about squishing dough between your fingers, rolling it flat or making sausages.

I've been making homemade playdough, and thought I would share my easy recipe with you.

It makes a great stocking filler for the small person in your life, or a party bag gift, or even just something to pass the time during the holidays when you find that the playdoh you bought months ago has dried up and gone hard.

In a large bowl, place

Then

Next

When the beeps sound, take it out...

So next you

Once more, when the beeps sound, take it out...

 

Then you

 

I use the paste colours, such as you buy in a cake decorating shop, as the colours are more intense and not so wet as to make the dough sticky. I use 25g tubs by Sugarflair, they cost about £1 a tub and last for absolutely ages, as you only need the smallest dab, about half the size of a 5p piece.

I bought some very inexpensive lidded tubs from the Tesco value range, about 20p each, and,  together with a few cookie cutters, these can be packed into a gift bag or box.

Simple Clay Embellishments

I don't know about you but I personally don't like to spend a lot of money on embellishments but prefer to buy them cheaply or make my own.

I had bought some Fimo to try but we didn't get along very well so I decided to try an air-drying clay and also some mini cutting shapes and paperclips:

 

I started by rolling some of the clay until it was approximately 3mm thick and then cut out various shapes.

While the clay was still malleable I embedded some paperclips in a few shapes and used a spare piece of clay to keep it stuck together. For the other shapes I used various rubber stamps to deboss the design in the clay and also experimented by pressing an embossing plate into another piece:

 

Once the clay had dried (I left it 24 hours) I decorated the shapes. The paperclip embellishments were coloured with chalk inks and then a letter sticker added before covering with Diamond Glaze. The other shapes were just inked. Of course paint and other mediums could be used instead of ink:

 

These can be used for scrapbooking, cardmaking or perhaps you could just have personalised paperclips?!

I hope I've inspired you to try making your own embellishments. If you do make any don't forget to leave a link - we love to see your work!

Jo xx

Clay Creations

This is a little project that is great to get your mojo going - and even something you can do with your kids.

Materials: Air dry clay

and (vary as you like) - angelina fibers, paints, stamps, other molds/icetrays/items to make impressions, heat gun, embossing powder, stylus/pin (for carving), glossy accents

For the beads, shape as desired. I used an embossing stylus to carve some designs into the clay.

I used a silicone ice tray to shape the heart, and I carved, "sweet," into the clay with the embossing stylus. For "friend," I used a Heidi Swapp stam to stamp directly into the clay, and I added Stewart Gill Byzantia chips (pressing them into the clay). For the star, I used another silicone ice cube tray to shape the clay, and I carved, "dream," into the clay.

For the shell, I pressed the clay onto a seashell, and gently lifted it off. For the moon stamp (tin can press), I stamped directly into the clay. I freeformed the small heart and wrapped it with heated angelina fibers (zapping it again with the heat gun).

Next, I added gold interference paint to the small heart.

At the same time, I stamped Stampers Anonymous wings into the clay, embossed them, and added angelina fibers. I zapped them with the heat gun immediately.

At this stage, I left all pieces to dry for several hours. I returned to work on them (not fully dry, but dry enough to add paint and other materials).

I painted the beads with lumiere paints and colour washes, finishing them with highlights from a krylon pen.

I added told interference paint and more gilding chips to the friend embellishment.

I used gold interference paint on the shell.

I painted the star with Stewart Gill alchemy paints. I added glossy accents to make it shine.

I used red lumiere paints and iridescent medium on the heart.

I painted a plastic box, added ribbons and beads, and then framed it.

Finally, for the moon, I made a shadow box from a 7gypsies tin. I spray painted the tin black and gold. I added the moon and angelina fibers (heated with a heat gun.) Next, I added previously made UTEE stars, and I glued on beads and coloured, shrunken plastic.

I hope this gives you some ideas for clay embellishments and projects.

xxx

Joy