FIVE IDEAS WITH PAPER CLAY

PAPER CLAY IDEAS

I've been playing with paper clay - here are a few ideas to try.

Beginning at the red rose circle and working in a clockwise direction:

RED ROSE CIRCLE - I rolled out some paperclay fairly thinly, then inked up a Darkroom Door background stamp with red Versacolor ink and pressed it into the clay.  I then cut a circle using a cookie cutter.  It would be OK as a feature or background on a card but would probably look better on top of a box as though its light its fairly chunky.

LEAF IMPRINT - The clay was rolled thinly again but this time a (real) fern leaf was pressed into it.  The only trouble was, that it left all its brown spored behind in the clay!!  I cut it out very badly, but the general principle is OK, and it should work with any leaf with prominent veins or stiff fronds.

PINK ROSE - I used the stamped clay left over from the rose circle, kneading it well to mix the red ink through the white clay (hence the pink colour), I then formed it into a rough sausage shape, then pinched it flat, so that it stayed flattish on one side and "petalish" on the other, then I rolled it into a coil and pinched it well together at the end, cutting off the "lump" at the bottom so that it sat nice and flat.

FACE - I used a silicone mould to make the face, leaving it to dry overnight, then added details with Sharpie pens, and a ribbon scarf (OK, I admit to doubting my skill at drawing hair).

GREEN TILE - I tried adding colour to the clay with strokes of alcohol marker  (as suggested on several sites).  It worked, but was a bit like hard work compared to using the stamp pad ink.  I inked a large background stamp from Stamp-it with black ink, stamped onto the rolled-out clay, then cut one of the tiles out.

I don't think I'll be using paper clay a lot - its not really my thing, but it was interesting to play with and I can see that for some applications it will be exactly what I need.  I like its lightness, that means it can be used on cards without overbalancing them, or for Carmen Miranda-esque earrings that don't pull your earlobes down to your waistline!  I also like its flexibility and will, at some stage see how it goes as a mould for polymer clays and suchlike.

BISCUIT BLISTER CARD

SUNFLOWER BISCUIT CARD

Its really tempting to look at all the fabulous ideas around on Pinterest and in magazines and reproduce the work of some of those amazing crafters.  The trouble being, of course, that its their work.

Sometimes, though a little inspiration is needed so I've been making a conscious effort to look at things other than cards for card ideas.

This example started as a big of a joke, but actually ended up OK....not sure that I'd give it to anyone but the concept kind of works.

Being a creature of habit, I have one of these little cheese and biscuit packs as an  afternoon snack, almost every day at work, so this particular piece of inspiration was close at hand.

I inked a small-patterned Cuttlebug folder with brown ink before embossing some dark yellow card, as a reference to the colours and vague design of the biscuits.  I made a tile by stamping into paperclay and then colouring it with water-based markers in biscuit and cheese colours, and then cut a little dark yellow butterfly.  I cut a piece of craft card, traced around the plastic blister of the biscuit container, and cut just inside the line of this as well.  After adding a few embossed lines for decoration, I pushed the container through the hold, and taped the edges to the back.

I used a Kraft basecard and put the embossed layer next.  I stuck the tile and butterfly (with wings raised) to some pretty Graphic 45 paper and secured it to the back of the blister, then stuck the whole assembly on top of the embossed panel.  A quote (also cut from Graphic 45 paper) finished the card.

Yes it is a bit wierd but its inspired me to look a little further afield for card ideas, and besides, it was fun!

MAGIC CLAY IN SILICONE MOLDS

MAGIC CLAY IN SILICONE MOLDS

I found my air dry Magic (paper) clay the other day.  Truthfully, it wasn't exactly lost, just put aside for 3 or 4 years....I don't really know why, as  I went through a phase of stamping into it and making topper buttons for cards with quite pleasing results..."been there done that syndrome" perhaps? Anyway, when I saw these Martha Stewart molds, I thought it was time to get the clay out again.
Unfortunately the years of neglect meant that the clay was a bit dried out.  Surprisingly as long as there was some moisture left, it still seemed to work OK, but clearly needed using up ASAP......hence all these little card-sized bits and pieces - great results for little effort.  Just push the clay into the silicone mold, then carefully remove it and leave overnight to dry.