Ancient Artifact with Creative Paperclay®

 

Hi there, Paperclay® fans.  I'm so glad you stopped by.  I love working with Creative Paperclay®, and today, I did a little experimenting.  I love ancient artifacts, and I wanted to try to achieve that look.  So,  I decided to combine Creative Paperclay® and Delight™ together, and see what happens.  I have to say, I was very pleasantly surprised.  By combining the two products, I was able to achieve these really cool cracks in the finish without having to do anything further.  Here is my finished piece.

Here is a close up of some of the cracks made in the finish.  Unfortunately, the camera does not do it justice, but it is really a cool effect.

Supplies Used:

Creative Paperclay®

Delight™ Modeling Material

FolkArt acrylic paint - Seamist

Baroque Gilder's Paste - Antique Gold
Spellbinders Texture Plate - Grate Works Two
Wilton silicon cake mold - Jewelry Designs, Global Designs

Directions:

Start with an inexpensive glass candle holder.  I got this one at Michael's for 99¢.  Clean glass with alcohol or glass cleaner.

Knead together Creative Paperclay® and Delight™.  I have no real recipe, but I started out with approximately a 3:1 ratio, respectively.  Then I added more Delight™ until I liked it.

Roll out a piece of the clay mixture long enough to wrap around your candle holder.  

Wrap clay around candleholder, and use your clay roller to adhere it really well to the glass.

Smooth the edge where the clay mixture joins, and trim off the excess clay from the top and bottom.

Add texture by pressing the Spellbinders texture plate into the clay on each side.  I did not worry if my impressions were not perfect.  Remember, this is supposed to look like an ancient artifact, thousands of years old and recently unearthed.  (Sounds like my studio).  

Mold two rows of border in the Global Designs cake mold.  

Remove from mold and adhere around top edge of candle holder.  I wet the border before adhering it.  This makes it stick better to the clay sides.

I made a small amount of slip to adhere this border because part of it touches the exposed glass on the very top, and I wanted to make sure it adhered really well.  Slip is made by adding water to a small amount of  Creative Paperclay® until it is spreadable, like white glue, as in the picture below.

I made two rows of a smaller border from the Jewelry Designs cake mold and adhered it along top edges, mitering the corners as I went along.  

I simply used my fingers to finish off the edges, using more slip, as needed, to make it look seamless.

I allowed the piece to dry overnight.  Then, I painted the entire piece with Seamist acrylic paint and allowed it to dry.  

I used my fingers to hit the high spots with the Antique Gold gilder's paste.  I used a Q-tip to apply some of the gilder's paste into the tighter spots.

Voila!  My ancient artifact is finished, and I am ready to put it to modern use, i.e., it makes the perfect holder for my mini misters.  

What will you use your ancient artifact for?

I hope you enjoyed my project today, and that you will give Creative Paperclay® and Delight™ modeling material a try.   Hey, after all, it is so easy and fun to use, with great results every time.  It is amazingly mistake-proof, and you are limited only by your imagination.  So, check out the blog for more inspiration, tips, and techniques on how to use these wonderful products.  I would also love for you to check out my blog for more ways to play with  Creative Paperclay®.

Thanks for stopping by today, and in the meantime, have a wonderful, crafty week!

Barbara

Tips and Techniques Thursday

Hello again, and welcome back to another Thursday edition of my tips and techniques.  Today I  am concentrating on a technique, as promised from my post last week.  I showed you that you can take your plastic packaging from some of the embellishments you buy and use them to make more.  You just need to look at it and see if you think it will work well.  (See my post from last Thursday).  In the photo below, you can see some of the pieces I made from packaging plastic, with the exception of the flower.  I used a Vintaj Arte Metal flower as my mold.  I used Paperclay to make the pieces.  It is an air dry clay and very easy to work with.  Just follow the directions on the package.  Drying time also depends on your weather.

The first piece, pictured below, is the one I made using the Vintaj Arte Metal charm.  I first colored the flowered with Amethyst Vintaj Patina.  

Next, I used Gold Leaf Rub n Buff and Copper Gilder's Paste, which acted as a bit of a resist when I added the Onyx Vintaj Patina over the entire flower.  I was attempting to tone down the color a bit.  

I used a soft cloth to remove the black color, and much to my surprise, some of the rub n buff and gilder's paste came off as well, revealing the amethyst color once again.  I was very pleased with this outcome.  

My next piece is the cute little owl.  I first colored him with Clay and Quartz Vintaj Patinas.  I removed some of the Quartz color and then added Onyx Vintaj Patina, with just a tiny dot of Quartz, to color his eyes.  I still wanted to shabby him up a bit, so I put a thin watered down wash of Onyx Vintaj Patina all over him and then quickly removed it.  It was just enough to make him look old.  I think he looks like he was carved from a piece of wood, and then left in someone's barn for awhile.  What do you think?

My last piece was also made using the plastic packaging shown in my last week's post, but it broke while I was working with it.  I first added Gold Leaf Rub n Buff, Verdigris and Copper Gilder's Paste, then a heavy wash of Onyx Vintaj Patina.  I removed the Onyx color, and again, much to my surprise, the pastes were acting as resists, and their colors shown through once again.  As I buffed the piece with my cloth, the shine started showing up, and it began to look more and more like a piece of metal.  

Even though the piece broke, I was able to salvage it by gluing it back together and covering the break with a gem stone.  I planned on using one in the middle anyway, so this just turned out not to be a big deal.  We can fix a lot of our mistakes if we just put our minds to it.  

I hope you enjoyed this week's edition of tips and techniques Thursday.  I will be going on hiatus for a few weeks to take care of some things, as well as get my studio back in some sort of order.  I will still be posting as usual, just not my Thursday tips and techniques for a little while.  

I will, however, be back soon enough, and until them, please come back often and see what I'm up to.  

Many crafting hugs to you all,

Barbara