Girl's Weekend at the Beach

What’s better than a girl’s weekend at the beach?  One that includes a Makin’s Clay® workshop taught by me!  Lol 

I recently designed a project for Makin’s Clay® called Sea Shell Votive.  Maybe you saw it on the Makin’s Clay Blog?  You can check it out here:  Sea Shell Votive

Anyway, off to the beach we went and on a quiet evening, just kidding, don’t think we’ve ever had a quiet evening, we gathered around the table and my friends worked on their projects.  This was the first time any of them had ever used Makin’s Clay®.  We had a GREAT time and they did a GREAT job! 

Here are a few pictures of the fun we had.  Thanks to Makin’s Clay® for sponsoring our workshop!

Completed Projects

 

 

More Pictures!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Star Flowers

 

These star flowers are made from a cane end and a solid color of clay extruded using a small diamond shaped disc from Makin's Clay.

Start with a cane end.

One end.

Same cane just the other end.

 

 

 

Add a solid piece of black clay to one end.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Reduce the clay so it fits in the barrel of the extruder.  Cane end goes in first.

Makin's Clay has two diamond discs.  The one on the right, the smaller diamond, was the one that was used.

The clay was extruded into a diamond-shaped cane.

I think it came out raggedy because I didn't warm up the cane end before I used it.  The clay was a couple of years old!  I used it anyway and put the scrappy looking end towards the center of the flower.  The center gets covered up with a crystal or a ball of clay.

Start cutting the end that came out of the extruder first which should be the solid color end.  Cut one inch pieces off until you start seeing color.  Before cutting, press one of the tips of the diamond down on a glass cutting surface (the diamond has four sides, press one of the sides flush with the cutting surface.)  This helps with distortion as you cut.  If the petals do get distorted, use the side of a blade to straighten the tips.  A thinner blade works better to cut with.

Cut eight petals about 1/16" or 1 1/2mm thick (or bigger if it makes them easier to work with.)  Arrange four of the petals like in this picture.  There are different ways the slices can be arranged.  They can be mirrored, with the same end pointing to the center or they can all be put the same way all the way around.  With the side of a blade, push the edge so it is straight.  This will help the two halves fit together.

Arrange the other four slices and straighten the edge.

Pick up one of the pieces with a blade, take it off of the blade with your fingers, and match it up to the other half.  Place a blade flat on top and press down to make the petals uniform and help them stick together.  It is also helpful to gently press down and to the center to help the petals stick together.  Add a crystal or a small ball of clay in the center of the flower.  I like to add one to both sides.  Use a blade to pick up the flower, otherwise, you may pull off a petal.

These flowers are in order from one end of the diamond cane to the other.  See how the outline is darker at the beginning?  If the chunk of clay was not added, there would be less definition between the petals. 

 

Memorial Day Earrings

Memorial Day Earrings

by Lisa Haney

 

Red, white, and blue earrings for Memorial Day, how patriotic is that?  These earrings were so easy to make.  And, because I used Makin's Clay they are lightweight and comfortable to wear. 

 

 

I rolled out the red and white clay on a #4 setting on my Atlas pasta machine.  I cut strips from each color then laid them side-by-side making stripes.  Next, I rolled out the blue clay and butted it up against the clay stripes.

I placed the entire piece between two sheets of hamburger paper, then, with a bone folder, I rubbed the clay together so the seams would join.  I did this to the front and the back. 

Using the large cutter from the Makin's Clay Star Cutter set, I cut out two stars from the patterned sheet.  I poked holes in the top of each.

Using Kemper cutters, I cut out six small stars and glued them to the bigger stars.  I added the earring hooks and jump rings. 

This is another pair of earrings I made using Makin's Clay, their texture sheets, Waves and Stripes, and the Makin's Clay Star Cutter Set.  I rolled out the blue and red clay and textured the blue with the Waves texture sheet and the white with the Stripes texture sheet.  I cut out two large blue stars and two large red stars.  I trimmed the red stars to be a strip down the middle of the blue star.  From white clay I cut out two small stars for the center of each earring.

 

 

 

 

 

Ralphie's Treat Jar with Makin’s Clay®

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is Ralphie.  He’s a big boy and he loves treats.

  

 

 

 

 

 

Pounce® Moist treats are his favorite.  He will sit and speak to get a treat.

  

 

I’m really big on recycling and upcycling so I thought I would give the empty treat jar a fun makeover.   Because the treat jar is plastic and not oven-safe, baking polymer clay on it was not an option.  I have been having fun creating with Makin’s Clay® so I thought I would check out what I could do with their air-dry clay. 

 

 

Back side of jar.

I simply rolled out 1mm thick sheets of the clay in all of the Earth Tone colors long enough to go around the jar and let them dry flat.  Because Makin’s® is so flexible, I was able to use scissors to cut the strips into different widths and glue them around the jar.  I used Beacon’s® Tacky Glue.  My new fave glue!  Love it!  Once it is applied, there is still time to fiddle with what is being glued but then it dries quickly so you can move on with the project.

Once the strips were secure around the jar, a strip of clay was glued down the back of the jar to cover the seams.  Then another one was glued down the front of the jar.  I used the pointed mixing wand from Makin’s® Clay Mixing Ruler™ to texture the edges.  I cut out the letters to spell “TREATS” using alphabet cutters and glued them down the front.  I cut a circle out and glued it on top.

This mold is from Best Flexible Molds by Penni Jo Couch.  I love her molds.  They are so easy to use.  The clay is pressed in the mold, the back trimmed, and then the molded item pops right out.  This mold is purr-fect for this project!!!  The cats are so cute. 

 

I molded the cats, fish, and paws then glued them around and on top of the jar. 

 

I glued two cats back to back for the knob on top of the jar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the clay was dry, I antiqued the whole thing with Reeves™ Raw Sienna oil paint by rubbing the paint all over the clay, making sure to get it down in the crevices, then immediately rubbing it off leaving it in the crevices so the detail would stand out.  Don’t forget to wear rubber gloves.

 

Done!  Nice, new treat jar for Ralphie!  When I showed it to him he said, “MEOW!” which I’m sure means, “THANKS, I love it!”