Crafty Tuesday - Cold Porcelain

Hello crafty people...and not crafty people are welcome too! Today I am going to show you what I created using homemade cold porcelain. First, I followed a very simple tutorial on how to make my own cold porcelain. That can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch/?v=AxqmMyLwxk0
Be sure you are very careful measuring the ingredients, I had a little bit of an overspill with the oil and now my clay is very very oily and takes FOREVER to dry. I have also found that I need to brush some cornstarch on the project to reduce the oily shine to it.

My daughter began trying to create a cat sculpture but quickly became discouraged when the head was too heavy to sit on the body she created.

I used markers to 'dye' the clay and used a simple blending technique with just my hands to create the gradated colors for this rose. I didn't take step by step pictures because there are tons of tutorial all over that would do a MUCH better job of explaining that I could. I then created thin strips from the blended clay and began making a rose. (Again, no step by step, but you can do a quick search for making a clay rose and find tons of tutorials online.) After the clay dried a little and wasn't quite so soft, I used a darker red marker to create some contrast detail on the tips of the petals. I really like how this one turned out. 

I created several different colors for this and balled each color and stuck it to the next. Once I had all the colors I created a long snake out of the clay and just spiraled the snake into the metal hoop. After flattening the clay I used stamps to create impressions in the clay and used markers to create the contrast.

These were just created by me messing around right after the clay was done 'resting'. The first image shows what the clay looks like dry and uncolored. Like porcelain, it has a slight translucent quality to it. The second image I colored with an ink pad. I thought I would like the rough edge but I think this is my least favorite of everything I have created so far.

 

I still have a pretty good bit of clay left and not sure what I will create with it just yet. Perhaps more roses as that turned out the best out of everything I made.

 

Once again, if there is any project you would like us to try, please leave a comment and let us know!

 

 

 

Charity & Michelle

Crafty Tuesday

Well hello fellow crafters...Today I (Michelle) want to talk to you about an easy, inexpensive craft project that can be used for just about anything.  I am going to explain step by step what I did and also show you with a few pictures along the way.  I hope you all enjoy.  Please let us know if you like it, and maybe comment with a craft that you may want to see in the future.  Okay, so here we go....

What you will need:

1. Glass candle holder or vase (depending on what size you want)
2. Glass candle stick
3. E6000 industrial glue
4. River rocks (again, depending on what you will use this for)



Next you will need to prep everything.  In this case we need to take the stickers off of our glassware.

The sticker on the candle stick came off very easy.  The one on the candle holder was a bit more temperamental but with some extremely hot water it ended up peeling right off.  After obviously drying off the glassware I was ready at this point to attach the two together.  So now we need to get our glue out....

I put a generous amount of glue on the rim of the candle stick.  Then I carefully placed the the candle holder on the top directly in the center of the bottom.

 I actually decided to flip it over and make sure it was centered.  I then put a heavy book or two on the top just to add a little weight to make sure the glue really adhered.  This glue dries fairly quickly, however obviously the longer you wait there would be less chance of it not being dried.  I had mine sit for about 2 hours (mainly because I got distracted doing something else. haha ).

 It was then ready to flip over and add my stones.  Again, you can add what ever you would like.  I am going to be using this to hold paint brushes.  You can also use something like this to hold pencils or basically anything else you can think of.  If you didn't want to use it for craft/desk purposes, you can alwasy use this for decoration around the house.  You can put a candle, candy, cotton balls, etc. basically anything you can thing of.

I was actually able to fit the whole bag of stones into this container.  I added the rest after this picture was taken, but for reference if you were wondering if they all fit..yes, yes they do.

I enjoyed this project because it was extremely easy to do and inexpensive.  The initial cost of the glue is worth it because this will last you quite a while for many projects.  You can use this glue on fabric, metal, wood, glass, ceramic and so much more.  It is also a permanent bond, but washer/dryer safe and flexible. I think I was able to find mine for $3.99, I am not sure if I got it on sale though or it was marked wrong.  The rest of the items came from Dollar Tree.  So, if you already have the glue this project would really only cost you $3.00 which I don't think is bad at all.

I hope you all enjoyed our Arts and Crafts Tuesday!!  Please comment let us know what you think and again if you have a project you want us to try out and show you guys let us know!


Thanks!!!

Michelle & Charity

Monday Contest

We enjoy many different forms or art and we would like to invite you all to share you talents with us.

Whether you paint, crochet, write, take photos we want to see it!!!

Now I know you see contest and immediately think...ooh, prize.  I am sorry to say that no prize will be given other then the fact that we will post you and your talents in our blog post next week.

I know what you are thinking...really no prize...why should I even submit anything.  I'll tell you why, even just by submitting to a contest with no prize it shows that you have confidence in your own talents and would like to share it with everyone.  Also, even the smallest exposure of your talent can eventually turn into an amazing experience that you wouldn't have otherwise if you didn't do that one certain thing.

With that being said,  depending on how many entries we get we may have a top three list. 

Now here's the real challenge...The theme needs to be Spring (warm weather)


I don't know about you all but Charity and I are getting pretty tired of the winter weather.  We want to see or read beautiful warm, sunny Spring like Art.  I am depending on you people!!  We need some inspiration and motivation to get us through these (hopefully) last few weeks of winter!

So now your thinking...ok well maybe I will just send something in it can't hurt.  You're right...it can't ;), but where do I sent it.  Well I will tell you, you are going to send your entries into our email.  kx2photo@gmail.com.  We are limiting the entries to two per person.  So make sure you pick your favorites!

We are super excited to see what you send us, so don't waste any time go searching through your talents and send some beautiful art our way.  We'll be waiting!


Michelle & Charity