Dem bones, dem bones, dem fish bones! Part 1

Mrs. B is extending the giveaway for the bat and pumpkin cupcake necklace I made giveaway until the 1st of November so if you still want a chance you can hop on over there and add your name to the bunch.

http://www.confessionsofapagansoccermom.com/2011/10/giveaway-from-marie-segals-art-from-my.html
You can see the necklace in the picture below the cat picture.

Thank you for your votes on the Fave Crafts Blog Hop. I did not win, but I feel great about bringing a ton of new people and unique votes to their web page and I could not have done it with out all of you. Blessings all over all of you.

Spooky fish skeleton that is not just for Halloween.
At least that is what I think anyway.
I love this cane.
I hope you have fun making it too.


You will need:
Black Cernit
Opaque White Cernit
Porcelain Cernit
Biscuit Cernit
Clay slicing blade
Clay machine
Ruler if you wish

I mixed the black clay with Biscuit and the white clay with porcelain in equal parts
Condition and roll out the black in to a sheet on the thickest setting in your clay machine.

I cut five sheets in black 2 1/8" by 1 1/2".














Roll the white clay out on the 3rd thickest setting.
We will cut down the white sheets to size but these are a great size to start with.

Cut out 5 sheets of the opaque white 2 1/8" by 1 1/2".  You can use a black sheet as a template.

Cut off 1/8" from each side of the long side of the white sheet.

Lay a black sheet down and place this white sheet in the very middle of it.

Take another sheet of black the same size as the ones above and rolled out on the 3rd thickest setting like the white sheets above and cut off 1/8" from the long side.

Place the black strips on the side of the white sheet on both sides.

It will be like there is a whole sheet that is 2 1/8" by 1 1/2".

Add one of the 5 black sheets that you cut in the beginning to the stack above.

It will look like this from the side.

Cut off a little strip that is a bit bigger than the first ones ( 1/4") you cut. Do this from both sides of the sheet.

Place in the middle of the sheet of black that you just placed on the stack.

Cut off strips the same size as the ones you just cut off of the white sheet out of the black clay rolled out on the third thickest setting.

It will look like this.

Add another one of the first black sheets that were cut.

Cut off a strip on each side of one of the white sheets that you cut before, these strips will be a little bit bigger than the last strips.

Add the white sheet that is left to the stack in the middle.
Add strips of black clay rolled out on the 3rd thickest setting to the sides of the white sheet.
Then add another one of the first black sheets that you cut in the beginning.

Cut a bigger strip from each side of the next sheet of white.

Add the white sheet to the stack in the middle of the stack.
Add black strips to the sides of the  white sheet.
Add one of the original cut sheets of black to the stack.

You can guess what happens with the next white sheet right? I knew you could.
Cut strips on both sides of the white strip that are bigger than the last strips and add that to the stack.
Add black strips to each side of the white sheet.

Stand the cane stack on the end like you see it and cut through the center of all of the sheets.

Here is another view.

Add a sheet of white to the center of the cut on one side. The sheet will be rolled out on the 3rd thickest setting.

Put the stack back together with the white sheet in the middle...











Stay tuned for part 2.

To antique or not to antique... part 5, a little project- Inspirational tags

These are the Nature colors http://www.clayfactory.net/cernit/cernit.html  from Cernit and they happen to look very much like sand and stones. They have a porcelain look to them and are filled with all kinds of fibers and glitters. You can click on the picture for a larger view.

They also look very nice, you guessed it, antiqued!

You can find these colors at my husband's on line store Clay Factory http://www.clayfactory.net/ .

For quick and easy little tags for book marks, necklaces, and earrings. I am sure you can think of  lots other things for them too.

Inspirational Tags

Cernit Nature colors in your choice (link above)

Clay Words Sheet stamps 269-001, 30 words- ERAGraphics http://www.eragraphics.com/wordsclay.html

A Bic stic pen

Black or Brown Ne-opaque- Clay Factory http://www.clayfactory.net/jacquard/neo.html

A piece of old towel

Brush

Condition the color of clay you want to use.
Cut the stamps apart, or not. That is really up to you I guess.
Roll little coils that are a little longer than the stamp you are going to use.
If the words are skinny make the coil smaller in diameter.
If the words are thicker make the little coil thicker
These two in the first step should give you the general idea.

Flatten and lengthen the coil a little.

Lie one end of the coil at the bottom or end of the word and have the excess  extend over the beginning of the word.

Do not press the stamp all the way in. It looks better if you do not have the outline of the outside of the rubber there on the clay.

When you antique it after it is baked it will highlight that line there.

Do not peel off the stamp yet.

Use the point of the pen to make the whole in the top

of the little tag.

It works great if you press gently on the rubber to hold it and drill the pen to loosen it from the clay and make the hole.

Peel off the stamp and then bake this on a tray just the way it is.

Going through it again with the other stamp.

Smaller or thinner stamp, smaller coil, flatten and lengthen a little.

Press in the little stamp, these stamps are made for clay and are very deep, so do not press too far. It is OK if you do because you just smash it up and roll in to a coil again.

No worries.

Use the pen again and drill the little hole in the one end.

Peel the stamp out.

BAM!!!!

Now bake these at 275 degrees for 30 minutes, shut off the oven and let them cool in the oven.

When cool, paint with black or brown ne-opaque and let it dry a little on the clay. With a damp not wet old piece of towel and rub(sometimes vigorously) the excess paint off.

Easy or what???

 No hole you can use them as glue on words. If gluing on, I suggest Weldbond or Crafter's pick the Ultimate glue for the job!

Project Sheet

I am so sorry about not posting sooner, life got in my way and when I can get clear on what has happened I will post about it, or not. If I don’t have to repeat last week, it is a very good thing. But… it would make a great comedy skit; you just can’t make this stuff up.
The holidays are coming (gee, ya think?) and I am backed way up, with no money (like that is new for anybody). So that means I have to make something, I need to do that. So I am going to take the easy way out here and post some stuff that I have on another site that is new!
I have two new projects up on the Jacquard website; the first one is the silverware with the Granite Cernit that I showed here. There are step by step instructions and pictures for you!!! If you need a last minute but totally heartfelt and individual gift, this just may fit the bill.
Easy Stone-like Silverware
https://www.jacquardproducts.com/easy-stone-silverware.html

This is a very easy project so you will just have enough time to get this done!!

I'll post the other later.

Blessings all over all you all.

Bracelet Blank Project Sheet

I am selling a project sheet on how to use the bracelet blanks that the Clay Factory carries. The link will take you to the page where the blanks are, then scroll down a little. It is a full color photo step by step tutorial, with 7 different bracelets in it. Howard has also agreed to give you the tutorial if you purchase the 20 bracelets quantity. The project will be emailed to you in PDF format and you will need Adobe reader and you can find it here www.adobe.com. I also include in the project sheet the "blanket cane". This bracelet was made with a Victoria James Texture plate and you can Check her out here http://www.victoriajamesart.com/. Click on real texture sheets, and while you are there take a look around.

Here are some of the other bracelets you can make.

The turquoise bracelet and the one in front of it are made with stamps from http://www.eragraphics.com/

There is some great stuff here.

Making word molds

Cernit Scrap Clay http://www.clayfactory.net/
Alphabet soup noodles (Found these in the Mexican food section of my grocery store)
Amazing Mold Putty http://www.alumilite.com/
Small piece of Plexiglas or glass (I have one that is 2”x 2 ½” that my fiend Pnina gave me, it is perfect, I can see through it and it is small)
Clay Blade
Piece of cardboard, I use a box top cut to fit in the tray of my oven

1. Condition the scrap clay and make it one color.
2. Run it out in the pasta machine on the thickest setting or 1/8” thick. If you don’t have a pasta machine, place two Popsicle sticks on each side of a flattened with fingers 2” round of clay and roll out with a rolling pin or clear glass jar, make it as smooth as you can or it will show in the mold when it is done.
3. Trim the end of the clay with your blade for a straight edge
4. Find the letters you are going to use, sometimes the letters are not perfect, look for the good ones. Place the letters on to the clay right directly above the cut edge.
5. Place the Plexiglas over the top of the letters and GENTLY press the letters in to the clay. Do not press the letters further than half way in to the clay.

6. Trim all the edges of the clay around the letters and place on your baking cardboard. I like to trim the edges very close to the letters. You can also make shapes if you wish, like thought bubbles and curved pieces, but I mostly use the straight pieces of clay and find that it works best for more situations. Think of word magnets for refrigerators and how you can out them together to form thoughts and statements. Mwaaaahhhhh! Boy can I think of a few choice phrases right now! It is working with phthalate laden clay for all these years that does this to me, wink, wink!

7. Once you have all of your word pieces, bake according to the manufacturers’ directions.

8. When they are cool, scoop out equal amounts of “part a” and “part b” mold putty and mix the white and the yellow together till it is one color about 1 minute to make sure it is completely mixes. Since the words pieces are so small I suggest you use a small scoop-like utensil, like the small end of a melon ball maker or a old ½teaspoon measuring spoon to scoop out the putty. I scoop out one color and then wipe off the spoon with an old towel and scoop out the other color. I get closer to the same amount this way. OR…isn’t there always an or?
Roll a bit of putty in to ½” coils and cut into ½” sections of each color and mix together 1 section of each color together, do not forget to wipe off the knife you cut the coils with, before cutting the other color coil.
Now that you are thoroughly confused…

9. When the colors are thoroughly mixed roll the mixed putty in to a coil that is as long and as wide as the word tile you want to mold. You may be able to make two or three molds from one mixing depending on the size of your scooping tool. Now press the putty down around the tile and make sure it is covering the whole tile and close to the tile on all sides.

10. I press on the top of the putty to press it down and then on all of the side and then down on the top again (not hard, PRESS NOT SMASH). Luckily this putty takes a little time to set up, which is nice so you do have some time, but don’t get up to go to the bathroom once you start mixing this stuff up.

11. After you get them all done, get out of the house for 15-20 minutes, do not do what I do and play with them and move them around and stick my nail in the top. Just go do something else. It is easier on my impatient self when I go away from the putty. If you could see my molds some of them have a ton of nail marks in the top of them. It is fun if you want to do it, just go right ahead, life is short, have fun.

12. After 15-20 minutes you can now stick your nail into the putty and it should not leave a mark that lasts, it will feel like it is bouncing back, then it is done.
13. Release the clay tiles from the putty. I also let them set just a bit longer after I release the tiles to let the inside set a bit more. If the letters stick in the mold, gently pick them out with a needle or a needle tool.

14. Roll a coil of clay about ¼” thick and as long as the mold tile on the inside of the mold.

15. Push the clay in to the mold, the mold will spread a little, so push on all sides of the mold to get the clay strip to be the right size.

16. Slice off the excess clay with your blade by slicing along the top of the mold.

17. Release the clay from the mold gently; try not to smash the letters. I make these molds kind of thin so that when I bend them back they bend easily and the clay releases easily and then I can grab the sides of the clay gently with out wrecking the letters.

18. You can bend the words in to different shapes, if you rub a little Pearl-ex powder just on the surface of the letters with your finger, it will make the letters stand out.

Here are some of the brooches that I make with these word tile molds.