Air Dry Adventures 2

I recently purchased some Creative Paper Clay. This material had me at Air Dry so wanted to experiment with it. I LOVE cloud clay and Makin's Clay but wanted something that I would be able to build on and work with a bit longer and would still give me that Air Dry bonus! SOOooooo, here are a couple of things I have made thus far and am in the process of letting them dry before painting them. These were taken a couple of days ago so the painting will start very soon. I am giving them 48hrs to completely dry before attempting the painting process. Now you can put your pieces over a heat vent if you want to speed things along, place them in your oven according to manufactures instructions which I believe is 250degrees for 30minutes. NOW, let me warn you that if you are using Styro Foam for your body armature do NOT use the oven at this temp. I used it at "warm" with the door cracked. My BIG MISTAKE was closing the door even on "Warm" (my oven has to be nuclear powered) which then caused the foam to begin to contract and distort. Nothing that couldn't be fixed but good to know lol.

My snowman is the first picture at the top, LOVE snowmen so of course we had to come up with a couple lol. Trisha is my LadyBug fairy doll and she is the second picture with her wings being the third pic. My little Snowman bust is really cute and came out just fine even after the Oven debacle. Will post pictures soon since some of the stuff had to be fixed so we are waiting for it to dry completely. Trisha has come away basically unscathed so I have started painting her already. Will keep you posted! Lj

Wishing Everyone "Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!"

The past 6 months have gone by in a whirlwind! I can't even remember some of what happened last week let alone 6 months ago but several things stand out for me in the past months. The Anniversary of Gloria Jarrett's passing May 19th, Leslie Howard Quillman Jr., Sept 4th. My trip to see my daughter and grandchildren which is always a true joy and blessing. Another year with Jack Jarrett! My son working on staying healthy both physically and mentally and doing a great job! My Son In Law Robert W. Freeman making it home from Afghanistan safely and reunited with his family. My daughter Natalie who is always a comfort and joy to be around. My husband who keeps me grounded and gives me a safe harbor to come home to. These things along with being able to work and do some of the things I love make me truly grateful. I have been blessed to love those who have passed, to have those I love still near me and to experience the joy of being a grandparent.
I am wishing for all those who actually read this that you have many blessings in the coming year, the wisdom to recognize those blessings and to enjoy them thoroughly when they are received because we aren't guaranteed a tomorrow. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Air Dry Adventures

I love cutsie type stuff and decided to try the Air Dry Clay after seeing some really sweet examples and realizing that it would be perfect for the little guys I have made in the past. I have made my own Cold Porcelain paste, which you can see the little Polar Bear Baby above that is made from this paste. It's very soft and does tend to flatten out if you don't allow your pieces to dry before attaching. Since I like little chunky guys this isn't such an issue for me as long as I keep the pieces relatively small. Be careful where you place your little guys when letting them dry, lol my little bear is now my bead canister topper. Yes, he's stuck there, lol.

 

This little guy is made with Makin's Air Dry clay. I really liked the consistency of this as well and had just a little trouble with some cracking while drying but feel that was due to continuously trying to manipulate while it was drying. This is where you have to work a bit faster than with polymer. All in all I like Makin's and will be doing some more little guys with this clay. My Penguin Baby is about 1 3/4" tall.

This little baby is made from Crayola's Model Magic. Now I like the finish when it drys but it's like working with marshmallow fluff lol. SO, you would most defiantly have to allow your pieces to dry separately then attach with a little glue once the clay had set up enough not to distort.

 

This by no means is a finished piece but I got my hands on some Cloud Clay by Amaco and I really liked playing with this stuff. The local store only had one bag and yes, you're right it was yellow, lol. Very light weight, easy to work with, held it's shape relatively well as long as your little guys are small. Otherwise again, make sure you let your pieces set up before trying to attach to one another. I purchased more of this clay in some various colors and will most definitely be using it to make more little critters!

Give Air Dry a try! I like the convenience of letting it dry and moving on to the next project. Deco makes a ClayCraft clay that is Air Dry that I would love to work with. If anyone out there has used it please post what your experience has been with it. There are a lot of others out there as well. Try to buy the better grades of clay, it will just save you a lot of headache in the long run. Thanks guys, Lj

Change can be GOOD

I spent the better part of last week moving my Tattoo business to another location. It wasn't to bad just trying to do it as quickly as possible to be ready to work.  The weather at least held out until this week which has been less than savory lol. I am not a "Winter" person and much prefer the bone soaking rays of summer which for us here in the North Country is about 6 months from now, lol. I have felt a bit disoriented creative wise so it's been a very unproductive couple of weeks. This isnt' typical so I am hoping that things get better soon, it's like having writers block, not cool. Hope everyone is having a great holiday season and will try to post something new very soon, Peace out! <3<3<3

My First Online Published Tutorial!!

My Autumn Faerie Treasure Jar won 1st Place in the November Challenge with PolyClayPlay.com. To celebrate I also have written my first tutorial so that you can make a Treasure Jar of your own! 

 Just follow the link provided here: 

http://www.polyclayplay.com/Cart/categories/Artist-Corner-Tutorials/Loria-Designs/

Thanks so much for taking the time to look! If you have any questions or comments please don't hesitate to contact me! I would love hearing from you!