Julie: Paperclay Long Legged Robin

Hello, hello.

 

My project today shows one way in which you can use a product which really has an endless variety of creative uses: Creative Paperclay.

 

And here's what I made:

The original idea and instructions came from Effie and, in case you missed her original version, you can catch up here on her blog. A group of us sat down and worked on our versions using the same basic techniques, and all came up with something quite different in the end.

 

I'd never worked with Paperclay until I made this little chap, but it was really fun once we got started.  And he's deceptively simple to make.

 

His body began as a lightweight ball [like polystyrene] into which we pushed wire legs and then coated in a layer of the Paperclay.

The head is a solid rolled ball of the clay pushed on to a cocktail stick, then pushed into the body.

 

TIP: When moulding and stretching the clay [eg. to create the connection between the body and the legs, or to create a tail] keep some water on hand to dip your fingers into occasionally to help you smooth the clay along without dragging it.

We set the birds aside overnight to dry through completely and, the following day we sanded the bodies for a smoother finish and painted them with regular acrylics.

 

And, naturally we added wings ... and a crown!

 

And if you're wondering how far a packet stretches: between us our group made 8 birds and we only needed to break into a second packet for a couple of heads worth!

 

There' much more info about Creative Paperclay here on the 3DJean on the website

 

If you've been putting your Paperclay to good use already, or you're thinking of trying it out don't forget you can always:

• Leave a link to or photo of your work on the 3DJean Facebook page OR
• Leave us a comment here on the blog.

See you soon.

 

Julie