Avalon Potter for ILovetoCreate Teen Crafts: Mythical Leaf Creature

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Leaf Man Sculpture Copyright Avalon Potter for ILovetoCreate

ILovetoCreate Teen Crafts
Mythical Leaf Creature
An Avalon Potter Original Creation
“Teen crafted, mom approved.”

We were assigned the task of creating our own mythical creatures at school recently. I have always loved Greek mythology, so I was very excited about this project. While my friends were busy making flying evil dolphins and Medusa berries I thought I would go with something a little less sinister (yes, a dancing leaf). My magical leaf had to be 3-d for my school project so I went out in search of paper clay and a manikin. Once I had finished the leaf I still felt like it needed some thing more, so I thought what better way to give it life then to paint it with Tulip and Crafty Chica sparkles and paints! I had lots of fun making my leaf creature and I hope you do too.

Materials
Paper clay
4.5 inch human manikin
Paint brush
Aleene’s spray acrylic sealer
Tulip soft fabric paint (Light green)
Tulip white glitter paint
Little Chica Paint Packs (Green)

Tools
Paintbrush


Instructions

1. Take the mini manikin and position it as you desire.

2. Cover the manikin with a medium to thick layer of clay then cover the torso and head with clay hanging off of the sides to use to form your leaf. On the tips of the feet make a curve to form the elfin shoes.

3. Sculpt the clay on the sides into points in random spots to make it appear like a leaf. Then add a vein with a few smaller veins off the sides running through the middle of the body.

4. Cover the back of the head and the torso with more clay including the clay hanging of the armature. Fill in any cracks.

5. Let the clay dry for one to three days and fill in any cracks as they appear.

6. Get the light green paint and paint the limbs and the vein the light green.

7. Take the dark green paint and paint the torso and head (excluding the vein) dark green.

8. Paint the metal and platform white. Let the paint dry.

9. Take the clear sparkle paint and coat the entire leaf with it.

10. Once the entire armature is dry take the coating and spray lightly over the entire project two to three times. Let it dry and your adorable leaf friend is done.

Crafty Chica's Talavera-inspired Painted Mug Set

It's Cinco de Mayo week, but that doesn't mean I'm into the stereotypical tequila shots. Instead, I decided to celebrate a traditional art form from the state of Puebla, Mexico (where the Battle of Puebla took place) - Talavera pottery! Known for the cobalt blue painted accents, it usually has a color story of deep reds, earthy greens and oranges. Here are directions for my "crafty chica" version so you can visit your local paint-on-pottery store and make your own!

 I started with Duncan bisque and a pencil. I also printed out some Talavera images for inspiration and guidance. Basically, it is a lot of swirls and flowers. And then I simplified because it was my first time!

 Once I finished sketching on the bisque, I filled in with Duncan® Concepts® Underglazes for Bisque and Majolica. First I filled in the inside spaces and then added the background color - and then I went over all the edges for a refined look. I added some lighter shades on top of darker shades for definition. I trimmed the ridges in blue, keeping with tradition. The last step is to outline all the designs with a VERY thin liner brush with black.

 Let it dry and then dip or brush on pure•brilliance™ Clear Glaze on both sides. Let dry.

 Fire in the kiln, cone 6.

 Here is my finished piece, I signed the bottom because I had faith it would come out just the way I wanted and I wanted proof that I made it!

Here is the saucer. I used an orange background, I was hoping for more of a tan-orange, but I still like it!

  I painted the inside of the mug Really Red.

 Close up of one of the designs.

 Happy me with my new mug! I'm inspired to paint a whole dinner set now! I hope you are too!

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Crafty April Showers bring Rolled May Fabric Flowers

I love the look of rolled fabric flowers. I love how easy they are to make even more. There are a million and one tutorials out there on how to make them, but I thought today for I Love to Create I would add to the pile with a few new spins on the classic.

The basics of rolled flowers goes like this... Get a long strip of torn fabric that is about 2"s wide. How big your flower is depends on how long your strip is. Be sure to tear the fabric and not cut it. The rough edges and stray threads are half the fun. Fold your strip in half wrong sides to wrong sides. When you first start rolling make your roll really tight and add a few drops of Fabric Fusion Glue. After the initial tight roll start twisting your fabric as your wrap it around the roll add Fabric Fusion Glue as you go. Still confused? My Sparkle has some really easy to follow step by step pictures.

First there is the basic fabric flower. Just roll and go. That is exactly what I did to make a bright and kitschy headband. There is nothing wrong with using a solid colored fabric, but I prefer a pattern myself. You might recognize these flowers from the fabric I used to make my suitcase lap top case. I just happen to have a slew of 80's bows I found at the thrift store and a white plastic headband on hand.

Put them all together and that is where the hair magic happens. I used Liquid Fusion Glue to attach the bow and flowers to the headband.

Another popular motif with the rolled flowers is the bib necklace. This is where I first spied rolled flowers and it was true love ever since.

I made my rolled flowers just as before, but this time I wrapped them in colored thread and coated the bottom with Fabric Fusion Glue a second time to keep the thread in place. I love the way the teal, yellow and hot pink pop against the black and white flowers.

After my flowers were ready I used Liquid Fusion Glue to attach them to a black bib.



All that was left to do was add a couple of jump rings and black chain.

Crazy quilts + rolled flowers = true love 4/ever. I decided to make my own fabric my using Fabric Fusion Glue to attach several small squares of fabric. Once the glue was dry and I had a long strip of patchwork fabric that I rolled into a flower.

Somewhere along the way I picked up this vintage piece of sequined floral felt. I cut out the leaves to use with my patchwork rolled flower and saved the flowers to use on another project.

Ta-da patchwork rolled flower hair clips with sequined felt flowers. Speaking of felt, special shout out to Jen from Hell Razor for sending me the adorable mustard hair bow.

I have to say this is my favorite one out of the bunch.

For my last trick I thought I would tweak the technique I used to make ribbon flowers. Tear a strip of fabric and slather with Tulip Soft Fabric Paint randomly. Tulip Spray Dye would work well too.

Once the paint is dry roll into a flower and secure with Fabric Fusion Glue. I decided to make this flower into a pearl encrusted brooch.

Are you excited to get your flower roll on? Can you hardly wait to rush out and start ripping, rolling and gluing fabric strips? I warn you they are addictive, which is ok since they are really easy.


Check out more I Love to Create projects by Jennifer Perkins right here.

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