Fun with paper clay

This box was a lot of fun to paint, but the real fun was playing with paper clay to make the medallion on top. I was playing with Model Magic, a really light weight paper-like air dry modeling compound. I had purchased paper clay the last time I was at Michaels and I figured I'd pull it out to see if it was any fun. I went to the web site for paper clay, www.paperclay.com and saw a few different techniques. I liked on that looked a little like this and figured I'd give it a try.

Paper clay is really wet to the touch. Really wet, especially if you're used to polymer clay. But it's very pliable, easy to roll out, and easy to mold. I rolled out a sheet of it and stamped with this Cre8it! stamp (our tribal good luck symbol - I was so excited to find this stamp!). I used Palette Hybrid ink on the stamp so I could see the outline really well. I was impatient and put the medallion in my clay oven and dried it. When it was all dry, I carved out the turtle. I painted with Lumiere paint in copper and let it dry. Then I used mars black acrylic paint to paint over it and wiped off the surface. It left the turtle dark. I then dry brushed it with olive green, very lightly, to give it a slightly aged look.

The box is paper mache, and I painted it black. Then I dry brushed copper Lumiere and olive green Lumiere over it. The edging is made of the paper clay, painted the same as the rest of the box. The inside of the box is painted copper and is very stark compared to the outside. I'm really pleased with how it came out. I made some polymer clay beads, too, and will have to try to make something with them to show you. I have way more fun making all the parts than I do trying to put stuff together.