Paper clay fairy

I have a love/hate relationship with paper clay. On one hand, it is pretty easy to work with,and no trouble at all to finish, you simply let it air dry.

But it is a bit more rustic/primitive than I like. I wish it was a little smoother.

Sculpy is smooth, but too hard for me to mess with, since I have old lady hands.  That stuff isn't as pliable as I'd like, and I don't want to have to bake the clay when I'm done.

On the other hand, paper clay is ideal for things like these pumpkins we are using for  the classes at Romantic Gothic Ghosts.  For that Saturday's class, I'll be providing one pumpkin and the attendees will be making one from scratch themselves.

So, I whipped up a few punkins in advance. When done, I had plenty of clay left over and thought I'd make a raven.

She sits on top of a bottle that got foofed up with old lace, charms, silk, and rhinestoney bits.

Have you ever tried "Perfect Pearls"?  I bought 4 pack and used the white one on my kitchen walls for the redo.  I tried out the bronze one on the black paint of the raven, on the bottle, and on the charm.  I think I like the stuff, I have some other ideas for using the other colors. I've heard that you can make a spritz with it, similar to Glimmer Mist.  

There was still some clay left over, so I made a little fairy.  She is kinda pigeon toed and has two left feet.

Not to mention the cankles on that poor kid.

But such fun to make.  I could spend all of my time making fairies.  Maybe if I did, I'd get better at the ankles and the fingers… Although I do think that my main problem is that the paper clay is just rough and doesn't do detail well. If only I didn't have those old lady hands, I could work with Sculpey and get better results.

Or so I tell myself.

Maybe I just make badly done ankles and fingers…

The dressing of the doll is the best part anyway.  I just glue everything onto her, I don't sew her clothes.  Heck, she isn't a Barbie, there is no wardrobe for her, this outfit is the only one she has. I might as well glue it in place and skip the dreaded needle and thread.

And see how I solved the ugly finger problem?  I stuck a posey in her grasp, and glued it into place.

But those ape knuckles she had still showed.  So, I dotted some glue right on those ugly knuckles and lightly tapped the silk ribbon tied to the posies, right into the glue. Ta-da!  Hidden away.

Her shoulders weren't all that symmetrical or anatomically correct either.  She looked a little bit like maybe Quasimodo mated with an elf and she was the result.  Rows of white flower petals that were glued to her arm, and some glued to her shoulder hid all of that away.  The "sleeves" had to be made so that the arm could still move, but that also camouflaged the fact that her arms were more hideous than those legs.

The legs are painted with stocking stripes, and have a ruffle glued to the top. Her bloomers are silk glued to her bottom and a row of lace glued to her thighs.  

This is the back view.  I did use the Good Stuff, all the materials are vintagey, lacey or silk.  Nice supplies, that I loved working with.  While she isn't exactly the world's most charming fairy, I think that the materials I used elevated her a bit.

If you want to give paper clay a try, we will be working with it on Sat. Oct. 3rd during our class. There is space if you'd like to join us. Details here.