Category Archives: tutorial

Tutorial on how to make a plaster angel

Tutorial on how to make a plaster angel out of an old tin and twigs for legs. There are a lot of pictures, and I will explain every step of the process.

List of materials

  • An Altoids tin or other tin with a lid
  • two sturdy twigs
  • plaster strips (can be bought on Amazon)
  • a flat stick
  • aluminum foil
  • masking tape
  • sandpaper
  • sealer
  • acrylic paints
  • clay face, polymer clay or air dry clay
  • Apoxie Sculpt or other epoxy clay
  • a piece of cardboard

I began the process by making a hole at the top of the Altoids tin and two holes on the bottom using an awl. On the bottom part, I pushed in the awl as far as it could go to get holes large enough to insert the twigs. You can use a drill, but you would need some clamps to hold the tin in place.

I used aluminum foil to keep the flat stick and the legs firmly in the tin, and then I sealed it with masking tape, making sure to tape the legs firmly to the box.

Then I wrapped the whole thing with strips of plaster. Use a separate bowl for water (not your water coloring bowl) to dip the strips, and put a protective sheet under the plaster. I used newspapers, but you can use plastic. Keep in mind that plaster is dusty and messy. The plaster will stick to itself, not the tin, so you need strips that are long enough to wrap around themselves. Note: wash your hands in the bowl when done, not under the faucet until most of the plaster is removed. Do not empty plaster water into the sink. I pour it outside, but you can let the plaster sink to the bottom of the bowl, and the next day (or so) pour the water down the sink and scrape the plaster into the trash.

(Sorry about the blurry image.) I wrapped the plaster especially tight around the top of the legs and the flat stick, several layers of plaster. Then I let it dry. If it’s cold to the touch the next day, it needs to dry longer. When completely dry, sand it lightly with some sandpaper, and seal it with two layers of sealer. I used Liquitex matte medium, but any sealer will work.

How to make the wings

I used 19 gauge annealed steel wire for the wings. See picture for how I bent it to form a figure eight (sort of.) The twisted part in the middle will act as the wall hanger. Bear in mind the wire will rust in contact with wet plaster, but I liked the effect. You can use aluminum wire if you don’t like rust.

Then I covered the wings with plaster and let them dry.

I worked on two different angel sculptures so the pictures are a bit mixed bag.

Re clay faces

I made the faces from polymer clay and painted them with various layers of paint. I have a tutorial on YouTube on how to paint faces. You can sculpt a very simple face out of clay and paint it. VIDEO LINK.

I added a piece of cardboard to the head for a headpiece and to hold the face in place. I mixed some Apoxie Sculpt to make a thin layer for a halo and stamped it with a rubber stamp. I rolled a piece of clay to stick on the back of the face to attach to the clay halo. I also added a flat piece of clay to the back of the cardboard.

When dry, you could see the flat stick through the clay, so I added another layer over it. Epoxy clay takes about 24 hours to dry completely. I also added clay to the wings to attach them to the body. Glue doesn’t work well on plaster even if it’s sealed, so go for some kind of epoxy clay.

My second doll is below.

The hearts on the chests of the two angels are made from Apoxie Sculpt and then painted when dry. I used raw sienna to paint all the edges of the tin and wings to get an aged effect.

Then I used unbleached titanium white and titanium white in layers to cover the body.

I sealed the angels twice when dry, painted the heart embellishments on the chests, and added some sweet affirmations from a Tim Holtz book of inspirational quotes. Two happy angels!! 🙂

They are available in my etsy shop Earth and Faery. Please check out my other art items for sale as well. 🙂 Thank you for reading this far. If you have questions, please post them in the comments.

Make a funky bird ornament

Make a funky bird, friends! I just posted a new YouTube video on how to make this fun and quirky bird (owl?) A fantasy bird maybe? Click HERE.

Make a funky bird

I have been pretty busy in my studio this month, but I’ve focused more on sewing than paint and paper. I made a couple of songbirds. They are so much fun to make, but now I have to put away all the sewing paraphernalia.

I got a couple of paintings made as well.

I think I mentioned in my last blog post that I’m re-issuing the old historical romances I wrote in the 90s. One is set to come out on September 1, The Undoing of Lord Saville, and the other is already out, TheTaming of Viscount Perth. If you like humorous sweet romance, you might like these. Only on Kindle at this time.

I hope you’re having some joyous time in your studio during these crazy times. I love going into my studio and make happy things. Nothing better to keep the positive vibes up! Well, meditation really helps too.

Lots of love, Maria

P.S. My etsy shop is shock full of fun and colorful items. Earth and Faery.

Spirit doll tutorial video

Spirit dolls seem very popular these days. This month I sold out all of my painted clay faces in my Etsy shop Earth and Faery. I had to get busy making more. I had this great idea to make a Green Woman version of the Green Man. It has been a great success, so far.

Then I got the idea of making a video tutorial on how to make a Spirit Doll using fabric scraps and one of my faces. I will explain more, and the link will be below.

https://www.etsy.com/your/shops/EarthandFaery/tools/listings/1012602710

I ended up making a series of Green Women until I ran out of green clay… That type is not the only one I sold. I make my usual faces too, and they are generally well-liked.

I also made some unusual ones. My creative muse has been working in overdrive all month.

I’m getting better at sculpting my own faces, but it has been a learning curve for sure, and it ain’t over!

I also got some funky sculptures done from styrofoam eggs and Apoxie Sculpt.

I had a lot of fun making the boots for the light blue chicken! To make the sculpture stand on its own, I had to make heavy shoes / boots. Each time I get a bit more creative, haha.

I also got a couple of paintings done.

Most of these items are available in my etsy shop.

So as you can see, creativity has been my friend this month, and I LET IT! No big resistance.

SPIRIT DOLL YOU TUBE VIDEO.

What are you working on now? I’d love to see some of your art in the comments.

Here’s an older Spirit Doll/ box I posted a couple of years ago. It’s mostly made from paper, and so easy to make!

Spirit Box tutorial.

And another one: Today I Made This Spirit Doll.

Make your own! You can paint the face on fabric, or leave it faceless. It’s the intention that counts!

Lots of love,

Maria

Seascape mixed media tutorial

Seascape mixed media art is on my table today. It includes so many things, the beautiful sea itself, shells, fish, mermaids, starfish, glitter, all-natural things that cheer my heart.

To give you some inspiration I’ve made a picture tutorial on how to choose the embellishments and finally put it on a canvas.

In my previous post, I gave you a tutorial on how to make a polymer clay seascape and glue it to a canvas. This one is a bit more basic. You may wonder what to do if you don’t have the ingredients. You can substitute pictures for shells and sea life, make cut-outs from blue paper and make a collage. I don’t expect you to have seascape shapes on hand, but if you do, have at it! 🙂 You can find some shells and glass pebbles at the dollar store.

Some background: I began a canvas using Liquitex modeling paste, and then spread various paints over it. I loved the texture that came of that:

Seascape background with texture

I didn’t like the colors so I altered them to more blue and green, but let me first show you what a new canvas with applied modeling paste looks like:

It’s hard to see white on white, but there are some waves. I have a stack of stencils with shapes that fit the sea, so I added a few. You don’t need to add too much. You might need a flat surface to add your ephemera.

Seascape mixed media steps

Once you have a canvas with dry paste (it doesn’t take long,) you can add all kinds of color with baby wipes, or a brush, and blend.

The old canvas that I altered to be more sea-like.
Sea shapes I can alter

I had a stack of chipboard sea shapes that were ready for a coat of paint, but first, which ones do I use? The canvas measured 8×10″, which was pretty large compared to the shapes. The mermaids were small in comparison, but I wanted to use one as a focal point.

Placing some shapes to see what fits.

The pink items are polymer clay shapes I made from molds and some charms I had lying around. I knew the mermaid shape would not be enough of a focal point, but I moved along.

Seascape and baking doily?

I tried many ways to make the mermaid stand out more, ending up with half a cupcake doily that I painted pearl with added glitter. As you can see, I painted some of the shells and starfish using metallic Inklingz paint. If you have any gold or silver paint in a tube, you can spread some on your finger and wipe over the items to get the shine.

The seascape didn’t work

I tried so many different configurations but knew the canvas too large. You can only add so many do-dads before it becomes too busy.

Seascape on too large a canvas

I decided to transfer some of the items to a smaller canvas, a 6×6″ size that I had. I first painted some green and blue paint to cover the old painting. Then I laid out the shapes and found a lot more harmony in this configuration. The mermaid is still kind of subtle, but the pearl doily draws you in.

Seascape on a smaller canvas

The starfish are as large or larger than the mermaid, but who knows, maybe there are giant starfish in the sea…

Here’s another sea-related item I made.

Mermaid art

The mermaid is created from polymer clay and baked. I glued the form to the canvas and added the do-dads. Lots of fun!

The other day I went through some online art classes I’ve bought when they were on sale, one of them, Bird peeps by Lisa Renner. That was a fabulous class! It’s polymer clay with a face mold.

I spent a lot of time in my studio this month. What else am I going to do while in quarantine? Arting is not a hardship! 😀 Here is a collage of other things I made:

Most of the items are available in my etsy shop, Earth and Faery. Due to the coronavirus sales have slowed down considerably, but that’s to be expected.

I hope you got some inspiration to try some art. YouTube is full of tutorials if you don’t want to try a seascape. Creativity makes you stay sane in these crazy times…

Lots of love, and stay safe!

Maria

My word for 2020

My word for 2020 is faith. It takes a lot of faith to blaze new trails in the wilderness of creativity. I feel inspired to move on, create things I’ve never done before.
First, I have a little inspiration for you, the process of my latest art journal spread:

Art journal pages tutorial with floral napkin and writing.
My word for 2020

I started by applying a paper napkin to the bottom half of the pages, using Mod Podge. I separated the two layers of the napkin first, and the top layer was very thin, making awesome crinkles in the paper when I attached it to the page. I then painted the top part an unbleached white and used an old gift card to scrape some green over the dried paper napkin.

Adding a paper napkin to my art journal
adding paper napkin

You can see the ridges in the napkin well, and where there is a paler area in the white paint where the Mod Podge acted as a resist, adding more interest to the page. I like how the flowers on the napkin shone through, making me think of spring.

I added stems from my stash of paper. Friendship sayings were printed on the paper, and I thought they would add more interest to the art. I cut out flowers from other stashed junk and glued them all down.

paper flowers added to my art journal spread
cut out paper flowers

I enhanced the stems and flowers with black lines from a ballpoint pen and wrote down my word for the year. Simple but fun!

my word for 2020 is faith
my word for 2020

I have dipped my toes into other media as in sewing. I’m obsessed with textile birds at the moment. Using two Ann Wood patterns that you can find at Annwoodhandmade.com, I made a songbird and an owl. Lots of fun, but also some frustration when things didn’t go so well.

Pink songbird made from scrap textiles.
Pink songbird

This debonair gentleman is called Sir Percival. He has lots of wisdom and goes his own way, but is always willing to offer a word of encouragement. He has lived a long life, and he likes to read books.

He’s fashioned from soft materials, but he’s not a toy. He’s an art doll enjoying lording it over other dolls, but he’s kind.

These two birds are for sale in my Etsy shop. You can find the owl HERE. The songbird is available HERE.

Apoxie Sculpt is of the most difficult materials I’ve worked with. I like the incredible hardness when dry, but it tends to be too soft, and if you wait, it gets too hard to work with. You only have a couple of hours of work time with the clay. I haven’t found the sweet spot yet.

I finished the bird I made a couple of weeks ago, painted two layers of paint and fixed the wobbly leg. It came out ok, but the turtle I made with the amethyst crystal did not end up as planned, but I’m learning. The clay is so different from polymer clay or paper clay. Since the end product is so much stronger, it’s worth learning how to handle it correctly.

The main thing is to have fun!

I hope you’re having fun this week. Make sure to add some creative practice to your day. Every day is a gift. Make it juicy!

If you missed my last post, here it is: Person or bird? I made some molded faces with Apoxie Sculpt and sewed them to fabric bodies. What do you think?

Happy creating,

Maria

Magic Journal Box tutorial

Magic is in the air in my studio lately. I have been inspired to try new and different things, as in making this type of journal box where you can write down and hide all your secrets. 🙂

I have gone into silicone mold casting adventures and making imprints with my polymer clay or air dry clay. I found small frames and other baroque metal borders and do-dads to use in my mold making. So much fun, and there is never a boring moment as you wait to see how everything turns out.

Anyway, try this journal box

I found a wooden box at Michael’s shaped as a book. It’s pretty big, approx. 7×8″ and it would be too big for polymer clay mosaics. I decided to experiment with mixed media paper, paint, glue, and found objects. I made the tutorial for this box.

Magic mixed media journal box tutorial
Magic mixed media box

I did not take pictures of every single step, but here goes. I painted the entire outside box a dark blue. The inside is painted green, but that does not show in the following picture. I’m giving you an idea of the size.

Magic box mixed media tutorial
Inside view of the box

I glued white tissue paper all over the front of the box with Mod Podge, making sure it was good and creased, squeezing it into a ball before I spread it out.

Magic box tutorial
Glued down white tissue paper on the front and spine of the box

On top of the white paper, I glued some yellow tissue paper for contrast and a pale layer of lavender.

Magic box with tissue paper
I glued down some yellow paper on the front
Magic box with glue
Magic box with glue

When I was finished with the tissue paper, I made liberal blobs with white craft glue for added texture. I had to let that dry overnight. You can also use blobs made with a hot glue gun and glue the hardened texture down–it’s faster.

Then I rubbed several layers of paint over the dry and creased tissue paper and glue. I began with a dark brown, rubbing it into the deeper texture. I also used dark purple and some turquoise. To tone everything down, I finally spread some white paint over the whole front.

Magic box with layers of paint
Layers of paint
Magic box tutorial
More layers of paint
More layers of paint
Magic texture!

When everything was dry, I started digging through my stash of do-dads. Placement can sometimes be tricky. I painted the inside green.

Magic box tutorial
Magic making mixed media

What I used

The metal frame is from a Tim Holtz kit. I stamped the word Journal on a piece of paper, glued it to the back of the frame, and filled in the opening with Judikin’s Diamond Glaze. The flower is a polymer clay imprint from a hair ornament. The key used to be part of an old wind chime, and the hummingbird and the dragonfly are die cut paper, which I sealed carefully front and back and edges with Mod Podge since paper can easily deteriorate. I painted those with Perfect Pearl powder and sealed them again.

Magic box tutorial
Magic box details
Magic box tutorial
Words stamped with permanent ink
Magic felt on the bottom of the box
Some felt to make the box softer inside
Magic box tutorial
The back of the box

I cut some green felt that had a sticky side and put that on the bottom of the box for a softer interior. I placed a bought paper border on the outside bottom of the box for more interest. Below is another box I made in the same style. Both of these are available in my Etsy shop Earth and Faery.

If you missed my previous post, Mixed Media Greeting Card Tutorial, you can still find it HERE.

It’s vital to try new creative things, even if it’s a struggle. You master something by doing it. Resistance and self-doubt be gone!

Have a great weekend, and may you always be inspired! 🙂

Lots of love,

Maria