Create This Delightful Bear

This cute bear was made with Delight air-dry clay following a tutorial from the makers of Creative Paperclay.

Delight clay is one of my favorites.   It is extremely soft and easy to shape or mold.  It holds its form while shaping and then air hardens to create an extraordinarily lightweight (about ½ the weight of Creative Paperclay) finished piece.

Water base paint can be kneaded into Delight to make an infinite range of colors with which to work. Of course, it can be colored with any kind of paint after it's dried. Note:  When you add acrylic craft paint to tint the uncured clay, it will dry to a slightly lighter color.

This teddy bear tutorial is suitable for beginners....modeled with basic shapes, mostly teardrops!

Tips for working with Craft Porcelain

Tips for working with Craft Porcelain from Linda Peterson.   She says:   "It's not a new medium, though it is maybe an unfamiliar one. I first introduced this air dry clay on The Carol Duvall show a couple of years ago. It is definately one of the shows that I would consider one of my 'hits'."

In that comment, Linda is referring to the commercially available Craft Porcelain (by Amaco) and not necessarily the homemade cold porcelain paste we've often referred to on this blog.   Products are very similar .... but I'm told by those who've used both products that there some difference in the handling characteristics between this brand and the homemade paste.   Around the world there are many other brands of cold porcelain commercially available at reasonable prices...but in USA, not so much.   Not yet, anyway!  ;-)

Linda goes on to say:    "Today I was again working with Craft Porcelain clay doing the designer thing in trying to 'stretch' its limits and see what you can mix in...and what you can't. I have several 'test' pieces lying on the workbench drying."   Click here to read more about her experiments.

Have you tried both Craft Porcelain and homemade cold porcelain?    Would you post a comment about your experience and give us your opinion?

Make this business card holder

Wouldn't you like to have this cute holder to display your business card or a photo?    This tutorial from Makin's Clay shows you how to make all the tiny flowers, the pots and the picket fence.   Have fun making a bunch of colorful clay flowers!   Great beginner tutorial!

Flower Garden Project

How to make cold porcelain paste

Cold porcelain is a very versitile air-dry clay that you can make at home with simple ingredients.  It cures/dries to a hard, durable 'porcelain-like' finish.  In this video, Sangeeta Shah shows you how to make her basic cold porcelain recipe, which she cooks in microwave for just a few minutes.   I've followed this recipe myself and I can testify that it is very easy to make cold porcelain this way!

More about cold porcelain at Cold Porcelain Tutorials

Making Cold Porcelain Chrysanthemums

Chrysanthemums come in many types and colours, but here is a good starter.  Margaret shows you how to make a fairly simple white flower!   You will need cold porcelain paste, Chrysanthemum cutters, wires, glue and basic tools.   See yesterday's post for making your own cutters.  

You'll also need a colorant.   This tutorial calls for oil paint, but you can also use acrylic paint or paste and powder colorants found in cake decorating stores.

Making Cold Porcelain Chrysanthemums