The Making Of The Penguins

I promised on Friday I'd share what was in the box, first though go grab some coffee this is a long (but worth it) post.  Go ahead I'll wait..........oh good you're back!  We've been doing our Christmas party for years, I don't even know how many!  Every year I'm excited about my gift and in the past I've learned to make an extra for me to keep, then it's not so hard parting with the one I made.  We'll this year my grand idea didn't work out as planned so I needed a plan B...then it hit me....my vision....I think there was an actual light bulb above my head!  I was going to use the clay to make ornaments!!!!  WHAT ornaments though?????  Penguins of course!!!  Making penguins is one of my favorite punch art, so why not make it out of clay!!!  I'm so extra excited about my gift this year!!!  Almost giddy!!!

 

So here's what was in the box....two, might I say ADORABLE penguin ornaments!!!  The penguins are made 99% with SU products, the only thing not SU is the little eye hook (or whatever that thing is called) that the twine is hanging from.  So let's go over these sweet little guys in detail....I warned you this would be a loooonnnnng post! 

Here's the third one, I told you I made a spare for me to keep!  I wanted to keep the pink one, but I was out voted by the rest of my family!  They all wanted the blue one :)  They're all stinkin' cute though!!!!!  The penguins are made completely of the Simply Pressed Clay.  The parts that aren't white I dyed with our reinkers, I used Melon Mambo for the pink one, Bermuda Bay for the blue one and Summer Starfruit for the yellow one.  For their beaks and feet I use Pumpkin Pie reinker.  For the penguins bodies I used staz on-I'm about to admit something here...I don't own a black SU ink pad.....I use Staz On for all my black stamping.  So I only had staz on reinker.  Now when you're dying clay.....and using staz on reinker......WEAR GLOVES!  I can't stress that enough.  My fingers were black for days!!!!!

They're so cute when they hang!!!!  For their eyes I color rhinestones with a black permanent marker.  I used the large rhinestones for the top of their hat and the Silver Glass Glitter for the brim on the hat.  These penguins just keep getting cuter!!!!!     

They're not huge by any means.  They're perfect ornament size and they're so light!!!!  Our clay is fantastic---I was a fan before but now I'm in love with the clay!!!!  The penguins measure about 2x3 and about 1 inch deep (if you count the beak).  The little hooks are just screwed into the hats, after they dried. 

I took pictures while making them, it took about 2 days total. They took a little longer than I thought to dry.  Here's part of the process.  I worked quickly with the bodies and scarves and stuck them together before the clay was dry so that the clay would 'mold' together and hold them together.  No glue involved in these steps.  I did get the beak and the feet onto the blue penguin, but later decided I would glue them on.  The feet I made using the smallest of the heart framelits.  I rolled out the orange clay like cookie dough and used the framelit like a cookie cutter to cut the hearts out.  I laid it all on wax paper to dry and left it for the night. 

The next morning I picked them up, they're backs weren't completely dry so I flipped them over and let them finish drying.  :)  Molding them I didn't find too hard.  The bodies are just circle, I rolled the clay into a ball and gently pressed it into flat circles.  The hats I did in a similar way, I made an oval though, pressed it out and then shaped it into a hat, just take your time.  The scarves I rolled out a 'snake' then pressed it flat.  They're simple shapes, just take your time :) 

Once they were dry, I used my tombow glue to glue on the feet, beaks, eyes and the ball on the top of the hat.  Let it dry....lots of drying time.  Once that was dry I used Crystal Effects to add the glitter to the brim of the hats.  They can't lay flat anymore, at least not until the crystal effects dried, so I pulled out rolls of washi tape for them to rest on. 

Finally the last step was adding the hook and twine.  It worked perfectly and I couldn't be more pleased with the final result!!!!  There's a good chance you'll see lots more clay creations from me soon!!!!  This was sooooo much fun and I still have a ton of clay left.  A little goes a very long way.  The clay is only $6.95 it's a fantastic investment!!!!!  Local stampers if you're interested in a class on using the clay, email me or leave a comment.  If there's interest I'll do a class.  It was sooooo much fun!!!!!     

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!