Rows of Bows

Hey crafty followers! Look, I've been playing with fimo again. I made some pretty bows which were so simple. I made them with pretty much the same concept as the fabric ones I showed you before. These are even easier though as they don't need so much folding and the clay doesn't have such a tendency to unfold itself! Instead, it very helpfully, stays exactly where it's put! I used a needle to prick tiny holes so they can be made into necklaces....

Like so;

What do you think?

The Running Man, The Fish and the Paintpot

Sounds like a good name for a pub! 

Whilst I'm in Wales nestled cosily in the bosom of my family home. Ha!

I have spotted here and there, a few little things I've made over the years, I did hope to see some of my childhood salt dough creations adorning the christmas tree, but alas! they are no more. Anyway, I thought I'd share some of my past M.A.D's and the story behind them.

The running man

A school art project to convey movement and speed based on the Unique Forms of Continuity in Space sculpture by Umberto Boccioni. I rather think instead of conveying speed, he looks more like he's trudging through a snowstorm in slow motion but there ya go! Underneath all that plaster of paris and black and gold paint is a power ranger bought in a charity shop! Somewhere there are photos of the whole process but their wherabouts eludes me entirely.

The fish

A slightly more traditional creation, made from clay, colour-glazed then fired, I still remember making each individual scale! He's lost a fin or two and been repaired over the years, If you look closely you can see that big crack in his little fishy tail. Here he is a fish out of water beside Mydr (the stream running through my parents garden).

The paintpot

 A little boredom project I remember doing; a glass jar decorated with stained glass window effect paints intended as a paintbrush holder, the idea was not to use the same colours next to each other which is why, despite my efforts to mix new shades, there are quite a lot of blank spaces! I think it adds to the overall effect though...

I'll let you know if I come across any more of my past M.A.D's dotted around my parents home!

Fun with Fimo

Fimo, or as I tend to term it, to those who ask me what it is; ‘adult’s plasticine’, I remember using it when I was really quite young though. My dad used to make all sorts of amazing little knick knacks which I would of course attempt to imitate (I have always been in awe of his artistic talents).

Anyway, six months ago, when I got promoted to room leader at my nursery, I made a few changes to the way things were done (I’ll spare you the gory details) but basically this involved us having a clipboard each.

Now whenever I need to buy something out of necessity, regardless of what it may be, I want it to be unique and niche (therefore usually expensive) and very pretty. I find internet shopping a great tool to achieve this and so set to work to find the prettiest clipboards out there – only I didn’t really have much luck with this apart from coming across a few scrapbook clipboards people had made.

So that’s where Fimo comes in, it just suddenly popped into my head when I imagined what a clipboard with a decorative plaque on it would look like.

Fimo is so easy to use, sometimes you have to work it with your hands for a while to make it suitably malleable but they’ve brought out a ‘soft’ version since my childhood days of modelling with my dad so there’s really not that much effort involved – only pure artistic flair!

When you’ve finished your masterpiece just pop it in the oven for around half an hour at just over 100 ◦C .


After my plaques were complete I used the power of araldite to adhere them to plain plastic clipboards (I also found it helped to rough up the surface a little first using sandpaper, or if you don’t have any, a nail file!)

The clipboards went down a storm and I have since made more for new members of staff, and staff who have left take them with them when they go.

There are many beautiful (and complex) beads to be created using fimo. However, you can make really cool marble effect beads quickly and easily by simply squishing two colours together – and using a knitting needle to create the thread hole.

Let me know if you try any Fimo creations, I’d love to see pictures!

Be inspired,

Alice
x