“So I’m just gonna do this all around the notebook. Now be careful. You have to make sure that the glue gets to the braid part too, but also be careful because between the cover and the braidy, the border, there’s some tiny space where the glue can get out. Just think about how much glue you put anywhere. And now I’m going to take it and place it, make sure you place it the right way. Now, if you use super glue, wherever you put it at first, that’s where it stays. So you won’t be able to move it an inch. So now I’m just going to apply pressure. And I see I have a bump here, so I’m going to insist on this part here and apply some more pressure. Don’t be afraid to push on it. This has to happen to make sure that your cover stays.”
“So for the texture on the body, I’m going to use this because I think this just, hasn’t neat, spotted kind of stripey look to it and you can use either side. One, one is more subtle. One is, a little bit more defined and I’m going to use the defined side. Remember this is the shelf lining that you buy at the supermarket. Or you can buy it at your curious Mondo. So I’m just going to roll over that and then you can see it leaves a nice pattern and then decide how you want to cut this out.”
“I’d like to go ahead and make a dried leaf that we will drape over the edge of the pond. So to do that, I’m just going to mix up some random colors. I’ve got a crew here. This is sort of a gray scrap looks like it’s got some purple in it. We’ll use a little bit of the cianna. And how about maybe a little bit of orange, basically. It’s not going to be a real, pretty color and that’s okay. I just want it to have that kind of doll, you know, after a leaf has sat on the ground for awhile, it sort gray, grayish brown. So we’ll see what this comes out to be.”
Get your hands on some polymer clay and learn how to make your own colorful dragonfly notebook cover. You’ll learn how to make all kinds of textures, how to combine colors to create eye-catching contrasts, why small details matter and how to make a complex design out of simple things. We’ll talk about colors, play with mica powder and acrylic paints, over-use the word ‘tiny’ and also eat a lot of chocolate during this whole time! And we’re not stopping at the front cover! We’ll also create the back cover and the spine to have the whole notebook covered in magic and bright colors. We’ll work with tons of details, so don’t forget to bring your patience!
Learn how to make 3 different polymer clay pendants: a big-eyed chameleon on a leaf, a tropical tree frog, and an exotic goldfish. You will learn how to blend the clay and shape each animal, how to add texture and attach all the features. Great tips provided on ways to help strengthen the pendants, and ensure they hang properly. Join us for this fun and educational Animal Pendants in Polymer Clay online course.
“It’s thicker so I can, make volumes on it and then one more. Okay, let me move them. I’m gonna use my tool and then, two bolt tools and all the start with the bigger one. I don’t know why, just because I feel like I’m going to throw it to adjust the shape. Nope. See, let me try this, these tool. So now we know clouds, they have whatever shapes they want. So you can’t go wrong with the cloud. I think, I hope. And after I did this, I’m going to take the poll tool and just, you know, press a bit. So to give it like, you know, this, the weird texture here, so did you won’t be smooth. Okay. It doesn’t matter how you make it.”
This is a fun and educational Polymer Clay online course. Learn how to blend the clay and shape each animal and how to add texture and attach all the features. You’ll learn tips on ways to help strengthen the pendants, and ensure they hang properly. We’ll also discuss paint options and other embellishments.
“So I have a really dark, dark chocolate brown, and I’m going to start painting that and I painted over everything, except the eyes. I try to avoid the eyes and I’ll start with just one side of the frog too. I’m I’ve the, paint’s not going to dry, but I don’t want to get my hands in it. I’m trying to avoid is his belly.”
“With weight before I placed this, I want to do something else. I want to add some texture to this area. So I will use the tip of, for mechanical pencil to do that. Okay. You see, it makes those tiny circles. Now we won’t see much of them, but especially on the top area, we won’t see them at all. So it’s done and now I’m really going to take my noodle back and I will place it. It’s deep. We’ll go here and it will go like something like this.”
Learn more about the courses here: https://www.curiousmondo.com/dragonfly-notebook-cover-course
“I think the eyes are always going to be the most important of any little animal that you make. But all these extra little details and ridges, and that’s what really makes them special. So just doing as many spots as I can. And then when you get, you run out of clay or you get sick of doing this, you can stop and put them on and see how they look. So I think I’ll do that. We’ll stop right here and just carefully remove your plastic wrap. Some of the spots will, will come out on the foil. So you should just generally start with those. So now I keep saying foil it’s plastic wrap. So let me move those aside for a second. Okay. We’re running out of room here. Saw me, I’m doing here. Okay. So just take your spots and start putting them on to the frog’s back. And I generally start with the larger ones and don’t pay any attention to the colors. I just randomly put them on.”
“I’m trying to stick the, noodle to the body of the dragonfly so that it won’t move anymore. And, now I’m going to place this all around the wing, and I’m going to use this tool, to make sure the noodle is straight and just flows nicely. To make sure that your noodle won’t go out of the wing because they tend to do that. If you push it too much, it will just stay in the air. And that’s not good because, it’s not very stable there, which is why you’ll see that. I always try to, I will always secure, not secure, but, adjust the, the new on both sides. So both from the interior of the wing and then from the exterior to make sure that, it’s exactly on the line of the wing. So I have some extra clay there, which I’m going to cut and now I’m going to continue doing the same thing with all the wings. once you’re happy with your, contour, just push it a bit onto the clay so that it sticks to it. and then you’re good to go.
“So, what I do is I just roll up that foot piece or the hand, I guess I should be calling it and I’m going to flatten it out and I make sort of like a paddle shape, kind of like that. And then I’m going to do the same for the other side. I always lay my hands and feet out. Side-by-side because so many times I’ve done hands where I’ve done two left hands and it’s Oh, it makes me so mad. Cause I’ll, I’ll come up with one and I’ll think it actually looks pretty good.”
“So first step is just going to be to wrap the clay around your foil core and how you do that is really up to you. It’s not, you want to trim off the excess, you don’t, we don’t need all that thickness. If your clay is too thick, it’s going to, it could, it could, crack on you. If you have areas that are much thicker than others. So I try to trim off what I don’t need. So let’s just move this aside for a second. I’m actually gonna get rid of this tile for a minute. I will put it on this because then it’ll be easier to move the tile than it will be to lift the frog once it has its legs on.”
Ever wondered how polymer artist Melissa Terlizzi sculpts her whimsical frogs and toads? Here is your opportunity to find out, as she shares with Mondo Makers all the techniques and tricks to making a big green bullfrog! In this 3 Day sculpting course, Melissa will not only demonstrate how to make the frog, but will also create a raised pond for it to sit in, elevating a simple “sculpt” into a story-telling piece of art. With swamp-tastic bonus classes also planned, this course is a must for anyone who loves creating animals out of polymer clay, and enjoys getting carried away with color and detail. Great course on polymer clay!
“What we’re going to do is take one of the leaves and just place it on the clay. Actually, you know what, I’m going to place all of them right now. And I’m going to apply some pressure to the paper. No idea why, but lately my lifts have become kind of crunchy. I’m afraid that when I tried to take them off the clay, they might break now. I really hope it will happen. But, I know it might, so I’m going to apply, some pressure on the entire leaf and then I will just take them off the clay.”
Anytime you put into your armature, it’s always going to pay you back in dividends by just making it so much easier. Taking the test scope. I know when I first started, sometimes it was recommended to just use skinny little wire with no padding or anything underneath it. And I think a lot of people had trouble with that method because the clay needs to have something to press against. Otherwise, if you’re just pushing into it, there’s nothing to stop that pushing. And it’s just going to keep going. So if it has something underneath it to press against, then it’s much easier to get the shapes that you want without having to push so hard in. And it just makes the doll a lot more customizable. So it’s not because it’s a small that it shouldn’t have an armature because it has a, another purpose. It does exactly control more.
One thing you should keep in mind when cutting your clay is that, your polymer clay cover should be just a little bit smaller than the actual, notebook. And that is for multiple reasons. The most important is that, on this side, on the left side of, to the spine, the notebook needs to stay uncovered so it can open properly, which is why I suggested to, spend some quality time with your notebook, play with it and, see how it works. See how it looks when it’s open and determine how much space it needs, next to the spine in order to be able to open properly. So you can actually write this side of it because I get as a point of a notebook to actually have something. I mean, to be able to, write or drawing side of it, preferably without damaging the cover. Right? Other than that, I’m also going to need some extra space on all the sides of the notebook. And that is because I like to add the upgraded a border. So basically my notebook, we have two border. One that will be placed inside of this polymer clay background that we are cutting right now and the other one will be placed outside of it. So this is why I need, enough space on all sides. Moreover, because we need to leave that, uncovered space, on the left side of the notebook, I guess it’s more aesthetically pleasing to have the same amount of free space on all sides. Learn more about the course here: https://www.curiousmondo.com/dragonfly-notebook-cover-course
