Hi Honeys,
How are you today? It's been so cold this past week or so and we now have at least another two trees full of leaves scattered across the back garden. Hubby & our furbaby Jade are going to spend Sunday afternoon clearing them (again) which Jade will absolutely love. She adores being out in the garden with her Dad and loves running into huge piles of leaves even more 💖
The cold has been making my hands (and other bits) ache by irritating my arthritis so I've been fighting back by crafting 😊 The phrase "use it or lose it" applies perfectly honeys, unless Spoonies keep those joints moving, the arthritis wins and we'll seize up, like an old engine, until our mobility is lost to us. A chronic illness can't be allowed to win dear ones. Not even a little bit.
You know how much I love our roses honeys? Our front garden is very small, but it's home to our beautiful rose shrubs, planted in memory of my dear Gramma and beloved Mother in Law who both adored roses even more than I do 🌹
Losing our precious roses is the main reason that every year I have a countdown to spring (125 days to go!) because I can't wait to see our garden start to wake again after it's (too) long winter nap. I do have artificial roses dotted around our home, gifts over the years from Hubby (thank you sweetheart x) but I never thought I could make beautiful roses myself!
I'm so excited honeys! I craft, whether it's knitting, sewing (machine these days, my days of needlework are behind me I'm afraid) or making little things with clay, I love to create things and it also serves as a sort of physiotherapy too I suppose, in that it helps to keep the movement I have in my hands. It helps battle the stiffness of arthritis. Enough waffle about painful things and on to fun things instead 😊
Why not go grab a cuppa, I will too, and meet me back here in a few minutes and I'll share how I made those pretty little clay roses. There are lots of photos in this post, so a lovely cuppa, and maybe a cookie or two, would be perfect ☕🍪 See you back here in a few minutes honeys...
(click the read more link to see the full post)
Welcome back honeys, do you have your cuppa? Me too ☕ Why not put your feet up and get comfy and I'll share my latest little crafting smiles 💗
Until I discovered air dry clay I always thought that making clay anything involved one of those spinning wheels, getting your hands very icky (not my favourite thing at all!) baking things in a hot oven or kiln... oh! and cuddles from the gorgeous Patrick Swayze 😍 I'm willing to bet that scene from Ghost did more to encourage folk to take up pottery than any college course ever did 😊
Where was I? Oh, yes, making clay things (altho now I want to watch Ghost....) well, a while ago I discovered air drying clay and I so, so love it!! A pack of clay and some cookie cutters and I'm a happy Rosie 😊 I'm building quite a collection of crafting cookie cutters, nearly as many as we have in the baking trolley in the kitchen.
I know there must be other types of clay (although I haven't found any) but the one I use is this one, from The Works...
I've found that it'll last for ages, you just have to seal it into a zip lock type bag to keep the air out, since, as the name implies, it's air dry and will set when left out. So it's best to cut off a little to work with and then seal the rest of the pack away.
I recently spotted some rather interesting looking cutters on Amazon honeys and the description showed the finished results as little rosebuds. How on earth can these oddly shaped cutters create roses I thought, and since they cost less than £1, I ordered a set...
They took a while to arrive but when they did I couldn't wait to see if they did, in fact, create little roses 🌹 While waiting, I added a couple of other little items to my crafting collection and I've been loving them.
To roll out my clay I've been using an old, wooden rolling pin but it's quite heavy and makes my hands ache at times so I was really pleased to find these little clay rollers online while browsing on The Works site.
They're very small (I photographed them next to a pen so you could see what size they are) are made from a very light weight wood and have made such a difference. It's so much easier to roll out my clay now without the heavy, and too large, rolling pin.
I'd also spotted these lovely, bright and very colourful cutters in Wilko...
They made me smile and so had to join my crafting kit 😊 As it turns out, they've helped me make the prettiest poppies... but I'm getting ahead of myself 🌼 Back to those roses then honeys.
First thing is, of course, to roll out some clay, place one of the cutters (they arrive as a set of three in different sizes) onto the clay and press down to create the rose petals...
Once done, this will leave us with this shape..
Once we've created the outline of the petals that go to make up the rosebud, we can create the rose quite easily. The rose is created by folding the clap shape along the middle, so that the petal shapes stand like this...
This gives us two rows of petals, one row directly in front of the others...
All that's left to do now is to roll up the small length of clay and this will create your rose...
A perfectly formed rosebud...
The air dry clay I used, when completely set, becomes white and can be painted or just sealed with a top coat as it is...
Once completed, I always leave my air dry clay creations to dry and harden overnight. I use a cooling tray usually used for baking but I bought this one especially for my crafting and it's never used for anything else.
Being placed onto the cooling rack allows air to reach the base of the clay as well as the surface and so it will all dry at the same time and be ready to paint or decorate.
You might remember honeys that those rose shape cutters arrived as a set of three? They can then create pretty, perfect roses in three sizes...
Even this photo makes me smile 😊 Imagine, now, while waiting for the roses to re-appear in the garden I can make and paint adorable little roses in a rainbow of different shades and colours 💖 That should keep me busy (and happy) till Spring gets here 😊
Roses aren't the only thing I've been making though honeys. Do you remember those pretty, brightly coloured cookie cutters from Wilko I showed you earlier? I used those to make these air dry clay poppies...
Last Sunday, here in the UK, we had Remembrance Sunday, a day when we remember those who gave their lives protecting the UK and the Commonwealth. We wear poppies to show our respect for the courage and selflessness of those lost.
Those little cookie cutters create a flower with six petals, where the poppy has four, but they were my little tribute to the brave men, women and animals lost to us. There is a purple poppy to honour the Service horses and dogs lost in war. Lest we forget dear ones.
In addition to making poppies and rosebuds, I've also attempted to make some Christmas tree decorations...
I'll share those in another post though I'm afraid because I've just glanced at the clock and I have to dash out the door to work soon. I'll leave you with our last roses of the year...
I took that photo yesterday afternoon, it's late in the year to still have roses but I'm still so glad to see them each day. Only another seventeen weeks honeys and we'll be back in spring again and I can't wait 🌹
Till next time, stay warm and safe in this cold snap honeys, smile lots and hug even more, hugs always xx
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