Crafterateur

The September craft night at Jenny Lemons was all about clay! It was also my Mommy’s birthday so she and my sister joined craft night, too. Our instructor was Faye Kendall, a fiber artist based in the East Bay; she walked us through how to make air dry clay mobiles.

Jenny Lemons shipped over clay and an India ink pen. We gathered additional items like a rolling pin, a mat/cover for our workspace, and toothpicks or other utensils for making marks and cutting.

First, a lesson in clay. Then, how to create slats with cardboard to get a even thinness across your clay.

We then rolled out our clay. I used a dowel. Some used actual rolling pins or glass bottles.

Faye demoed carving out shapes and creating holes in our mobile pieces.

We had to wait for the clay to dry before we could paint and assemble our mobiles. While we continued to create shapes, Faye used the rest of class to talk about design and where she draws inspiration from, as well as demo how to paint with the India ink pen and how to assemble our mobiles after class.

As a bonus she shared how to make beads. I’ve taken a liking to making these! Here are all my pieces waiting to dry.

After 24 hours, I flipped my clay pieces so the other side could dry. As this clay dries, the grey color fades to white.

Then, drawing!

I looked up henna designs for inspiration.

Then stringing with Faye’s technique.

Et voila! I love it! I didn’t use all my pieces for my mobile; I’m hoping to use the extras for creating tassels.

Have you worked with air dry clay before? What are your favorite things to make? Do share!