MY  CLAY TIPS

SEVEN easy tips to help you on your way to creating fantastic fairy creations

1/ Always bake on a large glass dish, and layer with white cotton hankies. This stops scorching.

2/ Use old Metal knitting needles as tools! It doesn't take long to hacksaw the numbered ends off, and the pointed ends move great on clay.

3/ Use a bit of clear nail polish on fairy lips, to achieve that glossy effect if you don't have any gloss varnish.

4/ If you want your fairy to look more human and in proportion, use the head rule.  A one inch headed adult will be seven and a half heads tall. A one inch headed child will be six heads tall, and a baby only four heads tall.  Obviously this doesn't apply with characters as you can make them any proportions you like.

5/ If you want to make your fairies look nearly all the same... create a face graph. Mark the points the following features on clear plastic sheet: The top of head, hair line, browline, eye line, where nostrils meet the face, then the chin. By comparing this to the next one, you will be able to see when you need to lower the eyes, or make to brow higher, and so on.

6/ Don't struggle getting the eye shape right, or spend a bomb on buying expensive glass eyes. Create an eye mould!  Using plaster of paris, and beads for eye shapes, simply push the right sized beads into the mixed plaster of paris and wait till it sets. When the mould is set, take out the beads and you now have half round eye shapes. Now, simply push  either white or flesh coloured clay into these holes, and bake. Once cooled, place in a tub till you need them!

7/ Keep a photo album of friends and family near you while creating your fairy, this may help you pose your fairies correctly in a more life-like pose.

Blessings Whitelighter x

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