Sculpey Mockingjay Pin

The Hunger Games movie comes out in less than a week and I'm getting pretty excited.

There is only one other hobby that comes close to my obsession with crafts, and that's reading!  I was one of those crazy kids who got grounded from books for reading under the covers with a flashlight late into the night when I was supposed to be sleeping.

Despite countless recommendations from other bibliophiles, my husband and I both put off reading Hunger Games until this past month.  We wanted to wait until as close to the movie coming out as possible because we knew we'd be hooked.

So, in honor of the movie release next Friday, I created my own version of the Mockingjay pin out of sculpey clay that Katniss wears in the book.

Here are the supplies & tools that I used:

Gold Sculpey III Polymer Clay, Sculpey Clear Glaze, Fine Tip Permanent Markers

A sharp Exacto Knife, & Some Random sculpting tools that I have collected over the years.  You can use whatever you have around.  Toothpicks also work pretty well for details.

 Other things that you will need but aren't pictured are: a printer and paper, scissors, a laminator (optional), a baking sheet (that you use only for crafts), an oven, a pin finding, and glue (hot glue or Glossy Accents).

Here are step by step instructions so that you can make one, too!

To begin, I found a photo of the pin and printed it out on my color printer to make a stencil from .  I chose to laminate the image for stability, but that's completely optional.

Then I used scissors and my Exacto blade to carefully cut around the image to create a stencil.

Then I softened the gold clay and rolled it into a sheet, approximately 1/4 inch or less.  A pasta machine is very helpful with this step.  I did all my work directly on top of the metal sheet I use to bake my clay, that way I didn't have to pick it up after all the details were done and move it to a baking sheet.

Then I placed the stencil on top of the clay and pressed down gently to make sure it wouldn't move around.

Then I used the Exacto Blade to remove the inside cut outs first.

Here you can see that all of the inside parts have been carefully removed.

Then I cut around the outside of the pin, being careful not to push down on the stencil and distort the inside that's already cut out.

Next I peeled the stencil off the top of the clay to reveal the cutout of the pin.  If you're not much of a detail person, it would be fine to stop right here and bake your clay.  But if you want it to look even more like the pin from the book/movie, then keep going!

I took my Exacto knife and cut lines around the areas where the bird or arrow lay on top of the circle.

Then I cut away at the circle by putting my Exacto knife  parallel to my baking sheet until it was half as tall as the other parts of the pin, so that it looks like the bird and arrow are on top of the circle.

Then I used my fingers and all my other tools to add the details to the Mockingjay and the arrow using my stencil as a guide to what it was supposed to look like.  After I was satisfied with all the details, I put it into an oven to bake (follow the directions on your clay).

 After the clay came out of the oven, I used the permanent markers to add some shading and details (which is optional, I almost this is looked nicer before the markers).  Then I used Sculpey glaze over top of the pin to seal it and add the glossy look.  Then flip the pin over and use a hot glue gun or preferably Glossy Accents glue a pin finding to the back.

Here is the finished product!

Hope you enjoy this tutorial and give making your own Mockingjay pin a try.  And if you haven't read the Hunger Games yet, it's definitely worth a read!

12 Tags of 2012- Feb & March

Over on his blog, Tim Holtz has introduced a new adventure for crafters -- the 12 Tags of 2012.  In the past, he did the 12 Tags of Christmas and made one tag a day for 12 days in December.  I just found out about it last year and didn't participate fully because that time of year is sooo crazy.  This new idea is to create one tag a month and I'm super excited.  It means that I'll have enough time to really think through each of the tags and buy some new materials if I need them.

You can view Tim's Tag Here.

And here is my version:

 My tags are a different size than Tim uses (smaller) because I had a ton of them leftover from a different project and I couldn't justify buying different tags when I had a thousand (literally) at home.  For the February tag, I decided to use an arrow instead of a large Cupid.  But I incorporated Cupid in two other ways by using small Valentines from Tim's Seasonal Paper Stash.  I didn't have any honeycomb paper, and after 3 unsuccessful attempts to make my own, I just used a bunch of tissue paper hearts stacked on top of one another and then fluffed up for my heart.  I used some vintage lace that I found in my Great-Great Aunt May's old sewing box (fear not, there is still a ton of it left for other projects!) for the bottom and the trimmings.

You can view Tim's March Tag, Here.

 And here is my take on the March Tag:

 

I used the checkerboard embossing folder for my background because I don't have a wood-grain stamp (it's on my wish list) and the woodgrain embossing folder just didn't turn out right when I tried it.  I thought the checkers went with the tiles in my mosaic pieces.  I used a Martha Stewart Butterfly punch for the butterfly and Sizzlits for the shoe and frame.  The caption is stamped twice on a piece of leftover acetate with green and black Stayz-On ink.  The trimming is cut from a piece of fabric scraps.

Tim hasn't done a January Tag yet, since he only decided to start this project in February.  So in the meantime... Here is a tag that I created myself this January:

 I used a Tim Holtz embossing folder for the trees and a technique that I learned from his 12 tags of Christmas where you put ink onto the folder before embossing to create the background.  Then I used all different kinds of embossing powders and inks to build up a lot of color and texture.  The entire background area has a layer of clear UTEE mixed with fine blue glitter on it. It kinda looks like a thin layer of glass.  The green and brown on the trees was created with several different chalk inks.  The snow was created by using a Zig glue pen to draw the snow and then covering it with white embossing powder.  The trimming is green tulle that I dyed a few years and ago and try to use as much as possible now, since I know I'll NEVER get rid of it all, haha.  This tag doesn't have anything glued onto it or any sentiment because I wanted it to be relatively flat so that it can be used as a bookmark all during the winter months.  I made similar versions of this tag for my Christmas gifts this year.

Hmmm...  Might as well share another tag while I'm at it!

Here is a St. Patty's Day Tag that 

I made for my mother-in-law to use as a bookmark:

 I used my printer to put the Blessing right onto the tag.  I set it up in Microsoft Word and then printed it on regular copy paper.  Then I used masking tape and taped the tag down on the paper using a lamp to line up the words on the tag.  Then I ran the paper with the tag taped on it through my printer.  I used chalk inks and a stamp to create the border around the tag.  I bought a bunch of those shamrocks that are on the trimming from oriental trading company for a dollar a few months ago as part of a children's craft kit.  I stamped the word love onto the wooden shamrock with Stayz-On Ink.  For the back of the tag, I traced the outline of the tag onto green cardstock, then used an embossing folder to emboss it.  Then I used some black soot distress ink to bring out the pattern and go around the edges.  To finish, I glued the front and back together and used a hole punch to make the hole go through the back sheet.  Then I threaded more of that green tulle through the hole to trim the tag.

Well, there you have it!  4 fun tags!

St. Patty's Day Hat

Hello!

This is my first Design Team project for SVG Attic.  Since I won the challenge in January, I get the honor of doing a Guest Design Team project.

Since the first moment I saw the Mad Hatter Hat in the "Mad Tea Party" Set, I have been envisioning it in green with a leprechaun wearing it.  Perhaps it's because I'm a Fighting Irishwoman from the University of Notre Dame that my mind immediately went there...  or maybe it's because I'm a little bit crazy about the color green.

When the "Go Green" St. Patrick's Day set came out last week, I knew it was my chance to make a spectacular St. Patty's Hat.

I decided to glam it up and make it a very feminine and fun hat.

So...  without further ado...  Here it is!

Won't I just look too fun for St. Patty's Day this year?!

 Here is a closeup of the gold bow and large shamrock covered in green Stickles.

 Around the top is the 4 leaf clover border, also covered in Stickles.

 In this view from below, you can see where the veil begins and the stretchy green cord that I used to secure the hat on my head.

 This shot shows the gold glimmer mist that I sprayed all over the brim of the hat.  I also used it on the top of the hat.

 This is my favorite part! There are small 4 leaf clovers attached to the veil.

So now that you've seen it, want to know how I did it, so that you can try it yourself?  Then here you go!

I began by cutting the "Mad Hatter Hat Decoration" Files from the Mad Tea Party Collection.  I cut the brim and top out of Olive Green AC Cardstock.  I used the green side of two pieces of double sided cardstock from K&Co's Black and Ivory Fusion Paper Pad to cut the sides of the hat.  I cut all the hat elements at a width of 11.5 inches using my Cricut Expression and Sure Cuts A Lot software.

I also cut the top piece of the Heart Clover at 3.5 inches tall and two of the Shamrock Border top pieces at 11.5 inches wide from the "Go Green" St. Patrick's Day Set out of green AC Cardstock.

I assembled the pieces of the hat as directed in the SVG Attic video.  Then I added some strechy cord to each side and wrapped it under my chin, so that the hat would sit on my head without falling off.

After the hat was assembled, I started embellishing it with all kinds of fun stuff.

First I used a sheet of approximately 24 inches by 24 inches of tulle to make a veil.   I dyed the tulle green for a different project a few years ago (I had a ton of tulle left over from my wedding and I've been using it for lots of projects for the last 2 years) and had some extra to use for this.  You can buy tulle at the craft or fabric store in a variety of colors, so you don't have to dye your own.  I attached the tulle using my Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher (you could use a mini stapler or hot glue) right up against the brim of the hat where it meets the sides of the hat.  I started at the right side by the ear and stretched across the front, ending by my temple.

After the tulle was secured, I put the hat on my head, with the cord under my chin, and looked in the mirror.  I used a pair of scissors to trim the veil so that it swept across my face diagonally.  It took me about 4 times of looking in the mirror and marking where to cut, then taking it off and cutting, until I got it exactly how I wanted it.

After the veil was cut into a shape that I was happy with, I used the shamrocks that came out of the shamrock border when I cut it, to decorate the veil.  I sprayed a little bit of gold glimmer mist on the shamrocks and then used the Tiny Attacher to secure them onto the tulle veil.

Once the veil was completely finished, I got a piece of wire gold ribbon and wrapped it around the base of the hat and tied it in a bow at the side.  I used the Tiny Attacher again to make sure the ribbon was affixed to the hat all the way around.

Then I took the Shamrock Border and the Heart Clover and covered them with as much green Stickles as they could hold.  After the pieces dried, I tucked the Heart Shamrock into the bow and used some glue to secure it.  I created a border around the very top of the hat with the Shamrock Border by gluing it on and cutting it to size so that there was no overlap.

The final touches on the hat were some olive green chalk ink around the top of the hat to help cover the little bit of white that was showing from the edge of the paper and some squirts of gold glimmer mist all over the top of the hat and the brim.

This was such an incredibly fun project to experiment with and I hope that some of you out there will give it a try and put your own spin on it.  There are so many other fun ways you could turn the Mad Hatter Hat into a St. Patty's Day piece of wearable art!  Good luck and be creative!

I'm going to start off my blog with some information about my very first SVG Attic project.  I created this Valentine's Day Wall Hanging for the January Contest at svgattic.com.

Here are a few pictures of the completed project:

 The whole thing.

 Close up of the biggest rosette with the word Love in the center.

 Red rose at the very top.

 Three Smaller Rosettes with decorations.

Another way to hang the project so that it's more 3 dimensional.

To create this project, I used files from two different SVG Attic Sets:  Happy Haunt Halloween Party and Be Mine. 

I used the Spider Web Decoration to create the 2 biggest rosettes with the holes.  I made the two smaller rosettes the old fashioned way...  with a scoreboard and a strip of paper.  Before I glued the rosettes together, I used a border punch on the outside edge of the rosettes (except the smaller of the rosettes with holes because the edge wasn't wide enough for my punch).  I really think that the spider web rosette with the lace edge makes the entire rosette look like a lace doily. 

I embellished the project with the "Love" files from the Love Card and some roses made from the Rose Gift Box files.  I also used a ton of red and pink glitter on the edges of the roses and the rosettes and all over the Love caption.  I also used a Martha Stewart heart punch to add a few hearts to the center of the rosettes.

I strung the project together with fishing line through the holes in the edges of the rosettes.

Well, best of luck to anyone who wants to try this project, too.  It wasn't difficult and I thought it was fun to convert a halloween file into a valentine's day project.