May 17, 2008

Searching For A Starry Night - mini Petey!



For fun, I was playing with the Model Magic air-dry clay and wanted to see if an idea I had would work. Sometimes, as crafters know, what looks good in your head, doesn't always quite turn out as you envisioned it.

Granted my first examples had a kind of "little piggie" look to the face, with too long of snouts. But hey, not all the dogs in the litter are always picture-perfect! Still, I kind of like this little guy!



After several tries, I ended up with a couple small versions of "Petey," the nosy Dachshund from SEARCHING FOR A STARRY NIGHT that I liked. The dogs are about 1 3/4" long (nose to tail) and the same dimensions from the top of his head to the floor.

After the clay dried, I painted them with Folk Art acrylic paint in Nutmeg and sprinkled on light brown velvet flocking. I found on my second try that the flocking seems to stick better on the wet paint instead of adding glue, though it still leaves only a thin layer. I used a 11/0 Czech glass bead for the nose and 1 mm no hole beads for the eyes.

Yes, there are quite a few I've made and have to finish. I was thinking of trying the little dogs for a kid's class at the library, with them only painting and not flocking an already-assembled dog to make it easier. What do you think?

I'm pretty happy with the results. I'd love to hear your comments!

5 comments:

Cre8 said...

I love your nosey canine. I think he is great.

Katie said...

Ohhhh, they are cute!! No hole beads~ I can only imangine trying to get them in the right spot!

I think the kids would love this project. It's fun teaching kids....They have so many interesting ideas!!

Sumaiya Mehreen said...

Love the dog! Reminds me of my miniature pinscher somehow, although mine is black and tan. :D

I was wondering about air-dry clay...does it get brittle when it dries, or is it like baked polymer clay?

CA Verstraete said...

Hi Smehreen,
Model Magic doesn't dry as hard as polymer. It's not brittle, nor soft... hard to explain. Maybe like a very stale marshmallow? ha!

A Keeper's Jackpot said...

Very cute - and I know exactly what you mean... sometimes something looks better in your head than it does in real life, but such projects lead can lead to different or better ideas too...