hearts, hearts and more hearts...

when i was teaching in folly beach, sherri held a class using paper clay.  we each made a heart and painted it.  i fell in love with the process - and i am crazy about paper clay.

last year i decided to try my hand at polymer clay and ... well... that didn't go well.  we will just leave it at that.

so last week i picked up a package of paper clay at michaels (with the 40% coupon it was $5.99) and sat down to make some hearts.  i shaped them by hand, and by using a clay tool that looks like a slender bone folder.  then i used some stamps and my chip art letters and images to stamp into the clay before it dried. 

once they dried, about 2 days later, i painted them - all one color, using regular old cheap acrylics, and a few of my favorite golden liquid acrylics.  i added a little water to the paints to thin it, making it sink into the cracks and crevices easier.

then i added a wash of other colors, layering color and wiping it off.  

after it looked the way i liked it, i used gold shimmer gloss mod podge and sealed the entire heart front and back. 

i loved my bowl full of hearts, all 30 of them... but they needed... MORE.  so i grabbed my dremel, my copper wire and beads... and went to town.