Rainbow Love! : Clay Rainbow Brooch Tutorial

Hello lovelies

Hurrah! It is officially the Summer hols in our house starting this afternoon! We are all exhausted and need a break from the daily grind. We are going to spend our holiday relaxing, adventuring, washing clothes and dishes, cooking, reading, playing, bickering and gardening! I am sure there are more verbs I could add to that mix but I am sure you get the gist.

The other Brownie is already holidaying and having a fab time by the looks of it. Did you see Jenny's holiday pics and list of travel essentials last week? I love the handmade thank you cards that Jenny leaves for hosts along the way. What a lovely idea!

If you follow us on instagram, you will know that in June, we took part in a wonderful challenge, #colourmyeveryday, which was a celebration of all things colour. Each day, there were different prompts such as ‘tin’, ‘building’, ‘flower’ etc to encourage variety and to get us thinking. It was created by the gorgeous Jo of Adventures and Tea Parties. It was an absolute joy to take part in, I took photos I wouldn’t have thought to take without it and our gallery was so much brighter for it! Jo was so complimentary and enthusiastic about everybody’s entries each day. It must have been hard work to run but I am sure a pleasure too!

Inspired by Jo’s #colourmyeveryday challenge I have dug out the air drying clay again and made a rainbow brooch!

What you need is:

Air drying clay - such as this one.

2 plastic trays - one to roll the clay out on, one to dry the clay on.

Non stick craft rolling pin such as this one with the 3mm rings attached.

Template of rainbow and clouds - Download Rainbow Brooch Template

Craft knife such as this.

Small pot of water.

Nail file.

Dust mask.

Slim paint brushes.

Porcelain paints such as these - you could aso use poster or acrylic paint too but these porcelain paints created a lovely gloss finish.

Gloss varnish - I used Fimo (polymer clay) gloss varnish. You can find it here.

Brooch back findings such as these.

Epoxy glue such as this.

What you do is:

Print out and cut around the rainbow template.

Break off a chunk of clay (size depends on how many brooches you want to make). Wrap the rest of the clay up using cling film to keep moist.

Knead the clay in your hands for a bit. A few squeezes will do!

Put the 3mm thickness markers onto the rolling pin and roll out the clay until it stops getting any thinner.

Place the rainbow template onto the rolled out clay and cut around it with a craft knife. Use a cutting motion rather than a slicing motion. The latter will pull the clay out of shape.

Separate the shapes from the rest of the clay. Wrap up the spare clay in cling film to use at a later date.

Smooth the edges of each rainbow with a finger dipped in water. Don’t worry if it is not completely smooth. Once dry the clay can be filed to smooth out further.

Leave to dry on the tray covered in cling film, according to the clay manufacturer’s instructions. I usually leave mine for about 48 hours. Keep an eye on them whilst they dry and carefully press down any raised bits. You could also turn them over after about 24 hours to speed up the drying process.

Once dry, using a nail file, file the edges of each rainbow to smooth them further. It is advisable to wear a dust mask because of the clay dust this process creates. Blow off any excess dust and wipe with a tissue to be sure.

Place the template labelled ‘red’ onto one of the rainbows, so the bottom edge of the template lines up with the bottom edge of the rainbow.

Using the red porcelain paint, paint the exposed area of the clay and leave to dry. This is the first rainbow stripe.

Now paint an orange stripe underneath the red, allow to dry, then paint a yellow stripe and so on until all the colours have been painted.

Once dry, paint the clouds white. This is optional - you could just leave them.

Once the paint is dry, apply a layer of gloss varnish to the back of each rainbow and allow to dry. Then paint the front. This gives them a little extra durability and a nice shine. Allow to dry.

Once dry, with the rainbow brooch turned over to the wrong side, add a small dollop of glue to the middle and gently press a brooch backing onto the glue. Leave to dry - 24 hours will usually do.

Your brooch is done! Isn’t it cheery and colourful?! Wear with pride (tee hee)!

Well my lovelies, that is it for me until September. Jenny and I are going to take a little break in August but Jenny is back next week so I will leave it to her to sign off properly! Have a gorgeous weekend whatever you are up to!

Lots and lots of love and cuddles to last all Summer,

Lucy

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Comments

Lurve this! I STILL have air drying clay left over (those packets seem to last forever) so I'm always on the lookout for great ideas. I'm adding this to my clay pinterest board. Thanks, have a great summer.

Posted by: Julie | Friday, 21 July 2017 at 03:47 PM