There is still time to catch up on the Haaste[el]Lista challenges: closing date for most challenges is August 12. You can read how to participate here!

Anniska and Tutteli asked me to challenge myself… And I didn’t have to think very long about what I was going to do!

I had purchased a packet of clay some time ago that was just sitting on my shelf, staring at me from time to time. I had read about paper clay somewhere and the plan was to try and make embellishments with it. I wasn’t sure if I had bought the right clay though and I hadn’t taken the time to try it out yet. This was my chance!

The clay I used (L’Artista) is air drying. The drying process took a lot longer than I expected, but the result was really nice and light. I found out that it actually isn’t paper clay, but I would say the dry pieces feel like paper.

Then the real experimenting started: I tried Distress Inks on them and they seemed to take those well. I sprayed some with Glimmer Mist too, and they will be OK as long as they don’t get it too moist.

In the end I liked the crisp look of the plain white best and I felt the clay pieces deserved to be the star of the project. So my second goal was to not let myself get carried away with product. I hadn’t created something clean and simple in a while, but my subject (my perfume) actually made it pretty easy.

The name and colour of the bottle forced me to use a colour I don’t usually go for. I didn’t have to bother with going through my stash, because I knew there just wouldn’t be a lot of dark blue/indigo/purple products there. I did have a set of Denim blue Thickers that came with a recent Studio Calico kit and I own a couple of suitable spray inks. I also thought the use of spray ink was particularly clever for a lay-out about perfume :-).

Another thing that I like and I hardly ever use is the Dotted Swiss cardstock. I thought it would be hard to write on it, but it surprised me how smooth it went!

All in all I really liked playing with clay and I made quite a stash of clay embellishments, so who knows how many will pop up on future projects!

Materials: Bazzill Dotted Swiss cardstock, American Crafts – Thickers – Eric – Denim, Hema – Decorative tape, Adirondack Color Wash Denim, Purple Twilight, ColorBox – Pigment stamp pad Frost white, L’Artista original clay, myStampBOX – Cherry Blossoms, Pentel Hybrid Gel Grip DX white, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Lavender Fields, Rum Raisin, Delphinium, Wilton Fondant and Gum Paste Mold – Nature Designs, Sewing thread