Darcy Wilkinson Project #4 The Giraffe ....

"I know for a few of you, this is the one you have been waiting to see. It has taken 3 months to build, but he is finally here.....yes it is a BOY"!

First job was to go and buy sheets of galvanised mesh, I got mine from the local DIY store. The young man serving me asked if I was building an aviary, and looked somewhat puzzled when I replied 'no, I'm building a giraffe' So armed with my mesh panels, a spool of strong wire and some pliers, I set about the building process. Other products used along the way were scrap paper/newspaper and masking tape. The whole body was stuffed with scrunched up paper, and then more paper was used as padding on the outside of the wire. The whole giraffe was them wrapped in masking tape to hold the padding in place and to provide a smooth surface for the clay. I have no kiln, and I am pretty sure I cannot get a 4ft giraffe in my oven...not that I tried, don't worry, no giraffes were harmed in the making of this project. So I needed to use air drying clay. Having checked out the prices of available air dry clay, and seeing how small the packets were, it became apparent that I would need to make my own.

I discovered the website of Jonni Good, ( http://ultimatepapermache.com/new-air-dry-clay-recipe ) and was delighted to see clay recipes on there. If you are at all interested in making models then I can highly recommend her recipe. Here you can see a slideshow of the building process.

 

So here he is ready to decorate.

I took some buff coloured tissue paper, I believe it came as packing with something. To give him a base colour I covered him in the plain tissue first. Then I mixed some Fresco Paints with water, and sprayed the tissue paper. I used Cinnamon, French Roast along with some Adirondack Butterscotch. I ripped these coloured tissue sheets into small pieces and gave him a second layer.

Now for the spots .. I tore up all the scrap white paper that I could find in the house, then soaked it in a bowl of water for about 30 mins. Next I used a hand blender to turn the paper into pulp. (Don't use the same blender for food, I have a separate blender for the kitchen and one for my craft room).

Next fill a large tray, (I bought a large cat litter tray just for making paper). Half fill it with water and add the pulp. You will need a frame and deckle, these are easy to make, search YouTube for videos. You sieve the pulp into your frame and squeeze out excess water. Anyone who has made handmade paper will be familiar with this part. Once you have your sheet of wet handmade paper, carefully tear off sections and drape over your chosen stamps. For the spots I used HPXT 02.

Press the wet paper down onto the stamp and leave for a few minutes. Then remove the stamp and allow to dry. This will generally take overnight.

This is how the paper moulds look once they are dry. You can see how detailed the impression is.

I trimmed close to the edges and then sprayed with dylusions turquoise ink. Next I sponged on Beach Hut, then Bora Bora and finally I dry brushed with Mermaid. 

Next I worked in a little Sapphire Treasure Gold, and then finally some Onyxite. 

 
The details really shows now, and they look like Verdigris.

 I made a whole bunch of them, approx around 100!!

Once they were all glued onto the giraffe I added smaller spots using Grunge Paste mixed with Beach Hut and Bora Bora.

I dabbed this onto the lower legs and face, then stamped into it with a stamp from HPXT02, again I finished it with Treasure Gold.

 

See how all the decoration built up here.

I don't expect you all to go off and build giraffes, how funny would that be, but I hope you will try the paper casting. Here I made moulds of some JOFY stamps, in exactly the same way.

Here they are on a hanging tag.

That's it from me this month, I hope you have had fun looking at these projects and that you are fired up and inspired to try out some of the techniques.

I shall leave you with some snapshots of our trip to the farm.

Leandra Says: Love the farm pictures, looks like he's got a friend already! Well Darcy, that was simply mind boggling, as I am sure the PA wider family will agree.

So we need a name for this chap! Please leave a comment on this blog post with your name suggestion. Entries close noon Sunday 28th, the winner will be announced along with the weekly winners Sunday evening, 28th at 7pm. Your prize??? A MASSIVE MYSTERY BOX of PaperArtsy stash easily worth over £150. Only one name entry per person please, Darcy is the selector, as she knows her baby best and what will suit him, her decision is final!

Gillian Says: Wow DArcy, this is INCREDIBLE. So inspiring to see how you have creating him from nothing! Thank you once again for yet another superb week!