March Hare. a polymer clay and mixed media project. For this project you will need: ! white craft glue that can withstand the oven (like WeldBond)

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Muriel Garrison
6 years ago
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March Hare a polymer clay and mixed media project by Christi Friesen This project, like many, started out as a doodle.

Let me know at the end of this if you think so too! Conditioning clay and mixing colors This is always the first step. Polymer clay needs to be conditioned before we start.

I wanted the bunny to be an off-white color to match the wool roving that I want to use for the hair and tail.

If you want to make it a bit more ecru-y color, that s cool, just mix equal parts of each. Of course, you could make any color bunny that you want to.

polymer clay: white (you can also use brown, tan, gold, grey)! two round beads for eyes *NOTE: substitute CF Big Ol Eyes for an even more fun look!! flexible beading wire for the whiskers!

1 March Hare a polymer clay and mixed media project by Christi Friesen This project, like many, started out as a doodle. This doodle: It was a random scribble, but I liked the long ears and the lean of the body and the little front paws. I thought it might make a nifty project. Let me know at the end of this if you think so too! Conditioning clay and mixing colors This is always the first step. Polymer clay needs to be conditioned before we start. Conditioning makes it soft and pliable and ready to use. We can mix the colors at the same time too efficient! I wanted the bunny to be an off-white color to match the wool roving that I want to use for the hair and tail. If you like this color too, it s a mix of 2 parts white and 1 part ecru (use a full pack of white clay and half a package of ecru that will be more than enough clay mix). If you want to make it a bit more ecru-y color, that s cool, just mix equal parts of each. Of course, you could make any color bunny that you want to. Some natural bunny colors are: grey, golden, tan, all kinds of browns and black. Some unnatural colors are well, all the rest of the colors! For this project you will need:! polymer clay: white (you can also use brown, tan, gold, grey)! two round beads for eyes *NOTE: substitute CF Big Ol Eyes for an even more fun look!! flexible beading wire for the whiskers! 28 gauge and 20 gauge wire! something for the hair and tail (I used some natural wool roving, the kind you use for felting projects. If you can t get roving, most yarns will do fine.! liquid clay: Translucent Liquid Sculpey! white craft glue that can withstand the oven (like WeldBond) As you blend whatever clays you chose, and condition at the same time, you can stop while there are still some variations in the clays a bit of a mottled look. That will add some interest to the bunny. Making the body shape Grab some of the mix (not all of it, you ll need some for ears and hands and stuff about as much as an egg), and roll it into a ball smooth out any wrinkles. Roll the ball into a bit of a log shape short and fat. Now hold the log in your hand and squeeeeeze to make a thinner, lumpier log. Shape it so that it s rounded on the top and a little fatter on the bottom (just press the bottom down on the work surface and push, that ll make it fatter). 1

Footsies This bunny is really just a big ol lump no real anatomically correct limbs and features.

With that in mind, his feet are just going to be little nubs the hint of footsies (just enough to help him stand up properly).

(If you don t know what side is the front yet, look at your lumpy log and see which part of it you like the most that ll be the front!

Later, we ll cover it with wool (or yarn), but for now, we just need the clay ball in place.

Snip off an inch or two of 20 or 22 gauge wire. Now bend a hook in the end of the wire.

Smooth out any big creases, but the tail blob can and should be a little blobby. Press the sticking-out wire into the bunny body.

Now use a tool to blend the edges of the tail blob into the body.

2 Footsies This bunny is really just a big ol lump no real anatomically correct limbs and features. Of course that doesn t matter at all when it comes to cuteness, you just won t win any prizes for realism. With that in mind, his feet are just going to be little nubs the hint of footsies (just enough to help him stand up properly). Start by pressing your finger down in the center of the base of the body blob. As you push, pull and shape two bumps in the front. (If you don t know what side is the front yet, look at your lumpy log and see which part of it you like the most that ll be the front!) Set him down on his feet bumps. Tail blob The tail will help balance the piece. Later, we ll cover it with wool (or yarn), but for now, we just need the clay ball in place. To make sure the tail blob is secure and doesn t decide to wander off on it s own, it s best to have wire inside the tail blob that connects into the body. Snip off an inch or two of 20 or 22 gauge wire. Now bend a hook in the end of the wire. Take a blob of clay (about the size of a grape) and smosh it around the hook end of the wire - press it firmly. Smooth out any big creases, but the tail blob can and should be a little blobby. Press the sticking-out wire into the bunny body. Position the tail so that it can rest on the work surface (or the bunny will keep tipping backwards), and of course put it on the backside not the footsie side. Now use a tool to blend the edges of the tail blob into the body. I don t know why, it just seemed like a good idea at the time (and of course it helps the tail not pull away from the body, as gravity exerts its inevitable force. Let s hear it for the ears! Yay! The ears really make this project, I think. I purposefully made them large and interesting, because that exaggeration gives this creature personality. For ears this large to stay tall and straight, we re going to need to support them inside with wire. Snip off about 5 inches or so of 20 or 22 gauge wire. Bend it in half so that the bend part is a nice arch like a little rainbow. Grab the ends of the wire with pliers and use your hands to twist the wires together twice around works well. (Obviously, the wire should be soft enough to twist with your fingers any craft wire will do well). 2

Roll out a ball of clay about as big as a large grape (mmmm, grapes now I m hungry hang on, I ll be right back. chomp, chomp, gulp..ok, where were we?

Lay the wire on top of the clay the loop in the round part of the teardrop, and the wires down the narrow end. Some of the wire can stick out the bottom.

Press to attach and use your fingers to smooth all the seams so that it all looks like one piece. Now the ear needs a bit of an indentation to define it otherwise it s just a blob.

Pinch the narrow end of the ear together a bit it should really get small at the base of the ear. This will make it easier to attach the ear and it will really help exaggerate the ear size.

3 Roll out a ball of clay about as big as a large grape (mmmm, grapes now I m hungry hang on, I ll be right back. chomp, chomp, gulp..ok, where were we? oh yeah ) Form the ball into a long, narrow teardrop. Flatten the teardrop with your fingers until it s about as thin as a nickel. Lay the wire on top of the clay the loop in the round part of the teardrop, and the wires down the narrow end. Some of the wire can stick out the bottom. Now roll out another ball, a little smaller, and form it into a teardrop and flatten that teardrop (make it thinner about as thin as a dime this time). Lay that on top of the clay and wire. Press to attach and use your fingers to smooth all the seams so that it all looks like one piece. Now the ear needs a bit of an indentation to define it otherwise it s just a blob. Use a tool (or perhaps your finger) to press an indentation down the middle of the ear. This should create a nice curving like a really shallow canoe. Pinch the narrow end of the ear together a bit it should really get small at the base of the ear. This will make it easier to attach the ear and it will really help exaggerate the ear size. Obviously, make the other ear the same way, and hopefully pretty much the same size, too. To attach the ears, first use a tool to poke holes in the top of the head (a dowel tool or similar will work). Hey, did I tell you that I have this fabulous tool that would work perfectly? And of course it is great for other stuff too it s the Gotta Have It tool, you can get it on my website, ok, commercial over. Poke a fairly deep (at least! inch to " inch deep) and wide enough to accommodate the ear end (roll the tool around in the hole to widen it). Bloop a drop of liquid clay in the hole for extra grab if you want to. Now press the ear into the hole. Press in firmly and keep pressing until it s wedged in there nice and tight. Do the same for the other ear. Once both ears are in, position the body and the ears so that everything is balanced. If Bunn falls over, you ve got to adjust the ears differently. Also, press and flatten the edges of the ears here and there to make them wider and more interesting see how I pulled a little on the top of the ear on the left of the picture and on the bottom of the one on the right? I think that gives them more interest. Use a tool to smooth the clay around the ears so that ears and body clay are all joined together no seams (that same tool I mentioned earlier works great for this part too see I told you it was useful!) between steps. Remember those big ears might droop, if you take too long on the next part (the face and hands after that we ll bake him), so if you can t finish the rest right now, it s a good idea to lay him down on a cushion of tissue paper (the nose-blowing kind, not the present-wrapping kind). Don t worry if some of the paper sticks, it ll come right off after backing with a little water and a rub or two of your finger. If the day is hot, and droopage happens, you may also want to lay him down in Eye see you! It s time to add the eyes and give this guy some soul! I like to use beads for the eyes, I think it adds a wonderful contrast, and a great deal of personality! I suggest using two 4mm or 6mm beads anything dark and round. 3

Snip off a piece of 28 gauge wire about an inch will do. Slide on the bead. Pull the wires together.

Snip off the excess wire to leave a tail about # inch long. Hey!

See the Resources at the end of this project for more info! Once the eye beads are wired in, press them into the clay in the center of the face area.

doesn t look like his eyes are about to pop out of his head).

Roll out two balls of clay just a bit bigger than the eyes. Press them on right below the eyes side by side.

Whiskers If you think he s cute now, wait til he gets his whiskers!

I did three whiskers for each cheek any less and he looks skimpy, too much more and it starts getting a little crowded.

4 Snip off a piece of 28 gauge wire about an inch will do. Slide on the bead. Pull the wires together. Hold the wire with pliers and twirl the bead with your fingers to twirl the wire up to the base of the bead. Snip off the excess wire to leave a tail about # inch long. Hey! Since I wrote this project several years ago, I ve been able to get a source of fun glass eyes. If you want to, you can use them instead! See the Resources at the end of this project for more info! Once the eye beads are wired in, press them into the clay in the center of the face area. Push them in so that the bead becomes embedded into the clay about halfway (this will hopefully cover the wire ends and it makes sure your bunny doesn t look like his eyes are about to pop out of his head). The rest of the face The rest goes quickly, now two cheeks and a chin are just balls of clay pressed on below the eyes. Roll out two balls of clay just a bit bigger than the eyes. Press them on right below the eyes side by side. The chin is a little ball about half as big as the cheeks. Press it in under them, right in the middle. Whiskers If you think he s cute now, wait til he gets his whiskers! I used the flexible beading wire for the whiskers it won t bend and kink up like regular metal wire and it s thin and just looks whiskery. You can use any brand and any size of the beading wire, but a thinner one is more fun (I used Beadalon brand in a size small ). Snip off lengths of wire 2 or 3 inches each (long is best, we re exaggerating things on this bunny, remember). I did three whiskers for each cheek any less and he looks skimpy, too much more and it starts getting a little crowded. Just press the wire into the cheeks. I used my needle-nose tweezers for better control, but fingers work just fine, too. Tah dah! All that s left is the nose. I made mine pink, for the cuteness factor, but it could be a black nose or a dark brown or dark grey nose if you prefer. (A purple nose is not recommended, unless you re going to use pink wool for the hair, in which case, it would be just fine.) I made pink clay out of some of the bunny color with just a tiny little smidgen of red mixed in, by the way. If you already have pink clay, don t bother just use that! The nose ball is just a little bigger than the chin ball. Then roll that into a bit of an oval and press the nose oval on top of the cheeks longways. 4

Pause for paws Well, I guess we don t really have to pause but it is time for the paws since he looks a little

First let s make a couple notches in each of his foot lumps that hint at toes two lines in each with the edge

The front paws are super simple, too, cuz we re going to ignore all those anatomical details like elbows and

Start with a ball of clay for each paw about the size of a peanut and the shape of a peanut too oval.

Now use that same tool that made notches in the bottom footsies to make notches in the top paws.

I find that if I push the tool in almost on the underside of the clay and roll it up and over while pressing,

Push the paws on to the upper chest area if you aim them towards each other, he ll have that typical rabbit

5 Pause for paws Well, I guess we don t really have to pause but it is time for the paws since he looks a little naked without them, huh? First let s make a couple notches in each of his foot lumps that hint at toes two lines in each with the edge of a tool are perfect. The front paws are super simple, too, cuz we re going to ignore all those anatomical details like elbows and arms just two little paw blobs pressed on in front. Start with a ball of clay for each paw about the size of a peanut and the shape of a peanut too oval. Pinch one end to make the oval a little thinner in the back than the front sorta egg-shaped. Now use that same tool that made notches in the bottom footsies to make notches in the top paws. Two lines pressed into each paw shape. I find that if I push the tool in almost on the underside of the clay and roll it up and over while pressing, I get a notches that divide the clay into very believable toes. Push the paws on to the upper chest area if you aim them towards each other, he ll have that typical rabbit got any carrots you don t need? posture. In fact, now is the time to pose him. A bit of curve to the body, tilt to the head, bend in the ear whatever you think makes him look fun. Make sure the pose you choose doesn t make him fall over. Adjust as needed if he does. One more little thing we ll be adding hair after he s baked you can drill a hole in later, or poke a hole in now. Drilling is easy, but if you don t have a hand-held drill tool, poke now! Just a dowel tool right on top, between the ears! 5

There s a bunn in the oven baking your sculpture I found that baking the bunn at this stage, and then adding the fuzz was a lot easier no mashing, no ears bending, no crying.

If you have a tall oven, you can stand bunny upright, but I suggest that you lay him down on that cushion of tissue paper and prop up under the ears to make sure the heat of the oven doesn t start

Don t worry about the tissue paper or the beading wire as long as neither is too close to the heating elements, they ll be no problem.

6 There s a bunn in the oven baking your sculpture I found that baking the bunn at this stage, and then adding the fuzz was a lot easier no mashing, no ears bending, no crying. So preheat your oven to 275ºF (130ºC for our international classmates). If you don t already have one, get an oven thermometer! It s crucial to know the inside temperature, not just set the dial those dials are very seldom accurate. (If you re not using Premo brand clay, then preheat to the temp. your clay manufacturer recommends). If you have a tall oven, you can stand bunny upright, but I suggest that you lay him down on that cushion of tissue paper and prop up under the ears to make sure the heat of the oven doesn t start them sagging before the clay has a chance to harden. Bake for 45 minutes and keep an eye on the temperature if it gets above 285ºF or below 265ºF, adjust! Don t worry about the tissue paper or the beading wire as long as neither is too close to the heating elements, they ll be no problem. Once he s done, let him cool completely before moving on to the next steps!! (we can chat about baking online if anyone has any further questions!) Adding the Fuzz to FuzzBunn To prepare your fuzz for the bunn, it depends on what you re going to use. Natural wool in the form of roving (used in felting projects and available at craft, bead and yarn stores) is the best choice, but you can also use any fuzzy fiber that will survive the oven. (Which is almost all of them any natural fiber will be fine, if you re not sure, just snip off a piece of the yarn/fuzz and put it on a piece of foil or paper and bake it in a preheated oven at 275ºF (130ºC) for 15 minutes. If there s no meltdown, it s good to use!) Ok, so if you use wool it s ready to go, if you are using yarn or fibers with strands, you ll need to snip a handful of 4 inch lengths and then separate the fibers (a needle tool works well to tease them apart). You ll need enough to cover the tail, and then we ll cut some down shorter for his tiptop hair spike. Grab a handful of the fuzz wrap it tightly around and around the tail. It wil be messy! And don t worry if the glue/clay mix gets on the surface of the fuzz it just has to look fuzzy, it doesn t have to feel fluffy. Try to get some fuzz to cover the whole surface of the tail at least a little bit. You can get creative try cutting some smaller (inch or two-long) sections and putting them on the tip of the tail so the ends get trapped under the wrap-around fuzz. Whatever works. Add more glue glop as needed and when it s covered satisfactorily, go clean your fingers! To attach the tail fuzz, pour a gloop of liquid clay and a gloop of glue (again, I recommend WeldBond or a similar all-purpose white craft glue that can be heated) onto a piece of foil or a jar lid and mix em thoroughly. Use a brush or even your fingertip to smear the mix thoroughly all over the tail clay. The idea behind the glue and liquid clay mix is so that the glue can help secure the fuzz right away, then the liquid clay will grab the rest of the way in the oven (when we bake him again). Ok, once the bottom is done, let s do the top. If you didn t poke in a hole, now s the time to drill one either way works fine. Use a hand-held drill tool and zip in a nice inch-deep hole (don t worry, it just tickles him, it doesn t hurt). Gloop in some liquid clay (or use a toothpick to poke in some of the glue/clay mixture. 6

One More Bake To set the liquid clay and make the fuzz really stick, it s back in a preheated oven (still at 275ºF/130ºC) for 20-25 minutes.

7 Take a little handful of fuzz strands and twist the bottom to make them come together more tightly (use a bit of the glue/clay to help if you want). Trim away the excess from the bottom and then push that clump in the hole. Use a toothpick or needle tool or whatever works to press it in as firmly as possible. Now, isn t that sweet? One More Bake To set the liquid clay and make the fuzz really stick, it s back in a preheated oven (still at 275ºF/130ºC) for minutes. All that tissue-propping isn t necessary now (unless you have to lay him down because your oven is narrow, in which case, stick his little bum in the air so the tissue doesn t stick to it! Let it cool completely before the final step. Adding paint to antique your bunny! This is the last step, which is optional, but I really like how it looks. Use a small brush to add light brown acrylic paint onto one small area at a time, getting the paint deep into all the cracks. Use a sponge to wipe the paint off the surface. Continue until you ve added color to the whole bunny. Make sure to AVOID the fuzz the paint will soak right in and look icky so stay away from tail and tip!!! Get the paint especially in the face, around the hands and in the cracks of the hands and feet. Those creases at the base of the ear look good with some defining color in them, too. And he s all done! Hip, Hop, Hooray!! Resources You can get the round eyes or the glass eyes for your bunny on my website: look for Beady Lil Eyes and Big Ol Eyes And I have some great sculpting tools over there too! They d be great for this project. You can find wire, wool roving and acrylic paint at your local or online craft store. For flexible beading wire try your local bead store, or online at 7

Bang! Zoom! Off to the Moon!

Bang! Zoom! Off to the Moon! by Christi Friesen Get ready for a blast from the past when you create this steampunk rocket ship pendant from polymer clay. In the late 1800 s people s imaginations were fired