God Bless Angel Pin - Sculpey Clay Projects

God Bless Angel pin
Design by Linda Hess

You'll need:

Clay colors:

Premo #5289 blue pearl
Premo #5382 Cadmium red hue
Premo #5101 pearl
Skintone of choice (I mixed equal parts of Premo #5092 beige with Sculpey III #093 beige for this piece)
Hair color of choice
Plastic wrap or storage bag (cut open to lay flat)
Kemper leaf cutters & smallest flower cutter (Available from Kemper Tools, Chino, California 800-388-5367)
Sculpey Super Slicer blade for slicing
Straight edge tool for marking fingers
Pasta machine or clay roller/brayer
Toothpick
Glue (Cyano acrylate glues (Super Glue Gel) recommended
Pinback finding

For the wings:

Condition Premo #5289 blue pearl clay. Roll out a sheet on #1 setting on your pasta machine and lay on work surface.
Lay a sheet of plastic wrap (or cut storage baggie) over the clay sheet. Be careful to smooth out any wrinkles as you cover the clay.

Cut out the angel's "left wing" using the smallest Kemper leaf cutter, cutting through the plastic wrap (this gives a nice curve to the wing). Remove the plastic wrap and using your fingers curve the wing tip up.
Condition small amount of Premo #5101 pearl and roll out on #4 setting. Cut out some "stars" using the smallest flower cutter. Apply these to the blue wing.

For the "right wing" condition equal amounts of Premo #5382 Cadmium red hue (or red of your choice) and Premo #5101 pearl.
Roll out each color on #1 setting. Stack the two sheets (red on white).
Slice and stack the sheets twice so that you end up with 8 stripes total. Compress gently so the layers stick together. This will give you a small simple cane.

Slice off about an 1/8" slice of the cane (slicing from the top of the stack).
Roll this slice through the pasta machine lengthwise on #1 setting. Lay on work surface.

Lay plastic wrap or storage baggie over your striped slice. Cut out the angel's wing using the smallest Kemper leaf cutter, cutting through the plastic wrap.
Remove the plastic wrap and curve the wing tip up (Please note: you should curve this wing tip the opposite direction of the "left wing". I tend to place them side by side on my worksurface to remind me which way to curve it).

Place the wings next to each other with the blue on the left and the striped on the right.

For the arms:

Mix together equal parts of Premo #5092 beige and Sculpey #092 beige until well blended (about 15-20 turns through the pasta machine).
Pull off a ball the size of 2 peas. Gently roll the ball between your fingertips until you have what looks like a golfball on a golf tee.

Flatten the ball with your fingers (this will become the hand) leaving the "tee" (arm) rounded. Using your straight edge tool mark fingers in the flattened portion.
Repeat with the other hand remembering to do a mirror image of the first (left hand and right hand).

Next, roll a 5/8" ball of pearl premo. Gently roll the ball into a snake (oval) about 1" long. Roll this through the pasta machine on a #3 or #4 setting lengthwise. Cut in half. These will be your sleeves.
Take one of your "hands" and one of your sleeves. Lay the hand on your work surface with the hand facing up and the arm pointing down. Place the cut side of your sleeve against the bottom of the hand, covering the arm. Lift the piece and roll the sleeve around the arm, using your fingers. Repeat with the other sleeve and arm.

At this point I connect the 2 arm/sleeve ends together to form a point. place this point in between the 2 wings. Press down at the point to seal in place. Leave the rest of the arms loose.

For the head:

Roll a 5/8" ball of the skintone clay that you made for the hands. Flatten the ball to about 1/8" thick. Place this flattened ball in the center of the wings covering the point of the arms. This becomes the angel's face.

Add a pinch of clay for the nose.
Roll two 3/16" balls of skintoned clay. Elongate each of them and place one on each side of the face. Poke the inside of each and press towards the face. These are your angel's ears.
Choose a hair color for your angel. Condition. Roll skinny snakes of the color and drape around the face. If you wish the angel to have curly hair, twist the ends as you lay them down. If you want straight hair, just curve the ends around and under the ears.

Using your toothpick, detail the face. For eyes make 2 small curves (smile-shaped) above the nose. This will give your angel the look of closed eyes. For the mouth poke your toothpick into the clay and then down and out at the same time (Note: If you would like the mouth to be wider than a toothpick allows you can use a pen tip, knitting needle, and any other type tool that allows you to poke a hole). Be careful not to poke the hole all the way through.

To complete:

Bend the hands up and together as though she is praying. Adjust the "elbows' to accomplish this look. I tend to have the hands resting on some portion of the face for support.

Add a halo by rolling a snake of clay and curving it around her head.
Bake the completed piece at 275* for 30 minutes (minimum). When cool, glue on the pinback of your choice. Note: Be certain to use an oven thermometer to check the “true” temperature of your oven. Adjust dial up or down to reach 275 for an extended period of time before baking.

Variations:

Use tan, gold, or caramel sculpey in the skintone mix to create a variety of skin colors.
Add sead beads to the ears for earrings.
Add short hair (and no earrings) for a boy angel...or leave your angel bald ( you would not believe how many requests I have had for that one!)

ENJOY!