Paper Clay Bricks, Quick and Easy.

     I thought I'd share a fast and easy way to make rustic bricks. 

 

      Ah, the mysteries of paper clay......I was very intimidated by all the lovely paper clay stone, bricks, and roofing I have seen.  I saw Rik Pierce at the Seattle mini show and thought about asking for his autograph.....I bought his book Techniques by Rik Pierce  long before I attempted any paper clay work.

     I bought this kit, which really is just a shell, not a complete kit, off of eBay some time ago. I decided to use it for a project we were doing for the Mini-Doll list. The project is a virtual town named Rose Creek based in the late 1890's. You get to make up your own character, and his/her backstory.....My Character, Sage Brush Sally, lives in a home in need of some repair...Here is the link for the project's information. https://www.danaburton.com/rose-creek-frontier-town

     First, tear off a hunk of the clay and then put the rest back in the package. Try to keep the unused clay sealed, as it will dry out. I usually get a piece that I can easily roll into a ball, maybe smaller than a tennis ball. I have a handy Dandy rolling surface that my husband made me. We went with what Rik Pierce suggested. It allows you to get a consistent thickness of about 1/8 inch. Rik sells them on his site, but you can use chop sticks as a guide. It is just so you get an even, consistent thickness. 

This is my rolling board. I use my French pin to roll it out, but a piece of PVC pipe will do the job.

Once you have it rolled to 1/8inch thickness, you cut the clay to go onto the piece that will have bricks.

 The bricks will go on the foundation sides of the porch

Cover the area with a nice coat of glue. I used Aileene's Tacky even though there is wood glue in the background

Cut out a slab of paper clay roughly the size of the area you need. Use a clay blade, X-acto knife, or even a thin metal ruler. Now, you can see my piece is not quite long enough, and it over hangs.

 Add another piece to cover the entire side.

Now smooth the clay seam with something round. I used a round glue bottle. Next take a sharp blade and trim the side so it is nice and neat.

Now, the easy way to make bricks!

Check out this cool tool. It just happens to be a herb slicer. I bought it off of Amazon! It is almost the perfect spacing for bricks. The hardest part (for me) is driving straight. More on that later.......;)

Now, take a flat tool and score your bricks in a pattern.

I used this tool, from a multi pack of clay tools, from a craft store.

Next I added texture with a stiff bristled brush.

Viola!

Sally on her porch.