Fimo Feathers and Paper Straws Tutorials

Good Day! Sorry this tutorials post was a bit delayed, but I went away this weekend to a crop (more details about that on another post this week), and I didn't manage to get this post finished before I left. So here it is now...

Here are the handmade embellishments that are part of my March Counterfeit Kit:

The 'stickers' and the little birds were quite easy, so I haven't got a tutorial for those - I'll just talk you through them at the end of this post. But first I have got two other tutorials for you - one for the feathers, made of Fimo modelling Clay, and a video tutorial for the paper straws!

Fimo Feathers:

Step 1: Soften a lump of white modelling clay (I used Fimo):

Step 2: Squeeze one end to be more pointed, and flatten the other end, so you have a shape a bit like a guitar:

Step 3: Elongate the flattened end, and pinch the pointy end together more. the pointy end should be about a quarter of the overall shape in length:

Step 4: Flatten the pointy end down too, so it now looks really pointy like a pencil. Shape the other end to have a soft point at the tip:

Step 5: Finish shaping and smoothing the clay until it looks like a feather:

Step 6: Bake or leave to dry according to manufacturer's instructions. Then use a fine paintbrush and some acrylic paint to paint a feathery blue line all around your feather:

Step 7: When the outline is dry, paint a line up the middle - you can add a 'hole' somewhere along the line to make it look a bit thicker:

Step 8: When the centre line is dry, you can then paint diagonal lines going from the centre to the edges of the feather, all the way along. If you make any of the lines too thick, you can leave it to dry and then paint back over them a little with white acrylic paint:

Step 9: When the paint is all dry use some strong, dries-clear glue to add a gem and a sequin to the bottom of the feather:

Done! My feathers are approx 3.5" long and ⅛" thick, and they weigh 6 grams. You could maybe make them a little thinner, but Fimo will get more brittle the thinner it gets, so don't make them too thin or they will snap. And make sure you attach them to your projects with strong glue!

Paper Straws:

I did a video tutorial for this one - it's only a minute long. The steps are:

Step 1: Take a square piece of paper and roll it from one corner to the opposite corner (with no adhesive).

Step 2: Unroll it and add adhesive to the two sides of the square that you were rolling towards.

Step 3: Roll it back up, and then snip off the two pointed ends.

Here's the video (you can view it HERE in You Tube to see it larger):

Quick and easy! Use a strong adhesive - I used removeable tape at first and the corner unrolled a little, so I tucked a bit of strong gluestick underneath and it's fine now. A permanent adhesive works better!

Happy Stickers:

For these I used a variety of stamps and inks. I chose images and words that matched the kit and then stamped them onto shapes, or stamped them onto paper and cut them out. The tag and label shapes were cut using my Slice design cutter.

For some of them I inked the edge, some I doodled a border on, and the tree I backed with card. Then I just stuck them all onto a piece of white card using blu-tack, so I can take them off and add adhesive when I want to use them!

Shrinkles Birdies:

These were simple too - I just coloured in a bird stamp using ProMarkers, and stamped it onto frosted Shinkles. Then I cut them out and shrunk them in the oven - they shrunk to about half the original size, so these little birds are just under an inch wide. They are so cute!

There we go! I hope one of my handmade embellishments has inspired you to add a little something handmade to your next project. Check back through the month to see how I'm using these on my layouts and cards!

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