CREATIVE CRAFTING

Posts Tagged ‘Polymer Clay’

The Penguins are ready for the holidays. Are you? I have started making small Christmas Ornaments for friends, neighbors, and anyone who happens to be passing by the house. This is a very easy project to make and takes very little time.

The individual penguins are made up of one black ball approximately 1″ in diameter with a white ball sitting on top that is about 3/4″ in diameter. The eyes are no more than a 1/8 inch ball of white clay with a black dot painted on after baking. As for the hats…make a cone out of any color you want and fit it to the heads. And don’t forget the beak…orange 1/8″ ball worked for me.

I used blue metallic for the base and made it so that both penguins could sit on it comfortably. The tree was made with a 1/2 ball of green clay shaped into a cone and textured to resemble branches..then I rolled the tree in different color small glass beads.

The sign can be a little more advanced for the beginner, but still easy to do. Get some liquid Sculpey. On transfer paper print the greeting you want the penguins hold up. Take your liquid Sculpey and put an even coat on the transfer, place it up side down on a tile and bake. Once cooled remove the paper backing and place the greeting on a very thing sheet of clay…color of your choosing. Use a small amount of liquid Sculpey to the transfer to have it adhere to the little sign. Sometimes this will take some practice and you might have to do it a couple of times if you have never done it. Be patient as Liquid Sculpey is going to become your next best friend.

Polymer clay can be used in a wide variety of craft projects. Use polymer clay to make embellishments for scrapbooking projects, elements for jewelry making, miniature items for dollhouses, toppers for handmade cards and a wide range of other items.

Unlike other clay mediums, polymer clay requires very little in the way of special tools and most people will have the basics at home. Once you have progressed past the basics then one or two additional tools are worth purchasing. One of these is a pasta machine. A standard domestic pasta machine is suitable. You do not have to purchase anything fancy.

As a polymer clay tool a pasta machine will prove to be very useful and can be used in a variety of ways. Condition polymer clay, roll even, flat sheets of polymer clay, different decorative polymer clay techniques can all be obtained through the use of a pasta machine.

Polymer clay fed through the pasta machine squeezes the clay between two rollers and produces a flat sheet. Pasta makers can be adjusted to bring the rollers closer together or move them further apart thereby allowing you to control the thickness of your sheets.

The ways that a pasta machine can be used include:

• Conditioning polymer clay – The action of running the polymer clay through the pasta machine several times produces more pliable polymer clay. Start by working the clay through the largest setting on the rollers as the clay becomes fully conditioned you can adjust the setting to a smaller width.

Finding interesting polymer projects to post on here is not a problem.  The problem is after I try them which ones do I post?

Carol Duvall who is the “queen of crafts” as far as I am concerned always had wonderful ideas and instructions for most crafts, but she is no longer on TV.  So I have to rely on other sources and my own imagination.

My daughter collects watches.  So I am in the process of making her one for her birthday, which is coming up.  Happy Birthday Jenn!

Project courtesy of Lynne Manning of Milton, Mass.

Materials and Tools:
blue, white, pink and black polymer clay
watch with watch attachments
15″ elastic
20 large-hole 6mm beads, silver colored
super glue
pasta machine
acrylic roller
thin slicing tool
cardboard
clay-dedicated oven

Steps:

1. Condition your polymer clay by running it through the pasta machine about 20 times.

2. To make the face cane: Draw a face design in a 2- to 3-inch circle. Start making the eyes of the cane by rolling a black snake 2 inches long. Run some white clay through your pasta machine at the #1 setting. Wrap this around the black snake, making sure the ends meet. Smooth the seam. Do another wrap with the white clay. Make sure to smooth the ends again.

3. Run some black clay through the pasta machine at the #5 setting. Wrap this around the white clay, making sure the ends meet. The end of the cane will sort of look like a bullseye. Flatten this piece slightly lengthwise so that the ends look oblong.

If you are new to Polymer clay you are sure to hear both of these terms used. Both terms refer to a type of clay loaves. Clay loaves are created by layering tiny sheets or ropes of colored clay. The technique itself is an old one that was originally used with glass and ceramic clays to obtain some really beautiful patterns on objects. The same technique is used to make colorful candy during the Christmas season, or to make layered candles.

The trick to the whole process is to start very large and then stretch and reduce the diameter of the cane or loaf so that the image appears smaller. It is also important to have a very sharp blade to use for slicking, so that the design is not distorted by the drag of the blade itself. I used a wallpaper replacement blade from the hardware store and it worked great.

The millefiori canes will last up to six months and can be used on a variety of projects. You can also purchase canes from several clay manufacturers.

Here is an example of one of the easier canes to make:

Checkerboard

It takes a little practice to make so I would suggest not using your favorite colors the first time around. Stick with black and white for now.

First roll two ropes of contrasting colors. Be sure the diameter of the ropes are as close to size as possible. Flatten the top slightly by rolling with a brayer or rolling pin. Then cut the ropes into equal sizes.

In my previous article I gave you formulas for making different skin color tones. Hopefully some of you found it helpful.

Most skin color tones base color is beige with a touch of raw sienna or ecru. Has anyone found ecru in a polymer clay? I haven’t…so what is ecru and is there a color that you can use as a substitute? What is the difference between beige, ecru, cream, off-white, and eggshell?

It depends on who you ask I have found out! Apparently the color ecru is determined by the amount of
of yellowy brown in each of them as it changes from white. We know it is in the beige family, but not really what we think of as beige.

A very light beige as one answer put it. So isn’t that cream? No it is between white and cream???????????

Still another opinion: Sort of like cream, but lighter and more yellow-ish. I think. It is also similar to the color called Champagne.

Aha! Now I am getting somewhere. I did see Champagne polymer clay somewhere and it was very light beige.

So I did my own color mix of 2 parts beige and one part white and came up with a color that I think is ecru.

The important point here is that if you can’t find the color you are looking for in a polymer clay, don’t be afraid to experiment with different blends until you achieve the color you are looking for.

Polymer Clay is a versatile product to use. Making the correct flesh tones for an individual sculpture can be a little overwhelming for the novice. Here are some tips to help.

Every brand of clay makes a variety of flesh toned clays. Most are translucent and produce a realistic impression, but that same quality, translucence, can cause problems. The sheen of unbaked clay, especially translucent clay, makes it difficult to detect seam lines, fingerprints, or tool marks. These flaws become noticeable when the sculpture is baked. Wet sanding, scraping and wiping the surface with acetone will eliminate most surface flaws, but not the problem of “plaquing,” which is a problem with translucent clays. The surface will feel smooth, but appear to be pocked with blisters shaped like crescent moons, which in fact is trapped air in the clay.

For this very reason when creating a flesh tone use only semi-opaque flesh tones. However after baking, glazing with acrylic paints or water based oils you will have created the illusion of translucent flesh.

Flawless flesh tones begin with a color that will capture the ideal of the figure you want to mold. The masks to the left illustrate what can be achieved using a blend of translucent beige and a least one part of opaque clay.

• a. Asian ancestry…6 parts beige+ 1 part Ecru
• b. Northern European…8 parts beige + 1 part Ecru
• c. American Indian…8 parts beige + 1 part Raw Sienna

I found this fun Halloween  Haunted House at my favorite site Sculpty.com. They have tons of fresh ideas for Halloween and I couldn’t resist this little house. It has a battery-operated “flame” making it safe for even small children to use. I only made one for now, but plan on making a few more for around the house and yard.

Here is what you will need to get started:
Clays:

Sculpey® III: Black – 2 oz — 1 block
Sculpey® III: Chocolate – 2 oz — 1 block
Sculpey® III: Elephant Gray – 2 oz — 1 block
Sculpey® III: Emerald – 2 oz — 1 block
Sculpey® III: Just Orange – 2 oz — 1 block
Sculpey® III: Pottery – 2 oz — 1 block
Sculpey® III: Spring Lilac – 2 oz — 1 block
Sculpey® III: Tan – 2 oz — 1 block

Tools:
8” Acrylic Roller
Clay Knife
Etch ‘n Pearl
Super Slicer
Additional Supplies:
Glass tealight holder and tealight or battery operated tealight
Super Glue gel

To get started with your Halloween House preheat your oven to 275 °F. Test temperature with oven thermometer for perfectly cured clay. Make sure you condition all clay by kneading until it’s soft and smooth or running it through the Clay Conditioning Machine for several passes on the widest setting. Do this until the clay is soft and plyable.

Step 1
Use acrylic roller or clay roller to roll Black clay to ½” thickness. Roll Elephant Gray to ¼” thickness. Roll Spring Lilac and Tan clay into ⅛”-thick sheets.

Polymer Clay is a fun medium to use because it is easy to mold and it can be cooked in your oven. When making jewelry, and you have run out of beads that you want to use, take out your clay, and make beads. Here are some techniques that will make your bead making more intricate and unique.

I found a technique for making imitation bone or ivory beads using polymer clay. You can also maneuver the clay so that it will take on a wooden look. You start the process by making beads the size you need out of white. Some artist like to use more cylindrical shapes as they claim it enables them to “carve” patterns easier than more rounded beads, for myself I didn’t see a difference. So use your own ideas on the shapes (more fun that way too!)

After the bead has been baked use a small knife to carve patterns. You can also use on of your pointed clay tools or a sharp needle also works well. Once you are satisfied with the carving use either a tan or light beige acrylic paints and lightly rub the outside of the bead. Do not rub so much in that the paint goes into the carving you made, that part should remain white. While the paint is slightly damp still use either a piece of paper towel or a napkin to remove any excess paint.