Category: Testing on Polymer Clay

1. Polymer Clay Jewellery-How Do you Sign Your Work?e

   Posted on 11:09am Wednesday 7th Jul 2021

   It isnt vital that you sign your jewellery but a lot of people do it ! 

   There are different ways of signing your work

   • Make a signature cane
   • Order a Customised Stamp ( many people making 3D cutters now offer these)
   • Make your own stamp

   I have made a signature cane and sometimes use this on the back of my larger pieces ie.necklaces and pendants.

   My friend ordered a fabulous customised stamp from Hobbyrian but unfortunateley she is no longer shipping to the UK since Brexit.

   

    

   I have found during lockdown that I have played with clay more, so I decided to make one ! It is also a great way to use scrap clay. First I rolled some scrap clay through a pasta machine and conditioned it.

    

    

    

    

   I rolled through on the thickest setting and then made three layers of clay (oops sorry for the blurriness of the photo. I then cut this out with a small square Kemper cutter.

   

    

    

    

   I then rolled out very thin snakes of clay and and placed them on the square shape I had previously made, not forgetting to reverse my initials !

   You can see the small size of this compared to my fingernails.

   I decided then to make a small handle, so carefully rolled a stick of clay, gently making a ridge in the middle with a skewer which makes if easier to hold. Even though both parts of these were raw, I added some bake and bond to ensure a strong hold. I then supported it on some cardboard in my oven.                                                                               

   

    

    

   And  here is the finished piece complete with handle

    

    

    

   Et Voila, not a bad imprint for a first try !

   

    

2. New Texture Sheets and Acrylic Inks for Polymer Clay jewellery

   Posted on 4:30pm Monday 25th May 2020

   It is always fun when you buy something new to use on your polymer clay creations isnt it ?

   

   I chose to buy Debbie Bulfords new texture sheets which are extremely good value, giving 5 textures in one packet. I have ordered from Debbie before and have always been pleased with the quality and dispatch time of her products

   

   In the 2nd picture, you can see the two texture sheets I chose for my project. I tried the first texture but didnt have an awful lot of success with itas it was a little shallow. I contacted Debbie and she said that particular texture would be better on metal clay. Not to be deterred however, I did use that sheet and once highlighted (as you will see in my designs) I had success. The best way I found was to press my thumbs down and walk them over the texture sheet a couple of times. I used water as a release which is okay with the Sculpey Premo I use (not all polymer clays though). Debbie provided very concise instructions as illustrated in the photo on the right.

   Once I had finished with the texturing, I used Liquitex acrylic inks which dont have the fading issues of alcohol inks and then highlighted with pan pastels. I think the finished items have a look of old pottery, what do you think?

   Thanks Debbie for selling these great tools !

   

3. Using Paints on Polymer Clay

   Posted on 11:40am Thursday 14th May 2020

   There is such a wide variety of paints and surface treatments for polymer clay and as clayers we never have enough ! I recently bought some colour changing paints which are luscious metallics with an undertone. The paints used are Color Shift by Folk Art 

   I initially made a necklace to which I added the paints prior to curing and there was a substantial change in the colours, so I decided to do some test pieces and experiment. I made squares of black and white clay (I used Premo), covered one set of squares in the four paint colours I had. I cured these squares together with some unpainted squares for 30 minutes

   Once out of the oven I added paint to the previously unpainted squares and now I had a good indication of changes in colour. If paint is added and cured, the luminosity disappears somewhat and we get  more subtle colours, which I rather like. If you add to blank cured clay, you get more true colours.. Dont forget that you can increase intensity of colour by letting one layer of clay dry and adding another.

   

   Making Jewellery with Polymer Clay and Paints

   This pendant was made by adding paints before curing and provides a mini tutorial for you (intermediate clayers) Please ask questions or leave comments if you like

   Supplies Black polymer clay, liquid clay, clay knife, cutters and blades, silk screen of choice (mine was from Tonja Lenderman) paint brush, pan pastels (not essential) white acrylic paint, Color Shift Paints (available in the UK from Clayaround)

   • Silk screen your black polymer clay with the white paint (if you wish to paint your piece before curing)
   • Paint the gaps in the design with your colour change paints, once the white clay has dried
   • Once fully dried, cut out your jewellery shape over a further pice of black clay which will give you the required thickness for your piece. NB I have not specified settings on pasta machine as all machines are different and if comes down to personal preference
   • Add Pan Pastels to background and burnish in, you can also add a bail at this stage if required. I then distressed my background by adding texture and scoring
   • Place piece in oven for a 30 minute cure at recommended temperature. If you havent added a bail previously, you can do this now or add more backing. Cover the piece in liquid clay as this enhances the colours and cure for another 30 minutes