Back in the summer, Annie & Karen taught me how to make polymer clay tiles and decorate them with PearlEx, and cooking them in the Melting Pot. I loved the effects, and have been meaning to try it again, but have never managed to find the time to do so. And then today, whilst looking for something else, I came across the Melting Pot and the polymer clay, and let myself get thoroughly distracted !!!
Click on the picture for more detail.
Most of these pieces were made in moulds, with just a few handmade tiles, shapes & letters. Some of the moulds (the lizard, the large oval and the triangle with the rounded corners) are Krafty Lady moulds, and two of those have a ridge halfway down the sides as they are pendant moulds. This way, I can but beading wire of some kind to make a fairly invisible way of attaching them to a chain or cord. Some of the moulds are home made moulds, made from charms and other 3-D items, and some moulds are from the Enchanted Gallery (dragonflies) or from an EBay seller who seems to have stopped making moulds (butterflies).
I dusted the moulds with Pearl Ex, which not only colours the pieces, but acts as a good release agent. I kneaded the black clay - Fimo Soft - until it was easy to shape, then presed it into the moulds. I tried to keep the pieces thin, then unmoulded them onto pieces of silicone coated non-stick baking paper that i had cut to be the correct size to fit in the Melting Pot pan. The tiles, letters and shapes were made by kneading the fimo until soft and plaible, rolling it out thinly (I used lolly sticks either side of the clay, and a paintbrush as a rolling pin!) and then stamping into the clay with a finely detailed flourish/scroll stamp (Tim Holtz Garment District). I brushed the clay with pearlEx and used a polymer clay blade to cut into squares and rectangles, or used little pastry cutters to cut the shapes. I added more Peal Ex here and there to change the colours, the pieces look more effective if there is more than one colour on them.
Once I had made all my pieces and laid them out on the silicone papers, I turned the Melting Pot on, at the highest te,mperature, and placed it on a board on top of the hob, so that the hob extraction fan could suck away any fumes. When Anbnie & Karen did this in the summer, they left the clay peices coooking for about 20 minutes. I sson realised that with my much thinner peices, 10 inutes was enough for most of them. Only the mermaid and the two pendants got the full 20 minutes. I cooked the embellishements above (plus duplicates of many of them) in about 12 batches, which took me about 2 hours.
Some of them looked rather too shiny and bright, so I added Treasure Gold here and there to tone them down a bit (the heart & the pillar).
This technique is really easy, I've had a fun afternoon, and I now have a great stock of gorgeous embellishements in my stash!
Click on the picture for more detail.Most of these pieces were made in moulds, with just a few handmade tiles, shapes & letters. Some of the moulds (the lizard, the large oval and the triangle with the rounded corners) are Krafty Lady moulds, and two of those have a ridge halfway down the sides as they are pendant moulds. This way, I can but beading wire of some kind to make a fairly invisible way of attaching them to a chain or cord. Some of the moulds are home made moulds, made from charms and other 3-D items, and some moulds are from the Enchanted Gallery (dragonflies) or from an EBay seller who seems to have stopped making moulds (butterflies).
I dusted the moulds with Pearl Ex, which not only colours the pieces, but acts as a good release agent. I kneaded the black clay - Fimo Soft - until it was easy to shape, then presed it into the moulds. I tried to keep the pieces thin, then unmoulded them onto pieces of silicone coated non-stick baking paper that i had cut to be the correct size to fit in the Melting Pot pan. The tiles, letters and shapes were made by kneading the fimo until soft and plaible, rolling it out thinly (I used lolly sticks either side of the clay, and a paintbrush as a rolling pin!) and then stamping into the clay with a finely detailed flourish/scroll stamp (Tim Holtz Garment District). I brushed the clay with pearlEx and used a polymer clay blade to cut into squares and rectangles, or used little pastry cutters to cut the shapes. I added more Peal Ex here and there to change the colours, the pieces look more effective if there is more than one colour on them.
Once I had made all my pieces and laid them out on the silicone papers, I turned the Melting Pot on, at the highest te,mperature, and placed it on a board on top of the hob, so that the hob extraction fan could suck away any fumes. When Anbnie & Karen did this in the summer, they left the clay peices coooking for about 20 minutes. I sson realised that with my much thinner peices, 10 inutes was enough for most of them. Only the mermaid and the two pendants got the full 20 minutes. I cooked the embellishements above (plus duplicates of many of them) in about 12 batches, which took me about 2 hours.
Some of them looked rather too shiny and bright, so I added Treasure Gold here and there to tone them down a bit (the heart & the pillar).
This technique is really easy, I've had a fun afternoon, and I now have a great stock of gorgeous embellishements in my stash!
some lovely pieces,
ReplyDeletewill have to get my melting pot out,
Adrienne - WELL DONE on a fantastic play day! The pieces are stunning - I am partial to the dragonflies, faces and sun :))
ReplyDeleteAWESOME
scrumptious colors!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Adrienne - I'm trying to think of a reason NOT to buy a melting pot... you're not helping!!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful!!!! I never thought of using the Melting Pot and placing it under the exhaust fan!!! Very clever.
ReplyDeleteWow Adrienne, gorgeous embellishments is quite right. I especially love the fleur de lis (what' the plural of that anyway) and the lizard. I am quite partial to lizards anyway, and this one is quite the handsome brute!
ReplyDeleteSusie
These are fantastic. I've never done a think with clay but these are quite tempting. Thanks for the tip about using more than one pearl ex to get a better look.
ReplyDelete