Fake Gold (Polymer Clay)

I have mentioned before that I am subscribed to Meg Newberg's polymer clay tutorials. I have made a few canes based on her tutorials so far and have been wanting to try her technique to make plain non metallic/mica clay look like shining gold metal via color. I was waiting for a good clay sale to get the colors necessary, finally finished up a few other projects and had a chance to try it. It was another gift I made for my aunts. I can't divulge the technique because these are paid tutorials but I am allowed to show the results! I can't say that they are fantastic but I was pretty happy with it for a first try. Meg not only shows you the techniques, she shows you how to use them and gives examples to try. I had this glass from a thrift store ages ago and loved the black. It had some engraving on it but I covered it in clay.

There was a lot of blending colors and cane making involved, which means a lot of pasta machine rolling! I would never have come up with this idea on my own, that's for sure! I rolled a few of the canes the wrong way but that was my own fault! The project still came out pretty much the way I intended!

I think I got a little too small on this butterfly's wing cane. I embedded wire into the butterfly heads for their antenna and then spiraled the ends. 

The other side of the bottom. I made a cane of the leaves, as well.

Another side of the glass.

The shine on the clay is Sculpey gloss varnish. These are not for drinking. I suggested they fill it with flowers. I really loved this red butterfly. And I liked the way that one tendril right below the blue one's wing is lighter at the end, like gold would do in the light...that is the technique that I was trying to explain!

'Scuse the flash but this is the only picture of the entire glass that came out well. :) They really liked it.

I still had (and have!) a lot of the various canes from the glass project on hand so I decided to try putting the clay on a large Christmas ball. It looks more like a Spring ball than a Christmas one! 

I didn't know how to color the glass and didn't want to leave it natural so I used some faux etching paint...they call it "Frost" paint. It looks pretty good and no nasty chemicals...If I were smart, I probably would've coated the INSIDE with something...oh well. :D

I probably should have painted it before I put the clay on but sometimes I do things and THEN think about it...learn from my mistakes, like I always do! :D

I used Sculpey gloss again to coat the clay after baking. 

Can't wait to see it on the tree. :) I think it will look nice with Christmas lights shining through.

The directions for the paint said to wait several days before baking. Luckily the curing temperature was the same as the clay for about the same length of time, so it was perfect for this project. In reality I normally would cook the clay a little longer but the pieces were thin and 1/2 hour was fine. 

I already have a vase that I coated with the faux etching in preparation to use up the last of my canes.  :)  Thanks for looking - make sure to stop by my Pinterest page to see a lot more of my creations, and please like my Facebook page, Karmic Confetti! 

A Clear Winner in the Polymer Clay Slicer DIY

I've been very busy with work and other projects but that doesn't mean I haven't wanted to post some of the things I've been doing! I had a previous post about a polymer clay slicer I made from parts from the hardware store. I haven't used it much because I've had so many  other things going on and besides, I really wanted to make one I had seen a few weeks ago. 

I've seen a lot of homemade slicers that I liked recently, for instance, I really like this one (seen below), but I'm having a hard time finding a metal slinky! I don't know if you could find one in a store, new! I thought there was some kind of safety issue with the metal ones...anyway, all I could find were plastic ones. This seems like you could control the thickness of your slices very easily, but of course that's just a guess until I make my own! :)  It might be rather limiting as far as what size cane would fit inside this contraption, though.

Then, there is this one at Kater's Acres.  I really like the design but I think it's a little more than I need for the few canes I have to cut!  At the time of this writing, i don't think she has a tutorial for it, anyways, and it looks pretty complicated! Like a Cadillac of cutters! :) Her father made it for her...what a wonderful dad! 

Then there is this one, simple and practical, by one of my favorite bloggers, Meg Newberg. Waste not, want not...although I've never had any clay go to waste, have you? :D It would take up quite a bit of room, though, for something I don't use that often.

And after re-reading Meg's post about weight, I may have to modify the one I came up with, based on a beautiful idea from France. Isn't it elegant? Mine is not nearly as well made as this one! But I did not want to spend a fortune on it, either...

Still, I am very happy with the result, below. :) I got the three sides, which are acrylic stamping blocks, from Joanne's, for $1.50 each. I cut one in half, with my rotary tool. That was interesting! The bottom ruled acrylic square is a 4" ruler from Walmart and cost $4. I got some two part epoxy from Harbor Freight for a couple of dollars to glue it together with, and I already had a a clay blade, although I think I need a new one as this one has a bend in it! After reading about slicers moving while trying to use them, I may add some suction cup feet to the bottom of this one to stick to the stovetop or my glass table...This system holds the blade nice and tightly, though, and you can put the clay cane on a sheet of plastic to move it back and forth easily for slicing. It is easily modified, if you wanted to make your own...just use larger blocks than I did. This one measures less than three inches high, so if you needed something larger, the base would have to be bigger, as well. As I said, I don't have large canes to cut, nor very many, very often, so this one is perfect for me! It doesn't take up much room, either.

Oh, and pardon my stovetop. At least it takes a good picture, even if it doesn't get used very much. :D

Polymer Clay and Play Dough Reduction

I am a subscriber of Meg Newberg's tutorials. They are extremely well written and she keeps coming up with such novel and beautiful ideas! I wanted to try her latest, which looks like beveled glass....if you join this month you'll get the issue for $5...if you wait the price goes up for individual back issues. (As always, I do not receive any money from mentioning other artists. I am just informing you what I like!) Here is a link to her Etsy site.  You really should go visit and see her wonderful tutorials! They are unlike any I've seen! Very talented lady.

Anyway, the cane in the latest issue comes out shaped like a six pointed star, so I decided to try a technique I read about on the internet where you use Playdough to wrap your clay before reducing odd shaped canes. Supposedly it peels right off afterwards. I decided to give it a try so I wouldn't deform my hard work! This is not an easy cane to make or reduce!

I haven't used this stuff since I was six! It seems better than it was back then...it doesn't have that odor we all remember anymore! :) It always smelled toxic to me, although it was supposed to be safe. I guess it was okay since I'm still here! The formula they use now seems smoother, as well, rather slippery and better than it was when I was little.

This picture shows my cane covered in a thin layer of pink Playdough. It is very soft so it can't be used  alone. I rolled it out by hand and maybe I should have made it thinner. 

Then I filled in the low spots with triangles of red scrap polymer clay I had already open and conditioned. I believe all the polymer here is Primo.

Then I covered the whole thing in another sheet of the red scrap. The idea is that the Playdough peels off the cane cleanly and the extra red I added helps it keep its shape while reducing....Since your cane is now round, you can do a bit of rolling to reduce it. Much easier to reduce than a six pointed star!

Then, my usual technique is to attach the ends to either a lucite block for stamping (couldn't find it for the pic) or a piece of plastic....this one is one I cut off from the package eraser clay packs comes in. I have already started reducing it in this photo. As you can see, the soft Playdough squished out and made a big mess. If my beginning layer of it was thinner, it might not have gotten so icky. :) Another tip that works very well is to add some scrap clay to the end of your cane before reducing. Then you don't lose so much of your "good" cane. I didn't do it, in this case.

I did not take a photo of the results because I didn't want anyone to lose their lunch....It was ugly. The Playdough did NOT peel off easily, as I was told! I ended up peeling what I could of the scrap red off, then as much of the icky Playdough off both the cane and the scrap clay, and gently washing off the rest. It DID work, but it wasn't what I had hoped for....It was messy and nasty once it got wet....but it did all rinse off after a bit of soaking in warm water. If you try this, I suggest you make your cane as smooth as possible before putting on the layer of Playdough...it wants to get in any crevices and stick. A toothbrush got it out though. If you baked it with some on the outside, I am sure it would just dry out and fall off.. So, your mileage may vary. Will I do this again? Maybe. It DID work, and Playdough is cheap.

Not really sure about how this cane came out but it was my first attempt. We are our own worst critics, though...we see every mistake glaring like the sun!  I'll still probably make something out of it...hardly ever any waste in polymer clay! Hope you enjoyed my experiment and come back and see what else I'm up to soon!