Materials
Used:
- One 2-oz. package Sculpey III or Premo Black
- Preferred shapelet
- Several assorted colors of Jones Tones Foils (or other)
Clear Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (at least an ounce- more
if making several pendants or pins)
- Clay dedicated pasta machine or acrylic clay roller to roll
clay flat
- Sculpey Clay Blade
- Needle tool
- Metal painter’s spatula
- OPTIONAL: embossing enamel melting pot, hot glue gun pad
Piece of glass or shiny ceramic tile (or something similar
to bake on and then to cool the piece – (or something that the embossing
enamel won’t stick to)
- Oven set to bake reliably at 275 degrees
- Disposable aluminum pie-or-baking pan
- Oven mitt to remove pan from oven
- Sharp scissors (optional)
- 400 or 600 grit automotive sandpaper
- Small
bowl of water to sand in
- Your choice gold or silver pin back to fit
- Cyano
glue (“Super” glue)
STEP
1. Flatten half a block of black clay on the thickest setting of
your pasta machine, or about ¼ inch
thick.
 STEP
2. Cut several small sheets of the foils,
and arrrange them “colord side up” on
the surface of the clay.
 STEP 3. Use the sharp side of the clay blade to burnish
the foils tightly to the surface of the clay.
 STEP
4. Grasp the corner of one of the sheets and in one
quick “ripping” motion, pull it from the
clay surface. Repeat until all sheets are removed,
and the foils are well-transferred to the clay surface. STEP
5. If there is any black clay showing through that
you don’t want, lay another contrasting color of
foil on the area where the black is showing, and repeat
steps 3 and 4.
STEP
6. Place the Shapelet on top of the clay, being
sure you like what you see as far as the arrangement
of foils,
as this is what your pin will end-up looking like.
 STEP
7. Use the needle tool to trace around the edge of
the Shapelet LIGHTLY, at first, then re-trace deeper
until you’ve cut totally through the entire piece of clay.
 STEP 8. Remove the cut-out piece.
STEP 9. Sprinkle the top of the clay with the Clear Embossing
Enamel. HELPS: The shaker that the embossing enamel comes
in can be unweildy to handle-especially if you have the
large sized-one. Try transferring some of the enamel into
a small salt or pepper shaker. You can apply the coats
more evenly, thinly, and direct the flow better.
STEP
10. Place the piece in the oven on the glass, tile
or other item the embossing enamel won’t stick
to, and bake at 275 until the embossing enamel melts.
OR, if
you have a small embossing enamel pot, use that to melt
the embossing powder by placing the piece in it and turning
it on. This will take about 20 minutes or so until the
powder melts.
NOTE: this is not hot enough to fully polymerize your
piece, it will still need to be baked at 275 degrees
F for 30
minutes. This method just gives you the opportunity to
add several more coats of embossing enamel before the
final baking, and it also is a nice flat surface for
your piece
to rest in, so it helps to flatten the surface of the
enamel more evenly. CAUTION! THE SURFACES OF THE POT
AND THE PIECE
ITSELF ARE VERY VERY HOT!!! USE EXTRME CAUTION AROUND
THESE ITEMS! I RECOMMEND USING A SMALL METAL PAINTER’S
SPATULA TO REMOVE YOUR PIECE FROM THE POT.
STEP 11. Continue to add more coats of embossing
enamel until you are happy with the thickness.
A minimum of
two coats, or a maximum of 6 coats for maximum “glassy
depth” is recommended for this project. Note that
if you are using an oven, you’ll have to add
each coat and return the piece to the oven on the sheet
of
white or wax paper and re-melt the embossing powder.
NOTE: several thin coats work much better than one
or two thick coats, as the enamel will tend to run
if it
is applied too thickly.
STEP
12. Once you’ve baked the piece fully for 30 minutes
at 275 degrees F, and while still warm, CAREFULLY remove it from
the sheet of paper using the metal painter’s spatula. Allow
it to cool on a piece of glass, a shiny ceramic tile, or any
flat surface that the enamel will not stick to once cooled. HELP:
If you have a hot glue gun pad, this is ideal to cool your piece
on.
STEP 13. Cut any pooled embossing enamel off the edges of the
piece using sharp scissors or trim carefully with the clay
blade. Lightly sand the back of the piece using 400 or 600
grit automotive sandpaper under a running faucet or in a small
bowl of water. Dry the pieces, and then apply cyno glue to
area on back that you wish to mount the pin back. Be sure the
pin back is clean and free of oils or dust before applying.
IDEAS:
-
You can add glitter (I like the “stick-shaped glitter rather
than the round glitter), dashes of dry mica pigment, (like Jacquard’s
Pearl Ex powders, or other inclusions that will enhance the
glass-like look and depth of your project.)
- If you are talented with wire-wrapping, try wrapping the piece
and making it into a pendant instead of a pin.
-
You can also make the piece “double-sided” by gluing
two finished pieces back-to-back, and then wrapping with wire.
- If the piece gets cloudy as you work with it, it is because the
oils from your hands have contaminated the surface. Use a soft
rag or soft paper towel moistened with a very small amount
of alcohol to clean it.
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