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"I found this great
copper-look pot marked down at the local Target and decided it
was PERFECT
for the orchid plant my sons presented me
for Mother’s Day. Of course, it needed a little clay embellishment
to feel at home in MY house!!
If you don’t have
a copper-look pot – don’t despair!
A black or green pot would be stunning with this embellishment. Remember
that most metal, ceramic or clay pots can all be baked safely in the
oven at the correct temperatures for curing your clay. I noticed that
my pot color altered slightly when I baked it. I didn’t use my
cardinal rule of using a test pre-bake before starting my project!!
Fortunately, the difference is slight, but I recommend that you always
pre-bake a non polymer clay piece before embellishment."
Materials and Tools:
- Premo! Sculpey or Sculpey
III Black clay – 2 2-oz bars
- Sculpey EZ Flex mold – I’ve
used the new Asian motif, APM30
- Antique Copper Pearl Ex (by Jacquard)
- 6 cotton swabs
- metal, ceramic or clay pot
- TLS (Translucent Liquid Sculpey) can be used as a glue for a clay pot
Tips for using the molds:
- I
wipe my molds with a damp papertowel – this serves to
clean out any dust or clay particles that can accumulate as you
use the mold.
It also helps the clay release easier from the mold, particularly
if it is a deeper mold.
- I find that coils of clay
work best in the longer molds, such as the bamboo strips.
- Use half the clay
you *think* you need for each mold. If you still have too much,
you can
carefully trim the excess clay away with your
Sculpey clay blade. Be careful! Don’t cut your mold.
Adding the molded pieces to the pot:
- I began by firmly
placing the bamboo strips around the edge of the pot, butting
each strip
up against each other. Since my pot is
a non-porous metallic surface, I don’t need gluing agent
to keep it in place. If this were an unglazed ceramic or clay
pot, I
would use the TLS as gluing agent between the raw clay and the
pot. The TLS will cure during the baking and hold the clay in
place.
- Next, I placed the
two small leaf molds randomly along the bamboo, using these
to cover any unsightly seams of the bamboo.
- Finally, I added the
lanterns. I found that I preferred them hanging
near a cluster of leaves.
- I applied the Pearl
Ex using a cotton swab with just very mall amounts of Pearl Ex.
The Pearl Ex really brings alive the textures
and shapes of your molds.
- Now my pot is ready
for baking! After it’s cooled, I put
the orchid and it’s potting materials in place.
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