Purple Heart-Shaped Box - Sculpey Clay Projects

Purple Heart-Shaped Box
Using Architectural Relief PushMolds
Design by Marie Segal

Materials:

USING FLEXIBLE PUSHMOLDS TO
MOLD IN COLOR:

Practice to determine how much clay will fill your selection. It takes less than you might think!
When building in color layers, a little goes a long way. Use a clay shaper, paintbrush handle or a pencil eraser to pull any excess away from the lower boundaries.
You want to just fill the lower boundaries, even leaving them a little shallow. The final layer of color will fill into the shallow areas, leaving a neat border. But, if the first colors are "domed" up, the final molding pressures will force the "dome" out of its boundaries, leading to a smeared look. LESS IS MORE in this case.
When the lower boundaries are filled with their colors, press the main clay color into the center of the mold. Gently press and pat so it flows into the shape. When the clay is nearly level with the top of the mold, use your index finger to gently pull any excess away so that you can see all edge boundaries of the mold. This eliminates a "skin" that would need to be trimmed away.
Let the clay "rest" for some time; or, put the mold into the freezer compartment for 3-4 minutes.
Remove from freezer, and "pop" your molded piece out by pressing from the backside of the mold. It will come out like an ice cube.
If any color residue remains, wipe the mold out with a baby wipe or a Windex dampened paper towel

Directions:

Roll a coil of white clay smaller than the piece you want to mold, and 1/2" thick in diameter.

Start at one side of the piece you want to mold, and press in the rolled coil of clay.

Trim off excess clay from the top of the mold with either your thumbnail or carefully with your Sculpey blade. Trim to make level with the mold. Place mold in freezer for 2-3 minutes to firm and make release easier.

Gently pull out your clay from the mold. The nice thing about having flexible molds is that you can bend them back from the clay to release the clay from the mold.

Now, spread a little Liquid Sculpey on the back of the molded piece. Spread it out with a bamboo skewer or toothpick to get a nice even layer on the back of the molded piece. NOTE: You may prefer to previously coat the box with Sobo or another white craft glue and let dry thoroughly to create "tack" for the clay.

Place one end of the molded piece onto the box and gently press to the box to set.

Ease your molded piece a little at a time to conform to the edge of the box, particularly if the edge is curved.

Now, continue molding and adding more pieces to the top of the box, going all around the perimeter of the box top. No picture insert. Now, on the side of the lid, you take the Etruscan mold and make a border for the lid. Follow the instructions listed earlier for molding the pieces and placing on the paper mache box. Notice the Etruscan swirl border at the bottom of the box. Mold and add those pieces on also!

Now, I have taken the Sconce mold and added three pieces to the top. You can pick which elements you like best to decorate the top of your box. Place them on the box like so! Remember to put Liquid Sculpey on the back of each piece!

I have placed another embellishment from the Sconce mold into the center of the other three, like you see in the picture. It has been coated with Liquid Sculpey on the back also. Now that you have added all of your molded pieces to the box, you will want to bake your project. Place in a preheated, CALIBRATED 275 degrees F (130 degrees C) oven for 35 minutes. Turn the oven off after the 35 minutes and let the box cool down in the oven. When the box has cooled, remove from the oven and continue with the last step, painting the box!

Apply your choice of color to your project. I prefer to use a kitchen sponge with all of the water squeezed out to apply my paint. I used Liquitex Mixed Purple. On one end of the sponge, squeez out a bead of paint along the end, and start to apply to the box. Cover the entire box with paint both inside and out.

Rinse out your sponge really well, and squeeze out the excess water. Then, wipe off the extra paint on the clay molded pieces to antique the box. Let it dry completely. Now your project is done, and you can put jewelry, change, hopes and dreams into it!!! Make more for your friends! It is so easy with these architectural relief push molds!