Liquid Sculpey Swirls Photo Frame

Getting Started:Do not use unbaked clay on unprotected furniture or finished surfaces. Start with clean hands and work surface area. Good work surfaces include wax paper, metal baking sheet, or disposable foil. Knead clay until soft and smooth. For best results, clean your hands in between colors. Shape clay, pressing pieces together firmly. Bake on oven-proof glass or metal surface at 275 degrees F for 20 minutes. For best baking results, use an oven thermometer. DO NOT USE MICROWAVE OVEN. DO NOT EXCEED THE ABOVE TEMPERATURE OR RECOMMENDED BAKING TIME. Wash hands after use. Baking should be done by an adult.Begin by preheating oven to 275 degrees F. Test temperature with oven thermometer for perfectly cured clay.

Sand rough edges from the frame as needed. Paint the whole face and edges of the frame with off white acrylic paint. The Liquid Sculpey® (LS) can be somewhat translucent and we don’t want the wood grain to show through it. While the paint is drying, test the liquids. The liquids should be relatively the same thickness for this project. Open each bottle and stir the LS with an Etch ‘n Pearl. If one color seems thicker than another, you can thin it by adding a small amount of Liquid Clay Softener directly into the bottle. Stir thoroughly and test again. Add Liquid Clay Softener as needed. First squirt random shapes of LS in Rose Gold.

Next squirt random shapes of LS in Silver.

Finally, fill in between the colors with Pearl LS. Leave a little space between the colors and also around the edges.

Finally, fill in between the colors with Pearl LS. Leave a little space between the colors and also around the edges.

The entire frame is blended now all the way to the edges. The random streaks are where I picked my fingertip up and moved to a new section.

Add very tiny dots of Black LS randomly.

Use the small Etch ‘n Pearl tip to make little swirly-q’s. Dip the tip of the tool into the tiny pool of black and without lifting the tip, drag it into the other colors in a swirling motion.

Where there are dots close together, you can get cool designs by starting in the center of one dot and dragging the tip all the way through other dots. Finish with a swirl at the end. The key is to keep the tip of your tool in the LS and don’t lift it out until the swirl is completely finished.

Here’s a look at the swirly frame. Bake the entire frame at 275 for 30 minutes. If when the frame comes out of the oven there are trails of wood sap on the edges, you can carefully scrape these away and then re-cover with paint.

When the frame is completely cool, load a small paintbrush with bright gold metallic acrylic paint. Dab the paint all along the edges. Don’t be concerned about the paint being even or smooth. The little piling of paint on the edges goes well with the randomness of the design. Paint the entire sides of the frame with the gold as well.

Paint all the outside edges and the inside edges. Allow the paint to dry completely