premo! Silkscreened Journal

Getting Started Polymer clay may stain. CLAY MAY DAMAGE UNPROTECTED FURNITURE OR FINISHED SURFACES. DO NOT USE polymer clay on unprotected surfaces. We recommend working on the Sculpey clay mat, wax paper, metal baking sheet, or disposable foil. Start with clean hands and work surface area. 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°F (130 °C) for 30 minutes per ¼" (6 mm) thickness. 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 completed by an adult.Begin by preheating oven to 275 °F (130 °C). Test temperature with oven thermometer for perfectly cured clay. For best results, condition all clay by running it through the Clay Conditioning Machine for several passes on the widest setting. Fold the clay in half after each pass and insert the fold side into the rollers first.

Condition and roll out the Pearl clay on #3 setting of the clay conditioning machine. Create a sheet that is about the size of the plume silk screen. Lay the sheet out on your work surface and position the screen onto the sheet of clay. Gently rub the screen onto the surface of the clay so it is making good contact. Note: This next part needs to be done quickly so the paint doesn’t dry on the screen. Have the jar of glitter open and to the side so you can work quickly. First screen a layer of the clear medium. Next immediately sprinkle a solid layer of the Purple glitter over the screen. Use your finger tip to rub the glitter through the screen. Do so gently but be quick. Once you have the glitter rubbed through the screen as much as you can immediately lift away the screen and place into the tray of water. Rinse the screen thoroughly taking particular care to rinse off all of the glitter. Lay the screen out to dry or gently pat it dry with a paper towel. Move the screened piece to the side to let the paint dry.

After the screened paint and glitter has dried use your Super Slicer blade to trim the sheet of clay to the edges of the screened portion. Your trimmed piece should be 4” x 5 1/2” in size. Pick up the pieces of pearl clay that you trimmed away from the screened sheet. Trim two pieces that are ¼” wide and 4” long. Bake the screened piece and the two ¼” wide strips for 30 minutes and let cool completely.

Add some of the Clear Enamel medium to the paint tray, pour in a little of the Purple glitter, and mix the two together. You want a mixture that is pretty solid with glitter but not so chunky it won’t brush onto a surface. Once you have a good paint/glitter mixture brush a layer onto each of the two ¼” x 4” pieces of the Pearl Clay you cut in Step 2. Let the paint dry and continue painting on layers of the glitter paint until you have coated the strip of clay with a solid layer of glitter. Set these pieces to the side to let the paint dry completely.

Make a sheet of Silver clay using the #3 setting on the clay conditioning machine. You are going to cut two pieces out so you have one for the back cover and one for the front cover. When you are cutting the pieces you need to make sure the width of the pieces don’t cover the part of the covers where the book bends against the spine. Next cut out a piece that will fit on the spine of the book. Once you have your pieces cut out bake them for 30 minutes and let cool completely.

Cut a piece of your ribbon that is about 1-1/2” longer than the length of the piece of Silver you cut for the spine. Paint a thin layer of the craft clue onto the back of the ribbon leaving 3/4” on each end clear of glue. Position the ribbon down the center of the piece of clay for the spine of the journal. Make sure that the 3/4” ends of the ribbon that don’t have glue are hanging over the ends of the strip of clay. Gently smooth the ribbon into place and set to the side to dry. Once the glue has dried to the touch paint a thin layer of the glue onto the back of the 3/4” lengths of the ribbon that extend past the ends of the spine piece of clay. Wrap them over the ends of the strip of clay and put a binder clip onto each end of the strip of clay so that the ribbon is held down on the back of the strip of clay while the glue dries. Set the strip of clay to the side to the side to let the glue dry completely. Once the glue is completely dry you can remove the binder clips.

Make a sheet of Peacock clay on the #3 setting on the clay conditioning machine. Cut a piece of clay that it is 8” x 4.5”. Bake this piece for 30 minutes and let cool completely.

Pick up one of the two pieces of Silver you cut for the covers. Pick up the piece of Peacock Pearl clay and brush a thin layer of Bake ‘N Bond onto the back of the piece and position it onto the silver sheet so that it is centered side to side on the Silver and the top and bottom edges meet. Pick up the screened piece of Pearl, brush a thin layer of Bake N’ Bond onto the back and position it onto the Peacock Pearl piece so it is centered from side to side and top to bottom. Pick up your two strips of Purple glitter covered clay and paint a thin layer of Bake N’ Bond onto the back of each piece. Place one piece along the top edge of the screened piece of Pearl and the other along the bottom. Bake this assembly for 30 minutes and let cool completely.

To make the bead for the ribbon place marker follow these steps: Roll out a thin strip of Silver clay. Wrap the strip of clay around the bamboo skewer until you have a tube that is 3/8” in diameter. Trim away the excess clay and smooth the seam. Cut the tube of clay to a 1-1/4” length; to cut the length you can place you Super Slicer blade into the clay tube and roll back and forth until you have cut all of the way through to the skewer and all of the way around; try to trim the length so that the ends are square to the sides of the tube. To remove the tube of clay from the skewer just gently twist the bamboo skewer and slide it out of the clay tube. Roll a thin sheet of Pearl and cut out two 3/8” diameter circles. Place one of the cut circles on each end of the tube. Use the pointed end of the skewer to poke a hole through the circles so that the hole runs all of the way through the bead. Cut four more 3/8” circles of Pearl. Place them next to each other around the middle of the tube. Use the back end of the skewer to make an indent into the center of each circle. Use the pointed end of the skewer to dab some of the glitter paint mixture from Step 3 into the indents you made with the back end of the skewer. Bake the bead for 30 minutes and let cool completely.

To add the back cover paint a thin layer of craft glue onto the back of the plain Silver sheet and position it onto the back cover of the journal. Let the glue set for a little bit before adding the front cover. After the glue has set on the back cover you can add the front cover by doing the same thing; paint a thin layer of glue onto the back of the front cover assembly and position it onto the front of the journal. Put the journal on your work surface and add some weight to the top of it so the clay stays flat against the journal while the glue dries. Let the glue dry completely before moving on to the next step.

To add the ribbon place marker and spine do the following: Cut a length of ribbon that is about 14” in length. Paint a thin layer of glue onto about 1” of one end of the ribbon. Smooth it onto the top edge of the spine so it is about 1” down the length of the spine from the top edge. Let the glue dry to the touch. Glue the clay spine piece of clay on the spine and wrap some rubber bands around the journal so the spine clay piece stays in place while the glue dries. Let the glue dry completely before moving onto the next step.

To add the bead onto the ribbon do the following: Fold your thin piece of wire in half and thread the end of the ribbon into the fold on the wire. The folded wire acts as a needle so you can string the ribbon through the hole in your bead. String the bead onto the ribbon and remove the folded wire from the end of the ribbon. Open the journal and insert the ribbon between a couple of pages. Slide the bead up the ribbon until it is about 1” below the bottom edge of the journal. Tie a knot in the end of the ribbon that is up against the bottom of the bead. Make sure the knot is big enough that the bead can’t slide over the knot and fall off. Once you have your knot in place trim the end of the ribbon off at an angle and add a little bit of the glue along the cut end of the ribbon to keep it from fraying.

OptionalYou can use the Glossy Glaze to help protect the paint. Just paint a thin layer over the pieces of clay that have glitter on them and let dry.