Liquid Sculpey® Blue Ombré Wavy Trinket Tray

Getting Started with Liquid Sculpey :

-    Gently stir the bottle of liquid bakeable medium. Thin with Sculpey® Clay Softener & Thinner as needed.

- Wash hands after use (we have found that baby wipes work best).

Baking (also called Curing):

-    It is important to use an oven thermometer when you bake the liquids so that you can ensure your oven is at the correct temperature.

-    Do not microwave the liquids. They must be baked in a preheated oven at 275 ºF (149 ºC) for liquid colors and 300 ºF (163 ºC) for Clear. Do not exceed baking temperatures.

-    If you are using the liquids as a glaze or in thin pieces less than ¼”, bake for 15 minutes.   For thicker pieces that are ¼” or above, bake for 30 minutes. 

-    If you are baking on a ceramic tile, then you will also need to bake at 30 minutes since it will take longer for the tile to heat up. This will ensure the proper fusing of the liquid material.

-    When baking these liquids you may experience some vapors or a slight odor. This is not harmful and will not affect your creation.

-    If your liquid project has become yellowed or discolored in the oven, when you remake it, tent it by placing either folding an index card in half and placing your project under it; or by using aluminum foil over your project.

The mold that I am using is approximately 5” x 10” x 3/8”. If your mold is about this same size, it will be easy for you to follow along. If it is not close to this size, you will have to adjust the volume of liquid to suit your mold.

Let’s start with a little tip for determining how much Liquid Sculpey® you will need to fill the size mold that you have. This tip will only give you a ballpark estimate, but it is a handy place to start. Pre-heat your oven to 275F. While the oven is pre-heating,
fill the mold with water. Then carefully pour the water into the Silicone Measuring Cup. If you fill it to the 100ml line, stop pouring. Make a note that you have filled the cup full. Pour the water out of the cup and then fill the cup with the remaining water from the mold. Take notes about how many times you fill the cup and any partial amounts that go into the cup. When you are done moving the water from the mold to the cup, and have taken sufficient notes, empty the water from the cup. Then bake both the cup and the mold in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes or until it is completely dry. Allow the mold and the cup to cool completely before using.

Here is my formula - I filled the cup from the mold to a total of 240 ml. That means I filled the cup fully with water twice and then 40 more ml. The amount of water divided by 2 gives you the amount of Liquid Sculpey® that will be needed. My mold held 120 ml of Liquid Sculpey based on 240 ml of water.

 Prepare a dishcloth as a base for baking under the mold. Dampen a dishcloth with water and ring as much of the water out as you possibly can. Then fold the moist cloth into a rectangle shape for the mold to sit flat on top of. This is so that when the mold bakes, it will bake slowly and evenly due to the moist cloth underneath.

Time to mix the intermediate (middle) ombré color first. Mix a one ounce bottle of Liquid Sculpey® Blue and a one ounce bottle of Liquid Sculpey® Pearl in the silicone cup. Stir completely with your favorite mixing tool to create Blue Pearl. Add drops of
Sculpey® Clay Softener & Thinner as needed and stir thoroughly to incorporate. We want the liquid to run off of the stirring tool in a syrup-like consistency.

Pour the intermediate color into the center of the tray just enough to cover the floor of the mold, not all the way up.

Stir the Blue in the bottle. If it seems too thick or not to the same consistency as the Blue Pearl, you can add some drops of Sculpey® Clay Softener & Thinner to the bottle and stir completely. Pour Blue into one end of the tray. Fill the Blue almost to level in the tray.

Add more Blue Pearl to the center almost filling to level. Leave some space at the top so that you have room to move the liquids around in the next steps.

In the cup, stir another one-ounce bottle of Pearl into the remainder of the Blue Pearl to make Light Blue Pearl. Add Sculpey® Clay Softener & Thinner as needed. Mix completely. Place the Light Blue Pearl into the remaining 1/3 of the mold almost to level.

Tilt the mold as needed to help the colors run toward each other filling the mold.

Please note, that from here on I spun the tray around so that the lighter color is in the foreground.

Spend some time tapping the mold on the work surface to release air bubbles. I did this for several minutes because in a large mold there will be many opportunities to trap air.

The mold I’m using has fluted waves in it. The edges of the waves are exactly where air bubbles will be trapped. Use a tool - I’m using an Etch ‘n Pearl because it is slightly flatter than a Needle Tool and won’t scratch the inside of the mold - and drag it back and forth along all the sides of the fluted cavities several times.

Then tap the mold for a couple more minutes on the work surface.

Bake the mold following the baking instructions for Liquid Sculpey® on top of the damp dish towel that we setup in Step 2.

Allow the mold to cool completely before handling.

Gently flex the mold to release the tray.

You may notice small fragments of baked Liquid Sculpey® along the edges of the molded piece.

These little fragments can be easily trimmed away with small sharp scissors.

Check all edges for rough spots or ridges.

Here is a look at my finished tray.