Sunday, May 10, 2009

Polymer clay brocade


Adrienne has posted a swap on CCSwaps that requires us to use the polymer clay brocade technique and then create embellishments or pendants for our swap partner. We start with a package of black polymer clay; I had some premo brand on hand so that is what I used. After conditioning it we roll it out to a thickness between 1/8 and 3/16". The next step is to apply 4 thin coats of metallic paint using your finger. After each coat you allow the paint to dry for about 10 minutes. I used iridescent silver.
The next step involves stamping into the clay. You are to press the stamp into the clay using a roller or brayer pressing very hard and only rolling over the stamp once.
Here is the stamp I plan to use in the clay. It is actually called a molding mat and is made for polymer clay applications. I won this and have never used it. It has a lot of texture so I'm hoping it will work well for this project.



I've now stamped into the clay piece. I used the stamp shown in the above picture which is specifically made for polymer clay applications. I also used two other celestial type stamps along both sides of the clay.



The next step involves applying paint over the stamped image, once again with your fingertips. Here are the 3 colors I chose to paint over the image: phthalo green (blue shade), phthalo blue (red shade), and ultramarine violet. I love these colors; I hope Pauline will too.
I've applied the 3 colors to my clay using my finger. I got a little heavy with the blue and green so I tried to add more purple, but it wasn't working. I still like the colors and think they'll look great with the silver. Allow this to dry before moving on to the next step.






As per Adrienne's instructions... I've rolled the clay once more to flatten it. It's at this point that I realize I should have had a piece of wax paper underneath my clay. It is likely to stick to my mat when I cut it up and attempt to lift the pieces off to place in my baking pan.






I've cut up the sheet of clay and placed them in my baking pan. I'll cover this pan with another and bake for 20 minutes.









Here are all the pieces after baking. I like the colors I used and especially how the silver shows where the image was stamped. Now, all I need to do is create embellishments, or something, with them and send them off to my partner in this swap.