Faux Polymer Clay Opals - My Way

I have been having a wonderful time trying a huge variety of polymer clay techiques I’ve learned from polymer clay artists who share their tutorials on YouTube!  Jessama Tutorials, Ludmila Bakulina, Patricia Roberts-Thompson..... and so many more!  This version of faux opals is sort of a mix of things I learned from some of the other tutorials for faux opal both on YouTube and on various websites.  I combined bits of this and bits of that and found what worked for me.  

Materials:

premo! Sculpey® Accents - Opal 

Alcohol inks - Wild Plum, Denim, Pesto (or colors of your choice)

Clay blade 

Resin - I used UV curing resin (Optional)

Fine grit wet/dry sandpaper 

Instructions:

How much clay you choose to tint will depend upon how many finished faux opals you wish to create.   For this batch, I used about a 1/2 of a brick of clay.  

You may wish to wear gloves for this technique as alcohol ink WILL stain your hands and fingernails (and clothing, and work surface…. so be prepared if you wish to avoid that.  I don’t mind inky pinkies, so I just proceeded without gloves.) 

Divide one third of the opal clay into three pieces.  Add 1-2 drops of alcohol inks, one color per piece of clay (Note - I recommend starting with ONE drop, then blending, and if you wish it to be a little darker, add another drop.  You do NOT want very dark colored clay for this technique - less is more.…)   I used WIld Plum, Denim, and Pesto - but you can certainly vary the colors if you wish. 

Blend each color into the clay to create tinted opal clay. 

Place tinted clay, AND a portion of untinted opal clay that is slightly larger (for example - if your colored clay is about dime sized, use a nickel sized portion of plain opal clay….), into the freezer and let them remain their for at least 30 minutes. 

Remove frozen clay from freezer, and immediately use clay blade to begin chopping each color into small pieces as shown.

Use your fingers to gently mix the colors together and form a pile. 

Take a small portion of the pile, and gently begin compressing the clay pieces back together, and form into the desired shape for your cabachons.  I chose to make ovals in various sizes.  

Carefully smooth the surface of each to remove any fingerprints. 

Make a bowl of ice water and set aside (I kept mine in the fridge until it was time for use!)

Bake, tented with foil, per manufacturer’s instructions.  Upon removal from the oven, IMMEDIATELY drop into the ice water and let them set about 10 minutes.   

Remove from water and dry.  You may note that the chunky "glittery" pieces from the clay itself may be popping up here and there.  At this point you can either sand your opals with fine grit wet/dry sandpaper and then polish with a cotton or denim cloth, or, you can apply resin.  I chose to sand to smooth the surface and remove any extending pieces of the glitter, and then use a UV resin.  

My choice to use resin is what lead, quite by accident, to an effect that I really liked and thought made my opals look even more genuine.    When I created the pendants I wanted to use the opals in, I added my opals and then baked the pendants.  What resulted, when I “re-baked” the opals with the UV resin applied, was that the resin itself began to slightly crack.  

If you sand and buff rather than applying resin, then I do not believe this cracking would take place when you re-bake them on a finished piece. 

I've created three pendants so far with my faux opals, and still have several in my stash awaiting their destination projects! 

Butterfly Pendants - Create Along Box

Butterfly Bollywood! I have been having so much fun creating projects with my Butterfly Bollywood Create Along Box! These boxes are jam packed with products to inspire you. These are just three of many pieces of I have created so far. They are all now available in my Etsy shop!

Getting Golden - Polymer Clay Paisley Pendants

Golden glow..... 3 more of the new pendants in my Etsy shop.   The main elements are multi-layered marble like veneers done with gold leaf and other gold finishes.  One of my latest creative addictions has been experimenting with slightly different options of Mokume Gane, and thus this veneer was born.... I am also a bit obsessed with Makin's® Water Drop Clay Cutters - They are PERFECT for paisley projects! 

Kitties for A Cause

Today I am officially launching "Kitties for a Cause".  Read the whole story of what inspired this project on each kitty listing in my Etsy shop.  

ALL proceeds from the purchase of these ring/trinket bowls will benefit Purrfect Hearts Cat Rescue in Wilson, NC.     

Kitties in need like Gretchen, her four 3 week old kittens, and the 1 week old kitten she adopted say THANK YOU!!!

Want to make your own bowl? Here's my DIY video tutorial! 

 

Shabby Chic Floral Monogram Polymer Clay Pendant

In this month's issue of Polymer Clay Universe Magazine I share a tutorial on how I created this shabby chic floral monogram pendant.  Turn ordinary, flat images cut with clay cutters into amazing, dimensional flowers!  I used the Makin's® Flower/Leaf Clay Cutter Set, and the Makin's Professional® Ultimate Clay Extruder® to create these fabulous flowers.  

Easy Faux Batik Polymer Clay Pendants

These pendants are available in my Etsy shop!.  Or, want to make your own?  Here's the tutorial sharing my simple technique for getting pretty, faux-batik like effects on polymer clay!  

Materials: 

premo! Sculpey® - White 

premo! Sculpey® in colors to coordinate with whatever colors of alcohol inks you choose 

Sculpey® Bake & Bond

Sculpey® Etch & Pearl tools 

JudiKins™  Floral Squares stamp 

Clay roller

Round clay cutters in progressive sizes

Alcohol inks in assorted colors 

Scrap cloth, felt or cotton balls

Fine wet/dry sandpaper 

White satin cording 

DecoArt® Metallic Lustre™ - White Frost 

Optional - PYM II spray sealant or JudiKins™ Diamond Glaze™

Instructions:

Roll white clay to a little less than 1/4” thick.   

Place uninked stamp onto rolled clay and press firmly to transfer the pattern to the clay.   This stamp is perfect as the flowers are actually in “negative space” against a flat background.  This makes the flowers raise up off the surface when impressed into the clay.

Use round clay cutter to cut out around flowers.

Select 2-3 colors of alcohol inks for each pendant.  Apply over the surface allowing the colors to blend into each other at the edges as shown.  I used scrap pieces of a wash cloth to apply my inks, but you can also use cotton balls or pieces of felt.  

Bake according to manufacturer instructions.  Let cool. 

Use sandpaper to lightly sand surface and remove ink from the raised areas.  

Select 2-3 coordinating colors of clay for base of pendant.  Roll first color to about 1/4” thick. 

Place stamped floral piece onto rolled clay - do not press to try to adhere - you are just using it as a guide for the larger circle - and use larger round clay cutter about 1/4-1/2” larger than first cutter to cut out base from solid color clay.  

Roll second color of  clay to about 1/8” thick.   Add a touch of Bake & Bond to back of floral disc and place onto rolled clay and use clay cutter about 1/8” larger to cut disc.  Place onto larger disc. 

There are several ways you can add details at this point.  I used three different techiques.  For the first, I rolled a third color of clay, and use a Sculpey® Etch & Pearl tool to add pearls of clay surrounding the flowers.

For the second I used the tool at an angle to create indentations along the edges in both base layers.  

For the third I used the base of the tool gently pushed it into the layer beneath the flowers to add impressions.  

Bake according to manufacturer instructions 

I then created bails for each pendant using rolled clay, added a touch of Bake & Bond and re-baked the pendants.  Once cool, I applied a light touch of  White Frost Metallic Lustre™ over the base clay to highlight the edges and details.  

You can seal your pendants if desired with a coat of PYM II spray, or add resin over the floral discs.  I used JudiKins™ Diamond Glaze™

Add coordinating satin cording. 

Customized Etched Glass Vintage Door

What’s a girl to do when she wants to help a friend etch a door for their bathroom, yet she don’t have a die cutter to cut lettering large enough from etchmask®?  Why use old fashioned stencils and resist gel, of course! 

Materials:

etchall® Etching Creme

etchall® Resist Gel 

Vintage door with glass panel(s)

Alphabet stencils in choice of font 

Large squeegee 

Fine paintbrush 

Instructions:

Photos of the process were taken with a telephone, and some were not clear enough to share - but it's pretty self-explanatory!  

Wash and dry both sides of glass panel(s) on door. 

Select stencil lettering to spell out desired word, using ruler to determine appropriate spacing of your lettering.

Turn over door.  Use etchall® Resist Gel to fill in each letter.  The bottle has a fine tip applicator, but I used a fine paintbrush to spread it out a bit within each letter after applying.  Let resist gel dry until completely clear.

Flip door over.  Use Resist Gel to trace over the unetched lettering.  Let resist gel dry until completely clear. 

Use a large squeegee to apply a thick, even coat of etchall® creme over the surface of the window over the lettering.   Let set 15 minutes.  Return creme to bottle and clean window. 

Remove the resist gel if it has not come free when you are washing the window after etching.

We wanted a very opaque etch as this was a bathroom door, so we also etched the opposite side of the glass. 

Use a large squeegee to apply a thick, even coat of etchall® creme over the surface of the window over the lettering.   Let set 15 minutes.  Return creme to bottle and clean window. 

Remove the resist gel if it has not come free when you are washing the window after etching.

If your door has additional panels, etch both sides of each additional panel.  

Paint the door your desired color. 

Voila!  Customized, frosted glass door!