| This clay is a hard clay, similiar to Kato polyclay... If you are not used to working with different clays, you might wish to just try one. My western necklaces are made with this clay. Check those out....They are all different canes, and the ends are just small dots of colors, no particuliar pattern.
Thank you. NOTHING COMBINES WITH THIS.........these cane run 7.9 to 8.1 ounces per roll....They are aprox 1 1/2 inbch accross, by 7 inches long...
Two of these automatically goes Priority mail at 2... Two pounds. They can go in a flat rate envelope at $4.95.
A hard clay in a large roll. They of course, can be rolled to a smaller diameter. Can be sliced, and by changeing directions with the slivers... Some real fancy hearts and butterflies can be made... To mention a few things.They are all different canes, and the ends are just small dots of colors, no particuliar pattern.
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You Can Be Making little Gifts, intresting refrigerator magnets, one
of a kind cameo neclaces. There are countless projects to make from
your molds. You can be making everything from Hair Accessories to
Broaches, and Earrings, far too many projects to consider.
Our molds are not flexible, nor cut to the same outside dimensions (
as all are hand made makeing the outside edges differnt for each mold,
the inside remains the same). Molds can be used with your choice of
polymer and other clays. (These molds are not made to be used with
food or cake iceing.)
Mold is pictured beside the original casting. NOTE: The finished
peice or casting is not included. This auction is for the mold only.
(How to use the mold)
Always lightly dust the mold with Baby Powder, or corn starch, and
then tap or brush out the excess power before pushing the clay into
the impression. If it does get stuck, try putting the mold with the
clay in it into the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes this will help it
release. And then just trim, and alter, or bake as is according to
your clay manufactures directions.
Quickly and easily, make detailed jewelry, gifts
and items for home decor. Simply mold, flex and release. It's that
easy ! Works with polymer clays, air dry and non-drying modeling
clays, plaster of paris, craft soap and candle wax!
Making Polymer Clay Face Cabochons
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Supplies you will need:
Some of the stuff pictured is not absolutly needed, but is handy.
Such as the rolling pin, and the 1/4 wood rods. However, putting your
clay between the rods give you a consistant product.
The large brush pictured is a make-up blush brush I use to tap the
metal leaf into the cab; very soft.
1. Face-shaped objects for molds. These can be buttons,
beads, jewelry,
doll heads, etc. Here I'm using small brass masks,
and a mask-like face from a cheap crafts catalog.
2. A fist-sized lump of polymer clay for making the molds,
and small
(say, pecan-sized) balls of clay in the colors you want for your
face
cabs.
3. A sharp flexible blade and/or an exacto knife for trimming
the cabs,
a needle tool for poking holes in them, a mold release (I use
baby
powder), some soft small brushes the big one in the picture is a
blush brush for the meatal leaf, a baking surface (a ceramic tile is
great, or you can put baking parchment on a cookie sheet).
4. For decoration, depending on what you want to do:
artificial metal
leaf, patinating solutions, various colors of pearl-ex powders,
embossing
powder, acrylic paint.
5. Finishing and protecting: coarse grit (180, 220 or 320)
wet/dry
sandpaper, and a polymer-clay-compatible protective coating. I
like minwax. Future Floor Wax works well too. |
Knead and condition your big lump of clay until it is
smooth and easy
to manipulate. Break it into pieces a little bigger than the
originals you
are using and roll each piece into a flattened ball, making sure
there are
no seams or irregularities on the surface. Dust the original
with mold
release and press it into the ball, slowly and gently so that
the sides of
the mold don't crack. |
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Gently remove the original, turn the molds upside down on
the baking
surface and bake according to manufacturer's instructions. (This
will be
something like 275 degrees F for half an hour, but different
brands of
clay have slightly different requirements.) Take the molds out,
admire the
inverse impressions and let them cool completely before
proceeding to the
next step. |
Dust the insides of the molds very lightly with talcum
powder, or if
you want your cab covered with metallic leaf, lay a piece of the
metal
leaf over the mold at this point; it will act as a mold release
so you
don't need the powder in this case. Roll your clay into a small
oval ball,
again making sure there are no seams on the surface, and press
it into the
mold, letting it overflow around the edges. Gently remove the
molded clay.
(If your clay is very soft and sticky, you may want to put it in
the
fridge for half an hour before trying to remove it from the
mold.) As you
see here, the metallic leaf acted as such a good mold release
that the
clay popped right out of the mold before I could even photograph
it.
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This shows what your cabs will look like after removing
them from the
mold. What you do next depends on how you want to use the cab.
If you're
going to sew a cab on to a backing or a doll and bead around it,
the
easiest way is to leave a sort of ledge around the face and poke
holes in
it. If you plan to glue it down, then you want to trim the clay
very
closely around the face. For a bead you also want to trim right
around the
face, then poke a hole through the thickness of the cab after
it's finished you can use a large pinch bail like the cameo in the
picture. This will be
easier to do if you put the clay in the fridge again for half an
hour or
so, so that it'll stiffen up and hold its shape when you put the
needle
tool through it. |
Three of the cabs after trimming. |
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If you want to add pearl powders or embossing powders, now
is the
time. To highlight just the raised portions of the cab, get a
little
pearl-ex powder on your fingertip and gently brush across the
surface. The
top gold face (left, top row) has been gold plated then a wash(
very thin) of black paint to give it a bit of antiquibg. If you want
to cover the entire face with pearl-ex powder,
use a soft fine brush that will get into the crevices. You can
use just
one color, or blend colors randomly, or use different colors to
highlight
the structure of the cab. The large mask face (far right, top
row) has
been brushed with Peacock on the face and Copper on the
headdress part of
the cab. The small mask face (bottom,
middle row) has been gold leafed after removing it from the
mold, I used minwax as the glue . The
gold-leafed face is left as is. |
Lay your decorated cabs on the baking surface and, again,
bake
according to manufacturer's instructions and let cool.
Smooth any sharp or irregular edges on the sides and backs of
the cabs
with wet-dry sandpaper, working under water so that you don't
breath the
clay dust.
Now you can add some interest to metal-leafed faces, if you
like, by
brushing them with a patinating solution and letting them dry.
You can see
the effect of a light patina on the gold face (far left, bottom
row).
Light-colored cabs can be enhanced and
antiqued by rubbing dark umber acrylic paint into the crevices
and quickly
wiping it off the high spots.
Embossing powder should have melted into a smooth surface
partially or
entirely covering the baked clay. |
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Pieces decorated with Pearl-Ex will look much the same after
baking.
The Pearl-Ex powders will stay on now and will survive a little
handling
(such as is necessary to sand the edges of the cab smooth) but
still ought
to be protected by some kind of finishing coat as they will wear
off with
too much handling. The same is true of the metallic leaf. I
finish nearly
all my cabs with a coat of minwax, a clear finish which comes in
glossy, matte and satin. Let it dry for 3-4 hours, then stick
the cabs
back into the oven at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-12 minutes,
and you
will have a virtually impervious finish. (N.B.: Do NOT use just
any
acrylic finish you happen to have lying around the house. Many
of them
react badly with the clay and your piece will remain sticky
forever. Use
Flecto Varathane, minwax floor wax. or it's varnish counter
part, or some product formulated
specifically for polymer clay.) |
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