I have made beads from the polymer clay and rather liked that but for my Leaves altered book I wanted to do- leaves. I found some cool leaf shapes in the cake section at Michael's. They were fondant leaves. My favourite leaf shape!
Now beads are a whole lot easier. Roll, poke and position on the edge of a pan. I did think rolling the bead on a stamp for added texture was a great idea. Adding Pearl-Ex or other mica powders was another good idea. The stamps work but trimming and knowing where to trim is tricky!
Then cutting the leaves from the polymer clay needs a different skill. They don't exactly shake out and pushing makes a mark. I decided no big deal, the other side works and I even added a nice mark for a vein.
But I also got some letters and numbers and they need to be right side up! :~
I did try a mold, at least the closest I had to a mold. That is easier I think.
Baking them in a closed tin is brilliant because the fumes are all inside. Of course, taking the lid off too soon is, cough, cough, hazardous! ;^)
But good thing I did as they were kinda soft so I got the Rooster's handy dandy oven thermometer and there is a good reason why there is a new element waiting to be installed. hmmm? So I diddled around some and then it got too hot and so I just turned things off to await the outcome. ???
Brushing the stamp with a dusting of Pearl Ex powder gave a nice effect. I can shine them up with some Mod Poge also.
I think I will use some on the cover for sure. I'm not sure exactly where I'll add the rest. The book has loose pages and some pages I want to rework. I'll have them for options when I do the final organizing of everything.
I also think that I'll be revisiting this on Wednesday for Creativity 101.
9 comments:
Fabulous! Most impressive, and the theme of your book really showed in this lesson, too.
If you have trouble using a cookie cutter, dip in a bit of mica powder before you cut the clay. Make sure both sides of the cookie cutter (inside and outside) have mica powder on it.
It was good to see you could use a tin to bake the clay. If it wasn't baked enough, leave it in for an additional 10 minutes. It won't hurt. I've left mine in my toaster oven for an hour before, when I forgot it was there. As long as it doesn't burn, it will still be OK. Of course, if it gets too hot, then you did the right thing and salvaged it in time.
You may be the only person brave enough to try this assignment. I'm very, very proud you accepted the challenge!
Your leaves will make a great addition to your book, especially the cover. Beads are all I've ever made from clay, too. I didn't think about it getting sticky. You'll have fun with those playing with your leaves.
Those are really cool!
Bravo:) The little tree is very cute.
You are such a trooper and very clever with your polymer leaves. I have never baked in an enclosed tin. In fact I have never liked any of my polymer clay results...beads or otherwise. Maybe it is too messy for me. Your leaf AB will be lots of fun with your added dimensional polymer leaves. Creative Bliss...
What a great group of embellishments you created! I sometimes find if the clay is too soft it is hard to cut around cleanly. Sometimes, popping it in the fridge on a piece of cardstock for a minute or two helps.
Gorgeous leaves Elle, I love them. I can't wait to see how you use them in your book.
Big hugs x x x x
Lovely little leaves for your book. I like the stamped tree, you did an excellent job of cutting it.
Super job Elle. I'm not brave nor adventurous enough for the polymer clay lesson, having trouble with the fabric one too now. Your leaves are brilliant and you seem to have tried lots of ways to make the shapes. Excellent. BJ
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