A lot of stampers use their art as a release and a little vacation from everyday life. Kneading and forming clay to use with your stamped work is a great stress buster. These very easy projects will get you started and you’ll be turning out your own great pieces faster than you know it!
Lyra makes two types of air dry clay: Keramiplast and Keramiplast Light. The latter, which was used to make all of these projects, dries into a lighter-than-air material that can be utilized as card embellishments, masks, ornaments, jewelry…and anything else you can think of. I love to use this clay along with word stamps for creating unique embellishments for my cards. Another fun idea for this clay is to press it into cookie or candy molds to make embellishments, perhaps for a place card or a pin.
Since the clay is very spongy, you’ll want to spend some time kneading it before rolling or forming into the shapes you desire. It also seems a bit crumbly when you first start kneading, but this is normal. Keep a bowl of water nearby for wetting your hands as you work. As it is air-dry clay, be sure to use only as much as you can handle at a time, leaving the rest of the clay in an air-tight zippered plastic bag. Drying time, depending on the thickness of your pieces, is 1 to 2 days. Most of the pieces in these projects were dry overnight.
The clay is easy to work with; you can stamp into it with an inked or uninked stamp. All of these projects were created with uninked stamps. Tear around your stamped image or trim it with scissors or a craft knife. If your piece is dried and you change your mind about the perimeter around your image, you can still trim it with scissors and lightly sand any rough edges with sandpaper or an emery board.
When the clay is dry, you can paint it with acrylics, color with chalks or pencils, rub with Pearl Ex…use your imagination! Be sure to seal your projects afterwards with either matte or glossy sealant, depending on the effect you want to achieve.
Try using old cookie cutters to shape your clay. This is my favorite of all of the projects here. This ornament can be created for the holidays, or a variation of it can be a nice housewarming gift, perhaps to hang in a window. When working with clay, be sure to use a rolling pin or cookie cutters that are dedicated for craft projects; don’t ever use kitchen implements for food after using them with your art supplies.
Have fun experimenting. If something isn’t coming out the way you envisioned, roll it up into a ball and try again! All of the projects in this article came out of one package of clay, with some to spare.
