Didn’t you love the days when at pre-school you got to play with messy things like Play-Doh, or finger paint? Or do you remember your high school art days when you learned to throw a pot on the wheel? Well, it’s time once again to reach down deep into your creativity and have some fun with some fantastic clay style products from your local scrapbooking store.
Some of the great products I found to work with include Makin’s Clay®, Creative Paper Clay and Sculpey Premo Clay. The following projects are here to give you ideas on working with and creating with these versatile products.
The layouts below use a great new product called Makin’s Clay®. This new type of craft clay is completely air drying and has a wonderful texture. When using this clay, start with a small piece and knead with your hands until pliable; it can now easily be rolled, stretched, molded or sculpted into any accent or shape that you need. In the projects below I used a cookie stamp to mold the Makin’s Clay® and then after drying painted the surface with craft paints. This clay comes in many colors or can be customized by mixing pre-prepared colors to create new shades. Many different tools are available for working with this product
The next product uses Sculpey brand Premo clay, just like the previous product, Sculpey clay comes in many colors and even shimmer or pearl finishes. It is a firmer clay that needs conditioning before creating your finished piece. This is done by using a small piece and rolling it between your hands to warm it and then kneading the clay until it becomes soft and pliable. Make sure that all air bubbles are removed while conditioning.
Sculpey clay needs to be baked for 30 minutes per ¼ inch thickness at 275ºF or 130ºC. For the Valentine below the clay was baked, allowed to cool and then stamped with Brilliance Ink. The clay can also be stamped before baking and colors can be mixed to create your own shades.
The last product used is Creative Paper Clay. The name of this product accurately describes its composition and appearance; it really does feel to the touch like a workable paper pulp. This clay dries quickly and when working with it you may need to knead in a few drops of water to keep it soft. It is also more brittle than the other products when dry. The following pages use combinations of Paper Clay, stamps, inks and colored pencils, but the clay can also be painted once dry or dyed while still damp. It is extremely lightweight when dry and will adhere well to your projects.
General Tips
* Keep any unused clay in an airtight container.
* Only work with a small piece at a time. You can always go back for more.
* When scrapbooking with clay keep the back of your piece as flat as possible to allow for easy placement on your project.
* For extra gloss, varnish your finished pieces with a liquid-water based varnish.
* Try stamping your title or journaling into wet clay, it makes a great impact.
