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Stained Glass Polymer Clay Sailboat
(Author: Tyra L. Smith)

Materials:
-Sculpy Polymer Clay - White
-Pasta Machine (or rolling pin)
-Oven (I suggest a toaster oven not used for food)
-RADesign Stamp #G7048 Sailboat Stained Glass
-Baby Powder (or Cream of Tartar)
-Wax Paper
-Exacto knife
-Solvent (preferably artist grade, low odor)
-Brushes
-Oil paints: White, Ultramarine Blue, Black, Cadmium Orange, Yellow
-Pearl Ex: Interference Gold, True Blue, Sparkle Gold
-Dr. Martin's Ready Tex paint: Bronze
-Translucent Liquid Sculpy (TLS)
-Sculpy Diluent
-Sculpy Gloss Varnish (or other polymer friendly glossy sealant)
-Paintbrushes
-Toothpicks
-Tapestry Needle
-Baking Surface (I use a ceramic tile)
Glass Jars (for mixing/storing TLS and solvents)

POLYMER CLAY BASICS:

The clay needs to be "worked" a bit before you roll it out. Just working in in your hands, sort of "kneading" it like you might do bread dough. ONLY work it enough so that it is easily rolled out. If you over work the clay, it will become sticky and you'll need to set it aside and let it cool down a bit. Rolling out the clay is also quite easy. If you have a pasta machine, good for you!!! I just got one myself and find it invaluable. But I didn't always have a pasta machine, so I used an old rolling pin and rolled out my clay, much the same as I would roll out a pie crust. (or cookie dough or whatever) Roll the clay out to about 1/4 inch of thickness. Ohh geez...don't get stressed over the "measurement issue"..just eyeball it!!! I also recommend that you roll out your clay on wax paper (or set the clay on wax paper after you smoosh it out with the pasta machine). I say this because when you go to move your image to a baking surface, if it is on wax paper, you can peel the wax paper off the clay with very little, if any, distortion of the clay piece. Conversely...if you have to "pull the clay off the surface" you will almost always get some "stretching and/or distortion" of your clay piece. For these projects, distortion of the clay image is not desirable.

When you will be stamping into the clay, you will need to brush a release agent on the stamp to keep it from possibly sticking to the clay. I use plane old talcum powder, but baby powder, cream of tartar and corn starch work well, or so I've been told. It has been noted to me that baby powder is not the best thing to use as a release agent. A better product to use as a release agent would be either cream of tartar or cornstarch. (Thank you Jhone for this tip!!!) Just take a flat brush of some type and brush the powder on the stamp. After you are finished stamping, be sure to clean the stamp well. I generally take an old toothbrush and scrub the stamp with it under some warm water. Works very well.

Baking the clay is also quite easy. As a general rule of thumb, you bake polymer clays 15 minutes at 275 degrees (F) for each 1/4 inch of thickness. I should note here that it is also recommended to not bake polymer clays in your kitchen oven. It is recommended (by the polymer clay gods) that you have a separate oven (like a little toaster oven) to bake your clay in. It is pretty important to have your oven very close to 275 degrees (F). If you aren't sure how accurate your oven is, use a meat or oven thermometer to test the temperature, adjust as needed prior to baking the clay. DO NOT bake clay above the recommended temperature. . If my piece looks like it's thicker than 1/4 inch, I might bake it 18 minutes instead of 15. However, since I got my handy dandy pasta machine, I know my clay is ALWAYS 1/4 inch thick!!!

I have also received another good tip regarding the use of your kitchen oven to cook your polymer clay. The problem arises from the fumes created during the baking process, which adheres to the sides of the oven and can create a health risk if you bake food it the oven afterwards. If you plan to use your kitchen oven, here's a way to keep yourself safe. Find an old roaster pan that has the lid with it to go on top. Put the polymer clay piece inside the roasting pan and put the lid on top to seal in any fumes. Put the roasting pan in your oven and bake. When the baking is done, remove the roasting pan and your polymer clay piece is baked. It is probably a good idea to open the lid in a well ventilated area to avoid breathing in the fumes created during the baking process. (Thank you MARCIA BALONIS for this tip!!!) Jhone has given another tip for using your kitchen oven for baking polymer clay: I make an aluminum foil tent over ANYTHING I bake, reduce the suggested temp by about 20 degrees and then no matter how long it stays in the oven, it doesn't burn. I have a BAD habit of forgetting the stuff in the oven 'cause the kitchen is at the other end of the house ...

I have also learned (thank you MARCIA) that when one refers to "overcooking" the clay, this is a reference to the TEMPERATURE you bake it at, not the length of time you actually bake it. So make sure you have that oven set at 275 degrees (F), or the recommended baking temperature on the package of polymer clay.. -Baking temperature for FIMO is 265 degrees (F)
-Baking temperature for Sculpy is 275 degrees (F)

Oh ...what to bake it on you ask? Well...many people will take aluminum foil and line a cookie sheet with it, then lay the clay piece on the aluminum foil to bake. This way, you don't have to worry about contaminating your cookie sheet and will still be able to use it for general cooking later on. If you put the polymer clay directly ON the cookie sheet, do not ever use it again for general cooking. Same thing goes for a rolling pin. If you use any "utensil" with the clay, never use it for food preparation or general cooking. I personally use a ceramic tile. It's one of those cheapo ceramic tiles you can buy at home improvement stores like what you would tile your bathroom floor with. They work GREAT..and clean up easily.

Health Issues...ok I've already told you about the oven and any utensils you use with the clay. If you go ahead and use your kitchen oven be sure to run some type of fan to pull out any fumes created while the clay is baking and thoroughly clean your oven before using it to cook with again. Be sure to wash your hands well when you are done working with the clay.

Once you have baked your clay piece, you can paint and/or embellish it with just about anything. Some paints will require a second coat to fully cover without brush marks, some won't. The following are color mediums and misc embellishments that I have found to work very well on baked clay:

Faerie Myst paints, pearlecent liquid acrylics, Dr. Martin's Ready Tex paints (they look WONDERFUL on baked clay!!!), Dr. Martin's Iridescent caligraphy colors, Dr. Martin's Metal Craft paints, Jackquard Lumiere and Neopaque paints, any standard artist grade acrylic paint, gold leaf (just paint the gold leaf sizing on the area you want to gold leaf, let it dry then press the gold leaf to it. I have been told that if you bake clay that has gold leaf on it, the gold leaf turns brown..sort of a yucky color.) Ice Stickles are wonderful on baked clay, as well as puff paint. Any of the craft acrylics also work nicely. When in doubt, just turn over the baked clay piece so you can do a little "test swatch" on the back of it. No one is gonna see the back really, unless you show them!! LOL

To cut the unbaked clay pieces, you are really going to have to use an exacto knife. Make friends with your exacto and have fun with it. One tip here about cutting unbaked clay. When you cut it, you want to make TWO PASSES...meaning you cut a little ways into the clay with the exacto, then go back over it again and finish cutting all the way thru the clay. This will help to NOT warp the clay image as you cut it.

TRANSLUCENT LIQUID SCULPY BASICS:

We will begin exploring the use of Transparent Liquid Sculpy (TLS) in this class. OK, I know you will be thinking that hey, this sounds kind of expensive to get into...but let me tell you that the finished product you can get with this technique is WONDERFUL. However, as with any new product, one has to learn how to use it effectively. This will involve the use of some products you may not be familiar with. Do NOT let this project intimidate you. It is REALLY very simple and so beautiful when you are done that you will look at it and say.."WOW..did *I* do that?" I know I did.

TLS is a liquid form of polymer clay. It is white in color, but bakes clear. It is also fairly thick, about the consistency of honey. To thin down TLS, you need to add a tiny drop of Sculpy Diluent. You can also tint the TLS and use it as a "paint", which is what we will be doing in this class.

To tint TLS, you have to add OIL PAINTS to it. NOT acrylic paints, OIL PAINTS. I got my oil paints at Ben Franklins and they were on sale for 40% off, a VERY good price. Each tube ended up costing me approximately $2 and you can get the smallest tubes you can find because it takes very little of the oil paints to tint TLS. Be very sure to mix your TLS and oil paints in a GLASS container. A solvent is needed to clean brushes after they are used with either oil paints or TLS. I suggest you use a low odor solvent, such as "Sansodor Low Odor Solvent" or "Turpenoid". The are common products found anywhere oil paints are sold. Please remember that all solvents ARE flamable and toxic, please use with caution especially if you have children and or pets around or if you smoke.

Wash your hands after you are finished working with the project.

PROJECT INSTRUCTIONS:

In order to achieve a "realistic" stained glass project using polymer clay, it is necessary to create a "reverse mold" using the stained glass window stamp. What you want to end up working with, is a polymer clay piece that looks excatly like your stamp when they are set side by side. Normally..if you stamp into the polymer clay with the stained glass window stamp...all the lines that should be raised are not raised (recessed). The reverse mold fixes this problem.

Create your reverse mold: Roll out the polymer clay into a sheet that is about 1/4 inch thick. Lay it on a piece of wax paper. Brush baby powder on your stamp, then press the stamp firmly into the polymer clay

Remove the stamp from the clay and trim away the excess clay with an exacto knife. Remember to be sure and make TWO passes with the exacto knife when cutting to minimize warpage to the clay piece. (run the exacto about half way thru the clay the first cut, then go over the same cut again, cutting all the way thru the clay) Store excess clay for future use. Lay the clay on your hand, wax paper towards you, and gently peel the wax paper off the clay. Lay the clay piece, stamped side up, on your baking sheet (I use a ceramic tile). Clean and put away stamp, we will not use it again. Bake clay piece 15 minutes at 275 degrees (F). This is your reverse mold. Let cool.

Note: The reverse mold will be used in place of the stamp and can be saved to use over and over again in the future.

Roll out a new sheet of clay about 1/4 inch thick. Brush baby powder all over the top of your reverse mold and then press it firmly into the clay. I set mine on the floor, a clear acrylic block on top of the reverse mold (much as you would with an unmounted stamp) and stepped on it to get a good impression.

Remove reverse mold, clean with a stiff brush and set aside. Trim away excess clay, and remove clay piece the same way you did above in Sample 2. Lay it on your baking sheet and bake 15 minutes at 275 degrees (F). This is your stained glass polymer clay piece that you will use for your finished project. Let cool.

Mix/tint your TLS in separate glass jars as follows, being sure to add 1-2 drops of Sculpy Diluent to each color as you mix it:

Interference Gold TLS = Interference Gold Pearl Ex + TLS
White TLS = White Oil Paint + TSL
Dark Blue TLS = Ultramarine Blue Oil Paint + TLS
Light Blue TLS = True Blue Pearl Ex + Sparkle Gold PE + TLS
Gray TLS = White Oil Paint + Tiny bit of Black Oil Paint + TLS
Orange TLS = Cadmium Orange Oil Paint + TLS
Yellow TLS = Yellow Oil Paint + TLS
Brown TLS = Sienna Brown Oil Paint + TLS
Clear TLS = TLS

Note 1: Using Pearl Ex to create the tint, it will make a tinted TLS that is a lot more transparent then a TLS mixture created with oil paint. I wanted a good contrast between sky and water, one that went beyond merely color difference. So, my sky has light sparkle to it and is quite a bit more translucent than the water, due to the use of Pearl Ex.

Note 2: The more oil paint (or Pearl Ex) you add to the TLS, the darker the hue will be.

Note 3: The following are alternate mixing possibilities for the colors I listed above.

Orange TLS = Yellow Oil Paint + Tiny big of Red Oil Paint + TLS
Light Blue TLS = Any Light Blue oil paint + TLS
Light Blue TLS = White oil paint + a TINY bit of any medium/dark blue oil paint + TLS
--You can also substitute any color of oil paint with a similiar color of Pearl Ex, just remember it will change the look a tiny bit.

We will now begin adding color by "painting" the tinted TLS on the polymer clay stained glass sailboat. This really isn't "painting". If you look at your polymer clay stained glass piece, you will note that there are defined RAISED LINES that separate one "area" from another within the stained glass window. Each one of these "areas" is called a "cell". What we really want to do is to fill EACH CELL with the appropriate color of TLS. Do NOT overfill the cell because then your colors will mix into one another. If the cell is fairly large, I generally take a paintbrush, dip it in the TLS then "drizzled" it into the cell. If I can, I use the paintbrush to "move" the colored TLS to cover and fill the entire cell area. If the cell area is very small..I will use a tapestry needle rather than a paintbrush. Your needle will allow you to smooth the TLS into small and/or tight place. So use whichever tool (brush, needle or even toothpick) that works best for you.

Be sure to clean the brush inbetween colors of TLS. I will simply wipe my brush off on a paper towel until I feel its clean. However, if I'm working with blue..and then want to switch to yellow..I clean it THOROUGHLY (meaning I rinse the brush in solvent) so I don't end up working with green. To THOROUGHLY clean your brush you need to use solvent..I suggest you use a LOW ODOR solvent like Tupenoid or Sansodor Low Odor solvent.

Use a brush and paint a very thin coat of Clear TLS over the entire sky area. Next paint a very thin coating of the light blue TLS on top of the wet clear TLS. Fill the cells of the sun with yellow TLS. Be sure to leave a little room for the addition of one more color into the wet yellow TLS (so it will not overflow the lines) Using a needle (or toothpick) drizzle a line of orange along the outer edges of the sun into the wet yellow TLS. Use a NEEDLE now...and pull the orange TLS into the yellow TLS...sort of like marbling. Try it once and you will see what I mean. This makes the sun appear to be tinged with orange.

Fill the cells of the sails with gray TLS
Fill the cells of the boat with brown TLS
Fill the cells of the water area with dark blue TLS

Using a toothpick (or needle) drizzle a small line of white along the of each water cells and then pull the white TLS down into the dark blue TLS much the same as you did with the sun. This will simulate froth on the top of the waves.

Put your polymer clay piece on the baking surface and bake 15 minutes at 275 degrees (F). Let cool.

One thing to note here is that the wet TLS has a fairly glossy appearance. After it bakes, it looks very dull and matte. This is NORMAL. The gloss will be brought back into the piece at the end when you coat it with Sculpy Gloss Varnish. So don't freak out when you take it out of the oven and it's all dull looking.

Using a brush, paint a very VERY thin layer of Interference Gold TLS over the cells of the sun. If your layer is thick, after you bake it it becomes cloudy. So..go lightly with the Interference Gold TLS. Drizzle white TLS in the sky to simulate clouds. Bake 15 minutes at 275 degrees (F). Let cool.

Now it is time to paint the "stained glass" lines...which should simulate the leading in actual stained glass. I tried a few colors of paints to see what I liked best with the colors of this piece. (just paint a few lines of it on the back of the piece to see how it will look on the clay when dry) I decided that Dr. Martin's Ready Tex paint in Bronze would look best. You will need a TINY brush and a lot of patience.

OK OK OK...so let's say you are intimated by the thought of those small lines. Stamp the image on paper a few times...then use your paint and the small brush..and paint over the lines. This gives you a bit of practice before you actually work on the real thing. Worked well for me. See..the question is not WHETHER you can do..you CAN do it. The question is .."Do you have the CONFIDENCE to do it. By practicing on paper you will develop the confidence needed to work on the real piece. Honestly..it's NOT hard. But it is a bit time consuming.

I shook up my bottle of Bronze Ready Tex, unscrewed the cap and dipped my LITTLE brush into the paint in the cap. You don't actually have to "paint"...allow the paint to slide along the line using your brush to guide it. Go slow...take your time. If need be, set the piece aside if you get tired and come back to it later. Make sure you paint the sides of it as well..and the back if you want. Let it DRY! Once it is dry, paint one coat of Sculpy Gloss varnish over it, being sure to NOT scrub with your paint brush..just gently brush the varnish over it. Let it dry. Brush on a second coat of the varnish and let dry. Now you are pretty much done.

I did try brush the Sculpey Gloss varnish on first, then painting the lines and it works nicely this way too. I would suggest doing it this way. But you know me..I had to try it the hard way first..LOL

Ok, now you have a finished faux stained glass piece. If you want it to be a hanging piece, drill a hole in each corner at the top and run a ribbon thru it, or put jump rings in the drilled holes and run a ribbon thru the jump rings. If you want a magnet...glue magnets to the back and slap it on your fridge!!! It would also look most lovely mounted and framed. You could use it as your central piece in a shadow box, adding in a pretty soft background paper/matte behind it...maybe glue in some dried grasses at the bottom, or add in seashells, misc things like that.

I will admit that this technique is fairly time consuming, though it is NOT difficult. I feel that the end piece you finish is MORE than worth the time and effort it takes to make it. This sailboat piece is fairly large....but the technique works with many sizes of stamps. I've used the RAD stained glass butterfly...and only used the center portion of the oval that contains just the butterfly. The reverse mold you made for this project can be kept and used over and over as well. You can use this technique with a wide variety of projects, not just faux stained glass.

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