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Thursday, March 22, 2012

Polymer Clay & Trinket Embellishment Tutorial (Bo Bunny DT)

A couple of years ago when I was running my Etsy shop I used to make these polymer clay embellishments for scrap pages.  I thought I'd take today to show you all how to make these unique little embellishments, they work beautifully with the Bo Bunny Metal Trinkets! 

The assignment today was to create a Signs of Spring layout with the new Alora collection.  I used a photo I took a couple of years ago in the spring of Meagan on the monkey bars at the park....to me, a sign that Spring is in the air is when the kiddies can go without coats, hat, mitts...  Although I have to say we are having crazy warm weather here for Spring, it's almost unheard of to have the kids going to school in shorts in March!  Today is another balmy 85 degrees! crazy for this time of year here in Ontario! 
Okay so for the tutorial.....You will need....
~Polymer Clay, Sculpy, Fimo or Store Brand (I used black)
~Pearlex or Perfect Pearls (Mica Powder...I bought the Pearlex Series2 12 pack ages ago and still have loads of it left....The colors I used were Turquois, Aztec Gold and Spring Green)
~Bo Bunny Metal Trinkets and Jewels
~Blade knife for trimming 
Step #1:  Soften and roll out a 1" piece of black polymer clay (I used black because I feel like the colors of Pearlex show up nicely against it).  Cut a heart shape out with a blade knife.  Now take a small piece of the black clay and roll out into a thin strip, and roll out a number of small ball shapes.  Apply to the piece with gentle pressure (when it bakes it adheres well to the base piece) 
Step #2:  Using a paint brush apply the Turquoise Pearlex (Mica Powder) to the base of the piece (I used two colours....see below).  Be sure to get the Pearlex right to the edges. 
Step #3:  You can add an additional color in and just softly blend them . 
Step #4:  Using your finger, dab it in the Pearlex and just run it along the raised design you created, this is my favourite part, the contrast of the metalic colors is just magical! ....You can add your metal accents now if you wish but don't add your jewels to it unless they are glass because they will melt in the oven when you bake off the piece.   Bake in a 275 F oven for 15 minutes (use a disposable foil tray for this, you don't want to use something that you will later cook with)
Step #5: Once my piece has cooled I spray it with a protective clear coat (I couldn't find old clear coat spray so I used some hairspray and it worked well!)  Now you can add any pearl or gem accents and glue on your metal accents if you didn't bake them with the piece.  I recomment that you spray the back of the piece with a protective coat in order to protect the scrap paper incase any residual oils come off of the polymer clay.

Experiment with different shapes, try using stamps and small and large glass beads.  Here are just a few of the designs I created using just some clay, Pearlex, stamps and glass beads. TIP:  (the trick to making a straight line with the glass beads is to string them on a piece of wire, push them into the clay and then pull out the wire strand leaving the beads behind in the clay)



I hope I've inspired you to give it a go!  Have a fun scrappy week! xx 

41 comments:

  1. Wonderful, what a great idea with the clay! I love your page and your work

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  2. Great LO and wonderful tutorial! I used to do these in the past and you have just inspired me to have a go again, thank you!

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  3. Those clay embellishments are stunning and so clever, love your work and tutorials

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  4. Thanks for the great tutorial - the finished product really rocks.

    And I love your layout!

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  5. Awesome.... I've been a busy clay baker lately. Thanks for the inspiration

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  6. Beautiful and you make it look so easy.

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  7. Beautiful LO. I love your page and your work :-))

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  8. Oi Gabrielle !!!

    Obrigada por compartilhar conosco suas criações.

    Beijos

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  9. Oh Yess, you totally inspired me!
    Looking for my Fimo right now! :)
    Great layout with all the sowing.
    Kind regards, Corina

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  10. wow gabi these are amazing!! too bad you don't sell them anymore!! I wouldn't have the patience to make them but I love them!!

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  11. Gabrielle: These are wonderfully creative and look like fun to make! I love them all, but especially the one with the calla lilies on it. Thank you for sharing your creative process with us. ~Laura ("Mrs. Bean")

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  12. Wow, Gabi, those clay embellishments look stunning! It must have been very time-consuming embellishments to make, but they look fabulous! Your layout is such a masterpiece too, just love how you used this collection!

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  13. Beautiful layout and a wonderful tutorial. I'm just sitting here in awe!

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  14. The layout is so fun with great layers of papers and those polymer clay embellishments are magnificent!

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  15. GREAT photo and a vert 'arty' LO ... thanks for the step-by-step!

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  16. so 'rich' looking--so much nicer than you could buy in a store. I just love them all!!! thanks for sharing your awesome talent!

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  17. so 'rich' looking--so much nicer than you could buy in a store. I just love them all!!! thanks for sharing your awesome talent!

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  18. Wow so amazing!! Beautiful work as always!!!

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  19. Oh Wow this is amazing......always admire your work!!!

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  20. I have never tried this but now i know what i am using my next coupon for:)

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  21. Gabi, once again your creativity leaves me spellbound and speechless! I am on dial-up and it takes FOREVER to load up your pages and then frequently some of your pictures have the little red X in the upper left corner that I have to right-click and then click on "Show picture". My patience always pays off where your creative work is concerned! I LOVE IT!

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  22. Never seen these done before, am totally gobsmacked! ha ha how clever to use hairspray! thanks ever so much for sharing both the tut and your wonderfully happy and vibrant page! xoxox

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  23. Wow! LOVE these! What a great idea. I love your work and I visit your blog all the time to see what you are going to come up with next and you keep amazing me with your creativity. Thank you so much for these awesome tutorials!

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  24. So glad I followed the link from BoBunny to your blog. This is an amazing tutorial and food for thought on how I can incorporate this technique!

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  25. Gabrielle - thank you so much for sharing this great tutorial. I've got to go buy myself some clay now!

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  26. What an awesome tutorial!! I love these!! Absolutely love this page too, amazing colors and adorable photo!! Fantastic!

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  27. G - you just amaze me! What a great idea and your detailing is unsurpassed :) TFS

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  28. Fantabulous! Your tutorial is awesome; tfs ~ I'll keep it in mind!

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  29. Absolutely gorgeous work! It inspires me to use my polymer clay more. Thanks for the detail tutorial!

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  30. Hi

    I'm an editor's assistant and I help run a blog called "Weekly Scrapper".
    My company has shown an interest in a project of yours, we'd like to repost it on our blog and facebook page.
    Our facebook page has a 100k+ fans and counting.

    Here is a link to the Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/SCRAPBOOKEXPO

    It would be great if you could email me back, we're always looking for Great content!
    Also, please reference this blog post / project and (scrapbooking, general, monkey)

    Sincerely,

    Nick Cianflocco
    Nick@scrapbookexpo.com
    Weekly Scrapper Editors Assistant
    WeeklyScrapper.com
    Scrapbookexpo.com

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  31. Hi Gabrielle,
    I loved reading this piece! Well written!

    Merlen Hogg
    vanntetting

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  32. Your work is gorgeous! Thank you for sharing your talents with us :)

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  33. Greetings from a fellow Ontarian! Love your designs. I have tiny gears from inside watches, that I'd like to us in my polymer clay projects. Can I simply stick them onto the clay and bake? Or do I have to remove them after baking, and glue them on? -Christina

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  34. I'm going to give this a try! Hopefully, when I bake the clay, it won't turn out as bad as the food I bake :-)

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  35. Love, love, love these!! ...You have definitely inspired a Newbie to Polymer & Metal Clay

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  36. I pinned this tutorial about 18 months ago, and hardly a day goes by without an email from Pinterest that it has been repinned. You have inspired a lot of people. Thanks for the great tutorial!

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  37. Great tutorial! Thank you so much for sharing. :-)

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