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Polka Dot Creations just posted a tutorial I wrote on how to make a "Thank You" card with polymer clay and alcohol inks. Check it out here.
While you're there, check out the rest of their tutorials (all free!) here. Lisa from Polka Dot Creations has also set up a Flickr group for projects related to the tutorials, so you can see some of my variations there & upload your own. Hope you enjoy!
I love my local polymer clay guild -- wouldn't miss a meeting unless I had to! But I have to say I wasn't sure about our last project. Granted, I was eager to learn about how to use Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE) with clay. But the project itself was a photo album, and I just don't do photos. Or at least, I don't do printed photos. All my photos are the digital kind, and I'm happy that way.
Guild members Penni Jo Couch and Sue Kerr did a wonderful job teaching. I enjoyed the UTEE, and had a couple of "a-ha" moments with the project itself. But when I brought home my covers, all ready to assemble into an album, it was my husband who offered the "a-ha." Why didn't I make it into a notepad instead of an album, he asked?
I've been needing a notepad for my car ever since my PDA died -- so that's what I did. I made me a notepad. Well, three actually. And I took a few pics of the process in case you want to make one too. (Be sure to check out Penni Jo's original instructions here as well.)
Roll out a large polymer clay sheet to the second- or third-thickest setting. Texture if desired, then use a card-stock template to cut a front and back cover from the sheet. My covers were 3" square, but any shape & size would work.
Decorate the cover. Here I used a stencil sheet and rubbed on Pearl Ex powders to create the silver ivy pattern.
Cut the frame for your UTEE window. (Note: Skip to step #10 if you don't want a UTEE window.) Penni Jo's Instruction Sheet [PDF] includes a great selection of templates (oval, rectangle, etc) to choose from, or you can use the "shapes" function in your desktop publishing software to create your own. You need two shape templates -- one larger than the other. The shape we're cutting here will be the frame for the window, so we're use the larger template to cut it.
Add the frame to the front cover. I used a texture sheet on my frame, then rubbed Pearl Ex powders on the raised portions to highlight the texture.
Using the smaller of the two shape templates, cut all the way through the frame AND the cover.
Remove the clay you just cut out, and clean up any rough inside edges. You've created a framed window in your cover.
Add a thin sheet of clay behind your cut-out. While I used another 3" sheet for mine, you could probably save a little clay by using a piece that's just slightly larger than your window. Note: If you have a transfer, photo, etc. that you want to sandwich between the clay sheets, feel free to decorate the back sheet before attaching it to the cover
Decorate the window. Here I added a few molded leaves.
Fill in the window with Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE). This comes in a large bottle (check the rubber stamping section of the craft store), in powder form. Pour UTEE until it fills your frame, using a paintbrush to brush off any powder that strays onto your raw clay. (Note: If you have time, baking the cover once before you add the UTEE makes this step a little easier, since the powder's less likely to stick to baked clay.)
Bake the clay covers. The UTEE will melt in the toaster oven while the clay bakes. It will probably still be liquid-y when it comes out of the oven, so try to keep it on a level surface while it sets. 
Punch holes and set the eyelets. (Note: I used my hole punch to punch holes in the baked clay, but you could also punch them before baking. Just make sure the hole's big enough for the eyelets.) I used my Crop-A-Dile (which I love!) to set my eyelets, being careful not to squeeze too hard. You could use other eyelet setting tools -- or if you're concerned about the strength of your clay, you could just glue the eyelets in place.
Your cover is done. Now it's time to turn it into a notepad by adding book rings and paper. Book rings should be available in your office supply store -- these are nice because they pop open easily if you want to add more paper. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything smaller than a 1" size -- I think smaller would look better for this project.
Thanks again to Penni Jo & Sue for the great lesson. While I originally thought I wouldn't have a use for a photo album, this project turned into something super-fun & ultra-useful. Guess it proves that you always gotta show up & be open to ideas!
There are things I love about my house -- it's comfy, it's spacious, it's got a nice big backyard. And then there's the things I'm not so crazy about. Like the tiny kitchen and its stuck-in-the-70's vibe. And while the red brick walls in my kitchen & family room fit more in the not-so-crazy-about realm, there's so many more important things to do that I know I'll be living with them for a good while longer.
One thing that always bothered me more than the bricks themselves was the gap in the bricks. When we moved in, there was an ancient avocado green metal GTE Starlite phone hanging on the kitchen wall. We replaced it fairly quickly -- but when we took it down, we found that the bricks had actually been set around the phone... so not only did we have an ugly old silver phone jack cover, we also had big gaps around the phone jack.
This was my first time to make a switch plate cover, and I was initially concerned about the weight. I knew I wanted it as thick as the other bricks, so I'd be layering thick sheets of clay. Turns out I didn't need to be worried about weight on something this small -- especially since you can pop the clay right off of a metal plate after baking. Still, I decided to use mostly UltraLight Sculpey to keep it lightweight. Since the UltraLight's a white clay, I used quite a few things -- including alcohol inks, chalks, acrylic paints -- to make it match the bricks (more on the specifics below) . And when I realized the bricks weren't as tall as the phone jack, I made a black "grout line" down the middle to give the appearance of being two bricks.
While I was happy enough with the way the phone jack cover turned out, it didn't solve the problem of those gaps.
I rationalized that I'd made one brick-looking thing... so I maybe I could fill the remaining spaces with more polymer clay "bricks."
I started by using paper to trace the brick size I needed. I hadn't really paid attention to the brick shape before this -- once I studied them, I realized the edges were rounded and uneven, so I copied this on my paper pattern. I cut the paper out & transferred it onto cardboard, then cut out the cardboard. I actually ended up cutting out two copies of each template, then gluing them together to match the thickness of the other bricks.
I wrapped a thick sheet of polymer clay around the cardboard template, then trimmed off the excess.
I used an extra brick for texturing, pressing it in in random spots to make an uneven surface.
After texturing, I added a few colors of alcohol inks, keeping the colors a little uneven to match the mottled effect of the bricks. On top of that, I layered some chalk colors. I basically just kept messing with them til they looked enough like the actual bricks, then I baked them.
After baking, I decided to take them off their cardboard templates and glue them to the wall with E6000. (Hooks, nails, etc. would be good options, too.) Once they were on the wall, I felt like the colors weren't quite right. So I sponged on little dabs of orange, pink, black, & white acrylic paints here & there. I also added some Future floor finish to help them match the other bricks' slightly-shiny finish.
Note to my readers: Mahalo.com is "the world's first human powered search engine" -- they hand-write topic pages to create high-quality, spam-free results. I opted to write my entry for their iPhone Contest about -- what else? -- polymer clay. If you really hurry, you can get your own entry in (deadline's midnight 7/13, Pacific Time). Or feel free to comment on my entry -- what links do you think should be included in a one-page polymer clay primer?
Polymer Clay is a man-made plastic clay that is soft and flexible until cured. Polymer clay is used by crafters and artists of all ages for sculpting, jewelry making, miniatures, and more.
Just in time for the big Fourth of July holiday, Polymer Clay Central has announced the July 2007 Challenge theme: Wave That Flag.
If you're thinking of spending your holiday putting together an entry, here's a few resources to get you started:
Mail your entries in by July 15, 2007, for a chance to win one of three prizes. Good luck!
