A Fun Topic

Sharon,
I'm on vacation this week and saw the mica shift show. I tried it and
it works just as she did it! I finally took out the pasta machine that I
bought in Christmas Tree Shop a year ago for $9.99 and it made such a
difference in the techniques I was able to do that I stood there for 2
days, playing til I dropped.
If the directions don't seem too clear, here's how I did it: Put your
clay through the pasta machine, always in the same direction to shift
the mica, dust the surface with some cornstarch and press into the clay
with a deeply cut stamp, then shave off the raised parts. Make sure
that your slab of clay is deep enough so that when you shave off the
indented part there is enough left for the switch cover. I layered mine
(same direction). Make a small piece to try it out and use for an
embellishment. I would think that if you could "borrow" a metal switch
cover from somewhere in your house that is the same size, you could bake
it on that and avoid some of the shaping problems.
I haven't done clay for switch covers, but have done alot a fun ones
with stamping on tissue and using spray adhesive to attach to the boring
white covers that are less than 20 cents at Home Depot, then I sealed
with several coats of Folk Art spray sealer. I was able to use some of
the stamps that I "had to have" and never used, like shoes for the
closet light switch and wine labels for the kitchen. Really came out
nice.
Have fun.
Janet

Sharon wrote:
Hi Janet,
Thanks so much for the kind words. I love working with stamps and
clay. The 2 go together so well. I have the Images on Clay book too,
but I haven't had the opportunity yet to try any of the projects. I
hope this winter to be able to play with all the toys I haven't been
able to get to. This weekend I am going to try a technique though that
I have never tried. I saw it this week on the Carol Duvall show. I
want to cover switchplates in my husband's den and I think this
technique will be perfect for them. It's called the mica shift
technique. It doesn't look too hard, but I've said that many times and
have been proven wrong. lol If you are interested and didn't see the
show. It will be aired again on Saturday at 2:30 EST. Here are the
instruction on the HGTV website too, although I didn't think they were
very clear: http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/cr_clay_oth...397691,00.html
Well wish me luck this weekend. These switchplate covers will either
be drop dead gorgeous or butt ugly. Let's hope it's not the later. lol
Thanks again
Sharon









hansen wrote in message ...

Sharon,

Thanks for sharing your creations! Gave me lots of ideas.
I make mostly cards - seldom the same one twice, although my Mom has
convinced me to make a few sets of thank you notes, etc. as gifts for
relatives - creating the container is the fun part.
Right now I am playing with polymer clay and stamps - got 2 books Sunday
in the clearance section at Michaels: "Images on Clay" and "Creative
Stamping in Polmer Clay" and have spent most of my vacation playing with
the combinations. It never would have occured to me to stamp into
stacked color layers and then shave off the top - what neat looking
effects you get! The layers sink with the stamp and when you shave it
smooth, you can see the design with all your colors - even can add
layers of gold leaf. I don't seem to have any interest in making canes,
but the stamping thing has me shaving away pieces to cover beads, etc.
just like they do with the color canes.
Another fun stamp/clay idea is to cover your single color (I used
black)clay with a sheet of gold leaf, stamp an impression into it, bake,
then sand off the gold leaf - leaves gold just in the stamped
impression! Now, what will I use all this stuff for? I will have to
design cards around these embellishments - so back to the stamping room.
Janet