Polymer Clay Faux Stone

Back from the dead! Monica and I both got suuuuuper busy applying to schools and transferring and working and focusing on finals that we completely neglected this blog. We were honestly really unmotivated and uninspired. But we're back! I can't promise weekly DIYs, but I do promise to try to post whenever I make something. Hence! Faux stone polymer clay!

Monica and I both started working with polymer clay recently and I love it. Like a lot. I accidentally created a collection of miniatures I made with it. But that's for another time. While looking for a good tutorial to make faux crystals/stones I stumbled on this one from Julie Sweeney at Juliespace. I decided to try it out since her purple pieces turned out so pretty.

You'll need: translucent polymer clay and acrylic paint in any color

1. Condition the clay (mix it all up with your hands) and then chop it into pieces. I tried some big pieces and some little pieces. 2. Paint the pieces with your paint. I painted the bigger pieces with gold and the little pieces with a metallic taupe. 3. Let "dry." (See tips) 4. Use plastic wrap to gather all the pieces together. Don't mix it too much, just mush it into each other. 5. Cut it! Shape it! Bake it! You can see below what it looks like when I cut into it before baking. Already cool.

Tips!
>>Acrylic paint on unbaked clay won't actually dry. Just let it sit until it's not runny.
>>When putting the pieces together, don't blend too much. You want to see the lines of paint in the clay. I smashed the pieces together, turned the clay, smashed again, repeat. I ended up with a cube shape.
>>Don't burn your clay! Full disclosure: I'm not sure whether my pieces are burnt or not. You can see the gold color turned the translucent an orange-y pink color but the taupe looked clean before baking. I sort of forgot about them in my toaster oven :/ so just make sure you follow the directions on your clay. Different brands recommend different baking times and temperatures.
>>I use a separate toaster oven in my garage to bake my clay. It's recommended to keep polymer clay and any fumes away from food. If you do bake it in your regular oven, make a little tinfoil "house" for your pieces to keep in the fumes.

-lisa