Hello! I hope your week is off to a lovely start. Recently I purchased this kit from Martha Stewart and after playing around with it produced a few embellishments and thought I would share.
This is what is included in the kit, and it retails for about $25. When I first got it home and looked it over, I really thought about taking it back as I wasn't sure the value was there. The packets of clay are pretty small, and I wasn't crazy about the colors, but what I have discovered is that it actually takes very little clay to make the embellishments and those little packs of colored clay are so very pigmented that they will last practically forever, and mixing them to create your own colors is half the fun.
So, you want to get started?
1. I'm not kidding when I say those little colors of clay are pigmented! You see the ratio I used in photo 1? That was still too much of the pink! 2. Blend your colors. You do this simply by adding a tiny bit of the colored clay of your choice to a bit of the white. Blend it by kneading and rolling the clay around in your hands. It will take a couple of moments to get the color mixed through, but while you're doing that they clay becomes less sticky which allows it to work in the molds better. In this photo I discovered I still had too much pink so I added a bit more white. 3. Then I added a tiny bit of yellow to my pink/white mixture. Once blended this gave me a really nice shade of pale coral pink. (the color of Patrick from spongebob my daughter told me) 4. Pinch off a bit of your clay and roll it into a snake. 5. Begin filling the mold by pushing the clay into the mold with your thumb and smoothing as you go along. If you didn't pinch off enough, that's ok, just grab some more, start back a bit where you left off and smooth the new pieces together. 6. The more you push the clay into the mold, the clearer the image will be. The smoother you make the back the better for adhering to your new surface, however it is not imperative that it is perfectly flat. Make sure you don't make your clay too thin either.
Once you are satisfied with the imprint you have made and the smoothness of the back, roll the mold away from the sides and your embellishment should pop out very easily. It will be fragile at this point, so carefully put it on a flat surface to dry. They really take overnight to dry. Once dry, if you have any areas that the clay needs to be cleaned up, you can very easily snip those away with your scissors. That's really it!
I only experimented with different shades of pink. I didn't even open the blue or brown package of clay. I am looking forward to playing around with the brown a bit though to see if I can create a pretty ivory or neutral color.
To adhere your new embellishment to your project you can simply attache with a bit of heavy glue.
The round mold is a bit tricky with getting the clay out as it is so very thin. I also discovered that when the clay is still "wet" you can reshape a bit. In the photo above you can see that I made a round embellishment more oval shaped. That super pale pink color was achieved with just a teensy tiny bit of pink and almost all white.
Now with the cameo mold, you can easily layer colors and could do even more than I did if you wanted to create green leaves, etc...I again was just playing around with shades of pink.
Overall, I am quite happy with the embellishments I created. I still have tons of clay left and can make a lot more, so I do believe the value is good. Now, I do want to mention that my daughter loves to sculpt dolls and such and while I was working on these she attempted to sculpt a doll head with the clay. She did not have any luck with that at all. The clay was too sticky, and too light weight to be able to do this. Also, every little finger print can show up in the clay. So from our experience I would think it's best to use Martha's clay in the molds.
I believe you can purchase Martha's clay w/out a mold set, and do a search on etsy for silicone molds and you'll be amazed at all of the little molds available out there!
If you have any questions, please let me know, and also I would love to know if you have already tried this clay, what you made, and did you love it?
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, I have been enjoying getting into the habit coming up with a new project to share every week.
Cerri xoxo
Wow! This is cool!I didn't expect that there are molds for this. It is so cute and I just love it. Thanks!
Posted by: Shyra @ farm sheds nz | July 25, 2012 at 10:23 AM
I just bought this set at Joanns 2 days ago, but haven't used it yet- so I appreciated the helpful hints! The items you made turned out really cute. Can't wait to see what you have planned for next Tuesday.:)
Posted by: Carol | July 25, 2012 at 07:06 PM
That is really interesting. You are a very talented blogger.Really looking forward to read more.
Posted by: Julianna B | July 26, 2012 at 07:05 AM
Okay...this is really cool! I hope I can find it at my Micheal's because my friend gave me a gift card, if not Martha Stewart.com here I come! Thanks for sharing cute Cerri! karen....
Posted by: karen | July 26, 2012 at 09:24 AM