Sculpey Soufflé™ and Liquid Sculpey® Mixed Media Tool Tower

Getting Started:

Please make sure your work area is covered and you are not working on an unprotected surface. We recommend working on the Sculpey® Oven
Safe Work Mat, wax paper, metal baking sheet, or disposable foil. Uncured
clay may damage unprotected furniture or finished surfaces. Be sure to
cover your crafting area appropriately.

Start with clean hands, unwrap and knead clay until soft and smooth, or condition by running clay though a Pasta Machine. We recommend using a designated machine for clay purposes only. When working with multiple colors, clean hands with soap and water or baby wipes (we have found that baby wipes work best) before switching colors. Shape clay, pressing pieces firmly together.  Wash hands
after use.

Baking:

Begin by preheating oven to 275 °F (130 °C). After you are done creating; for best results bake clay on an oven-proof surface such as metal, aluminum foil, an index card or the Sculpey® Oven Safe Work Mat at 275°F (130 °C) for 30 minutes per ¼" (6 mm) of thickness according to package directions. Oven safe glass or ceramic surfaces are also acceptable for baking; however please note that the baking times may take longer as the glass or ceramic surfaces take longer to heat up. For best baking results, use an oven thermometer. DO NOT USE MICROWAVE OVEN. DO NOT EXCEED THE ABOVE TEMPERATURE OR RECOMMENDED BAKING TIME

Prepare the cardboard tubes for covering with clay. Cardboard is a great receiver of clay because it is porous. To make a good cutting line on the tubes, use a ruler and pencil to draw lines on them. Make one 3” long, one 4” long, and one 5” long. In order to make a nice cutting line, wrap a piece of clear tape around the tube that your knife blade can follow.

Cut the three tubes as shown: 3”, 4”, and 5”.

If you want the inside of your tubes to be finished, paint the insides with acrylic paint in a coordinating color. Allow paint to dry completely.

Squirt a bead of Oven Bake Clay Adhesive (OBCA) on the outsides of each tube.

Spread the OBCA with your fingertip evenly all over the outside of the tube.

Repeat for each tube. Set tubes aside to allow the OBCA to soak into the cardboard.

For the clay sheets to cover the tubes, mix the custom colors:

1/2 block Igloo + 1/2 block Jade for Light Jade;

1/2 block Igloo + 1/2 block Bluestone for Light Bluestone;
and,

1/2 block Igloo + 1/2 block Cornflower for Light Cornflower.

Sheet each light color through the pasta machine on the third
thickest setting or sheet with the Acrylic Clay Roller to about 1/16” thick.
It’s important to make the sheets in shapes that will be easy to wrap around
the tubes.

Roll the Light Bluestone sheet to the work surface. For the honeycomb pattern, burnish the honeycomb stencil to the Light Bluestone sheet.
Use the roller so that the clay comes up to level in each window of the stencil.

Leave the stencil in place for this step. Dip your finger into the paste or mica powder. Swirl it onto the clay through the stencil with your fingertip.

Gently peel back the stencil and set it aside. Let the stenciled clay rest while we work on the other two sheets.

The stencil can be cleaned with paper towels.

In a silicone cup, place 1/2 ounce of White Liquid Sculpey® (LS) or about 1/2 bottle.

Add just a drop of Black (LS) to the White LS in the cup.

Mix completely with your favorite mixing tool.

NOTE: I like to mix LS in silicone cupcake liners because the clean up is so easy after use. You can scrape excess LS out, bake the silicone cup, then peel the residue away and discard it

Roll the Light Jade sheet to the work surface. Burnish the
Feather Silkscreen to the clay sheet shiny side down.

Lay a bead of the Light Gray LS across the top of the silkscreen.

Squeegee or even smear (with fingertips) the LS in all areas of the silkscreen evenly. Tapping the LS into place also helps make a very even application.

Carefully remove the silkscreen by peeling up from the corner.

Appreciate how beautiful the screened clay is! This is my favorite silkscreen ever! I know for a fact that the Sculpey® silkscreens work well with LS and alcohol clean up. I do not know if other brands of screens work as well. You can test that for yourself.

Immediately place the silkscreen in a flat tray. I use old deli trays for this. Add a shallow layer of 91% rubbing alcohol to the tray. LS cannot be cleaned up with water.

Rub the screen gently with the alcohol in the tray to loosen LS from the screen.

After the screen is clean, you can rinse away the alcohol with running water.

The alcohol may make the screen look a bit whitish, but this does not harm the screen.

Allow the screened clay to rest while we work on the next stenciled sheet.

Roll the Light Bluestone sheet to the work surface.

Place another stencil on top of the clay sheet - this one I’m using has spotted mandalas on it. Burnish the stencil down with a roller to make the clay fill the open windows of the stencil evenly.

Dip your fingertip into the Light Gray LS and smear it all over the stencil.

Make sure the application of Light Gray LS is even overall.

Carefully peel back the stencil to reveal the LS pattern on the clay. Lay the stencil with the leftover Light Gray LS still on it (LS side up) on a sheet of paper towel. We are going to use this excess LS on yet another sheet so we don’t waste it.

Appreciate how great the stencil looks!

Trim the edges of each of the sheets we made in the proceeding steps. Roll the scrap clays into logs about the same lengths.

Sheet the logs with a roller or pasta machine.

Keep folding and pressing the clay to make a blended sheet.
Ultimately we want this sheet to be the same thickness as our stenciled and
screened sheets above.

Lay the stencil that we set aside in Step 23, LS side down on this sheet of blended clay. Press it down with your hands. Then wipe away excess LS that may be seeping out into the open windows of the stencil. This won’t be perfect but it will make a cool pattern on the left over clay that we can use for the base of the towers.

Carefully remove the stencil to reveal a reverse pattern.
Clean the stencil by wiping off LS with paper towel.

Here are the four sheets that we have made. Lay them on deli sheets so that you can let them rest and move them out of your way as needed. The longer you can let them rest, the better the LS will soak into the clay backgrounds making them easier to handle.

Next, wrap the tubes with the clay sheets.

Start by trimming a straight edge along the short end of the
sheet that you intend from the 5” tube. Carefully lay the trimmed edge of the
clay sheet along the side of the tube.

Carefully wrap the tube in the clay sheet.

Trim the long end of the clay sheet to create a butted seam along the tube.

Trim the ends of the tube with a Clay Blade.

Cover each tube with a clay sheet. If you have a clay sheet
come up short, as shown here, this empty spot can actually be hidden by the
other tower tubes.

Here’s a look at all three tubes from the top. You can see that I have the empty spaces of the tubes and the seams all tucked into the center of the cluster where they will be easily hidden later with ropes and trims.

Here’s another look at the tubes from the side.

Next, audition how your tubes will fit the saucer that you are using for the base. Place all three tubes sides touching together in the center of the ceramic saucer.

Reserve any extra patterned scraps of clay that you may have as shown.

Sheet Concrete Soufflé™ to the same thickness as we have been using throughout this project either through the pasta machine or with a Clay Roller.

Drape the sheet over the saucer.

Smooth the Concrete sheet to the saucer surface making sure there are no air bubbles between the clay and the saucer.

Trim the Concrete sheet to the edges of the saucer with a Clay Blade.

Add more pieces of Concrete sheet to the sides of the saucer.
Smooth the seams with your fingertips. Trim the edges with the Clay Blade.

Add a bead of OBCA on the Concrete base.

Smear the OBCA evenly all over the clay with fingertips. This will be a good bond between the base layer of Concrete and the top layer of decorative clays making a good platform for the towers.

Sheet 1/2 bar Guava to the same thickness as all other sheets before.

Bring the blended patterned sheet in front of you.

Divide the sheet into angled sections with a Clay Blade.

Lay a piece of the angled clay sheet across the center of the base clay on the saucer. We will build a patchwork of the scrap clays across the clay base and trim the edges later.

After each scrap is placed, add a 1/8” border of Guava strips.
It will be most easy to add patches at right angles and in straight lines.

Keep adding patches with Guava borders between each strip. Use
the blended sheet as well as the scraps of patterned pieces from Step 39. This
part is very free-style based on the scraps and the shapes of the scraps that
you have left. There is no right way or wrong way to apply the scraps and most
of the center area will be covered by the tubes.