The Tutorial - Part 2 Mokume Gane, Alcohols Inks and Translucent Polymer Clay

I hope you enjoyed the Intermission!  Okay, we are actually reaching the home stretch, if you have stayed with me thus far . . . thank you! Now, onto Part 2.


6.  Remember the B/W sheets we put together and set aside? Now we are going to work that sheet we created.  Put it through the pasta machine on the thickest setting which should reduced it to a thickness of 1/8 inch (manually it should end up approximately that thickness). It will almost be doubled in length.

7.  Place that sheet we just created, lay on top of your dried alcohol inked transparent sheet of polymer clay. Then, put that through the pasta machine on the thickest setting whereas, this is  the "compression" in metalsmith terminology of what we are actually doing to the polymer clay.

8.  Once again, your sheet will almost double in size.  After which, you can trim the sheet up, cut in half and stack it, making sure your black is always on top. *see image 9.

9.  This is where you can get out all your cutters, old credit cards, needle nose pliers and create your unique stamp on your polymer clay stack. *use the blunt side of cutters to better drag the colors throughout the stack, same for anything you are going to be using for design purposes.

10.  You can, before you begin slicing, lightly use your acrylic roller (any) to compress the stack a bit and that in turn helps hold it to the table.  You can also elevate your stack by placing it on scrappy clay as to not dug quite so deep unevenly through the stack . . .there is a video showing exactly how to do this, I'll have find it.  Using a sharp tissue blade taking the thinnest slices possible underneath the top sheet, begin slicing through your stack as I have pictured below. Turn your cut slices over to reveal the patterns and colors.

11.  Here are my slices from my stack, yours may be very different from mine and that's a good thing.  But, the fun isn't over quite yet.  We now have to use these slices in creating a piece, the magic begins in the baking of the translucent polymer clay with the alcohol inks and don't forget our leafing sheet!



** to be continued in The Tutorial - Part 3 Mokume Gane, Alcohol Inks and Translucent Polymer Clay  . . . Thanks!

continue to Part 3 of this tutorial