Silkscreen on Polymer Clay with PearlEx Powders & Chalks

Video #747: The silkscreens used in today's demo video were supplied by Tonja Lenderman. Her designs are wonderfully unique... More Info: http://www.beadsandbeading.com/blog/?... Polymer Clay Tutor.

In today's video I'm going to show you how to silkscreen onto polymer clay with PearlEx Powders and Chalk Pastels.

Now I have shown you how to silkscreen on polymer in the past, but that was with paint. Today I will show you how to use dry materials with your screens instead.

The silkscreens that I will be using in this video are from Tonja Lenderman of TonjasTreasures on Etsy. Tonja sent me a selection of her silkscreens and stamps (you saw her stamps in my previous video on the Sutton Slice) that she hand makes in her home in the United States. Her designs are unique (especially the ones I chose) and the quality is great.

I show several designs silkscreened onto polymer clay using PearlEx Powders, a couple using Chalk Pastels and one with PanPastels.

The process is pretty simple, as you will see in the video. First you lay the silkscreen onto a fresh sheet of raw polymer clay, and gently rub the screen to make sure it has full contact with the clay's surface.

Then use a Q-Tip to rub PearlEx powder into the open areas of the screen.

And if you use chalk pastels instead of PearlEx, an applicator is not even needed. You can simply color directly onto the screen with the chalks.

Once you have finished applying your powder or chalks to the screen, make sure that your colors have been thoroughly pushed through the screen to get good adhesion to the clay.

Then you can gently lift the screen, being careful not to let any loose powder fall onto your clay.

Finally, cut and bake the silkscreened clay sheets into shapes, and use them how every you wish. Take care in how you handle the unbaked screened sheets, because the powder can be easily smudged at this stage... though I do show a neat smudging technique where you can smudge the powder on purpose).

Once baked the powder will stick to the clay very well, but your piece may need a protective finish if it will be used in a high wear situation such as with certain types of jewelry.

For links to all the additional resources mentioned in this video, go our PcT blog... http://www.beadsandbeading.com/blog/?...

Cindy Lietz & Doug Lietz
Polymer Clay Tutor