Hand made texture stamps - 70 of 366 creative days

70/366 Hand made texture stamps in polymer clay or wax or rubber


a - Materials

1. Polymer clay
2. Wax
3. Rubber
4. Dried or fresh plants

b - Tools

1.  Sculpting tools for soft materials (can also use:needles, toothpicks, nails, etc)
2.  Sculpting tools for harder materials (chisels with gouge)
3. Rolling pin

c - Techniques

1. For polymer clay use round ball tools and just draw what you have in mind, be patient and clean the scraps with a soft brush often.
2. If you want to make a specific design from a  digital version, 
1. Print the design on a piece of paper and then copy it using a toner copier  
2. Place it face down on the polymer clay, 
3. Dab the back of the paper with a piece of cotton that was previously dampen in alcohol
4. Remove the paper
3. For drawing on wax, print the design and use carbon copy paper, same for rubber or wood.
4. For soft materials like clay, use also plants (dried or soft) and "sunk" them into the clay using the rolling pin, or place the plant on the table and roll the clay over it with the roller.

d - End result

Polymer clay texture free hand

Polymer clay and fresh flowers texture plate

Hand made recycling cookie cutters - 69 of 366 creative days

69/366 - Hand made cookie cutters from recycled aluminium cans

Cookie cutters from aluminium soda cans. Cat shape. The site is about as tall as 2 coins of 10 or half of index finger. The example below is cut polymer clay.

a - Materials

1. Aluminium cans
2. 2 mix Glue

b - Tools

1. Scissors
2. Straight pliers
3. Round pliers

c - Techniques

1. Draw your design on a piece of paper at the scale you need it
2. Cut the bottom of the can using a knife.
3. Cut 3 cm width strips
4. Bend few millimeters at the top twice, so it will make it more sturdy.
5. Bend to match the shape you drew at the beginning using the pliers, make sure you leave some few mm for overlapping and gluing. as well, the binding area should be on a straight side, never at a corner or deep bend, will be easier to glue them together.

d - End result

I will post pictures with he steps when I will try to repeat the process. I found a nice way of doing even more complex cutters by plunging them in polymer clay and baking it after. You can find this technique and few others saved in DIY tools on Pinterest.