Mirror, Mirror On the Wall....

I had one of those six year old wake up calls this morning. I was in the mood to do something with clay. Remember when you were in the first grade and there was nothing like a new package of clay to play with. No one else had used it and it wasn't all wadded into a grey lump. I love new clay right out of the package. I don't, however, like kneading poly clay for hours to get it soft enough to work with.

I went to the trouble of getting out and setting up the pasta machine. I think that is one reason that I don't do more poly clay. I dislike all of the setting up and getting ready. Anyway, I dragged it to the kitchen and clamped it to the counter. I selected gold Premo and started cranking. Admittedly it is a lot faster with the pasta machine, but I still don't like doing that part. No instant gratification there. It seems like the gold Primo is stiffer than some of the other clays.

After all the fuss of getting it ready, I went and found my drawer of mirrors. I wanted to do a couple frames for them. When I opened it, I found that I had saved a round piece of clear glass about 3 " across for some unknown reason. I guess this was the reason.....Remember I am the one that never throws anything away unless influenced by brute force applied by someone else.

Here you see the start. I used the clay gun to make 1/4" flat strips to go around the edge of the glass. While I was at it, I also used it on two oval mirrors.

I could see right from the start that the gold Primo was not going to be gold enough. It looks more yellow ochre than gold. I extruded two different sizes of worms through the clay gun and started doing some spirals on the edge of the glass. I put larger diameter coils on first and then filled in with smaller ones and tiny balls here and there.

I didn't have a pattern. I saw this technique done on Altoid tins on Polymer Clay Central. I have been using it a couple of years now.

After filling in the whole frame, I used some of the fine gold powder that you can buy in the scrapbook section of Michael's. I applied it with a small, soft brush. Here you can see the contrast between the regular clay(dull) and the part that has been dusted(shiny). I think that the powder is a vast improvement.It needs to be applied before baking if you want it to stick.

I think that the clear glass piece will either be a table top or maybe a window in a fantasy scene somewhere.

As for the mirrors, I did one with a pretty traditional frame. It is simply strands of poly clay wrapped around the mirror atop the base piece. I took two of the smaller diameter pieces and twisted them into a rope for the straps all around the mirror. Then I rolled small balls and placed them between the ropes and made sure that they would stay in place by poking the center with the end of a bamboo skewer. I know that they don't look it in the photo, but the two mirrors are exactly the same size and shape. It's all in how you make the frame.

Tessie arrived just as I was finishing the preparation for the oven. She immediately grabbed the jar of gold powder and the paint brush. "More gold! Everything needs MORE GOLD!!!". I took the paint brush and the jar away from her. I had visions of the outside of her cottage all in gold. When she says "everything" she means EVERYTHING! I am going to have to go restrain her now.

See you tomorrow.