Tags
candle, filigree, glass paint, heart, jade, lantern, polymer clay, purple, Scottish Polymer Clay Guild
February’s theme from the Scottish Polymer Clay Guild is “Hearts and Roses”. Initially I planned an elaborate mosaic of a rose, however I have had some complications with my pregnancy so I have been spending a lot of time in hospital under observation. Even when I am at home I haven’t been doing much claying because the stress has knocked my mojo.
My sister gave me a glass lantern so I could burn a candle for baby. It was plain clear glass, with a raised heart shape on the front. I decided it would be simpler (and more appropriate) to decorate the lantern instead.
I made a marbled cane and applied it as thinly as I could (so the candle light would still shine through). Then I got slightly carried away with some silver filigree. Once the clay was baked I had to add some Super Glue around the edges of the filigree to stop it lifting.
Unfortunately I discovered that my toaster oven was not big enough to bake the lantern standing up, so instead of using polymer clay to decorate all around I decided to use glass paint on the inside. (I have been doing some experiments with polymer clay and glass paint and they seem to react and get sticky so I didn’t want them to come into contact with each other.)
I’m not really happy with the paint effect as it ended up a bit streaky. I wanted a dip-dyed gradient effect with layers of paint drips flowing upwards. I used a clear medium to get a more pastel shade of purple, but it seems this prevented the drips. The pure paint dripped, but is a bit darker than I intended.
I think I prefered it before I added the paint, although the lantern does have a nice purple glow when lit 🙂
