Crackled Gold Leaf, Alcohol Ink and Liquid Polymer Clay Techniques

Oh my,

I can see why your bead shop snapped these up! I am sure they will draw customers from near and far. They are absolutely beautiful! Congratulations!

Way to go Anna, they are gorgeous, and an interesting workaround for the translucent clay problem.

These are so awesome!! Good job Anna. It is really great how you experimented and came up with something new AND beautiful.

Wow! Those are stunning Anna! Now I want to go and try that! btw – added your blog to mine so that I can visit anytime!

Cindy – I've got a question. Would it be possible to put the pictures in your blog so we can click on them on see them up close or bigger? I for one (with my glasses) would appreciate it. I always seem to be squinting at what you are showing. Anyone else doing the same?

They look great!
Does the deco gel end up hard or can it be marked with, for example, a fingernail? I only tried using it once and it seemed a bit rubbery!

What I like most, is that they are big, so you can really get into the crackle patterning,light reflection, and color changes. Just love them in that grouping! Like a flower bouquet, almost.

Says "abundance" to me, and cannot imagine being lucky enough to be able to see, touch and play with them all. A bunch of seed beads make me feel the same way, lol.

Always have trouble imagining or guessing how big something is by looking a photos of it. Wish there was some standardized tool you could add to a pic (like a small transparent ruler, or something you could add by clicking on it) that would automatically give you size (accurate measurement) or reference size for works of art.

I cut and paste online inch, centimeter, and millimeter paper guides above and under my screen on the computer, but, it still doesn't help that much.

These pendants are very pretty. I love them… I haven't gotten around to trying the crackled foil but those are making my fingers itch!!

The crackled gold leaf pendants are stunning! I SO appreciate the inspiration I find here. I hear my mom's voice from childhood prodding me on…"Practice makes perfect!"

Thanks, Cindy, for spotlighting artisans that point us in new directions.

I tried this technique using (1) my favorite brand Premo translucent, then (2) Kato translucent and finally (3) Sculpey III translucent. None of them went as transparent as I wanted. I do have some of the Fimo gel liquid clay so I'll give that a try. I LOVE the look of the alcohol inks on the crackled gold leaf background but then the transluscent clouded the beautiful colors. Maybe this is the solution. Thanks for sharing!

Arlene, you may also want to try the clear gloss embossing powder as a top coat to this finish. Not sure how it would age, or what brands "tarnish" or yellow. Sure is pretty when you put a deep enough coat on it, and you can add more gold flakes or whatever into it as well, in layers.

Just beautiful! Great job! I, too, tried liquid clay and embossing powder to add dimension and I liked the effects. I was going to try casting resin to really get the dichroic look. Has anyone tried casting resin? I bought some and it just sits there looking at me. I, also, wondered about the Triple Thick stuff. (I forgot the whole name.) I wondered if that was compatible with polymer clay. Anyone know?

Yes. Love the resin. If you can get it to pool properly, and dry fast and well, it's so awesome. We did some impression casting, the kids used their thumbprints into the clay canes, then filled it in with resin. I loved it, preserved their fingerprints forever, and though somewhat aged from sun exposure, and now bubbling and cracking a bit from the same, they are aged beautifully and treasured paperweights, sort of…. Also can act as a magnifier to the design if you can get the blob right, either concave or convex. Like plaster of paris, worth the clean up, LOL!

Great commenting guys! Sorry, but I'm at the point where I can't address each one individually any more…. but I sure do appreciate all of you!

@aims: In regards to having larger pictures to click through to… I addressed that topic in another post. Click the 'Making Polymer Clay Jewelry' link by my name above, for an explanation. The link takes you into the comments where your question is answered.

@Jocelyn and Catalina: Resin is a great choice for something like this. I plan to start working with it soon so that I can start doing tutorials on it. Everyone seems to want to learn how to use it. Clear embossing powder is one option though it is not near as durable as liquid clay or resin and scratches easily. Don't know about the Triple Thick. Haven't tried it myself.

I like the idea of the rulers beside the pc pieces, too. When our friends send in their pictures, Cindy might remind them to have the ruler in the picture.

I've tried the Triple Thick, it won't dent when you poke it with a findernail. But to me it looks plasticy. I have been using the Studio Glaze and I love it!

Catalina – I have tried casting resin (Easy-Cast), Kato's liquid polyclay, embossing powder (UTEE – Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel), floor polish (Future), TLS, Lisa Pavelka's Magic-Glos and a few sprays. I have used these finishes for filling rings and covering pendants-not beads. My results/opinions:

Easy-cast: (+) amazingly beautiful, crystal-clear finish which can emulate dichroic glass; (+) tough, resilient finish; (+) great for inclusions; (-) bubbles are almost inevitable and ruin pieces: you can sit while the resin hardens with a heat gun or torch and pop as they come, but you can harden the top too quickly and trap other bubbles below; (-) it has a strong, horrible smell; (-) takes days to dry, depending on thickness; (-) should be covered while drying to eliminate dust/pet hair/other contaminants; (-) will run over edges very easily, make a huge mess and ruin the piece.

Kato Liquid Polyclay: (+) can be crystal clear if cured properly: in very thin layers and with a heat gun follow-up; (+) takes less time than resin to harden; (+) easy clean-up; (+) made for inclusions and has compatible "dyes" offered by Kato; (-) must be done in very thin layers or severe plaquing can occur; (-) can burn with heat gun-it turns completely black; (-) very rubbery finish which cannot be sanded/buffed; (-) not scratch-resistant whatsoever

UTEE: (+) beautiful, crystal-clear finish; (+) scratch-resistant; (+) quick & easy to work with; (+) great for inclusions; (-) will crackle up if piece is twisted/bent–can be reheated to completely fix cracks.

Varathane: (+) clear, hard finish; (-) will bubble if over-heated; (+) can be applied in layers; (-) brush strokes apparent without special brush or major finesse.

TLS: (+) great for inclusions; (-) will NOT DRY CLEAR.

Magic-Glos (UV Resin): (+) cures crystal clear; (+) hard, resilient finish; (+) made to have gorgeous domed finish; (+) cures in MINUTES with UV light; (+) cures even with heavy clouds; (+) UV lights can be used to cure indoors for about $40; (-) expensive- 1 fl. oz retails for $9; (-) bubbles occur but can be avoided/mitigated with butane lighter or pin. –MY FAVORITE–

I hope this is helpful! All the best,
~Mary Beth
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Wow! Excellent! That is what I was looking for thank you! You could be Cindy's substitute! I thought Magic Gloss would be neat to try. I'm glad you took time to give your input. Most appreciated!!

Mary Beth you ROCK! You couldn't have given a better answer than this!!! Thank you so much for all the pros and cons for each product. I have yet to try some of them and your information is invaluable. Thanks again!

Thank you so much for all your nice comments guys! and thank you Cindy for featuring me. :)

@aims – I can't help you with the other pictures, but the link on my name on this post takes you to my Flickr jewellery page where you can see bigger pictures of my work.

@caroline – the liquid clay does end up kind of rubbery, but it's much stronger than it feels. Although you probably could mark it with a fingernail you'd have to press very hard. I haven't had any problems, and I usually have quite long nails that always seem to leave marks in raw clay! Time to cut them I guess. ;)

I love that all this has lead into a discussion of how we can work to modify techniques. What's perfect for one person might not work at all for someone else, so the more information we have the better.

I'd definitely encourage you all to experiment a bit. Try different methods, see which one you like best. Even if they all go horribly wrong you'll still have learned something!

I love these beads and all your work! Thank you!

I'm glad you found my overviews helpful. I realized that I left one out that people may be interested in: DG3. DG3 (Diamond Glaze 3) takes forever to dry, but doesn't smell as bad as EasyCast. I tried building up small layers on a pendant and after several days I had a cloudy pendant. I am truly disappointed in DG3 – comments seemed positive. There may be a way to avoid the cloudiness (i.e. less humidity or something), but at this point I am not wasting another piece to find out. If anyone else has experience with DG3 and has some tips, I would love to know what went wrong! Thanks again for the positive comments! Cindy, you definitely rock too!
-Mary Beth
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These are fab Silverleaf – I'm just catching up with the posts so theres a bit of a delay I'm afraid. I love the colours. I'm wondering about the gel thing that you put on for a second baking, was it to make the pendant stronger or something?

@Polyanya – thank you! The gel was simply a substitute for the translucent clay Cindy used.

It gives the pendants a nice depth as well as protecting the metal leaf and making the whole thing smooth and glossy.

I don't actually know whether it strengthens the pendants, it certainly makes them more flexible.

Oh right! I get you now, of course to protect the crackle as well.

@Marybeth: I've never tried DG3 with polymer clay, so I can't help you there. I wonder if it would clear up a bit if you baked it for awhile? Might be worth giving it a try.

DG3 looks ok, but it's not water proof, but find it kind of leaves a 'dimple' in center of piece as it dries. I guess it has some shrinkage.
Personally, Magic Glos is my fave, but was sent some 1 part resin by a company to try, also a UV cure. Haven't tried it yet. just redid my studio…remind me, lol

@Tina: A one part resin sounds promising and less stressful as far as it setting faster than you want or mixing up too much or too little. How does it compare in cost? They all seem quite high.

hey cindy!

i received the preserve your memories spray, and i am disappointed in the way it darkened my gold leaf. i am sure i can use it for my transfers, though. can you tell me the absolute best finish for gold leaf ( i love to crackle gold and silver leaf) with the least amount of darkening? i have a show this thursday and was planning on using this crackling technique quite a bit.

i have some pledge future on hand, how does it perform over time? can it be applied to uncured clay and then baked? i believe you said not to use the mona lisa finish, as it does not perform well with the clay.

i want my gold and silver to remain as shiney and bright as possible. i have tried using the translucent clay and it just doesn't do it for me.

thanks, cindy!

peggie

You can use the Pledge with Future on your gold leaf peggie and you should get good result. It preforms well over time. Yeah the translucent clay has to be incredibly thin for it to look good over the gold leaf. My video tutorial will show you how to do that if you're interested. Click the link by my name for more info.