Creative Picture Frames Embellished with Polymer Clay Faux Raku
Spotlight: "I find joy spending time messin with the techniques." ~Elizabeth-S
Well Elizabeth is at it again! You may remember her from a previous Spotlight with her beautiful Anjou Pear Fruit Beads. Well today's Spotlight feature is on Elizabeth's creative way of using the Faux Raku Crackle Technique to cover a picture frame and mirror. Very clever indeed!
Related links include: (1) Faux Raku; (2) Faux Raku Deep Crackle; (3) Polymer Clay Alcohol Ink techniques.
Here is What Elizabeth Wrote…
Hi Cindy,
Typically, after you teach us something new I find joy spending time "messin" with the technique until I sort of know how to do it. Following the faux raku series, because it is a favorite and a challenge I "messed" with it longer than usual. A few sheets of faux crackle turned out so much to my liking that I decided to cut tiles from them to frame an inexpensive picture frame I had purchased. The resulting tiles incorporate both alcohol inks and partially cured sheets using scrap clay. I'm sending a pic 'cause I love it and because I think it's an example of how your students take what you give us and run with it. One only has to look at the "Spotlights" to know it's true. As always, thank you.
~Elizabeth Schydlower (El Paso, Texas)
P.S. The second photo is of a mirror frame using the same idea but with different colors (the mirror portion is covered to prevent reflection and
Isn't that neat! I love your ink color choices on the raku technique Elizabeth! So colorful and playful. And what a pretty way to do the frame. I bet people look at it and wonder how you did that.
This is an excellent way to put your own spin on the technique. Since I focus mainly on beads, I likely would not have discussed the idea of covering a picture or mirror frame. This shows everyone that a technique I use for beads, can be adapted to any project that you are working on. It really does expand your options for creativity.
Thank you for sharing your idea with us! If anyone has any questions for Elizabeth on how she did this polymer clay project, I'm sure she would be happy to answer them.
** If you have been inspired by my teachings and would like to be featured in an upcoming Spotlight Article, then please do write up something creative and email it to me along with a selection of your project pics. Make sure to send me high resolution photos that I'll be able to zoom in on to show the details of your work. If you don't already have my email address, simply leave a comment below and I will get it to you right away.
Filed Under: 05: Techniques, 14: Feature Guests by Comment. 
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Comments on Creative Picture Frames Embellished with Polymer Clay Faux Raku
5:16 am
I may just have to try that! The frame looks great! Nice Job!
5:42 am
Hi Elizabeth S
just love what you have done with the Raku tut
Have yet to try that one, and have just purchased the inks to get going on it.
Keep up your lovely work.
we have a great teacher in Cindy and for what we pay we get heaps of value, I'm sure everyone agrees.
Bye
love
Elizabeth K.
6:59 am
Fantastic, I love how creative everyone is! And Cindy must be so proud of her students taking her ideas a step further as well. :)
7:10 am
How fabulous! Seriously very cool!
8:06 am
Messin = straightening out a circular item = Elizabeth's beautiful frame work in gorgeour colors. Way to go, Elizabeth. Would love to have a little more detail in the process that brought you such success. In particular how thick do you make your tiles and how do you cure them? Continued success…
9:41 am
That's fabulous Elizabeth. Looks really cool! Did you bake the tiles and then glue them onto the pic frame?
11:30 am
Thank you everyone for the kind words. Joyce and cheryl, thanks for you interest and to answer your questions:
Joyce, the tiles are cut (square cutters but any shape could be used I think) from the faux raku sheets. I wanted them to be rather substantial so I started my sheet on the thickest setting but after the "rakuing" process, ended up with about a #5 thickness. I think slightly thinner tiles would have worked just fine, though. I cured them in batches by placing several tiles face down on a piece of parchment paper and then baked them between a tile "sandwich" so they would stay flat. I left them in the "sandwich" until they were completely cool.
Cheryl, I baked and finished the tiles before applying them to the frame with my hot glue gun. So far so good-none have come off, yet.
Cindy, thank you so much for the opportunity to share my variation on the them of faux raku.
2:49 pm
Thanks Elizabeth, that's most helpful.
6:01 pm
Elizabeth:
These are very beautiful. It is fun to see the technique used for additional things along with the beads. What a great idea!!
8:05 pm
I love this! I think the tiles are a very neat way to cover a frame. Plus, I wonder if you used a glue like E6000 to glue your tiles rather than hot glue? This way you won't have to worry about them coming off. It would be more permanent. I did cover a wooden frame with polymer clay and used Liquid Sculpey as the "glue" and it worked great. I'm not sure how it would work on a less porous materials though. I have a mirror I would like to make a frame with clay tiles and I think you just gave me a great idea!
Catalina,
Allen Park, MI
6:09 am
Just beautiful Elizabeth! Way to take a technique and run with it..!
~Lisa
Midland, Michigan
7:21 pm
Thanks again, everyone. catalina, great gluing suggestions-I'll try both the next time I do this kind of project. You're right-I need to think of something more durable than hot glue.
6:24 pm
Holy cow, sorry guys for not responding a little quicker! It's sure been getting busy 'round here!
I love it that you guys are taking my ideas and making them your own! That really is my whole point when I'm teaching you. I'm trying to create a bunch of artists, not clones!
As far as a glue besides hot glue, Weldbond is an excellent choice here. It is strong, doesn't smell and it;'s not too expensive. Walmart even carries it now, though I would buy it in the Glue and Adhesives aisle instead of the craft section because a bigger bottle is cheaper over there. Click the link by my name for more info.
3:44 pm
I'm planning to partially cover a mirror to make a boarder out of polymer clay. Can you tell me the best glue to use for this project. I'm planning to bake small pieces and glue them onto the mirror afterwards. I need to know what kind of glue to use that will adhere over time to glass.
Thank you so much for your input.
Marsha
5:42 pm
@Marsha: Hi, as you can see in the comment above, Cindy is a big fan of Weldbond glue. It's a good one for many projects; l've seen comments about it from other "happy Weldbond users." Another glue that would work is E-6000, or you could go with a cyanoacrylate (Superglue) glue. Here is an article about the 4 Most Commonly Used Glues with polymer clay.
It tells about the glues, their uses, & the pluses & minuses of using them. Of the 4 in the post, #'s 2, 3, & 4 would work for your project. It's just a matter of what you want to deal with (a longer cure time, a strong smell, etc.) But all 3 will give you a strong, lasting bond. Don't forget to read the comments below the article, as there is additional information there (along with some other glues to try.) Here is another article about Polymer Clay Glues.
The comments section has lots of glue info here, as well. In case you haven't tried it yet, you can find information by using the search box at the top left corner of the page. Type in a keyword like "glue" or "glass" and you'll get lots of articles with info. Good luck with your project!