I watched the video for the Gerbera cane again this morning, and I didn’t do it like you did – but I really like the result. I’d watched all 3 videos several days before trying it out. I made the initial plug and shaped it like a petal (instead of slicing up the original plug), then stretched it out, cut it and staggered those already in the petal shape – then added that around the middle cane.

I always look forward to your videos!

I was unclear about where I would place the non-stick deli sheet in the mix. I agree that you want the base level of clay to stick cleanly when impressing a leaf or other finely detailed flat object. Meant to use the deli paper on top of the leaf before the top tile, so the clay won’t stick to the top tile and ruin the leaf impression.

Tried that too with some maple leaves I went and plucked off the trees very late at night (neighbors are used to me, lol), and the impressions were excellent.

Another stamper friend of mine lost patience with me and encouraged me to work on a lower work surface than the standard table height. Found this tip was valuable too, though it’s kind of tough to come up with a table the right height. Ended up using a parson’s end table elevating the surface with a couple of big fat books, and that improved my results as well.

Jocelyn – when I use this method, I actually want the clay to stick to the lower tile. Generally I’m either working on either a mica shift or mokume gane. On both, you slice off the raised pieces on the top so you actually WANT it to be stuck down! I even put a piece of non-slip mat under the tile when I get ready to cut. I like using the smaller tile instead of the large one I use for my work surface so that I can easily turn it and trim from every direction.

I did think about something along the line of a flower press but before I went out and got one or made one, I saw the “step on it” method. It works beautifully for the – as you put it – “impression challenged” (love that! – I’m right there with you!) And a lot less hassle!

Another person asked in an earlier post how they could get a good leaf impression. I’ll bet using your technique, that would be as easy as pie.

Maybe I’d add a sheet of that deli wrap paper between the leaf/clay and the tile though, just so things didn’t stick. Cannot wait to try this!

For the even more impression challenged (me, I can never get those stamps imbedded evenly), maybe I’d haul out the flower press and try putting the tile/clay/tile in that and apply pressure by turning the wing nuts.

The number of times you have to turn the wing nuts to get a good impression might really help get consistant designs when you have a bunch of them to do.

@Silverleaf: You are getting pretty clever! :-)

@Jamie: Thank you so much! I appreciate your support, more than you know! Don’t worry, we won’t ever stop making tutorials and recipes. The ideas are endless!

@Nancy: This is weird, I could have sworn I already answered your question, but I see I have slipped into the Twilight Zone… LOL! Anyway, you do need to press your stamp in deeper if you don’t want to slice too deep. Also you could try firming up the clay a bit in the fridge, try to keep your blade flat and saw back and forth when you cut. These little tricks, plus practice will help.

@Arlene: That is drastic! lol How hard is your clay? I have never had to press that hard. You do have to be careful when pressing that hard that you don’t push your stamp through to the back of your stack, otherwise you will get holes in it. But if it works for you, that’s fine. :-)