Entry tags:
Gemma Jewel polymer clay necklace, part two
Way back in Part One I had a go at making a custom enclosure, to house the Gemma Jewel Circuit, from polymer (bake-in-the-oven) clay and a purchased bead forming tray. It worked okay, but there was room for improvement.
Firstly I wanted a deeper, more domed, front to the necklace than the purchased tray provided. Something more like a hemisphere. Actually, maybe exactly a hemisphere. But I couldn't find any forming tools to do this. I wandered into the craft shop and found a bouncy ball with about the right diameter to encase the Gemma Jewel. Then I picked up some air-dry clay, and made my way home.
I am very new to all this, this is just an experimental log, not a how-to.
I took a lump of air-dry clay, smooshed the bouncy ball into it up to its midway, and tried to smooth it all out. Let it dry, take the ball out.
I patched over some of the roughness inside the mould with more clay, and left to dry again.
Then I figured I'd make the other half of the mould too. I used plastic cling film to line the mould, and then used air-dry clay to fill it in.
After it had dried I used more clay to smooth over some of the wrinkles from the plastic cling film, and left to dry some more.
I think I did this so that I could sandwich a layer of polymer clay between the two halves of the mould and get a uniform result. That didn't work out because the two halves are flush and curved. But I could still use both sides the same way as the bead forming tray from before. The lower half of the mould gives me a maximum outer diameter, the upper half gives me a minimum inner diameter.
Some time passes, and I finally get around to trying out the moulds. I'm using just pure translucent Sculpey. I conditioned it by hand, rolled it out to a fair thickness, then shaped into/onto the moulds with my fingers. Baked the whole lot for 15 mins at 130 Celsius. The lower half (on the left) is thicker than the upper half (on the right). You can see the difference in diameters and finishes, the lower half is smoother on the outside, the upper half is smoother on the inside.
And here are the forms in comparison to the previous pieces from the purchased bead forming tray. Much more domed, and with greater clearance. Much closer to what I'm looking for.
But how do they work with the NeoPixels? As the polymer clay is pure translucent it works quite well. A nice soft indistinct glow.
The upper mould form is thinner, so there's a bit more light transmission. But it feels more delicate, and there is more mooning in this piece which is made more obvious by the thinness.
I have plans in motion for the rest, but for now; to be continued.
Firstly I wanted a deeper, more domed, front to the necklace than the purchased tray provided. Something more like a hemisphere. Actually, maybe exactly a hemisphere. But I couldn't find any forming tools to do this. I wandered into the craft shop and found a bouncy ball with about the right diameter to encase the Gemma Jewel. Then I picked up some air-dry clay, and made my way home.
I am very new to all this, this is just an experimental log, not a how-to.
I took a lump of air-dry clay, smooshed the bouncy ball into it up to its midway, and tried to smooth it all out. Let it dry, take the ball out.
Bouncy ball in air-dry clay mould, top view
Photo by ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chebe
Bouncy ball in air-dry clay mould, side view
Photo by chebe
I patched over some of the roughness inside the mould with more clay, and left to dry again.
Lower half of ball mould, side view
Photo by chebe
Then I figured I'd make the other half of the mould too. I used plastic cling film to line the mould, and then used air-dry clay to fill it in.
Two halves of ball mould seated together
Photo by chebe
After it had dried I used more clay to smooth over some of the wrinkles from the plastic cling film, and left to dry some more.
Upper half of ball mould, side view
Photo by chebe
I think I did this so that I could sandwich a layer of polymer clay between the two halves of the mould and get a uniform result. That didn't work out because the two halves are flush and curved. But I could still use both sides the same way as the bead forming tray from before. The lower half of the mould gives me a maximum outer diameter, the upper half gives me a minimum inner diameter.
Two halves of ball mould, separated
Photo by chebe
Some time passes, and I finally get around to trying out the moulds. I'm using just pure translucent Sculpey. I conditioned it by hand, rolled it out to a fair thickness, then shaped into/onto the moulds with my fingers. Baked the whole lot for 15 mins at 130 Celsius. The lower half (on the left) is thicker than the upper half (on the right). You can see the difference in diameters and finishes, the lower half is smoother on the outside, the upper half is smoother on the inside.
Baked polymer clay forms from ball mould halves
Photo by chebe
And here are the forms in comparison to the previous pieces from the purchased bead forming tray. Much more domed, and with greater clearance. Much closer to what I'm looking for.
Baked polymer clay forms in comparison to previous polymer clay forms
Photo by chebe
But how do they work with the NeoPixels? As the polymer clay is pure translucent it works quite well. A nice soft indistinct glow.
Lower mould polymer clay form illuminated with NeoPixel Jewel
Photo by chebe
The upper mould form is thinner, so there's a bit more light transmission. But it feels more delicate, and there is more mooning in this piece which is made more obvious by the thinness.
Upper mould polymer clay form illuminated with NeoPixel Jewel
Photo by chebe
I have plans in motion for the rest, but for now; to be continued.
no subject