Arts Publications

Valley of the dolls: clay dolls come to life

Expression, March-April, 2005 by Judy Ross

Tired of not only conditioning and kneading, but baking your polymer-clay projects too? What if there's not a baking bone in your body? What's a girl to do? Lumina clay, an air-dry clay, is your answer. Not only is it waterproof, but it will also dry like baked polymer clays.

One of the most fascinating things about Lumina clay is that you not only can sculpt with it, but you can make molds with it too. Simply take the object you want to make a mold of and lubricate with a mold release. Press Lumina into object and let air dry. Depending on the thickness of the clay, it should dry in 24 hours or less. Remove the clay and voila--you now have a mold. Be sure to lubricate this mold with a release agent every time you use it. I like to use Armor All, but beware that Armor All can be death to your rubber stamps! A good alternative would be to use embossing ink as a release agent with your rubber stamps.

So turn off the oven, wipe the sweat from your brow and sit back, relax and enjoy the simplicity of air-dry clay.

INSTRUCTIONS

Timeless Doll For the body, I used a pattern I created myself and increased or decreased the size to fit doll size. Take your pattern and trace onto foam board. Cut with a craft knife. Roll Lumina Clay out about 1/16-inch thickness and tightly cover the foam board with the Lumina. Take a ColorBox Stylus Molding Mat or an unmounted stamp and roll on top of the body. Don't strive for perfection. Remember most of the body will be covered up with the clothing you design. Keep the clay tight around the body. Continue rolling out clay to 1/16-inch thickness, using various stamps and Molding Mats to texture the clothing. Place onto doll form, draping and shaping. If your clay has dried too much for a good bonding, attach pieces with tacky glue. This ensures good bonding. You can get some interesting edges with your clay by using decorative scissors. Let air dry for 24 hours.

Now comes the fun part--painting your doll. I painted my doll with Luminarte's Twinkling H20's and Primary Elements. Highlight the high spots with various metallic paints and powdered pigments. I like to finish off the back by tearing tissue paper and using Mod-Podge to apply. Add clock faces and various embellishments.

The Games People Play Doll This doll was made the same way as the Timeless Doll but with the addition of Stamp Camp (bingo card) and Limited Edition (domino) stamps. Add embellishments and fibers to finish her.

RELATED ARTICLE: Touch Of Color

In a world where everything is so black and white, why not add a splash of color? Since Lumina clay only comes in a creamy white color, you can add a little color to it with various kinds of paint. You can use acrylic paints, metallic paints, Primary Elements, Twinkling H20's, metallic rub-ons, etc. Experimentation and creativity is the name of the game. I like to let the clay air dry and then put on topical applications of paints, starting with my darkest colors and then using lighter colors on the high spots.

Lumina clay was named so because of the translucency of it when it dries. If you want to capture this quality, you can color the clay with just a small drop of oil paint. Knead the color into the clay and then sculpt it or stamp into it. You must use a mold release on your rubber stamps. But again, beware that Armor All can be death to your rubber stamps!

So go ahead, break free from the gray matter and add a dash of color.