Stamped & Carved Clay Box

Steps:

1. Paint wooden ball, washer, papier mache box, and lid with black paint, inside and out, with at least two coats of paint; allow to dry.

2. When the black paint is dry, paint the box with tan paint, allowing some of the black to show through.

3. Condition each brick of polymer clay and roll into a snake. Twist the snakes together and squish; then roll into a new snake. Twist this snake and fold in half; squish and roll into new snake. Continue the twist, fold, and squish technique until the clay colors partially blend into a faux ivory look. When done, roll into a ball.

4. Roll ball into a sheet of clay using a rolling pin and/or pasta machine. Sheet of clay should be slightly larger than the box lid and at least 1/8-inch thick. The thickest setting of the pasta machine should be sufficient.

5. Trace box lid onto sheet of clay with an awl and cut the clay with blade.

6. Ink rubber stamp with black ink and place stamp rubber side up on work surface. Place clay sheet over rubber stamp and gently press on clay over the entire surface so that a good stamp image is transferred onto the clay. Do not press hard, just firmly.

7. Use the bookmaker's awl and the dry embossing tools to "carve" the stamped image into the clay. In the image we used (that has both straight thin lines and dark shaded areas), the thin lines were carved using the bookmaker's awl by dragging the point along the stamped lines, gently pushing into the clay. The shaded areas were carved using the dry embossing tool by pushing the stamped image down into the clay to create a depression, being careful not to disrupt the "non-stamped" areas of the image.

8. After all carving is done, "age" it by taking the bookmaker's awl and scratching the clay in long strokes across the image. Other age marks were made with the tips of closed scissors by stabbing the clay gently along edge of stamped image in a random manner. If the original stamped image did not transfer completely, this is a good method of covering up.

9. Compare the carved clay sheet size to the box cover, as the clay will spread out depending on how much carving was done. The clay sheet should be trimmed again to match the size of the box cover. After trimming, address the edges of the clay by pressing the edge of the bookmaker's awl against the edge to create small line impressions all along the four edges of the clay sheet.

10. Use a pencil to poke a hole in the center of the clay sheet. This hole will be used to mount the box handle and screw.

11. Bake clay sheet according to manufacturer's directions. Allow to cool.

12. Further age the baked clay using an old toothbrush to apply the water-soluble oil paint in the cracks and crevices of the piece. Wipe off excess paint with a slightly damp paper towel, being sure to not remove the paint in the carved areas. Be sure to scrub the paint deep into the crevasses on the image and along the sides of the clay.

13. Place the baked clay piece on the cover and position it as centrally as possible. Mark the hole on the cover with a pencil. Remove the clay piece and use scissors or a larger awl to cut a whole in the cover.

14. Glue clay piece onto the cover using Tacky Glue.

15. Apply glue to the flat bottom of the wooden ball and to the screw. Place the screw through the washer and then through the hole in the box lid (from the inside), and place the wooden ball onto the screw. Hold securely until glue begins to set.

Tip: Both two-dimensional and three-dimensional stamp images work well with this technique. Two-dimensional images can be enhanced with extra carvings beyond the stamp image itself (lines, dots, scratches, patterns of dots). Three-dimensional images work very well by just enhancing the shadows already incorporated in the stamp image.