Chatty Charms

Do you have something to say to the world? Feel the need to express yourself? "Chatty Charms" can help you spread the word, leaving your mouth free for other, more engrossing pursuits, such as eating ice cream, smooching, or playing the harmonica. (These are of course only suggestions. If you'd rather whistle, stick out your tongue, or savor some chocolate instead, I won't tell.)

Ideal for beginners, this project relies upon a couple of very basic but versatile techniques. Stamping and antiquing are useful in a variety of other applications, and this is a fun way to familiarize yourself with them both.

Put your monogram on a pendant— create handy label-style keychains— engrave favorite quotations on fridge magnets! Choose words of inspiration, pile on the sarcasm, or opt for something completely off the wall! It's such a simple yet rewarding technique, you'll find it hard to stop.

• Polymer clay
  • For the step-by-step photos, I used white with a touch of ecru, but you can use any color you like.
• Acrylic paint
  • Select a color that will contrast well with the color of the clay. For example, dark brown or black paint works well against white/cream clay. For dark clay, a white or pastel paint is a better choice.
• Eye pins
• Superglue
• Paper towels or a clean rag
• Water and/or rubbing alcohol
• Baking parchment or unmarked paper
• Inclusions (optional)
  • For example: embossing powder, sand, glitter, spices, dried botanicals
• Sandpaper (optional)

• Work Surface
• Toothbrush (or other texturing tool)
• Stamps (words or individual letters)
• Paintbrush
• Oven (and related)
• Palette (optional)

Condition enough clay to make your charm(s). If you like, you can add inclusions to your clay mixture. (For my example, I used white Premo with just a touch of ecru and a pinch of embossing powder. Depending on how much you texture your charm, inclusions may not be very visible in the end product.)

Shape by hand into a freeform shape, as we did, or roll into a uniform sheet and use a shape cutter. Be sure to make your charm large enough to accommodate the words you plan to stamp.

If you wish, apply texture to the shaped clay. This is a matter of taste. Experiment on scrap clay to see the effects of a variety of texture tools— for example, a toothbrush, a needle tool, or coarse sandpaper. If you’d rather, leave the shape untextured.

(To prevent the clay from being slick and shiny on the back, bake clay on a piece of baking parchment or unmarked paper. It is often easier to work directly on the paper, too, so that you won't have to transfer the piece later on, which can lead to distortion.)

Insert an eye pin into the charm/pendant. (If you’d prefer, you can pierce it to make a bead or top-drilled shape. You can also use a drill bit to pierce the clay after curing.)

I prefer to add the eye pin at this point because it is easier to adjust any distortion and remove fingerprints before stamping.

 

 

 

Stamp with the letter(s) or word(s) of your choice.

A few words about stamps and stamping polymer clay—
There are a variety of options. With the recent popularity of stamping, you have your choice from all sorts of alphabet sets, as well as stamps of words and phrases. Traditional, wood-mounted rubber stamps, unmounted rubber stamps, clear acrylic stamps, metal stamps (typically used for stamping metal, but also useful with clay), address stamp sets—these and other commercially available stamps are excellent choices. You can also make your own word stamps from polymer clay or using tiny (uncooked) alphabet pasta. As a final resort, you can “carve” polymer clay—before curing, with a ball stylus or needle tool, or after curing with linoleum carving tools.

If you plan to sell the work you make using stamps, you need to research the copyright rules of the companies that created those stamps. Each company has its own set of rules as to how its stamps may legally be used. Even with so-called “angel stamp” companies, which allow the sale of some arts and crafts created with their stamps, copyright policies vary. However, if you are using stamps to make items for yourself (or gifts), you needn’t worry about copyright.

Consider using a release agent with your stamp. Though not always necessary, a release agent makes it less likely that the clay will stick to the stamp, aiding in the creation of a clean impression. Water, cornstarch, and baby powder are popular release agents. Applying the release agent is as simple as spritzing the stamp (or clay) with water or dusting it lightly with powder. Whether or not you use a release, always be sure to carefully, gently wash the stamp after use. Doing so will help your stamps last for years to come.

Cure according to the manufacturer’s recommendations.

Allow to cool completely. You can speed the cooling time by dunking the charm(s) in cold water.

 

 

Remove the eye pins and set them aside. (I do this to make it easier to antique the entire charm and to avoid painting the eye pin.) If you find the pin difficult to remove, a pair of jeweler’s needle-nose pliers are helpful.

 

 

Apply acrylic paint to the charm(s).

You can use paint straight from the bottle/tube or squirt it onto a palette— mix different paints to get your ideal color— apply it with a brush or your fingers— paint just the stamped area of the charm or slather it over the whole piece. There’s no right or wrong way, so long as you get paint in all the nooks and crannies of your letters or words. There’s also no right or wrong brand of paint. Feel free to use the cheapest bottles of craft paint, if that’s what you have or can afford. If you have tubes of artist-quality acrylics, they’ll work, too. For a touch of glitz, sometimes it’s fun to use metallic or iridescent paint. They’ll all work.

While it’s ultimately a matter of personal preference, there are some widely accepted guidelines for choosing paint color in antiquing. Most of the time, you’ll want to use paint in a color that contrasts highly with the color of your clay. For example, dark brown or black paint contrasts well with white clay. White or pastel tints of paint are common choices for use on dark clay. High contrast makes your words pop— but don't hesitate to try something unexpected. Bold color choices make a more dramatic statement. If you don't like the results, you can usually remove most of the paint and start over again. (Gently scrub paint from crevices with soapy water and a toothbrush.)

You may wish to apply multiple layers of paint— either layers of the same color or even layers of different colors for a more nuanced effect. Experimentation can produce some very interesting results.

Remove most of the paint from the charm(s).

There are a couple of ways to do this.

One way is to allow the paint to partially dry, then to wipe away the excess with a paper towel or a rag. If the paint is persistent, try dampening the towel with water, or if the paint is particularly stubborn, rubbing alcohol.

Another way is to allow the paint to dry completely. If you like, you can put the piece back into the oven for a few minutes at this point to help harden the paint a bit. (Use a clay-safe temperature setting— 200 degrees is a common choice among polymer clay artists when it comes to "setting" acrylic paint.) Once the paint is completely dry (and the piece is cool, if you put it back in the oven), carefully sand away most of the paint. I generally use 320 to 400 grit we/dry sand paper, but you can also use finer grit. Sand with wet paper, and rinse the piece and sand paper regularly. Remove most of the large areas of paint, first, then go back to get in close around the letters. Work slowly and gently to avoid removing too much paint. If you do go too far, you can always dry the piece and apply another layer of paint. Whichever method you choose, you may wish to heat set the paint once you have it just the way you want it. Again, be sure to use a clay-safe temperature and let the piece cool completely before moving to the next step.

Glue the eye pin(s) back into place using a cyanoacrylate glue (such as a super glue). Because most cyanoacrylate glues are weakened by exposure to high temperatures, save this step until after its final curing/baking.

 

 

There are a few different ways to "finish" your charms. These photos illustrate matte finish, hand-buffed finish, and liquid clay finish.

First, you can leave them exactly as they are after removing the excess paint, for a very matte finish.

For a touch more shine, buff the piece by hand. Simply rub the charm vigorously with a soft rag (denim is a popular choice) until it has a soft sheen.

You may wish to protect your patina of acrylic paint with either a clear acrylic finish (water-based, so there’s no risk of adverse reactions with the clay). This is not strictly necessary. I have had an antiqued polymer clay keychain for at least a couple of years. The unsealed acrylic paint has held up remarkably well. As always, use your own judgment. If you’ll be heartbroken if the patina wears off (or wouldn’t want to be bothered with reapplying it), a protective finish might be in order.

One other possible protective finish is translucent (untinted) liquid clay. Before reattaching the eye pin, paint or daub a thin coat of untinted liquid clay over the entire piece. Recure according to the manufacturer's specifications. (Sometimes a heat or embossing gun is helpful in getting the liquid clay crystal clear. Remember to keep the heat moving and not too close to the clay, or you might burn your charm.) Allow the piece to cool, and then glue in the eye pin.

Remember that your choice to sand or not sand each charm will also greatly affect its final appearance, as will your decision to add background texture or leave the piece smooth.

• Instead of antiquing, consider using a faux ceramic technique. (You can also use an opaque mixture of liquid clay, instead of the semi-translucent mixtures used in our tutorial.)
• Another option is to backfill the stamped letters or words with a very soft (putty consistency) mixture of solid polymer clay with liquid clay (or, possibly, mineral oil).
• Some people use oil paint to antique or patina polymer clay. Some sources report that oil paint doesn't react well with polymer clay— usually that it never dries completely. On the other hand, some respected artists have been using it for years and prefer it to acrylic paint. Oil is messier than acrylic, since it can't be cleaned with just water, but it produces different effects (it permeates the surface of the clay instead of just sitting on top of it), and it has a longer "open" time than acrylic paint (meaning that it doesn't dry as quickly). If in doubt, experiment on a scrap of clay before slathering something unfamiliar on a project you've invested with hours of hard work. It may also be a good idea to heat set oil paint on polymer clay to help it dry properly.
• Of course, you need not limit yourself to only words and initials. You can use all types of stamps (not to mention texture sheets and found items) to texture clay, and antiquing works just as well with the impression of a fern as it does with a word stamp.

Using Stamps and Texture Sheets with Polymer Clay