Faux Turquoise Rock
Published October 14, 2006
Use polymer clay, paint and embossing powder to simulate a turquoise stone.
Supplies
Pre-baked base piece (it's the yellow shape you see in the picture, I made a pendant)
Turquoise clay (enough to cover your pre-baked base)
Wax paper (use to cover the workspace to help keep clean from paint)
Vinyl gloves (helps keep you hands clean from the paint)
Food processor to chop turquoise clay or a clay knife
Black or Burnt Umber acrylic paint (burnt umber paint gives a dirt like look to the piece)
Black and Gold opaque embossing powder (I'm using Opaque Midnight Black and Gold)
Sanding sponge blocks, 1 coarse and 1 medium/fine
Turquoise clay (enough to cover your pre-baked base)
Wax paper (use to cover the workspace to help keep clean from paint)
Vinyl gloves (helps keep you hands clean from the paint)
Food processor to chop turquoise clay or a clay knife
Black or Burnt Umber acrylic paint (burnt umber paint gives a dirt like look to the piece)
Black and Gold opaque embossing powder (I'm using Opaque Midnight Black and Gold)
Sanding sponge blocks, 1 coarse and 1 medium/fine
Instructions
Step 1
Cut the turquoise clay into large chunks and drop into food processor. Only put as much as the food processor will handle. If you don't have a food processor, then chop it up with a clay knife. Run the food processor or chop with the clay knife until you see the size of rock you want. I like having large and small sizes on my pendant. So I stop and take some larger ones out and put the top back on and run until I see smaller sizes. Don't run the food processor too long. It'll warm the clay too much and turn it into one large lump.
Step 2
Tear off enough wax paper to cover the workspace. Place the chopped turquoise clay on wax paper. Then squeeze out enough acrylic paint to cover the turquoise clay, making sure to cover all turquoise colored clay so all you see is the paint color.
Step 3
When the clay is all covered by the paint and still damp, sprinkle on the black embossing powder (you can also add gold on top of the black embossing powder). If the paint is starting to dry you can mist it with water from a spray bottle. The paint needs to be damp but not too wet so the embossing powder will stick to it.
Step 4
Now pick up some clay that's covered with paint and embossing powder and press it onto the pre-baked piece. You may have to press a little hard to get the covered clay to stay on the pre-baked piece. If you would like, this is the time to sprinkle more gold embossing powder on top. Bake following manufacturers instructions.
Step 5
When the piece has cooled, sand with a coarse sanding sponge block.
Step 6
When you have sanded most of the lumps off, then use the medium/fine sanding block. Sometime this takes too long and I use a belt sander but be very careful. Keep your fingers only on the clay piece.
Variations/Final Thoughts
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About the Author:
I’ve always enjoyed making different craft items. I read all the books and magazines I come across. For the last couple years I would print out and read any article I could find on the internet. Two years ago when I found I could join a guild and learn more about polymer clay I became a member of the AZPCG (Arizona Polymer Clay Guild). Within the first year I became the AZPCG Librarian. Now I have the whole library to help me. I’ve always liked turquoise. When I was a little girl my Grandfather had a mine. Every so often he would take the grandkids out there. I remember seeing turquoise with gold in the rocks. We kids would gather all we could find of the turquoise but it was not for the turquoise it was for the gold. We thought it was real gold. I wish I would have saved some of those rocks, not for the gold in them but for the turquoise. It wasn’t until I was older I found out it was fool’s gold. Because of my love for turquoise I decided to try my luck making faux turquoise. Come see our web site at http://www.azpcg.org/. My friend Kathy Wheeler and I are still working on it What's up?
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