How to use letter stencils with Sculpey clay...?

Question

I have small metal letter stencils and a brick of Sculpey oven-bake clay...I'm trying to make words, but when I press the stencil in & pull it out, I can't get the clay out of the stencil without pressing it out & leaving marks in it...

How can I use these metal stencils without messing up the clay once it's in there? (How can I get the clay out of the stencil?)

Answer 1

Try spraying with Pam so maybe it won't stick. Also you could go to Michael's and they have letter press in the Mosaic secton so that might work better or check out the Wilton cake decorating section they have letter presses also. Good Luck ;)))

Answer 2

First, I'm not sure exactly how you're trying to use the brass stencils with the clay, or exactly what you're trying to end up with.  

As for making lettering with or on polymer clay though, there are *lots* of ways to do that.

Using a brass stencil, for a whole word at one time --or for individual letters-- would be one way.  (There would be many different ways of using stencils to create lettering though too, leading to various looks.)



If what you're trying to do is to use one stencil (which has one word on it already) to press down on a sheet of clay, then peel off the stencil without having to press on the clay that gets pushed up through the stencil openings, here are several things you could try:

...put the clay onto a surface that you can bake on (a ceramic tile, sheet of glass, or a glass or smooth-metal pan, for example) then roll over it or press it down to adhere it fairly firmly to the slick surface (so it won't move while using or while removing the stencil)

...use a "release":  spray a bit of water onto the clay and/or the stencil before pressing the stencil on the clay if you're using Sculpey, Premo, or KatoPolyclay brands... for Fimo, Cernit, or actually any brand, you can instead use cornstarch on the clay (applied with a soft fluffy brush) instead of the water

...slowly begin to pull the brass stencil off from two of its sides or corners

...use a brand of clay that's stiffer when it's raw (see the P.S. below).... and/or allow the clay sheet to cool and stiffen up before removing the stencil or even before using the stencil, by leaving it alone overnight, or by putting it in the frig or freezer for awhile

You can check out all kinds of ways to use stencils with  with polymer clay is on this page at my polymer clay "encyclopedia" site:

http://glassattic.com/polymer/cutters-bl...

(...click on the category STENCILS + TEMPLATES)

And you can also check out ways to do lettering in all kinds of ways  on (or even "in") polymer clay on this page:

http://glassattic.com/polymer/letters_in...

(...look at all the info under the main category LETTERING)

HTH,

Diane B.

P.S.  If you're using the "Sculpey" brand of polymer clay in a "brick," you're probably using (boxed) Sculpey or (boxed) SuperSculpey --Sculpey III comes in small bars, and SuperSculpey-Firm comes in large plastic bags.

...Just be aware that all those lines of polymer clay in the Sculpey/Polyform brand are very weak and brittle after baking anywhere they're thin or projecting, so can easily break (except for the SuperSculpey--Firm, which is gray).

Most of those are also softer than many polymer clays, which means they can be too goopy to do some things well and get detail.  

If you want to use a firmer raw clay, and one that's stronger after baking as well, try Kato Polyclay, Premo**, FimoClassic (and FimoSoft to some extent), or Cernit --or SuperSculpey-Firm.

**Premo is currently undergoing a formula change --it's going from a recent formula change that wasn't so good back to formula that's very good, so not sure which you'd find on the shelves just now where you shop.

.