Adding foil elements to your polymer clay project adds beautiful metallic qualities to jewelry, beads and other projects. Using foil in your project creates eye-catching detail that can mimic precious stones, such as turquoise and agate. You can also use translucent foil to create pearlescent effects with polymer clay.
Instructions
1. Flatten your chosen polymer on a clean, dry surface. A flat surface is the best way to incorporate foil into your design because it distributes the foil over a large area in the polymer. This prevents it from crumpling into a small foil ball, which is difficult to break up and can ruin the look of the piece.
2. Determine how you want to use the foil. There are many types of foil that can be used with polymer clay to create different effects. You can add a piece of transparent foil to the exterior of the polymer clay piece to create a pearlescent effect, or you can use opaque, metallic foil to mimic the appearance of semi-precious stones with metallic flecks.
3. Use transparent or opaque foil by placing a piece "shiny-side-down" on the back of a flattened piece of polymer clay. The non-shiny side is actually a Mylar coating that prevents the delicate foil from tearing. You must remove the Mylar backing no matter which foil technique you plan to use.
4. Stick the polymer to the foil with friction and heat. Use a stiff, flat piece of cardboard or an old credit card. Firmly move the edge of either back and forth over the Mylar side of the foil. Do this for a few minutes and then remove the Mylar from the back of the foil slowly. If it doesn't come off, keep rubbing and try again.
5. Create the translucent foil effect. Cut out the desired shape for your project from the flattened piece of polymer clay with the foil adhered to it. Shape the clay with your hands while keeping the thin sheet of foil on the outside of the clay. Foe example, cut a circle and then form it into a spherical bead. Keep the foil on the outside so that you end up with a translucent foil cover on your bead before you bake it.
6. Make polymer look like semi-precious stones. Take the flattened piece of polymer clay with the opaque foil backing adhered to it. Use a utility knife or a piece of wire to cut the clay and the foil into small cubes. Combine these cubes and work the foil pieces into the polymer clay just as you would mix different colors of clay. Shape the metallic flecked clay into any form, and then bake.
