Rubber Stamping on Polymer: 3-D Effects

 Vote in "layers" challenge by April 7 and you could win. 

I have a huge collection of rubber stamps and when I discovered I could use them on polymer clay I was one happy girl. I stamp on raw clay and baked clay. Sometimes I cut out the stamped images like in the fleur-de-lis wedding cake topper I made for my friend Caroline. Sometimes I stamp over two background clay colors for a cool effect like in this heart pendant.

In my latest stamped piece, I added 3-d effects to the basic stamped image. "Pear in Layers" is my entry in the April Polymer Clay Guild of Etsy Challenge: Layers. (Vote for your favorite entry here through April 7 and you could win a shopping trip in one of our fab shops).

Here's how to get the 3-d leaf effect:
1. Stamp you image onto raw clay using a permanent ink or a dye ink. (some inks won't dry on polymer even after baking so test you ink first.) After you stamp it, trim the white sheet and gently layer it onto your backing layers. Add color to the image with mica powders.

 2. Stamp the same image onto green clay and cut out individual leaves with a craft knife.

3. Place leaf shapes on top of the original stamp.

 4. Shape each leaf so it is no longer flat. You can also add snakes of clay to give depth to the stems. You can leave the background flat or add a hammered metal texture with a large round tipped tool like I did in my challenge entry.