Hug Your Cat Day with Blank Page Muse

Hello!  Susie on the blog today with more Weird & Wonderful!  Today we are celebrating Hug Your Cat Day!

As a brand new, first time cat owner I do not need a special day to hug my cat because as all cat owners know, I hug him whenever he wants and/or allows me to hug him!  Seeing Hug Your Cat Day on the Fun Holiday Calendar (June 4th), however, did remind me of a super cute stamp I bought from Blank Page Muse and a technique I wanted to try with it using Sculpey clay.  It is called the Sutton Slice and before I began, I conditioned my clay with a pasta machine.

Time to play...

Supplies:
The Femmes Woman Snuggling a Cat Art Rubber Stamp , unmounted
Pasta machine for conditioning clay
Sculpey clay
Blade for slicing clay
Acrylic stamping block, large
Oven
Beacon Adhesives Fabri-Tac
Adjustable cat collar

Directions:

• Choose colors and condition clay.

• Stamp image on paper to use as reference.  Color if desired.
• Start with one color and embed a small amount of the conditioned clay into the stamp, pressing firmly with your fingers.

• Use a blade to shave off any clay that sticks up above the rubber.  It is important for this technique to not have any clay left on the surface of the stamp.

• If clay becomes embedded in the wrong areas, use a piece of scrap clay to remove it from the stamp.

• Continue adding small amounts of clay until the area has been filled and sliced.
• Repeat with additional colors of clay.

• As you work, small amounts of clay may stick to the blade and be removed during the slicing process. (Clean blade frequently to remove bits of clay sticking to it.) Patch these recesses until all areas are filled.
• When you are finished, re-shave the entire surface of the rubber stamp to remove any visible clay from the surface of the stamp.
• Roll out a piece of conditioned clay that is large enough to cover the filled area.
• Place the sheet down over the stamp and tamp down very firmly with your fingers.

• Flip the stamp and clay over onto an acrylic stamp block.
• Bend the stamp backwards, nearly folding it in half, and slowly roll it off  of the clay.  (This is much easier if you use an unmounted stamp.) As you do this, watch carefully to see if any of the clay is stuck in the stamp. If so, simply roll the stamp back onto the clay and press the area firmly with your fingers to fuse the clay to the background. Repeat this as often as needed to be sure the clay from the recessed areas of the stamp is adhered to the background clay.
• Continue until the entire image has been released.

• Lightly pat down the raised clay to ensure it is adhered to the background clay.
• Trim design as desired.
• Carefully slide the blade under the clay to release it from the acrylic block.
• Bake according to the manufacturer's directions.

• Attach buckle to the back of the finished piece.

I added the buckle (it is actually an adjustable cat collar I picked up at the dollar store *giggle*) to the back of this piece so that I could use it on a little mini-album I created to hold all the cute kitty pictures I find myself taking! 

This technique takes a little practice and some patience.  I think this is my third attempt at a Sutton Slice and I absolutely love the way it turned out!  If you would like to try it I suggest you start with a small and simple design first.  I covered the basics today, but there are a bunch of great videos out there with great tips.

This technique makes me look at my stamp collection in a completely different way and I am already looking for my next Sutton Slice project!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you find some time to play today!
Susie

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