Using Styrofoam To Texture Metal Clay (4PAM_7)

[Wanaree Tanner]

I usually sit down once or twice a year, draw up a bunch of designs, then make photopolymer or rubber texture plates. All in all it's a pretty laborious, time consuming process, and I end up trying to plan out a whole year's worth of work all at once. Now, with this Styrofoam texture medium I can now go from drawing to texture plate in no time. The rings above were all created using this medium!

A few months ago a came across Alisa Burke's blog posting about using Scratch-Foam® for printing on fabrics. "What is this Scratch-Foam® you speak of?" you may ask... although you probably sound a little less like a character out of a Jane Austen novel... It's basically glorified styrofoam, that same stuff they send your leftovers home in when you eat out. If you're anything like me, there aren't any leftovers so I had to order the actual product. I did find the density of Scratch Foam® a little better then the styrofoam plate I tried this process with.

What's so great about it? Well, you can literally sit down with nothing more than a ball point pen and start creating texture plates. The possibilities of using this in a class setting in particular are really exciting, and imagine what you could do with enamelling! As always I have more ideas then time, so I introduce this  hoping to see lots of new uses implemented.

If you're interested in more about this medium, I will be demonstrating how to make this book locket cover design in my upcoming CRAFTCAST™ class and introduce how to vary the texture depth. If you make it to my workshop at Mid Cornwall School of Jewellery you'll learn the full arsenal of techniques and be guided in the process of creating your own styrofoam texture plates. Until then here's a simple pair of earrings you can make using just a ball point pen and Scratch Foam®!

Click here for the full PDF download

[Regina Rose Malone]

This could also work well for non-PMC people for etching. Ink the surface and transfer to metal to be etched. I'm sure with just some slight touch up it will transfer nicely.