Beaded Frog Vase

Anita Sterling-Winthrop, of Yuba City, Calif., knew from the early age of five, that she wanted to be an artist. She studied painting in college and discovered polymer clay as a means of cutting gift-giving expenses for her and her artist husband after graduating from college. After having two daughters, she used her skills to make clay art animal earrings, necklaces and hairclips for them. But now she's found a way to incorporate her painting techniques in creating this amazing polymer clay vase.

Materials:

1 glass vase
polymer clay:
- 2-3 blocks of transparent color and a small pinch of green
- 1-2 blocks of white clay
- 2 blocks of yellow clay
- 1 block each of red, green, purple and black clay
TLC (transparent liquid clay)
artwork* that has been photocopied to color transfer paper
thin clay or tissue slicing blades
pasta roller
burnisher (bone or wood ceramic tool)
180-1000-girt wet-dry sandpaper
bowl of water
X-acto blade, scalpel, thin clay-slicing blade
waxed sandwich paper
cornstarch
toothpicks
different size needles
rubbing alcohol
latex gloves
26-gauge craft wire
beads of various colors and sizes
work surface like smooth marble tile or glass
crafters glue or cyanoacrylate glue**
*Have several images on hand as the transfers may be less than perfect.
**A heat-resistant glue.

1. Condition 1/4 of the white clay and run it through the pasta machine on a medium-thin setting. Do the same for the black clay. Layer the two colors together and place on waxed sandwich paper that has been sprinkled with cornstarch. Rub a small amount of TLC on the surface of the white side; just enough to make it tacky. Place the image (figure A) onto the white side of the clay and burnish with a flat burnishing tool (figure B). Let clay sit for at least an hour.

2. Rub the back of the transfer with rubbing alcohol and burnish again. Let sit 10 minutes. Rub the back of the transfer with water to release the transfer. Slowly peel the back off making sure the transfer remains on the clay (figure C). If it isn't totally releasing, lay the paper backing down again and burnish until it releases. After the transfer is complete let it sit for another hour to dry.

• On the thickest pasta setting make a long rectangle of each clay color.
• Cut and stack the clay to double the thickness.
• Cut off the ragged edges.
• Form each into same size square or rectangle.
• Cut each rectangle diagonally in half from point to point making two triangles of each color.
• Switch the colors so you have two rectangles with two different colors.
• Run through the pasta maker on the thickest setting (figure E) and fold over horizontally to create a long skinny shape.
• Run through the pasta machine again until the colors have blended to create a smooth yellow to red blended transition.