Image transfer onto sculpey clay?
Hi,
Hoping someone can offer me some advice. I've read through loads of tutorials online about transferring images to polymer clay and understand the process but somethings not working for me.
I'm using inkjet printer with light t-shirt transfer paper: roll a piece of clay and lay the image face down. Bake it at 100oc for 6 minutes, take it out and take off baking paper - this works well enough. However , i then need to place the piece back in the oven to complete the baking of the clay but it results in the image blebbing.
I do need to bake it again as the clay is still too soft - has anyone got any advice on how to stop the blebbing when it goes back into the oven?
Many thanks
Lisa
Comments
Use decal paper, you can buy it on amazon.
you put transfer on already onto baked clay, then seal it on low heat for 15 mins in the oven.
Not sure what "blebbing" is. I just looked it up and comes from the world of glassmaking or biology where it means "marred by small bubbles or small particles of foreign material, or just a small bubble."
Which are you getting?
There are loads of ways to do transfers onto polymer clay though, using all kinds of materials and techniques, and getting various kinds of results.
Using t-shirt transfer paper with an ink jet printer, then heating the clay on the transfer, is one way but there are many others. That uses a "direct" transfer method with heat only, rather than using a direct, or indirect or "decal," method along with liquid polymer clay. You might like the effects using liquid polymer clay as a helper or to create a decal better?
And btw, 100 C is a lower temp than is usually used for doing transfers this way. Generally the same temp recommended for baking the clay (265-275 F or 130 C) is used for transferring, and for maybe 10 minutes or longer, so you may be underheating too.
You can read more than you'd probably ever want to know about ways to transfer images to polymer clay on the Transfers page at my site (some of the latest info won't be there since I no longer maintain the site, but most of it is still good):
http://glassattic.com/polymer/transfers/htm
For the t-shirt transfer methods, click on the subcategory *T-Shirt Transfer Papers* (under Transfer Papers)
I'm wondering about the clay "still being too soft after you've baked it" though too. Most people expect polymer clay to harden as rigid and hard as ceramic clays are, and that's just not true--especially when the clay is thin and can be all the way to flexible if thin enough. (If you use one of the 3 main Sculpeys though, the baked clay will be a bit harder but won't be flexible or unfortunately strong if it's thin.)
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=201112... (my answer)
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How about just baking the piece all the way through with the paper still on it, instead of removing it partway through? Or maybe once you remove the paper you need to cover the image with a piece of plain white paper or some other protective covering to prevent the transfer from becoming damaged by the direct heat, which is what it sounds like is happening.