Mica Shift Pendants, Earrings or Charms with Polymer Clay

The mica shift is a very simple technique that yields incredible results. It works with polymer clay that has mica in it,  first you align the mica particles in the clay and later disturb them to produce very interesting effects. My favorite effect is the 3D optical illusion that you get when you use a stamp; the clay appears to have depth, while being completely flat. It's a very interesting optical illusion that is fun both make and watch, and I'll show you how to do it.

I'm entering this instructable to the Play with Clay Challenge, so if you like it please don't forget to vote for me! I will really appreciate it.

Step 1: Materials and Tools

Another lovely thing about the mica shift technique is that it requires relatively few materials. Here's what I use:

- Polymer clay with mica in it. My favorite clay for this technique is Premo , it seems to have more mica in it so it produces better results. Premo in metallic colors works best, but anything from their Accents line will work (except, of course, the translucent colors). Premo Gold seems to achieve the best results of them all.

 - A stamp. Any stamp will work, but I prefer to use stamps with relatively thick lines to make it easier to notice the effect and pattern. The deeper the stamp, the better.

- A tissue blade. (Adult supervision is advised).
- A rolling pin or a pasta machine.
- A cutter (optional) . 
- White (scrap) paper or wax paper.
- Corn starch or water in a spritz bottle.
- Wet/dry sandpaper.
- Old denim clothes.

Comments

[CherylDunham]

Thank you for your tutorial, it was great. I tried to vote, but I guess I was too late. You talked about the mica in the clay, can you add your own mica in clay? I have several colors or mica powder, and clay. I might just give it a try. Again you did a wonderful job with this. Thanks

[talty]

Thanks! Yes the voting ended some months ago, still thank you so much for trying to vote for me, I appreciate it!

Yes you can add mica, I've tried it before and it works! If you do, use translucent clay so the mica shows better. The only downside is that you have to use quite a bit of mica, and mica is already expensive :(

[Katzsta]

I think you can use old eye shadows. Most have mica in them, but the shiniest/glitteryest is best, not the matte kind. Everyone (well, mainly females) has old eye shadows they don't use anymore or one or two in a pallette that is just not for them. Crumble it to powder, add it until your clay is the color you want, and condition over and over until it's fully blended. Much cheaper than buying mica powders. This is a great tutorial on how to do the mica shift.

[talty]

That would probably work, good idea! But you'll need a really good quality eyeshadow, because cheap eyeshadows have little to no mica to cut costs :( Still, good tip, thanks for sharing!

[Thoth]

By tissue blade you mean a microtome blade?

[talty]

Yes, and no. Tissue blades is the name of the product made for polymer clay, and they are based on microtome blades used in biological sciences, I'm not sure how different they are because I've never tried using a microtome blade. For most crafters access to microtome blades is impossible, while tissue blades are readily available, so I prefer to refer to them when I'm talking about clay.

[bluemoon6]

have been wanting to try this---your instructions were great--thanks for sharing

[talty]

You're welcome, thanks for your nice words :)

[mstyle183]

good luck.. looks great

[talty]

Thank you and thank you!!!

[sunshiine]

Very pretty! Thanks for posting this. I think I am going to try making some clay stuff. It looks like fun.

[talty]

Thank you! It's a lot of fun, I hope you'll have fun trying it :D please let me know if you need help with something!

[sunshiine]

Voted!

[talty]

Thank you! I'm sure it will help me a lot!

[sunshiine]

I will! I probably won't do it until this winter. I have a lot of things coming up but in the winter I get a little bored. We have a lot of outdoor stuff going on. Anyway I will take you up on that offer! Thanks so much!

[talty]

It's actually a good idea to start until winter, when it's hot the clay can get too soft to handle. It's easier to work when it's cold, and you also get a bit less distracted xD

You are welcome!

[scoochmaroo]

Beautiful!

[talty]

Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked it :D