While I really enjoy drawing and painting, sometimes it’s nice to take a break and get into other mediums. Put a Fork in it, is a little series of bookmarks I like to create out of polymer clay. Based on some favorite or classic foods I add these little sculptures to a fork, spoon, or knife, that have been flattened out – making the handle of the utensil a perfect bookmarker!
I’m not 100% sure how I got started with these but they’re a lot of fun to create and tie in my love of food 😉 I use Sculpey products – usually Sculpy III & Premo clays, liquid Sculpy & sculpy glaze. If you haven’t used or heard of Sculpy before definitely check out their site – there’s products for kids, adults, amateurs, professionals and endless ideas of projects!
Here’s a look into how I make my bookmarks…….
I first mix up my colors and prepare my liquid sculpy (which acts as my milk) and start to sculpt!
Ever wonder why I keep all those old paint brushes? Texture. They make the perfect cereal texture 🙂
I use some chalk pastel dust on a soft brush to add a little depth to the Sculpy pieces.
For the cereal I bake the marshmallows and plain pieces slightly and then place them in the liquid sculpy “milk” and bake the whole piece. I have a little craft oven I use (like a toaster oven) but Sculpy can be baked in a regular oven as well.
Pickles & Pancakes in progress!
The snack that smiles back 🙂
I have some polymer clay tools that I use but really a toothpick is one of my favorite tools. Texture & color are really important when making clay food look realistic – they can both take a lot of practice so sometimes it’s fun to get started on something like a piece of cake – which can come in various colors, shapes & textures! Once I’ve baked my pieces I use the glossy Sculpy glaze to cover areas that should be shiny – like the milk, pickles and syrup!
It’s a bit of a mess, but I like to keep my Sculpy clay colors separated in this box from Harbor Freight . It’s perfect size to hold the blocks of clay, and the bins within the box are removable, so I can re-arrange the colors, or pass a color bin, rather than the whole box if I’m teaching a class.
The process of making the food sculptures with polymer clay is not too complicated and if you’re interested in learning more, my favorite book on the subject is The Polymer Clay Cookbook by Jessica & Susan Partain. Even though their directions are for mini pieces of food you can use their methods to apply to larger food sculptures – or any polymer clay sculpture!
Check out the shop section of the site to purchase your own Put a Fork in it bookmark!
