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November 2005 Idea of the Month

Sculpting Foam

This month, I've been playing with our new Sculpting Foam.  Sculpting Foam is white in color and moldable, but lighter in weight and softer than clay.  I like it better than clay because it is still soft and somewhat pliable once dry.  For example, you can easily trim it with scissors once it's dry, and it won't shatter like dried clay.

Sculpting Foam can be rolled out and stamped with either inked or "naked" (ink-free stamps).  A naked stamp will give you just the impression of the image.  If the foam is too sticky when it first comes out of the jar, let it sit a few moments to dry out a bit.  If it is sticking to your stamp, it's still too wet!  I've had good luck gently rolling out the foam and letting that sit before stamping into it.  The foam can also be painted, chalked, or watercolored once it's dry.  Sculpting Foam can be tinted with a drop of two of your favorite re-inker to match your artwork (note: wear rubber gloves as you are kneading in the re-inker, and be prepared to let your colored foam sit out a bit before you try working with it... you've just added moisture to it).   I've used glue dots, Liquid Glass and double-stick tape successfully when mounting the foam to my projects.

Check out these fun ideas:

In the card above, I stamped a leaf into sculpting foam, trimmed closely around it (after it was dry, of course), and used Autumn chalks to add color.

This card features the November 2005 Stamp of the Month, Music of Winter.  I used a snowflake from the set to stamp "naked" into the sculpting foam.  Right after stamping (while the foam was still moist), I sprinkled on a bit of Prisma glitter.  I wish you could see how pretty it sparkles, but the photo doesn't show it well at all.  The snowflake is mounted on a metal circle tag.

Note:  Glitter will stick to the moist foam all on its own... you don't need to use adhesive.  You can't shake off excess glitter from moist foam, so be sure to sprinkle on only the amount you want!  On my first try, I obliterated my stamped image with too much glitter, LOL!  Hold your hand a ways above the work surface, and scatter just a small amount of glitter from your fingers until you get the effect you want.

On this simple card, I inked up a flower stamp and stamped into the foam.  By the way, the green polka dots were made using a pencil eraser!

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