Pearlex or Lumiere Mask
Design by Kris Richards
for Jacquard Products

NOTE. Both Lumiere and Pearl Ex are not mandatory for the completion of this mask, but one OR the other (your choice) will be necessary. See instructions below for either product below.:

Materials and Tools:

• Lumiere Metallic OR Pearl paints in assorted colours. Designer suggests: Lumiere Colours: 571, Pearl Turquoise, 573, Pearl Magenta, 561, Metallic Gold, 572, Pearl Emerald Green, and 566, Metallic Copper or Pearl Ex powders in the newest assorted colours
• 36 inches Mizuhiki cord in your choice of coordinating colours
• Super glue
• Full size Paper Mache' mask
• Jones Tones Plexi Glue or Tacky Glue
• 2 blocks any colour Premo! Polymer clay (please use this polymer clay, cannot guarantee good results with any other)
• Assorted unmounted rubber stamps (artist used Stamp Cabana unmounted alphabet letters)
• Pasta machine
• Soft bristle brush
• Polyform Super Slicer Blade for slicing clay
• Needle tool
• Armor-all or spray bottle of water (to release stamp from clay easily)
• Old baking sheet or large sheet of doubled heavy-duty aluminium foil
• Sculpey Glaze, Klear floor polish, or water-based lacquer to finish

Directions:

1. Prepare paper Mache' mask surface for clay veneer by applying a thin even layer of the Plexi or Tacky glue evenly on the entire front. Allow glue to dry.
2. Condition one of the Premo! Blocks of Polymer clay by running it through the Atlas pasta machine on setting one (widest) several times until it is soft, shiny, warm and flexible. Adjust the setting to number 3, and run the clay through. Repeat this process of thinning by adjusting the pasta machine to four, then finally, five. You will have a large sheet of clay the width of the rollers and about as long as the mask when done.
3. Measure two strips of clay for either side of the mask by laying the rubber stamp image face up on the clay, and cut a strip the width of it. Remove the stamp without pressing the image in yet. These two pieces of clay should be a bit longer than the mask itself, so you have extra to trim away.
4. IMPORTANT!!!! Re-adjust the pasta machine to SETTING ONE, or the widest setting. Spritz the relief side of the rubber stamp image with the Armor-All or water.
5. Align the clay strip and the unmounted rubber stamp so that the length of the image runs the length of the clay. Place the rubber stamp FACE DOWN ON THE CLAY, and Run the both the clay and the unmounted rubber stamp strips together through the pasta machine.
6. Remove the rubber stamp from the clay, and begin placing the clay down on the mask at an outside edge (right or left) of the mask. Make sure to stretch the clay slightly as you work it down the mask. This helps to remove any trapped air, and will also make a straighter line while making sure there's enough clay to cover from top to bottom of mask. Air bubbles under the clay surface will cause distortion of the mask when baked if you don't remove the air properly.
7. Continue adding strips of clay next to each other, fitting them as closely as possible together, using the same techniques as above. Don't worry if there are small gaps between the seams, however, you should butt them as closely together as possible.
8. Use the needle tool to impress smooth lines into the clay at the seams, to accommodate the Mizuhiki cord after baking.
9. LUMIERE APPLICATION: note: if using Pearl Ex powders, skip this step. If using Lumiere Paints, bake the mask FACE UP at 265 degrees for 30 minutes on an old cookie sheet. Remove from oven, and allow the mask to cool. Paint the mask surface with several randomly placed colours of Lumiere, using the soft paintbrush. Allow the paint to dry, and then follow from step I I below, to complete mask.
10. PEARL EX APPLICATION: After you are done bonding stamped images to the surface, apply the Pearl Ex randomly on mask using soft brush. In other words, brush the Pearl-Ex powder directly on to the UNBAKED clay. When finished applying the Pearl Ex, bake the mask FACE UP at 265 degrees for 30 minutes on an old cookie sheet, remove from oven, and allow to cool.
11. Cut the Mizuhiki cord to the proper lengths after laying them along the seams to measure. Apply a thin line of super glue in the indentations in the seams using the needle tool as an applicator. The best method is to apply a bit of glue, and press the Mizuhiki down, hold it down for a moment for the glue to set, then repeat all along the seam, until done with each length of cord.
12. Paint the back of the mask using your desired colour of Lumiere to complete the mask!
13. As a distributor for Jacquard Products, Zigzag Polymer Clay Supplies has permission to reproduce these projects for you on our website.
    For further projects visit the Jacquard Products project website at www.jacquardproducts.com
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