80x140mm Silk Screen Sheet - Wildflowers

Silk Screens are designed for screen printing onto polymer clay but can also be used on paper, porcelain, wood and more. Screens have a usable area of 80x140mm

How to use your silk screen:

• First, place the silk screen bright shiny side down on your surface.
• Put a line of paint along one edge (a heavy body acrylic such as Jacquard Neopaque, Lumiere, or paints by Liquidex or Ironlak are best).
• Spread the paint across the stencil with an old credit card.
• Remove the stencil by slowly lifting it up on one side.
• Repeat this action in order to print another image quickly, or put the screen in cool water.

Be sure to clean your screen immediately after use in cold water. Do not allow the paint to dry on your screen or it will ruin your silk screen.

Important Tips for Using a Silk Screen:

• Use well conditioned clay. The thickness of the clay is up to the user to decide and depends on the project.
• Lightly adhere your clay to a tile or surface so that it is not going to move around.
• You can polish your clay very lightly with the flat of your hand. This gives a nice sheen to the clay. Not necessary but worth trying!
• Lightly burnish the screen onto the clay with the flat part of your fingers or roller to ensure it has sealed the blank parts of the design onto the clay. This is so the paint does not seep into these areas.
• Put a line of acrylic paint along the top of the screen and drag down lightly with the credit card. Add more paint if necessary. You can wipe the excess off the card back into the paint container (if your paint is in a jar).
• Peel the screen slowly and carefully from the clay. Don’t rip it off or you may leave bits of your screen behind.
• Make sure you have a bowl of slightly warm water to drop your silk screen and credit card into as soon as possible to prevent paint drying onto the screen.
• Lightly rub the screen in the water to remove the paint but don’t try to get every last bit off. Some staining of your screen is OK. You just don’t want the mesh clogged with paint. Give it a rinse under clear running water and leave to dry flat on an absorbent surface like paper towel.
• Leave the design to dry before cutting your clay to the desired shape.
• Bake as per instructions for the clay you are using.
• It is a good idea to seal screen printed clay. Some acrylic paints (like Jacquard Lumiere and Neopaque paints) are heat set and don’t need sealing. Seal with the sealant of your choice that is suitable for use on polymer clay.

Design Ideas for using a Silk Screen:

• Screen print over a skinner blend (graduated blended colours) on polymer clay.
• Enhance the design with very thin pigment pens over the screen printed and baked clay. eg add lines, dots or other marks.
• Use one or more ink colours. Just put different colours in the line across the top of the screen.
• Try a black on white or white on black colour scheme for dramatic results.
• Screen print black paint on white clay and then colour in with alcohol inks or Ink Pens, cut to shape and bake.
• Screen print black on white, cut to shape, bake and then colour with coloured pencils, pigment or alcohol pens.
• Use chalks and pastels or mica powders instead of paint. There is also a special range just for chalks & powders.
• Screen print a design onto clay and when dry, layer a different design over it using a different coloured paint.
• Screen print over foil or leafing.
• Make a number of screen prints using different colour schemes onto clay rolled on a thinner setting and assemble these in a patchwork or stripe design on another layer of clay.