Sculpting Foam in Your Artwork

Sculpting foam is easy to use and makes beautiful, lightweight embellishments for your scrapbook pages and cards.

Preparing:
When you receive your foam it is very wet and sticky. This helps preserve its shelf life so that it doesn't harden during storage. Before you start your creative process you will need to get your foam to the desired texture. Work the foam around in the palm of your hand to remove any air bubbles. Lay it out flat on your covered work area for approx. 5-20 minutes. If the foam becomes too dry you can add small amounts of water to remoisten.

Shaping:
You can roll the foam out flat with a rolling pin, dowel or even the side of a glue stick. Once flat cut into your desired shape using scissors or cookie cutters. (I prefer to use scissors.) You can smooth out any rough edges by rubbing gently or dipping your finger in water and then rubbing. You can also smooth out the edges once the piece is dry and the foam is easier to handle.
You can also create dimensional items by working with the foam like clay. You can roll it into balls, coils and shapes. Try making candy canes, dog bones, butterflies, flowers, bugs.....

Coloring:
You can add color to wet foam by tapping onto a stamp pad and then working the color in by kneading. Keep dabbing onto the stamp pad until you reach the desired color intensity. Please note that the more color you add, the more wet you will make your foam. You may need to let the foam air dry a bit after you add the color to it. You can add color more quickly by using a drop of re-inker.
You can also color your foam once it's dry with a sponge and a stamp pad or chalks.

Stamping:
You can stamp on the wet foam and leave an impression of the image in the foam. After you have let your foam dry a bit, test the consistency by stamping with an uninked stamp or you can use a VersaMark pad. Experiment with the amount of pressure. If your foam sticks to your stamp, try letting it sit out a bit longer or using less pressure. Once the foam no longer sticks and you have found the right amount of pressure, ink your stamp and stamp your image into the wet foam.
You can also stamp your image on dry foam. The colors and images come out beautifully!

Additional Tips:
Place a wet paper towel over your foam to keep it from becoming too dry if you plan to be working with it for a while.
Use Micro-Tip scissors to cut foam while wet or dry.

Adhere your foam pieces to your card or scrapbook page with liquid glass.

Poke holes in foam while wet to create buttons or charms.

Other Ideas

This lightweight foam is perfect for sculpting and stamping and adds a new dimension to your pages. Sculpting foam can be dyed with re-inker, stamped wet or dry, and comes in a re-sealable, air-tight jar.

Tips for using Sculpting Foam
• When using a new container of Sculpting Foam, work foam around in hands to remove air bubbles. If foam is sticky or difficult to work with, spread into a thin layer and allow it to sit exposed to the air 5 to 10 minutes or until desired consistency.

• Sculpting Foam has a soft foam-like feel that is very easy to work with and rolls out nicely using a rolling pin or any long, round object.

• Stamp an un-inked image into your Sculpting Foam - the impressions hold their shape very well. Painting over the stamped image with a waterbrush and re-inker will give it a more dimensional look.

• When stamping with ink on moist Sculpting Foam, use caution as the ink may bleed slightly.

• A stamped image applied to dry Sculpting Foam may require 1-2 minutes to air dry.

• You can dye your Sculpting Foam a different color using re-inker. Once dry, the color may change slightly. (Caution: Only add a couple of drops of re-inker at a time as too much ink will cause the clay to become sticky. Should this happen, allow clay to dry for some time until stickiness disappears and desired consistency is achieved. Playing with the clay during this time or spreading clay to a thin layer will help speed up the drying process.)

• Sculpting Foam may change shape slightly as it dries.

• Cutting Sculpting Foam with scissors is not recommended if clay is extremely moist. Once clay is worked and becomes drier, scissors or a cutting knife can be used.

• Heat embossing will not speed up the drying process. Sculpting Foam will bubble similar to Liquid Appliqué.

• You can apply Liquid Glass to the surface of a dried Sculpting Foam element to give it a “glass” effect

• Drying time varies depending on the thickness and moisture of Sculpting Foam and the climate.

• Should Sculpting Foam become too dry but is still pliable, try rewetting it with a small amount of water or re-inker.

• I made "gumballs" with it and put them into the Little Treasures jar.

• Impress a stamped image into wet foam

• Press it into molds

• I used it to embellish the front of one of my albums. I rolled it out onto a page protector, let dry slightly and stamped my album's name into it. I let it dry a bit so the the "sticky of the foam does not "pull" the stamps off my block. I attached it onto my album originally with glue dots though it kept falling off (they do not want to stick to the foam) and reattached it with the liquid glass - it isn't going anywhere!!!

• Make your own pack of “smarties” candy to go on your page. Cute!
Here is some artwork ideas from other CTMH consultants:

1. From molds:

2. From B1082 Spring Leaves set - stamped and trimmed from Consultant Linda Harris:

3. From Best Ways Set:

4. Note the dragon fly:

5. Idea from p. 37 of an older Summer Idea Book:

6. Buttons from Consultant Terri Frateschi - Great Idea Terri!

7.  How about this for a Halloween Fright!

8.  Be sure to check out the wonderful tips and information on Jeanette Lynton's Blog:  http://www.jeanettelynton.com/2009/03/sweetest-birthday-treat-ever.html and http://www.jeanettelynton.com/2009/03/discover-sculptor-in-you.html

Well, I hope this jump starts you on using your sculpting foam, air dry clay or whatever your flavor is.  This is such a fun material to work with.  I hope you show me some of your work!