Framed Clay Tile

An Advanced Craft Project

Clay Tile Pattern

This free craft pattern is for the more advanced artful crafter who has some familiarity working with any of the home

I am not really presenting this as a craft pattern for you to copy, but rather as an example to explain the process and inspire you to come up with your own original clay tile ideas.

Although this craft project could be made with any of the home cured clay recipes I have written about, my first choice would be Sculpey . Shrinkage is minimal (less than 2%), so you don’t have to worry about the design being substantially smaller when cured.

The overall size of this craft project is 10 ½" wide x 11 ½" high (26.4cm x 29cm). The frame is 2" (5 cm) deep. The actual clay tile is 3 ½" wide x 4 ½" high (8.8cm x 11.3cm). For your own project, pick whatever size suits you.

As you can see from the close-up of the design of the clay tile, it is three dimensional with a lot of fine detail work. For example, you will need to use fine picks to create the texture of the door and the window box.

Similarly you will need a sharp craft knife for some of the cutouts, since the overall size of the clay tile is so small.

Also you need a firm rectangular piece to form a base. Chipboard, a thin ceramic tile or a thin piece of wood would do fine. A dedicated pasta machine is very useful to condition the clay and to roll out the thin sheets that this piece requires.

The flowers under the window and on the staircase were painted with thick high relief oil paint. The staircase and the window box are additional components molded onto the flat portion of the design to create even more dimensionality.

Just about anything could be the subject matter for the clay tile, although the doorway pictured here is simpler to assemble than many other designs would be, such as a flower arrangement.

The frame overwhelms the clay tile, but it all seems to tie together. The wooden frame is rustic (stained but not sanded or varnished) and should not be too expensive to buy if you don’t have your own woodworking tools.

This is certainly not an easy craft project and will require some time for the fine finish work. If you plan on making framed clay tiles like this for sale, do your market research to make sure you could charge enough to make it profitable.

How to Make the Clay Tile

Using the picture, here are step-by-step instructions that you will alter to suit your own design.

• 1. Draw or trace your design onto the base.
• 2. Roll out a ¾ inch thick sheet to form the wall; cut to size; trace and cut out the door, transom and window; set wall aside.
• 3. Roll out a ¼ inch thick sheet to form the door and window insert; cut and texturize the door, transom and window pieces (note that the door has three layers: framing boards atop a base; topped by a doorknob); place them in position on the base. Form the window box from the same piece and set aside.
• 4. Apply the wall to the base around the door, transom and window; notice that the door and window recede because they are thinner than the wall piece.
• 5. Roll a ¾ inch thick piece to form the staircase and a thinner piece for the stair treads; assemble and apply them to the wall.
• 6. Texturize the wall and steps.
• 7. Roll a small thin piece and cut out the bricks to frame the door and boards to frame the window; apply and texturize them.
• 8. Place the window box below the window.
• 9. Cure your plaque.
• 10. Add whatever shading you desire using thin acrylic paint; or for a very subtle finish that gives the look and feel of porcelain bisque, use High Desert Polyglaze.
• 11. Using high relief oil paint, dab, dab, dab the flowers; when dry shade them with acrylics or Polyglaze as desired.
• 12. When the entire piece has dried completely, mount in your frame.

High Desert Polyglaze is a transparent, permanent matte finish that adds subtle color to enhance the impressions in the clay. Although this paint can be used on any surface, it is intended for a very specific purpose: to put a matte "glaze" finish on textured non-porous surfaces, turning the look of "plastic" into the look of natural clay or bisque porcelain. It is most effective on polymer clay.

High Desert Polyglaze is available in four muted pastels (infinitely mixable). It settles into the debossed areas of a surface for emphasis and "glazes" over the smoother, raised areas.

Be sure to read my other articles about Home Cured Modeling Clays.