Thursday, February 15, 2007

It's been a while...

I've been busy lately. The time I might ordinarily have spent doing clay stuff or possibly posting here, I've been spending getting my Etsy shop updated with new listings, making a new tutorial or two, and doing other such things.

Speaking of the new tutorials-- one of them isn't on-line, yet-- still needs the PDF file-- but the other is up at www.polymerclayweb.com. It's a tutorial for the "Crackled Inlay" technique I've been using: http://www.polymerclayweb.com/crackledinlay.asp Looking over it again, I'm inspired to try it again, myself! There are at least two different "twists" I want to put on it... One with uncrackled, thicker layers of paint on thin, thin sheets of translucent clay. The other, with translucent clay tinted with alcohol ink and covered with aluminum leaf. I think both could be gorgeous.

So... what else? I finally got around to trying to make a few miniature cookies. Some of what I did pleased me-- other parts need more work-- but I think the results of the first batch turned out pretty well. Here are a few photos:

The first is an overview shot of a grouping of the mini cookies:


Here's a close-up of the M&M cookie with a bite taken out of it. I think this is my favorite of the cookies so far. This type of cookie has sentimental value to me, since I remember making these when I'd spend the night at my grandparents' house, back when I was a kid. :o) The texture on this one looks maybe a bit too perfect... It reminds me more of a store-bought cookie than a homemade one. I have a couple of ideas that might possibly give a more realistic texture. I'll have to play around with it a bit.


The last picture is of an oatmeal raisin cookie. I impressed myself with the raisins (if I do say so myself! (g)), but I'm less thrilled over the oatmeal cookie itself. I need to do a little more experimentation. Maybe get a few other people to help me brainstorm things to play around with...

Inspired by the (relative) success with the mini cookies, I decided to try my hand at another food. I made some replicas of Bilar-- a "car-shaped" chewy candy that my husband loves. I think they turned out pretty well for first tries, but unfortunately, no-one outside of Sweden is going to know what they are, probably. (g) I'll try to get some photos one of these days...

So, there's more to say, I'm sure, but this will have to do for now. :o)

2 comments:

Becky said...

If you don't mind my asking, what are you using for texture? I know you had trouble finding what to use and I thought maybe you'd be willing to share your technique.

Michael said...

I've tried a few different things and probably ought to keep experimenting. You never know until you try just what effect you'll get with random objects around the house.

For a sponge-y surface, try pouncing brushes lightly on the clay-- also try pounching with more pressure for a different look. Compare results from a variety of brushes. My favorite "pouncer" is an old toothbrush.

Other things I've found useful for texturing the clay are small bits of crumpled (and then smoothed) paper and aluminum foil. They give a more crackled appearance to the clay.

I've also heard of people using dried kitchen sponges, but I haven't tried that yet, myself.

Don't forget that you can use more than one texturing tool for layered textures. :o)