Everything You've Always Wanted to Know About Polyform Clay ;o)

Well, maybe not quite everything, but Angela's (aka CraftyGoat's) most recent blog entry does bring up some interesting points. She shares her notes from a Q&A session Polyform offered at the IPCA retreat, so this is very fresh information. I highly recommend giving it a look, if you haven't already-- especially if you regularly use any of the Polyform clays (SculpeyIII, Premo, Studio by Sculpey, etc.).

I was surprised to read that Premo no longer contains phthalates. I'd heard that Kato Clay had made the switch, but nothing about (most of) Polyform's lines of clay. I'm not sure how I feel about that. If the phthalates really were a significant health risk, then of course it's good to avoid them, but I always wonder how much things of this nature may be blown out of proportion. I also wonder how much of a reduction in shelf life we should expect, now that so many brands are going phthalate-free... (This makes buying in bulk and/or stocking up during clay sales seem a bit more risky. Better get busy using up some of my more recently stock-piled clay, huh? (g))

It was also interesting to read that the recommended temperature is a little bit lower than what you need for optimum strength. (Apparently the manufacturers prefer to err on the safe side. Can't really blame them there, but it's good to have the facts.) I guess people knew what they were talking about, all these years, when they've said you're ok if you don't go over 300 degrees. I know I often find my oven's temperature tends to creep up higher than 275, but I've only scorched something once, and that was because it was too close to the heating element.

Anyway... Good stuff to know! Thanks for sharing the info, Angela!

More recycling ideas (on other blogs)!

It feels like forever and a day since I posted a non-10-on-Tuesday entry here! I've either been down (my sweet Eskie-dog died unexpectedly last month) or busy or obsessed with other things ("nature photography", scrapbooking, patio-planning). There's been claying going on, but I haven't photographed it, and I wanted to wait to write about it until there were photos.

Anyway, there will be some more real blog posts soon-- and maybe a break from the Ten on Tuesday thing. It's been feeling more and more like a chore, which translates into less interesting posts-- so maybe I need to focus more on other things. We'll see. . .

For now, if any of you haven't already seen it, Angela (CraftyGoat) has a recycling-related post (with links to other similarly themed articles) on her blog, today.

(Reading blogs is another thing I've fallen [even farther] behind on. It's mainly thanks to Flickr's "From Your Contacts" feature that I saw this in a "timely fashion". Must catch up on blog-reading! Too much fun stuff to do, too little time!)

Gorgeous moss-green earrings!

I love these earrings Eliz'art recently posted on her blog. They remind me of the results I got playing around with the faux marble technique in Carol Blackburn's bead book, only these are done up in such wonderful mossy greens! (I am a huge admirer of mossy greens. (g))

Ok, that's all for now. Just had to share the pretty picture. :o)

Off-line!

We're having trouble with our internet connection, so until that gets cleared up, I may be quieter than usual. (Not that I've been all that chatty, lately, anyway, (g)) I have a connection today, but there was almost none yesterday. (Thus the absence of yesterday's Ten on Tuesday.) I hope things will be worked out before too long, though, and I should definitely have a post up next Tuesday.

In the meantime, if you haven't already seen them, here are a few blog entries I'd like to suggest:

• Angela (CraftyGoat) has been writing a lot about tools and materials, lately. There are a couple of recent entries about repurposed tools (pumice stone and herb mincer) and one on using scrapbooking supplies with polymer clay. Angela's blog led to my next link. . .
  
• Lisa (from Polka Dot Creations) gave readers a peek at some of her handmade tools, including a nifty idea for a button hole placer.
  
• Elaine (TooAquarius) was inspired by Lisa's blog to share her idea for a handmade baking rack.

Lots of great ideas for handmade and "found" tools! More things to add to your polymer clay wish list! ;o)

I need to catch up on my blog-reading so I don't miss out on all this good stuff!

Polymer Clay Blogs

I'm rearranging my blog a little bit, today. My list of polymer clay-related blogs (formerly to the right) was taking up so much room that I decided to move it all into a single blog post. I'll put a link to this post over there, instead. :o)

I never use this list, these days, anyway, since I subscribed to them all over at my Google Reader account. This list is missing some of the blogs I discovered more recently, but it'd probably be a huge pain to figure out which ones aren't included here, so I make no promises to fix that. (g)

If you have a polymer clay-related blog (or know of one) that's not included, please feel free to comment. I'm always happy to add to my list, even if it takes me months (or years (g)) to catch up on my blog-reading. :o)

Ali di Libellula

All Things Metal Clay

Amanada's Musings

Ann de Rodegain Digne Dingue Donc

Art for the Heart

Artrepreneur

Artsy Clay

au fil de pates

Avec des Couleurs de l'Imagination

beadworx

block party press

Camille Young

C.A. Therien

Celine Passion

Chez Tulipesvertes

Clay Happenings

Crafts by Chris

CraftyGoat's Notes

Crafty Redhead

Créaprovence Création

Crearti

Créations MHB

Créations Rue Fédor

Creative Connections

Cristalline

dAmARa adalah

Desert Designs by Barbara

Des Nouvelles des Etoiles

domicreative

Dragonsglass

Du côte de chez moi

Dulcebella's Design

EdelWeiSS CréaTioN

Eliz'art

Enkhene

Ethno-Polymère

Eugena's Creations

Evarmonie

Facéties de Perles

FIMO BY IC

Hardflower Studios

heurebleue

Hidden Missives

Humblebeads Blog

Imagine Uncommon Things

Jael's Jewels Blog

Just Me and My Creations

Karina's blog

KC's Krafting Korner

KIWI Handmade

La Mélancolie du Caméléon

L'atelier de Trukabul

Laura's Blog

Le Blog de Dodo

Le Blog de Flo

Le Blog de Lilli Prune

Le Blog de Mamezelle Cat

Le Blog de Marie

Le Blog de Palatena

Le Blog de RERE

Le Laboratoire de Melle Cookie

Le Monde de Sysyl

Les Bidules de Sofie

Les Bijou d'Alienor

Les Bijou d'Edith

Les Bijou de Perlchen

Les Créations de Miss Zabeth

Les Fimoteries de Maniguette

Les Frivolités de Caty

Les Petites Manies de Sarajana

Les Petit Monde de Stéphanie

Libzoid

Lindly Talking Color

Liquorice Allosaurus

Made in Sassenage

Madeleine Songe

Many Parts

Mariane.S

Mill Girl

.:minicaretti:.

Molymer Clay

Mosaico

My Life with Polymer Clay

Mystical Ring

My Sweet Little Corner

NanjoDogz

Objets d'emotion

Oolong's Zoo

Overstimulated Undercaffeinated

Parole de Pâte

Pearls of Whimsy

Peguintrax's World of Whimsy

Perlenküche

Perlette

Petits Doigt Magik

Petit Poucet

Philadelphia Area PC Guild Reporter

Polka Dot Creations Blog

polyblog

PolyCréations

Polymer & Fimo Clay News @ CraftGossip

Polymer and Prints

Polymer Clay Bytes!

Polymer Clay Daily

PolymerClayFimo

Polymer Clay Notes

Polymer Clay Wizard

Polymeri Online - Iris Mishly

polymermania

Polymer Paula

Polymers et Oceans

Ponsawan's Tutorial Blog

P'tits Cailloux

Queen of Clay

Quilted in Clay Rambles

Red Daisy's Designs

Scott's Place

Sevy Création

Silastones

Small Stuff of Mine

Smashing Color: Maggie Maggio

SOHO Beads

Stef Créations

Studio Bijou

TADworks

Tatsuko

Tejae's Art

Tewee

The Crab

Tina T.'s Polymer Clay

Too Aquarius

Too Much Time

Tranche de Cane

Treasurefield

Violettafleur

Wanda's Designs

Wes Warren's Polymer Clay Garage

Other Polymer Clay Blogs

Coming back to this blog after months away, I noticed that my blogroll (via Google Reader) had disappeared. Don't ask me how. I'm only too thankful that I figured out again how to add it back. However, upon putting it back, I saw that it is huge-- too long, really, for my sidebar. So, for the time being, I'm going to try putting it here in a single "entry", then link to this in the sidebar.

So, if you're looking for some more polymer clay blogs to read, here are the ones I've found:




P.S. I'm fibbing on the date so that this won't appear on the front page of my blog. It's actually December 4th, 2008, but I'm going back to 2007. (g)

Liquid Clay Info

In case some of you aren't familiar with this particular blog, I'd like to recommend today's post by Chris -- wonderful reading for anyone interested in a comparison of the qualities of different liquid clays-- particularly Kato and Fimo (both of which are much better than TLS, in terms of clarity). I haven't worked with the Fimo gel before, so there was plenty of useful information in there that was new to me.

Those liquid clays certainly are exciting! All the possibilities!

And I thought I was falling behind *before*. . .

I just added several more polymer clay blogs to my list (both here at this blog and at my Google Reader account). A couple of them I hadn't seen before this afternoon, a couple more I'd had jotted down until I was in the mood to update things, and there were even a couple I thought I already had added. I've been missing out on months of posts, thinking all along that the blog owners were just being quiet!

So that's even more blog reading I need to catch up on. (g)

One of these days I'll catch up. Probably. . . ;o)

Pretty Things

I've been trying to catch up on a few months' worth of blogs. It takes time, but it's certainly a pleasant way to pass an hour.

I recently came across these beads by Mariane S., who describes them as being inspired by Donna Kato. Yes, I see the Kato influence-- the stripes and general shape-- but the "curlicue" and the interesting series of holes are something new to me. Very pretty!

I was also interested to read this entry on Tina Holden's blog. (Another blog to add to my list! And I found two others, as well, while reading other blogs!) Tina put another twist on the faux ceramics technique. Before adding the glaze of alcohol ink-tinted Kato liquid, she touched the clay with mica powders. Great idea! I'd already tried a light sprinkling of embossing powder, but I hadn't been thrilled with the results-- too bumpy for my tastes. (It might look better with different embossing powders. . .). After seeing Tina's lovely examples, I gave the more finely textured mica powders a try last week. It was fun to play around with the powders, and I'm looking forward to doing it again! There are lots more colors combos to try! :o)

One of these days, I'll make myself get out the ol' digital camera so that I can post pictures of my own "pretty things". ;o)

Connections. . .

I've been trying out the "extruded snake wrapped around base bead" thing (as I wrote about recently) and am planning to play around with it some more, soon.

That's connected to:

This entry on Le Blog de Perlchen that illustrates how to use scrap clay, a clay gun, and a pasta machine to make an interesting effect.

. . . and . . .

This entry on Parole de Patê, which combines the extruded-clay-wrapped beads with a faux ceramic effect, very prettily. (There's also a link at the bottom to my faux ceramic tutorial and a similar one that was featured on the Polyzine back in 2004. Just goes to show, even if you think you're writing something "new", chances are pretty good that it's been done before. (g))

. . . which is connected to . . .

Something I saw on the Polymer Clay Central message board, back a couple of weeks ago when I stopped by. Someone (I forget who it was... Ok, looked it up. On the forums, she goes by carlierae26, so I assume her name is Carlie Rae, or something similar...) had shared photos of some recent work. It was yet another variation of faux ceramics. She'd used a base of black clay, with opaque glaze, with some nice results. She wrote that she started with opaque liquid clay, but if you have translucent clay, you can always tint it with something opaque. I know oil paint will work, and I think that powdered pigments (mica or just ground up pastels) also yield opaque color.

I'm definitely going to have to give all of these a try! (Maybe I'll remember them, now that they've been blogged...)

On another subject-- Here's a link to a new-to-me polymer clay blog edited by Heather Powers: Polymer Clay @ CraftGossip.com.
Seriously, there are so many great polymer-related blogs out there, and more popping up all the time, that I can't keep up with them all! I'm already way behind on my blog-reading, as it is. But I can't resist, so I'll be adding this to my reading list, too... You guys really don't want me to have time to play with the clay, do you? ;o)

Ok, got to go medicate the dog. . . (No, really. Daisy needs her pills. She's epileptic, poor thing.)

So many blogs, so little time!!

I never realized until recently just how many clay-related blogs there are!

Christie suggested that I try Google Reader-- and so far, it does seem pretty useful!-- so I've been copying my "blog collection" over there. In the process, I've found several more interesting links (which I've been trying to keep updated here, too). Many of these blogs aren't in English-- lots of them are French, for instance-- but even if I can't understand exactly what they're saying all the time, I still enjoy the photos. (Of course, you can always try a translating program, but they leave something to be desired. Kind of like my high school French classes. )

Here are a few interesting things I found in the process of moving:

• Les Bijoux de la Diva. If I'm not mistaken, she works in ceramics-- not polymer clay-- but I love the look of her work, and it should be possible to make polymer pendants that mimic glazed ceramics. It's one of the techniques I've been wanting to try-- putting a thin layer of tinted TLS onto a stamped (or otherwise textured) piece of clay, wiping away some of it so that "just enough" is there, and then curing the piece (and probably giving it a shiny finish).
• Free miniature projects from Cotton Ridge Designs. There are miniature foods here, too-- like blueberry and cherry pie-- cakes-- sandwiches-- and more! The only catch-- these aren't "polymer-only" projects. In fact, I'm not sure if any of them use polymer clay... But they might still be interesting to miniaturists. (The best material for making the ultimate miniature is whatever works best-- not always polymer clay.) And for those of us who prefer to use clay, there are some nice photos and ideas that can be translated into pc.
• Moon Pies Miniatures: Fimo food gallery. Lots of photos of wonderfully detailed miniature foods. Which reminds me, if I haven't already pointed fellow miniature food enthusiasts to Angie Scarr's page, I should do so now.
• And there are more, but they'll have to wait!

Blogroll, Revamped!

I've finally attended to the growing list of blogs that I've been collecting in my list of favorites. They're all added to my blogroll, now-- and what's more, I've alphabetized the whole thing, to give it some sort of order.

I've tried to stick to my "rule" of including only blogs that focus on polymer clay, but I have made an occasional exception, if the clay entries weren't totally overpowered by the non-clay entries. Apparently, some people presume to have other interests, apart from polymer clay. The nerve! ;o)

So, if you have some spare time, you might enjoy browsing some of the links you'll see on the right. (You might have to scroll down to find them.) I guarantee there's enough there to keep you busy for a good, long time! (I still haven't thoroughly examined many of them, myself!)

If you find a broken link, please let me know-- and if you are aware of a polymer clay blog that absolutely must be included on any decent list of clay blogs, I'd be glad to learn about it. :o)

Maybe, someday, possibly...

Maybe, someday, possibly-- I might eventually try PMC. (PMC = precious metal clay, "regular" polymer clay's costlier cousin, which you can read more about here, here and here, among other places.)

The main thing keeping me from considering it at the present is cost. The PMC itself isn't exactly cheap-- Really, what else would you expect from a material that contains and turns into silver or gold?! (g)-- and I'd have to buy some new tools (including either a kiln or a torch, probably). I'd also have to do a whole lot more research, because I don't know much about the firing process, etc. So, I doubt PMC is in my immediate future, but maybe someday I'll work up the courage and enthusiasm-- and save up enough proceeds from the sales of "regular clay" items so that I won't feel so guilty about the cost. ;o)

If I were to work with PMC, this is the type of thing I'd like to make: Beadfuddled. (I saw the link on Heather Powers' blog.) So many of these gorgeous pieces make me think of the ocean. Some of them give the illusion of bits of jewelry or coinage scavenged from distant shipwrecks. Others have a more organic appearance-- almost as though they are combined with pieces of sea creatures. (Some of these are obviously mixed-media pieces.) I can almost smell the salt air and feel the thunder of the surf!

Well, even if I'm not presently set up to work with PMC, I can still take inspiration from Kelly Russell's sense of style and incorporate similar motifs into my polymer clay work. Those colors, for instance! Softened brassy gold combined with champagne gold... tinged with purple-- blue-- green, and copper... A good dose of sea green... And don't forget a dash of sunset (oranges and purples) and the soft pastels of seashells... So many of even these metallic colorss can be simulated in regular clay, with the aid of mica clay and mica powders. And of course as far as shapes go, polymer clay can do anything PMC can do. It's only a matter of giving it a try! :o)

It's not polymer clay, but I love it!

I'm going to make a brief break with the usual subject matter of this blog (polymer clay, as if there could possibly be doubt (g)) to comment on something that is still "generally" related, as it pertains to art.

If you have time, take a moment to admire the beautifully tinted, cheerfully drawn work of Geninne, a freelance illustrator/designer. A few mintues looking through her gorgeous (mostly watercolor, I think) illustrations always makes me happy. I just love her style! (She also makes lovely things from felt and other materials, from time to time.)

Another art blog I'm fond of (but that hasn't been updated in rather a while) is Val Webb's studio journal. Her sketch journal pages (like Geninne's) are wonderful. :o) She works with raku ceramics, acrylics, and who knows what else. Lots of fun to browse.

And finally-- one last "artsy link". The Pants Press Sketchblog is a LiveJournal community in which a group of artists (each with his or her own personal style, as you might imagine) posts his/her latest work or sketches. Some of it is done in more of a modern comics/graphic-novel style (I guess you'd call it); others feel delightfully vintage to me. Always interesting to see what's been added.

I'm sure there are many more blogs/lj communities out there similar to these, but these are the few I've happened across and liked well enough to keep in my "lazy day browsing" bookmark list. If you'd like to share one of your favorite art blog links in the comment section, please feel free to do so! :o)

Found some new blogs!

I've been editing my blogroll a bit over the past few days. I deleted one, I think, because I noticed that it hadn't been updated in over a year, but mostly I've been adding new ones that I somehow missed when I first made my list.

It's amazing how many blogs there are out there, and that I can actually find so many dealing with polymer clay as a (more or less) primary subject!

Here are a few of the blogs that are new on my list:

CraftyGoat's Notes-- Interesting projects, and there's a "tips and techniques" section that could be helpful.

Polymer Clay Artist Guild of Etsy Blog-- I'm a member of the guild, now, so I'm curious to see how this develops. It hasn't been around for long, but someone's already gotten together a project in which members donate pendants that will go to a charity.

Laura's Blog-- Not "polymer clay only", but still. Some of her other interests seem...well, interesting... too.

Wanda's Designs-- I've seen photos of her teapots before, but didn't know she had a blog. The pots are lots of fun to look at, and she uses so many techniques on them that I find myself inspired to try something new, too, while I admire them.

Karina's Blog-- I've seen her around the PCC forums and Flickr for a while, but never knew she had a blog.

Polymer Paula-- She makes illustrations with polymer clay-- and some gorgeous cookies, too.

Ha! While skipping from link to link from some of these blogs, I've come across still more I want to add to my list! But that'll have to wait until later. Even polymer clay-obsessed individuals must wash dishes sometimes. ;o)

Ponsawan's texture plates

Was just wasting a little time looking at some of the polymer clay blogs you see in the column to the right, and was impressed (apt word choice, if I do say so myself! (g)) by Ponsawan's homemade texture sheets.

As you might recall, I've done some of these, myself, but I haven't given it another try since my first effort. After seeing these, I'm inspired to give it another go! :o)

I also want to try carving designs in cured sheets of clay. They wouldn't necessarily be texture-sheet style designs, though-- more of "stand alone" images. We'll see how it goes (when I ever get around to trying it).

There's been a whole lotta linkin' goin' on!

Last night, I spent some time adding some links to the sidebar. Some of them I've been reading for a while, some I visit from time to time, and a few are totally new to me. I tried to stick mostly to blogs and websites with a focus on polymer clay, but some are more clay-centric than others...

For a daily dose of polymer clay art, I suggest Polymer Clay Daily. The author, Cynthia Tinapple, can be counted on to post something polymer clay and/or art-related nearly every day (except on weekends, I think). You never know what might turn up there, so it's a fun way to get your creative juices flowing.

Oh, and here's something new-- Maggie Maggio, a polymer clay artist who teaches color theory (as it pertains to clay), has a new blog. Read along to pick up some tips on how to use color to your greatest advantage.

As for the others, well, I'll let you check them out for yourself. ;o)