Kato Color Concentrates -- now available!

For those of you who may not have heard yet (such as myself, until I was catching up on e-mail this morning), Kato Color Concentrates (the new product I wrote about in this post) are now available for purchase.

Again, they're only available in selected Internet shops, as of yet. They're supposed to be at Polymer Clay Express, for instance, though I think you may have to call or write to order them. At least, I didn't see them in the online store, yet. However, I did find them at Prairie Craft Company, where the set of three colors (the only ones presently available) sells for $9.99. I see that they come in 1.5 ounce blocks. For reference, that's half the size of a block of regular Kato Polyclay. A little goes a long way, from all accounts, so it's not surprising that the blocks are a bit smaller.

So, now I'm looking forward to seeing what people will do with this product, now that it's out. :o) I don't think I'll buy any immediately, myself. I would like to play around with it-- see what it can do-- but I've done enough buying for a while, I think. . . Besides, it's been so brutally hot lately that I'd rather postpone clay purchases another couple of months. (Last time I had clay delivered, the mail-lady left it in the car-- with no note about it in the mailbox!! I was rather annoyed, but fortunately the clay seemed unharmed.)

. . . . . . . . .

If you frequent the same message boards and mailing lists I do (though I'm not a frequent "frequenter" these days (g)) , I'm sure you've already heard of the new polymer clay that Polyform's putting out-- Studio by Sculpey. If I understand correctly, it's coming out in connection with the Donna Dewberry instructional system... or whatever it is. It even has its own website (http://www.studiobysculpey.com/), but as of yet, there's nothing there.

I've read bits and pieces about this new brand, but frankly I'm just not terribly interested. I mean, it's great that there's going to be a new brand-- the more selection, the better-- but I. . . well, I just don't care much about this product. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because I'm happy with the brands that are already out there... Maybe it's just this infernal heat and humidity; it sucks the enthusiasm right out of you, some days!

Anyway, a few things I think I remember reading about Studio by Sculpey:

• It comes in a larger package than most polymer clays (...I think).
• It's aimed more at making items for home décor-- not so much for caning, though some report that it is possible to cane with it.
• It will come in 26 "toned down" colors (again, geared more toward home décor, where people are likely to choose "Lavender and Lace"-- one of the actual color names, I swear-- in favor of bold, brilliant purple or fuchsia.)
• It is rather "marshmallowy" in texture, prior to curing, and easily conditioned.
• It seems to be pretty sturdy after curing.
• It doesn't require an armature (for certain things, at least), as it doesn't droop during firing, like most polymer clay does.

Ok, I guess it's kind of interesting... Just as long as Polyform doesn't get rid of my precious Premo in favor of this new stuff. ;o)

New polymer clay product on the way?

I just read something interesting in a PCC thread about Donna Kato's newest book. (You can find the thread here.) I haven't found anything official about this subject, but as Donna Kato herself was in on the discussion, I guess that's official enough. ;o) Apparently, the book mentions a new product that will soon be released to the public--

What is it?
It's something called "Kato Color Concentrate Clay" (which may or may not be the name it's eventually marketed under-- I don't know), and from what I understand it's basically polymer clay with a very high concentration of pigments. There's something like six times as much color in this new product compared to what goes into regular polymer clay.

What do you do with it?
From what I gather, some of the projects in the new Kato book use it, so you can probably refer to that for some examples. Based on the same PCC thread, it sounds like it probably has a variety of uses. For example, it's ideal for making rich shades of pearlized/mica-infused clay without losing the mica shift (chatoyant) effect. It's also suppsed to be great for mixing dark colors without the muddying you often get when mixing regular clay. Because the colors are so rich, you can use just a little bit of the color concentrate, compared to the amount of regular clay you'd have to add to mix the desired color.

What colors does it come in?
The only colors it will initially come in are red, yellow, and blue. But these can be mixed, of course. (Mixing is really their whole reason for existence.) There may eventually be new olors added to the line. (It looks promising, based on the discussion in the PCC thread!) Another color-related tidbit for those of us dying for more info: The three existing colors, mixed in equal parts, make black-- apparently a very fantabulous black. (No, I'm not sure what makes it better than regular black. (g)) ...And the greys are pretty great, too, according to Lynn Ann Schwarzenberg, who was the impetus behind the prototype for the product.

How is it packaged?
I don't know. (I'm not even sure if it's been packaged yet!) Donna Kato describes it as polymer clay consistency-- not liquid-- so I imagine it's packaged similarly to regular polymer clay. Because it is so potent, it may come in smaller packages than regular clay. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Where can you get some?
To start with, it will only be available at select on-line distributors, according to Ms. Kato. And it's not available even there, yet... This first batch is relatively small-- 300 lbs. I hope that once that flies off the shelves (as it's sure to do, I'd say), they'll manufacture more. If it's successful enough, maybe it will eventually be available wherever Kato Polyclay is sold. (However, the only local stores that stock solid Kato clay don't even have the liquid Kato, so I'm not holding my breath. (g))

And in less exciting news. . .

While checking out Donna Kato's blog on the off chance that she'd mentioned this new product (not that I've seen so far, but I'm still reading), I saw this entry-- and this one, too. Evidently, the folks at Epson have changed the formula on some of their papers. One of their papers was discovered to be excellent for image transfers with polymer clay, but that has changed.

Don't despair! There's still hope. ;o) There are other papers that work, including the one Katherine Dewey suggested in the second link-- JetPrint Imaging & Photo Matte Paper, medium weight. (Actually, I think that's the one I've used before. I'll have to go check...)

Fire Mountain's "Mica Polished Pigments"?

I'm an admitted craft supply addict. If it has something to do with a craft I'm interested in-- and especially if it's also sparkly, shiny or otherwise "fancy"-- I want it. I don't necessarily run out and buy it, but it's definitely on my radar. (g)

So, of course I was intrigued when I saw a new product in the Fire Mountain Gems catalog, some time ago. "Mica Polished Pigments" look like they're similar to Pearl-Ex Powdered Pigments, but I haven't read any reviews of them, so I'm just speculating.

The colors of the Polished Pigments in the catalog are more vivid than those on the website... I think it's because the ones on the website have the lids on (most of them), so you can't really see the colors as well. I like some of the colors they offer, but they're not exactly cheap-- (according to my catalog) $20.51 for a set of four 10-gram jars. (You do get a better price if you buy more than 14 items at one time-- about $15.70-- and if you buy 200+ items, the price goes down to $11.66. I wish I had a group of local beaders to "go in with" on bead orders. I don't think I'll ever buy that much at once by myself, so I'll never be able to take advantage of the bulk purchase price.)

Well, it's still fun to look, and I am curious if anyone's tried them and has compared them to Pearl-Ex or Powdered Pearls.

Speaking of Powdered Pearls-- I was sad to read several months ago that the creator of Powdered Pearls, Sandy Lemons, passed away in July of last year. According to this page, her daughter and son-in-law were planning to continue the business (Lemon Tree... Etcetera). I wonder if that's still in the works, as at least one on-line shop I visit still has most of the Powdered Pearls listed as "out of stock", and I can't locate the business' webpage. I would certainly understand if they had a change of heart, but it was an excellent product, and I'm sorry to see it disappearing.