Crazy for Clay

Wow that design a little smaller would make a cool pendant. I really like the rough texture it has now. It gives it more of a wild look, like it's in motion. Don't sand it all away! LOL

That clay might be something I could work with. I'm afraid to handle regular poly clay much due to the dyes in it.

Thanks for sharing,

That's pretty! When do we get to see the better one?

Karleen,

Just wear latex or a similar type of glove when you work with the clay. That's what a lot of people do..

Barbara

Bead & Polymer Clay Habitué

There is a very fine line between a hobby and mental illness. (Dave Barry)

Very cool!

As far as the clay goes - you can always pick up a toaster oven at a garage sale and put it outside to bake polymer clay. Calibrate it with an oven thermometer, of course.

I wouldn't recommend using either the air dry or Makins clay for beads - there's not enough strength in either product for jewelry applications.

Barbara

Bead & Polymer Clay Habitué

There is a very fine line between a hobby and mental illness. (Dave Barry)

Hi Jerri! I'll post the other one after July 1st, that's the deadline for entries :-)

Best, Christine

Cool! I didn't know that a toaster oven would work, I'm sure the Salvation Army would one :-)

I made some leaves from the Makin's and yeah, I can't see using it for beads at all. It seems like it would snap really easily and I can't see a way of making a hole in them. The pieces that I made yesterday seem to have dried nicely though, and I'm going to make them into magnets. I'll see where the air dry clay takes me...I made some round and oval pendants that are 3/8" thick. When they dry completely in a couple of weeks, I'll see how they hold up :-)

Best, Christine

Very nice rendition of a horse head, Christine! I like thr roughness of it so please don't "sand it out of existence". lol You know what I'd love to see on it? A bead for the eye! :) Good work and I hope you win the contest!

Christine Looks Good There is a new Porcelin clay mom and I tried its air dry and we found it at at both Micheals and Hobby Lobby near the polymer clay Have Fun V

Hi Vicky,

Heh! I've been telling people that I feel so cheated by my high school art classes sometimes...I was so turned off the medium because we had to work without sculpting tools and used this awful red clay.

I think the porcelain clay is by AMACO or something? I'll see if my Michaels has it :-)

Best, Christine

You can make your own cold porcelain. Just google it and it will come up with results. I'm interested in it myself actually, just as an alternative to clay to play with.

Thanks Valerie, the recipe was like the third hit on Google. It sounds easy enough to do, maybe I'll try it one weekend...I think we can get Ponds cold cream here in Canada, I'll have to look. Heh! I'm glad I started this thread, the new things you learn!

Best, Christine

Hi Linda,

Oh man!!! A bead would be such a nice finish! I wish I had thought of that. Something nice, like a natural gemstone would be nice. Tourmaline? Onyx?

The entries had to be made in clay or epoxy sculpt, so no embellishing allowed. Now I feel all inspired - I can press seed beads into the clay (and liberally coat with a finish after of course!). Hmmm!

Thanks for the good luck, I think I'm going to need it. I'm sure there are more professional artists that will be entering...but one never knows :-)

Best, Christine

I'm sure you can use something generic for the cold cream. There are a few recipes out there that use baby oil I think, if you can't find the cold cream.