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Showing posts with the label craftcast

The Magic of Polymer Clay Extusions!

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Finished Button and Beads After two days of being on the phone with a credit union, a bank, Medicare, and social security, I needed a distraction.   It was time to open my new package with the polymer clay ‘Ultimate Clay Extruder’ by Makin’s and the Bullen’s Wullens Driver Adapter.   I’ve had these tools for weeks and just kept putting off setting them up.   Found an old variable speed drill and I’m ready! This project started when I signed up for another online ‘Craftcast’ class.   This time it was ‘Extrusions’ with Cynthia Tinapple.   http://www.craftcast.com/class-or-recording-item/279652-learn-to-make-extraordinary-polymer-clay   I attended class and was intrigued.   Of course I ordered all the tools to make the class project and waited.   This evening I watched the class video again and assembled everything.   After conditioning 6 colors of clay, I rolled them through the pasta machine on the widest setting.   I used the Kemper Cutter to make the correct size circles of al

Finding Zen in the Jeweler’s Saw

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First Exercise in the Class Craftcast with Alison Lee is a really great online source for classes mostly about jewelry making.   I find myself signing up for almost all of them because they are so well done.   When the class ‘Zen and the Art of the Jeweler’s Saw’ with Michael David Sturlin was offered, I waited to take it.   I thought, ‘ok, I have a jeweler’s saw and I’ve used it and so why take a class?’   http://www.craftcast.com/ I’m going to Art Unraveled in Phoenix in August and I’m taking three classes in metal jewelry techniques.   Every one of them lists the jeweler’s saw as a necessary tool.     I got my saw out and tried it. ‘Hmmmmm’   I thought, ‘guess it is time to take the class’. There are recordings of the classes you can buy if you miss the live class and boy am I glad I signed up! http://www.artunraveled.com/ First of all my workspace is too low for correct posture and for keeping the saw vertical.   As you can see in the photo, Peter solved my problem.   He m

Tangents with Polymer Clay

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A couple of weeks ago, I took Patrik Kusek’s Warm Connections Class with Craftcast   http://www.craftcast.com/classes .   I’ve been trying out some of his techniques for combining silver metal clay and polymer clay.  Several years ago I took Lisa Pavelka’s https://www.lisapavelka.com/Gallery.asp   classes at Art Unraveled http://www.artunraveled.com/   and learned just enough about polymer clay to think I could do anything!   I made a large mirror frame for a client out of copper polymer and incorporated beads and copper braid.   It turned out to be about 42” x 54”.   The frame was made with many (I mean many) pieces of 3” x 4” copper ruffles glued to a wood frame.   The client still has it and I still remember my friend Phyllis working with me to make more ruffles.    Polymer Clay Mirror Frame I still have some of that clay plus a lot of other colors.   It takes a lot of conditioning to make it pliable but it works!   It also took a couple of hours to clean the pasta m