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Showing posts with the label craftcast classes

Painting on Silver Clay with Paste

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Flowers in the Wind I’ve been experimenting and taking online classes again!  Terry Kovalcik has a great class on www.craftcast.com    called ‘Painting and Sculpting using PMC Paste’.  It is well worth taking because there is so much information on materials, tools and technique.  Terry explains and shows details and shares some tips.  After watching the video once, collecting the materials needed and deciding what design I wanted to paint, I watched the video again! Terry uses PMC clay but I had FYI silver clay on hand and used it for the foundation shape and PMC paste with lavender oil for the painting.  I was concerned about the extra shrinkage of the FYI silver but the two worked well together.  I’m sharing the stages of my creations with you but you need to take the class for the real substance.  Shapes and Designs - FYI Silver Clay Out of the kiln  This technique requires a steady hand and some patience.  Layers of paste build up the image and it is so ea

What’s on My Work Table This Week? or The Learning Curve of Translucent Polymer Clay

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Translucent polymer clay with no color added Translucent polymer clay has intrigued me for quite a while.  Every time I went to Hobby Lobby I would buy 3 packets of Pardo Translucent Clay.  When I asked if there were more, the response was, “Each store only gets 3 packets a month!”  I would have felt bad about taking all three but it was usually the end of the month!  The funny thing is that I did not use them often and now have a nice stash.  Of course, when you keep polymer clay a while, it can get crumbly and be difficult to condition.  Yes, that did happen to several packets!  It just takes more time and a little of clay softener to get the clay to the correct consistency.  Pardo seems to be the most translucent and you can actually see print through the cured clay. There are two beautiful polymer clay necklaces hanging on my studio wall that I made a good year ago.  I did not add color to that clay, edged the circles in wire and found it fun to work with.   The al

Rocks and More Rocks!

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My father loved rocks.  He was happiest when he was rock hounding or cutting and polishing rocks.  As a child, I did not want to have anything to do with my father's hobby of rocks or rock hounding.  And that was definitely my loss.  Today I have many cabochons that he cut and polished.  It is why I started designing and making jewelry.  One day I came across Cynthia Tinapple’s information on making rocks and I took her Craftscast class http://www.craftcast.com/class-or-recording-item/166269-making-beach-pebbles-from-polymer-clay .  I've been collecting tips from other polymer artists and I decided that would be my first project for my ‘Polymer Clay Personal Workshop’!  Before Curing - nature's rocks in center I can almost hear my father say, ‘You made rocks?  Why?  You can just go out and pick them up!”  I guess my answer would be, ‘Because I can!’   I remember him being astounded that I bought large rocks for my yard in Tucson.  His comment as he shook