If you love Halloween like we do, there's almost no better time to enjoy the various and sundry ways to use clay- to imitate surfaces, to decorate, to scare up a good time! Check it out as we take you on a tour of fun things to make with polymer clay for this spooky holiday.
Enjoy our discussion this week, regarding the upcoming Clay Event in France in March next spring, happenings in the latest Art Jewelry Magazine, and all the fun you can have making ghoulish accessories for Halloween out of polymer clay.
This week, I'll show you how easy it is to use a silicone mold, UV resin, and polymer clay to make a beautiful pendant. You can use any silicone mold that is not too deep- the UV light from the sun or a special lamp has to be able to penetrate all areas of the mold. You can also layer the resin in a deeper mold, it will stick to itself. And you can bake it! We used Magic Glos, a Lisa Pavelka product.
Listen as Ilysa and Kira discuss what's going on this week in polymer clay. Kira has a special technique to share with you, making a mold with Amazing Mold Putty and then layering UV curing resin to create her own molded clear beads! Next week she'll show you on Polymer Clay TV. If you are new to clay, or even an old hat, be sure to check out our workshop on www.CreativeWorkshops.ning.com. With over 2 hours of video, 10 videos on techniques and 2 project videos, plus direct interaction with us i...
Clay characters are fun to make. Thanks to Owen, who was interviewed last week on our show and has the website address www.FiendishThingies.com, we have taken a fresh new look at the category of funky polymer clay characters and monsters. Enjoy this little tour through Etsy and Flickr!
Owen, who makes awesome polymer clay character sculptures, contacted us this summer about somehow getting involved with our website. So we asked him for two things- an interview, and a portrait of us in polymer clay! Of course, we pressured him to do the "glamour shots" version. We'll see what he comes up with! Enjoy the interview, and visit Owen's site: www.fiendishthingies.com.
Watch as Ilysa does a demo on how to hand sew on raw polymer clay! She also shows off an eyeglass case, ready for embellishment, that she baked, then sewed. Polymer clay is so versatile, you can do anything with it- even turn it into an emroidery project. Have fun!
Why not trying sewing on polymer clay? Cured or pre-cure, there are lots of ways to do it. You'll see some next week.
The company sent us some to try, so Ilysa will tell you all about it in today's video. It's a spray, and lots of sprays do pose a problem with polymer clay. I suspect it's something in the propellant, although I'm not a chemist. But most sprays stay sticky and never dry on cured clay. I learned that the hard way long ago when I spray-sealed something with a Krylon fixative and ruined a large, important piece. The stickyness often doesn't show up until later- sometimes months later, so be warned-...
Next week, we'll be showing PYMII- Preserve Your Memories II, as a sealer. It is a spray that was sent to us by Precision-Blue.com, and some folks in the polymer clay community have been mentioning that it works great as a sealer, so we're going to test the theory! We also reviewed this month's Art Jewelry mag, so have a listen!
Check it out- Ilysa playing with the "new" Pardo clay from Viva-Decor. We got some from them at CHA this summer, and we'll be showing it and talking about it some more soon. We even have some to give away, so if you want to win, just send us a nice email to polymerclaypodcast@yahoo.com.
Sorry folks, a little late due to the fact that we have Lynne Ann Schwarzenberg in the studio filming her first DVDs, as well as Tommie Howell doing some video with us on his area of expertise- figure sculpting. Their videos will be released in time for the Holiday shopping season- so stay tuned for that! Well, the CHA show was a blast as usual- although the only clay company in attendance was Viva-Decor, who gave us lots of Pardo, as well as a couple other products, to try out. The one I am mos...
Thanks to Lisa Pavelka and Viva-Decor, who discussed and showed off the new Pardo Clay from Germany. By the way, Viva-Decor has WAY more than just the clay. I am very interested in some of their paint products, and plan to try them out on some mixed-media projects I have coming up. We got lots of Pardo to try out, and we'll be doing a PCTV on the clay in the next month or so, so stay tuned!
Well, next week we're off to the Craft and Hobby Association show. It's always a lot of fun to go and see what's debuting in the crafting world. This time we plan to do, and film ourselves doing, a lot of the make & take activities. We figure if we try out some products and tools we'll come up with new ways to use them with clay! Be sure to visit next week, we'll be putting up some of that footage for PCTV.
Today, let's take a tour of flickr. I searched for "polymer clay food" and these are some of the wonderful artists that came up. Shay Aaron appears to be a pro- creating a prolific variety of perfectly executed miniature food items in dollhouse scale. Other artists, such as FilthyFox and Weggart, create food novelty item jewelry with realistic pizza, desserts, donuts and other sundries! Check them out, all their names are in the video so you can find them on flickr. We've created a fun project r...
We decided to talk about faux food this week. Polymer Clay can mimic almost anything, and many artists are using it to make very convincing food. You could make miniature food, for say, earrings or a dollhouse...and you can also make food intended to trick the eye. I have seen faux chocolates made from pc that I would pick up and try to take a bite out of! Just google faux food or do a search on youtube, and you can find lots of ways to try this technique. We'll show some next week on PCTV.
Amaco sent us some bead rollers and bead baking racks to try out. I must say, I never tried using them before, and there is a learning curve, at least for me. I'll show you next week on Polymer Clay TV. Enjoy the show! Ilysa and I are going to CHA at the end of July, so remember to drop us an email if you'll be there and you want to meet us!
Last week we talked about how even a 15 year old boy loved the new polyform Bake Shop clay, which is really economical at 99 cents per 2 oz pack, very soft and smooth out of the package, comes in 12 colors, and is just fun to work with. We didn't feel that this is a "professional" grade clay, as it remained pretty soft and spongy after baking and we're not sure about it's strength- but we don't think that's the point. It was just plain fun. Watch Ilysa's demo and see!
We tried out Bakeshop, I tried it with 11& 15 year old boys, and they really loved it. They used it all up! I taught them basic sculpting and caning and they were able to do lots with the clay. It's a bit rubbery both before and after baking, and we haven't strength tested it yet, but be sure to come back next week- Ilysa is going to try it out and do some tests.
Magic Glos is a UV cure resin, single step product that has so many advantages over 2 part resins. First of all, no mixing. Second- it cures in 15 minutes! No waiting overnight to work on a piece. Third, you can bake it!!!! Think about what you could do with this stuff. Best of all, if you live in a sunny area, you don't need special equipment- you can use the sun to cure your items. But, if you're in an area where the sun is unreliable, you can always get a little uv lamp, like the kind at nail...
We discuss Lisa's Magic Gloss UV Resin, as well as the upcoming IPCA Guild retreat, our Synergy II Proposal, book submissions, and other stuff.
This week, join us as we add polymer clay embellishments to our wall decals by LanaKole.etsy.com.
Those vinyl decals for walls are so pretty. Did you ever think about adding some clay embellishments to make them even cooler and more personalized? Be sure to come back next week to watch Polymer Clay TV, where we will show you what to do. Other talking points this week- the book Handmade Nation, the Rise of DIY - was an awesome read. Be sure to check it out. It's about DIY craft artists in America. We also discussed Penni Jo's generous gift- 10 kits to make the cameo you saw last week. Listen ...
That's right, she bakes a handmade cabochon, stamps a basic image on it, and then builds up color using oil pencils. They blend so beautifully, and Penni Jo makes you feel as if you could do it too. Maybe you can- follow her instructions and watch! The demo is long- be sure to come to our site for the rest.
Christi is such a fun artist to have for a teacher. Her brain is always "on" and her animals just come to life under her deft fingers. Be sure to visit Polymer Clay TV.com for the whole video- it was quite long!
Be sure to sign up for the Mother's Day Gift Guide, as well as to submit yourself and your Polymer Clay Guild for possible inclusion in our new book about Polymer Clay Guilds around the world! Check out our site for the details. Be sure to come back next week for Polymer Clay TV- a very special demo by Christi Friesen that she did at this year's Orlando Clay Fandango retreat.
This week, see what all the fun is at the Orlando Clay Fandango! Enjoy some of the weekend's events along with us. A Hat fashion show, an auction, and other fun stuff.
This week we're talking a bit about Fandango, also commenting on the articles in the Kalmbach mags Bead Style and Art Jewelry (a good one about Melanie West!) and inviting you to be part of the Mother's Day gift guide- a video with your photos and shop url that will be posted on April 24, all around the 'net. We won't take it down, either. So you'll be advertised forever. For just 5 bucks. Sign up on our sidebar and email us your photos.
We all know and love sugary, sweet, cute Peeps! Ilysa and I are fond of the yellow bunnies. So we're going to show you how to make a set of realistic Peeps earrings you can wear as a Spring Celebration- and keep long after the real ones go stale. Enjoy!
We're back and we had a blast! Christie Friesen, Lynne Ann Schwartzenberg, Penni Jo Couch, Dan Cormier and Tracy Holmes...and bonus, Tommie Howl sculpting away in the daytripper room! We saw amazing polymer clay art and had a great time with the Ladies and Gents of the Orlando Guild.
