CraftyGoat's Notes

OKPolyClay Twisters Retreat

2012-01-20T20:50:00Z

I hope this new year finds you working on all sorts of wonderful things! Between late-night feedings and diaper changes, the main thing I've been spending my free time on is preparing for the OKPolyClay Twisters Retreat, which my local guild will be hosting April 19-21, 2012, in Norman, Oklahoma. Christi Friesen will be teaching two half-day classes, plus we'll have demos, vendors, food, and plenty of space for claying. I'm particularly excited about our goody bags, since I've been in charge of finding donors for those (they're gonna be filled to the brim with great stuff!).

If you're in the middle part of the country — or have been looking for an excuse to visit Oklahoma (and who isn't?!) — I hope you'll consider registering for our retreat. I'd love to meet you!

Polymer Clay for the Holidays

2011-12-07T20:45:00Z

Baby Jessica and I are now home from the hospital and hibernating — happily and healthily — from the cold. (Yay for online shopping!) Thanks for all the well-wishes.

If you're looking to introduce someone you love to polymer clay this holiday season, I hope you'll consider gifting them with a copy of my other baby, Polymer Clay 101. This book/DVD combo covers tons of polymer clay techniques and projects and is great for beginner (or even intermediate) clayers. Just wanted to mention it since it wasn't widely available until after Christmas last year. You can buy it at Amazon or these other fine retailers.

Hope this holiday season finds you healthy & happy too!

My Latest Creation

2011-11-29T19:45:00Z

Just wanted to let you know my newest creation popped out of the oven (as it were) this morning. Jessica, who was born at 11:09, weighed 7 lb, 2 oz and is 19" long. She has blue eyes (with beautiful long eyelashes) and dark hair.

We're healthy and thrilled. Got a few pics here.

Back to School / Back to Claying!

2011-07-20T06:55:00Z

If you don't have school-aged kids or follow the deals sites, you may not realize that back-to-school sales are already in full swing. But not only are the next few weeks a great time to get school supplies, they're also a great time to buy claying supplies. You can stock up on a lot of the things you'll need for holiday craft shows, Christmas gifts, or even supplies for your own clay classes. Here are a few supplies you might want to look for at this year's back-to-school sales:

Pens:
- What to do with 'em: Buy oven-safe pens to cover with polymer clay. Check out this list of a few oven-safe brands, which includes photos of the packaging to help as you're browsing the sales fliers or store aisles.
- Deals: I found Bic Round Stics on sale at Staples last week (an 8-pack for a penny!), and it looks like Dollar General has 10-packs for fifty cents this week.
Notebooks:
- What to do with 'em: Notebooks, memo pads, and composition books can be decorated many ways to use for journals and gifts. My Polymer Clay 101 co-author Kim Otterbein created this beautiful stamped journal cover. Or here's a tutorial for a mostly-papercraft composition book cover.
- Deals: There are a wide variety of different shapes and sizes available, so keep an eye out for a sale on the type that works best for your project. Staples has their 5×3" spiral top memo notepads 5/$2 this week.
Index Cards:
- What to do with 'em: Index cards are handy for baking clay creations. If you teach, your students can write their names on their cards before baking so there's no confusion about which piece is whose. I also use index cards to make notes about color samples or other experiments, leaving the samples on their cards to avoid mix-ups during baking.
- Deals: These are a penny for a 100-pack at Staples through today — great time to stock up if you teach!
Pencils, Markers, Crayons & Other Mixed Media:
- What to do with 'em: Colored pencils and some markers can be used on baked clay. Shredded crayon bits make great inclusions in unbaked clay. Even if you're not sure a specific product will work with clay ('cuz some won't), you can pick it up for very cheap and try it out!

We're fortunate to have a medium that is fairly inexpensive anyway, but deals like this make it even better. Do you have another favorite item to stockpile this time of year? Let me know in the comments!

Guild-Building Fun

2011-07-14T18:35:00Z

I've mentioned my local polymer clay group, the Central Oklahoma Polymer Clay Guild, a few times. We started the group about five years ago — and even though I'm not generally what you'd consider a "joiner," I've found it to be beneficial to me in many ways.

I recently wrote a couple of guest posts for Deluxe, a local indie craft fair, about my experiences starting the group:

This post talks about the group's beginning and its growth.
And here's some practical tips for starting your own local group.

I'll add one little extra note... if you're looking for a place for your group to meet, try your local craft stores. We've been very fortunate that Hobby Lobby has allowed us to use their classroom for free. And I just saw a post saying Jo-Ann also allows groups to meet in their stores (sounds like there's a fee, though). If you don't have one of those nearby, member's houses are always nice... and as a bonus, you usually get get to peek at their creating space!

If you've ever considered starting a group — whether it's polymer clay or another favorite craft — I hope you'll check out my articles. Good luck!

Taking Better Photos (Updated)

2011-07-11T14:00:00Z

The last time I talked about taking better photos, I was using a point-and-shoot camera with a homemade cardboard light box. I really liked that set-up, and it worked well for me for a long time. But when it came time to write and photograph my book, I realized I needed to upgrade. In the process, I learned a lot of things (mostly by doing them wrong!), and I wanted to share some of those lessons here.

1. Buying a Light Box: Bigger isn't (Necessarily) Better One of the reasons I had to go from my 12" cardboard light box to a larger version was that I knew my pasta machine needed to be in some of the book's shots. After comparing prices, I decided to spring for the 30" light tent cube, thinking that was as large as I could possibly ever need. Boy was I ever right! That thing was huge — I'm fairly certain Sam would have fit in there!

While I initially thought "huge" was a good thing, I quickly came to realize that bigger-than-you-need isn't actually better. The wonderful thing about light boxes is that they create a contained space where you can control the lighting. As that space gets larger, it gets harder to create good lighting throughout the tent. The pictures I took in that large light tent were full of shadows. And while I'm sure I could have eventually gotten the right combination of lighting power and placement to improve the photos, I chose to downsize to a 24" box. It was still big enough, but the smaller size made it easier to control the lighting. So the lesson here? Use the smallest light box you can get away with.

2. Using a Light Box: Ditch the Fabric Backdrops
I don't like ironing. Not one bit. And those fabric backdrops that come with the light tent kits seem to be pre-installed with deeply-ingrained wrinkles. A better (or at least more patient) person than I may find that the effort to iron those wrinkles out is worthwhile. But I've opted to just ditch the fabric.

The alternative? Cheap 'ol poster board cut to the size of your light box. Buy 'em at school supply time and you'll have many months' supply for less than a dollar. I generally use plain white and I specifically look for the type that's not double-sided. (I prefer to use the non-glossy side so there's no reflection.)

While I started doing this because of the whole ironing thing, I've found it has one big advantage. Poster board is easily replaceable. Since I'm generally taking step-by-step photos of the crafting process, I tend to be messy. Paint, embossing powder, clay... you name it, and it's spilled as I've tried to take a photo of it. With a cloth backdrop, that's kind of a big deal. Stopping to clean can really slow down your photo session. And stains? Well, you might be Photoshopping those out for a long, long time! Poster boards, on the other hand, are simple and cheap to replace anytime there's a mishap.

Poster boards also give you some other options. There's a wide variety of colors available, so you can easily change up the photo background. You can glue on scrapbook paper for an interesting and reusable look. Or you can get more elaborate, as I did with this shot for a PolymerCAFÉ article. I sprayed adhesive on my poster board and sprinkled it with a bread crumb mixture to create a beach background. Not something you could do with fabric backdrops!

Special note for clayers: If you're taking photos of unbaked clay on a poster board background, keep in mind that the clay can leach out and leave a oily spot. Sometimes I just work quickly to avoid this. But if I'm doing time-consuming step-by-step photos, I generally opt for a flexible white plastic cutting mat. (I got mine at Wal-Mart, but these are the same idea.) Since they're pretty small, they don't work as a general use replacement for the poster board. But the clay won't leach into them... plus they're very easy to clean between shots and they're durable enough for those times when you need to demonstrate cutting with your clay blade.

3. Hands-Free Photos: Fast & Steady!
This part is primarily for those of you taking step-by-step photos. Sometimes you just have to have both hands in the shot to show exactly how to do a technique. While I occasionally had to have my husband come in and press the shutter button, I got pretty good at using the camera's timer function to handle it on my own.

The trickiest part was keeping everything in focus, since I had to quickly move into final position after pressing the shutter. I found that I needed to put the hand I wanted to focus on (the "action" hand) in its correct position while I focused the camera, then press the button with the other hand. This was slightly harder because my action hand tended to be my dominant right hand, meaning I had to press the shutter with my (somewhat shakier) left hand. And all this movement had to be arranged around a camera, a tripod, and a light box. I sometimes felt like a human pretzel, and I discarded many photos when the angles of my hands looked too unnatural. One thing that helped was finding the right height of stool. That kept me steady and in-focus... and it probably saved me some back pain, too!

4. Get it Right: Don't Count on Post-Production
A good photo editing software is worth its weight in gold. But strive for perfection while you're actually taking the photos. It's easy to think in the back of your mind that you can crop it and adjust the brightness and contrast later. But you'll be limited by what you have to work with. If you plan to crop some background thing out later, you may find that it's next-to-impossible to do without sacrificing some other important part of the photo. Not only that, but making better photos in the first place will save you a LOT of time tweaking the same little things afterwards in each photo.

Photography still isn't second nature to me. Doing it more has just made me realize how much more I need to learn. But hopefully these tips will help you in your own quest to take better photos.

Have your own tips? I'd love to hear them!

Polymer Clay 101 and Other Labors of Love

2011-06-23T13:06:24Z

If you've noticed the crickets chirping around here, it's cuz I've been cooking up something big. Er, em, something little. We're expecting our second little one towards the end of November or early December. While I've been fortunate with both pregnancies to not deal with the morning sickness so many women suffer through, I have been a tad exhausted. Hopefully now that I'm in the second trimester, that'll ease up a bit and I'll be able to find my way here more often.

While we're talking about "labors" of love, I thought I'd give you an update on what's happening with Polymer Clay 101. I'll admit I was terrified that people wouldn't like it (creative work can be so scary that way), but the reviews have been great. Just this morning, Jenny of Craft Test Dummies reviewed it and showed some of the beautiful pieces she made based on the book's instructions. We've also gotten positive reviews on Amazon, from Chica and Jo and from the Library Journal. Thanks to all of you who have helped with the good words!

And the big news in the polymer clay world is the upcoming International Polymer Clay Association (IPCA) Retreat, to be held July 13-16 near Chicago. Oh, how I wish I could be there... but we decided travelling pregnant and with a 2-year-old was a bit prohibitive. I look forward to reading lots of reports about it.

Hope you're doing well & that your lives (or at least your clay tables) are full of your own little labors of love!

Clay for the Kiddos: Bobble Buddies Review and Giveaway

2011-03-18T14:10:00Z

Several years ago, my husband and I visited Europe. We decided to do it on the cheap, so we stayed in hostels, travelled by Eurail, and carried all our belongings in our backpacks. It wasn't the most leisurely trip we've ever taken — we spent an awful lot of time cold and tired. But I'm grateful we were able to experience the things we did.

One of things we didn't really consider, though, was that our stuffed-to-the-brim backpacks would essentially prevent us from bringing home souvenirs. We had to be very cautious about anything much larger than a postcard. (As much as I wanted to bring home that giant jar of Nutella, for example, it just wasn't possible.)

The one thing I did make room for, though, was a wood-carved wine bottle stopper from a small town we visited in Switzerland. It's a little guy with a lever on his back, which, when pressed, causes him to raise his wine jug to his opening mouth. I don't have a lot of use for a wine bottle stopper, mind you. But every time I looked at him, I smiled. So I bought him. He still sits on my shelf, reminding me of our trip... and reminding me that making someone smile is a worthy goal for a maker.

Ever since then, I've been intrigued with the possibility of making moving things with polymer clay: mobiles, toys, bobble heads, etc. It's one of those ideas I'm eager to explore... but I haven't settled down and devoted my energies to it yet. So I was especially excited to see that Polyform had created a Pluffy Bobble Buddies kit, including all the supplies to make 3 bobble head figurines.

Sculpey Pluffy Bobble Buddies Kit

The box comes with the following items:

3 ounces of clay (tan, black, white, yellow, and green)
plastic needle tool
3 metal springs
6 wiggle eyes
black pipe cleaner for penguin's wings
instructions

The kit shows you how to make a penguin, a monkey, and a frog. (But they also encourage you to make your own bobble creations if you prefer.) The nicely-illustrated instructions step you through creating the individual clay shapes, pressing them together, adding the spring, and baking.

What I Liked

Has everything you need. Even though I was interested in making my own bobble head — I went as far as tracking down springs in the hardware store — I was a little worried about how to put everything together. Having the materials, clay and instructions in one box makes it simple.
Lightweight clay. One lesson I'll take away from this when I make my own bobble heads is that lightweight clay (Pluffy or Ultralight) is ideal for bobble heads. If you want something easier to sculpt, you can use the lightweight clay as the armature, covering it with Premo or another clay for the features. But the lightweight clay means you won't have to worry about the head being too heavy for the spring.
Enough supplies to make multiple creatures. The variety of clay colors means you can make the animals pictured, or you can create your own. Having multiple sets of the supplies also lets you try different things, or keep multiple kiddos entertained while working on the kit together.
Well-written (& illustrated) instructions. The instructions show to-scale photos of each clay piece, both before and after assembly.

What I Didn't Like

Wrong tool? The instructions tell me: "With pointed end of tool, poke 12.7 mm (1/2") hole in top of body. Twist spring into hole." But the spring didn't fit inside the hole. The tool was so much skinnier than the spring that poking a hole was pointless. This wasn't a big deal. I was able to twist the spring into the clay around the hole without much trouble, and my bobble head is plenty sturdy. But they should either eliminate the step where you punch a hole first, or change the size of the included tool or spring.
Non-stick eyes. The "self-adhesive" eyes didn't stick to my baked clay. Part of the problem is that I was adding flat things (eyes) to a curved surface (head). It might have worked better to press them temporarily into the raw clay to make an indention, then adhere them to that indention after baking. Or (as I did) just add a drop of handy dandy super glue. But it's something that might frustrate kids or new clayers. (Personally, I also felt like the eyes were too large. Sure, bobble heads are supposed to look like caricatures, but these seemed to go a tad overboard.)
Pipe cleaner wings. This is a personal preference thing, too, but I can't understand why they used pipe cleaners for the penguin's wings. Wings are no harder to create than a monkey's arms or a frog's legs. The pipe cleaners look cheap and ugly to me, and it seems harder than just using polymer clay. Maybe they wanted to add a little variety? I dunno, but I chose to differ from the instructions for that part and make my penguin with wings.

So... do you need a kit to make your own bobble heads? Absolutely not. They're simple to make. Springs are cheap. Buy your own supplies and assemble any old creature your heart desires out of polymer clay.

But I'd still give this kit a thumbs-up. It has everything you need to get started (no more putting off the project til you have time to go to the hardware store). And I know it helped me gain confidence in how to construct bobble heads. If you (or your kiddos) are interested in creating your own bobble heads, I'd say this is $10 well-spent.

Product Details

I discovered while writing this review that the Firefly Pluffy Bobble Buddies Kit is listed here as discontinued. But it's currently available at my Michaels for $9.99. (If it indeed is discontinued, you might check the clearance racks soon for an awesome deal.) A Google search also found a couple of online sources. The package indicates it is for kids ages 8+.

More clay for the kiddos! If you liked this post, you might also be interested in my review of the Fun Forms Piggy Bank and the Keepsake Clay Frame Kit.

Giveaway

Since this item was given to me by Polyform, I wanted to share some of that generosity with you. While I had to open the box and use some of the supplies in order to do a thorough review, I tried to leave this kit as intact as possible so one of my readers could also enjoy it. Here's what I'm offering:

Prize: Sculpey Pluffy Bobble Buddies kit (opened). This kit is missing 1 spring and 1 set of eyes. It includes all of the clay packets, unopened (I used my own Pluffy clay for the review), the clay tool, and the instructions. The winner will be able to make any two of the three animals on the box, plus use the instructions as a guide to make lots of bobbles in the future.

How to enter: Leave your name and email address in the Bobble Buddies Giveaway entry box below (not the blog comment form). These are the rules:

Only United States residents 18 years of age and older may enter.
Limit one entry per IP address, please.
The giveaway starts on Friday, March 18, 2011, at 9:00 a.m. and ends Wednesday, March 23, 2011, at 11:55 p.m.

I will email the randomly-selected winner to verify eligibility and get shipping info for the prize. Once it's all official, I'll announce the winner here. Good luck!

Reviewed Materials Source / Disclaimer: The Sculpey Pluffy Bobble Buddies kit was provided by the manufacturer, Polyform Products, for review purposes. No further compensation was received. I always strive to be honest and unbiased in my reviews, but your results with this product may vary.

Clay for the Kiddos: Sculpey Keepsake Clay Frame Kit Review

2011-02-25T07:45:00Z

Sam celebrated his second birthday a couple of weeks ago. The occasional tantrum and two-year-old stubborn streak aside, we're having a great time. As he grows and develops his own personality, we find ourselves enjoying him more and more.

But I've gotta admit something.

If you looked at his baby book, you'd think he was still 3 months old. That is, if you could find his baby book. I know generally which closet it's in... but I haven't actually seen it since, well, who knows when.

I know I should be keeping track of the important things... and I do have various notes and photos. They're just spread out on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, and a couple of different hard drives. I've always had a mental block against scrapbooking — I think because I hate to commit my memories to embellishment & paper styles that will so quickly look outdated. I just assumed that some maternal instinct would take over and I'd become queen of the baby book. But that hasn't happened.

So I was kind of proud of myself for remembering to buy (and use!) the Sculpey Keepsake Clay Frame Kit on Sam's 2nd birthday. By golly, we may not know what happened between months 3 and 24, but we do have his 2-year-old hand prints preserved for all time. I'm hoping that counts for something.

Maternal pride (such as it is) aside, I wanted to share my thoughts on this kit for any of you who might be considering using it with your little ones.

Sculpey Keepsake Clay Oven-Bake Clay and Frame Set

The box comes with the following:

4.5 ounces of white clay
plastic clay roller
plastic pointy modeling tool
metal hinged double frame
white photo mat (fits a 4"×6" or 5"×7" photo)
clear plastic pane to protect the photo and mat

It also includes these two things that I didn't include in my photo:

the instructions, which are printed on the inside of the box
... and a perforated cardboard spacer sheet to make the photo fit snugly in the frame. Apparently. (More on that below.)

I set Sam up in his art area and gave him a little ball of the clay to play with while I kneaded and rolled out the clay sheet for the frame. Sam's not big on getting his hands dirty (we have to use paintbrushes with our fingerpaints), so I hoped he'd try out the clay first, making him more receptive to the hand print part.

The instructions say to start with clean hands and knead the clay for 2 minutes. When I'm reviewing things that are intended for clay newbies, I try to follow the directions fairly closely. So even though this was kind of a large block of clay to knead all at once, that's what I did. Then I used the included roller to roll out the clay until it filled the frame. I'm accustomed to using a pasta machine to roll clay out, so I didn't like having to do this the hard way. (Clayers could probably stack 2-3 sheets rolled out at the thickest setting to get the right thickness... but again, I was trying to use the kit the way someone new to clay would.) I think the size of the plastic roller made this process more difficult than it needed to be. If they had included a larger roller — heavier or wider, or even just longer than the frame so I wasn't having to make multiple passes — it might have been easier to get the clay completely level and even with the top of the frame.

After I had a fairly level sheet of clay, I brought it over to Sam. I noticed he'd completely ignored the clay ball, opting instead to color with his crayons. I tried explaining what we were doing and demonstrating by pressing my hand into the extra clay, but he was very reluctant. When we tried the first hand print, he pulled his hand away as soon as things got squishy. Not a good impression at all. He let me try with the second hand, though, and then he decided it wasn't so bad. Still, I wasn't thrilled with the results, so I rolled the clay out again. He didn't mind the clay the second time around, but I still wasn't happy with the impression. I tried pressing his hand down harder, but I started to worry I was going to hurt him. The flawless, deep impressions from the beauty shot on the box just weren't happening for us. In fact, the only reason the hand prints show up as much as they do is that the instructions forgot to mention (and I didn't think of it until too late) that I needed to clean his hands, too. Think how hard it is to keep white clay clean anyway. Now think how dirty little boys' hands get. Yeah, kind of a mess.

I almost broke my "use what's in the box" review rule to pull out some of my stamps for the name and age. I kinda wish I had. Instead, I used the modeling tool they included, and I wasn't thrilled with the amateurish look that gave. But at the point where you've rolled out the clay and gotten a 2-year-old to cooperate with hand prints multiple times, you're not just about to start again just so you can re-write the name and age!

Baking was a piece of cake (sorry!), as was the assembly. The only thing I didn't care for was the next-to-last step where they told me to carefully remove the perforated cardboard spacer sheet from the cardboard package insert. Apparently part of that utilitarian-looking cardboard packaging I threw away was a spacer essential to getting my photo to fit snugly in the frame. Partially my fault, sure. And I've got other things that'll work as spacers. But it would have been nice if they'd made it a little more obvious I was supposed to keep that piece.

What I Liked

Convenience. A parent or grandparent with no prior clay experience could buy this kit and have everything they need. Clayers who already have the tools may be interested, too, since it includes a very nice double-sided frame, mat, pane, and the clay. Sure, you could buy the supplies separately to put together your own project, but it can be nice to have everything you need in one box. (On the other hand, you do pay for the convenience of having everything you need in one box. While $20 may not be outrageous, you'll definitely want to use one of those handy-dandy 40% off coupons.)
Well-written Instructions. I felt like Polyform did a good job on the included instructions and illustrations.

What I Didn't Like

The Roller. Including a larger or heftier roller — or even just suggesting folks use the side of a big empty jar instead — probably would have made the rolling-out process easier.
The Results. I didn't feel like the clay took a good hand impression. I thought maybe I would have some clay on hand that would work just as well, but even my UltraLight was firmer than the included clay. Maybe they just need to give us tips on getting better impressions — perhaps a certain position to have the kid hold their hands? I also wasn't crazy about the way my hand-carved name and age looked. I'm sure it wouldn't be cost-effective to include letter and number stamps in the box. But maybe include nice labels to stick onto (or slide into) the frame? Or a polymer-compatible pen to write on the clay? Or maybe even just some tips on how to best use their modeling tool to write on clay...?

Overall, I'm glad I bought the kit. I'm not entirely happy with the results — in fact, I'm still tempted to pry the clay out of the frame and try again (definitely wouldn't do the hand-carved name this time around). But even just like this, it looks pretty nice. And it makes me feel slightly less bad about all those empty pages in Sam's baby book. :-)

Product Details

The Sculpey Keepsake Clay Oven-Bake Clay and Frame Set is available for $20 at Michaels. It comes in White (reviewed here), Pale Pink, and Pale Blue. Other products in the Keepsake Clay line include the Handprint Ornament Kit, Pawprint Ornament Kit, Family Tree, and Zoo Growth Chart.

More clay for the kiddos! If you liked this post, you might also be interested in my review of the Fun Forms Piggy Bank and the Bobble Buddies (coming soon).

Reviewed Materials Source / Disclaimer: I purchased the Sculpey Keepsake Clay Frame Set for personal and review purposes. No compensation was received. I always strive to be honest and unbiased in my reviews, but your results with this product may vary.

Clay Yourself!

2011-02-22T04:25:00Z

Some of you have probably already seen this site. It's part of a promotion by Hotels.com, where they let you create a claymation-style avatar of yourself. (There's even a contest where you can win hotel stays, trips, etc.)

Course, I'm blogging about it because using their little widget can be a helpful exercise for a clayer. As you play with it, consider how the changes in the position of the eyes, eyebrows, nose, and mouth affect the character of the figure. Think about how you might make some of the features in polymer clay. If you're feeling ambitious, recreate your avatar using polymer clay. Then use the widget to make 5 other interesting characters (try the "randomize" feature), and recreate those in clay, too.

What a fun way to practice making faces! :-)

Book Signing Tomorrow

2011-02-18T07:20:00Z

I just wanted to let my local readers know that I'm doing a book signing to promote Polymer Clay 101 tomorrow (Saturday, February 19th) from 3-5 p.m. at Full Circle Bookstore in Oklahoma City. This is part of their monthly New Ink Author Expo, where they highlight all the local authors who have new books.

This is a pretty casual event, so even if you already have the book, you can stop to chat or send along family or friends who might be interested in learning about polymer clay (or about the other local authors!). Folks can browse through the book and ask questions, plus they can see some of the actual projects I created for the book. The books will be available to purchase from the bookstore.

Full Circle Bookstore is on the first level of 50 Penn Place, which is at the corner of NW Expressway and Penn in Oklahoma City.

Hope to see ya there!

Quick Tip: Signing Your Polymer Clay Pieces

2011-02-17T19:15:00Z

The baking (and maybe even sanding & buffing!) is all done. You've finished a polymer clay masterpiece, and you're proud of it. But how do you put that final mark on it to show you made it?

There are lots of options for signing your work. Some artists use a polymer clay-compatible pen or marker (try Krylon or Prismacolor) and sign their actual name. Others use initials, a business logo or another unique symbol.

Another easy and nice-looking option is to use a stamp. Custom rubber stamps are available from a variety of sources, but I've found address stamps to be the right size and a good price. And they're very flexible in their uses. You can use them before or after baking, with or without ink. (Here's more tips on stamping polymer clay.)

I originally just used my normal mailing address stamp on unbaked clay, positioning the stamp close enough to the edge of the clay piece so it would impress only the top line (my name) and not the address lines. But I've since bought a stamp that only has my name. I purchased both stamps from VistaPrint, who offers a basic rubber stamp for "free" (you pay about $6 in shipping/handling charge). In addition to the free basic stamps, VistaPrint has the option of uploading artwork, signatures, etc. for address and signature stamps that start at $9. They send a plastic stamp casing if you want to assemble it, but I keep my name stamp unmounted and trim it down to a very small size for easy positioning on the clay.

Of course, I have to admit that I don't always remember to sign my work. Until recently, it just never occurred to me. Do you sign your work? How?

Clay for the Kiddos: Fun Forms Piggy Bank Review

2011-02-16T08:20:00Z

A couple of posts back, I shared my thoughts on Pluffy Clay — a clay that's marketed for kids but also has some potential uses in a clayer's studio. Now I want to talk about a couple of Polyform's other "for kids" products. I'm reviewing them from a clayer's perspective — things I think they do well or could improve on. Since my little one's not quite old enough to help me review these, I'm having to guess about what the kiddos would and wouldn't like. If you've tried any of these products with your own kids or grandkids, I hope you'll add your experiences in the comments.

Fun Forms Piggy Bank

As I mentioned in my previous review, the Pluffy clay I tried was part of the Firefly Pluffy Fun Forms Piggy Bank Polyform sent me a while back. Unfortunately I got caught up in book-related things and didn't review this kit when I should have — and it's possible they've discontinued it in the meantime. (It is no longer listed on Polyform's site.) It's still available in my Michael's, though, so check on the clay aisle there if you're interested.

The kit creates either a cow or pig "piggy bank." I'd considered making a polyclay-covered piggy bank before, but had a little trouble finding a form to cover. So this seemed ideal. The kit comes with the form, four colors of clay (pink, black, white, and light blue), a roller, and a kid-friendly tool.

What I Liked

The form is made from some sort of oven-safe plastic-ish material. It's a light pink — the base color of the cow or pig — so you don't need to cover it with a base layer of clay. Covering the base is generally the hardest part of a project — and the least artistically satisfying — so it's nice that the kit lets you skip that.
The head of the form is re-positionable up until you bake it... so you can make your pig look to the side if you want.
The instructions have illustrations showing the size of each clay piece you're supposed to add to the form.

What I Didn't Like

With just four colors of clay, your options for embellishment are a little limited. I'd also like to see some alternate photos that give ideas for creative embellishments — perhaps a striped pig or a cow with flowers instead of spots.
The beauty shot on the box doesn't use the form that's included. Maybe I'm just being picky, but it kinda made me mad. The beauty shot uses a pig with short squat-y legs and a larger head. He's cute. The form has longer, skinnier legs and a (too-)small head. Here's what I think happened: They originally intended the kit to be just a pig (like the horse, dog, teddy bear, etc. kits in the series). They made the original beauty samples for the box based on that. Then someone said, hey, we could make the pig into a piggy bank. They discovered the squatty legs wouldn't allow for the coin plug in bottom, so they adjusted the form's shape. But they never went back and updated the box. This all matters because, if I'm a kid and I'm following their exact instructions (making the eyes and ears the same exact size as the illustrations), then I want my pig to look just like the one on the box. And that won't happen, because the box photo is wrong. Not nice. (Okay, rant over.)
The clay sticks to my fingers, but it doesn't stick to the things it's supposed to stick to. Like the other clay. Or the pig form. The pig form seems to chemically bond to the clay during baking, so you don't need glue to get pieces to stick. But this doesn't help before baking. I kept making the perfect round little clay spots for my pig, then when I tried pressing them on, they would stick to my finger and distort. The only thing that helped was dusting my fingertip with cornstarch before pushing the spots onto the pig. That, and using larger and thicker clay pieces instead of the small delicate pieces that were more prone to sticking to my fingers.

Overall, though, I had a cute enough little pig when I finished. Sam's a budding Toy Story fan, so he was excited that mommy had made a "Ham." After baking the pig and taking the photo, I decided to let Sam give it a "durability test." It survived a good 2 hours, complete with lots of falls to the floor, before its little tail broke off at the base. That was a thin piece of curled clay, with very little contact to the pig form. The ears that had more contact with the form survived the falls just fine. I consider anything fairly durable that can hold up to a 2-year-old boy's rough treatment!

Product Details

The Firefly Pluffy Fun Forms Piggy Bank sells at Michaels for $9.99. The package indicates it is for kids ages 8+. Other kits in the Fun Forms series include Horse/Zebra, Funky Creature, Dog/Lion, and Bear.

Stay tuned for a couple more reviews in this series, including the Bobble Buddies and Keepsake Clay Frame Kit... and a giveaway!

Reviewed Materials Source / Disclaimer: The Firefly Pluffy Fun Forms Piggy Bank kit was provided by the manufacturer, Polyform Products, for review purposes. No further compensation was received. I always strive to be honest and unbiased in my reviews, but your results with this product may vary.

Social Media Notes

2011-02-02T07:15:00Z

Three quick social-media related updates:

If you're on Facebook or Twitter, you can get a free bonus chapter from Polymer Clay 101 just by tweeting or posting a status message. (I'm using a very handy new service called Pay with a Tweet to do this.) The download will show you how to make faux polymer clay pebbles and use them to cover a light switch plate.
Speaking of Facebook, I (finally) started a Facebook page — feel free to "like" it. (You can find links to my other online presences here.)
I recently set my blog up with Flattr, a site that allows users to give and receive micropayments for useful online content. Look for the Flattr button at the bottom of each blog post.

We got close to a foot of snow when the big storm passed through, so I'm hiding inside with chai tea, crock-pot yummies, and a blanket in every room. Hope you're staying warm wherever you are!

Polyform Color Recipes & Pluffy Clay Review

2011-01-28T19:50:00Z

I was happy to see that Polyform posted color recipes for their discontinued Studio by Sculpey (PDF) and Premo (PDF) colors. To be perfectly honest, it bugged me that Polyform's changes meant my book was outdated even before it came out. I've been eagerly awaiting these color recipes so I could at least update the errata page on the book website.

One thing I found really interesting is that the Studio by Sculpey color recipes recommend using a mixture of Polyform's Pluffy clay and Premo to recreate the texture of the Studio by Sculpey clay. The ratios vary — it's usually about a 50/50 mixture, but they sometimes use more of one brand or the other depending on the color they're trying to create.

I'd kind of ignored Pluffy clay since it was marketed for kids, but I figured it was high time I gave it a try.

Pluffy Clay

I'd always thought Studio by Sculpey was kinda like a mixture of Sculpey UltraLight (a lightweight clay available only in white) and Premo, so the color recipe thing made me wonder if Pluffy is just colored UltraLight.

I think the answer is yes.

For one thing, check out these similarities in the marketing write-ups for the two clays:

UltraLight: "bakes so hard that it won’t crack or break, even in larger pieces. However, UltraLight remains flexible when rolled thin. This versatile new product even floats."
Pluffy: "thick pieces bake so hard that they won’t crack or break, even in larger pieces. Thinner baked pieces are durable and flexible. AND after baking PLUFFY even floats."

After playing with both clays, I'm even more convinced they're the same. Both clays have that same soft marshmallow-y feel. They both stick to your fingers as you work. Both react poorly to water. (To avoid problems, try baby powder instead of water if you need a mold or texture release.) Both bake to be durable, but lightweight, with a nicely-textured finish. Once baked, these clays readily absorb paints and inks that seem to just sit on the surface of clays like Premo.

I've always had kind of mixed feelings about UltraLight. It definitely has its pros — which now extend to Pluffy, too:

It's a good lightweight armature.
It seems to hold its shape in the oven without as much need for support as Premo.
It's an economical option for large pieces. (The lightweight factor makes it difficult to do a direct price comparison to Premo, but I'm pretty sure it works out to be cheaper than non-sale clay prices, especially since you can use a 40% off coupon to buy a larger amount.)
It works great as a mixer. I've often mixed UltraLight with Premo to get a workable clay that has a less plastic-y, more natural-textured finish (makes a great faux leather). I've also mixed it with clay softener to get a spreadable clay grout for mosaics.
And if you happen to need something that floats, UltraLight is your clay.

All that said, I don't like UltraLight (or now Pluffy) by itself:

It gets too sticky as you work with it. I don't know if this is because of the warmth or the moisture from your hands, but once it starts sticking to your fingers, it becomes impossible to deal with.
The extreme softness that makes Pluffy kid-friendly means it's hard to get it to hold any detail. One inadvertant brush with the side of your hand, and your piece is smooshed. Try to push it out of a mold, and you get major distortion. Thin sheets may pull and distort when you use a knife to cut them. Even moving a piece from a work surface to a baking surface without stretching or marring it can be difficult.

Still, I'm glad to know about the Pluffy option. I've thought more than once that other colors of UltraLight would be useful — especially black or bold colors that would be impossible to mix. I can see using this for armatures, mosaic grout, and paper crafts, among other things. It definitely has a place in the clayer's studio.

I just wonder this: if Pluffy is essentially colored UltraLight, why doesn't Polyform get the word out to crafters that that's what it is...?

Additional Product Details

Pluffy Clay is available in the following colors: Red, Black, White, Green, Pink, Blue, Yellow, Orange, Brown, Gray, Beige, Lime Green, Aqua, Hot Pink, Dark Purple, and Glow in the Dark. Michaels sells 4 oz packages for $3.99 (compare to 10 oz of UltraLight for $9.99). You can also buy starter packs (available in primary, pastel, or tropical) that have smaller packages of seven different colors of clay.

Reviewed Materials Source / Disclaimer: The Pluffy clay used for this review was part of a Firefly Pluffy Fun Forms Piggy Bank kit (to be reviewed in a later post) provided to me by Polyform Products. No further compensation was received. I always strive to be honest and unbiased in my reviews, but your results with this product may vary.