PCAGOE

I'm a Proud member of the Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy

Monday, April 30, 2012

I'm home and the surgery went well this morning. For those of you who didn't know I had my gallbladder removed today. I'll be taking some time to recover and will post when I can. I did manage to figure out my camera for the video tutorials while I was up last night so something good came from being nervous about the procedure. I should be back on my feet in no time but for now a pain pill is calling me. Have a beautiful day!

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Ultra Solvy on Clay

I just found the most awesome way to get something on a piece of clay. Some of you might already have tried this but for me it's a new concept. I had some left over ultra solvy from my sewing days and thought I'd give it a try on clay. Yeah! It works like a charm. Draw something on paper and place the ultra solvy over it and trace with a black permanent marker. Lift it off the original drawing and press it into the clay with the marker side down. Then soak the clay in water (warm water works best) until the paper dissolves and you'll have a perfect transfer to work with. I'm making a key and earring set using this method and will post some pictures when it's done today. Oh happy day, I've found another way to use an image with clay!





Here's the Key I made using this technique. Not too bad for a first attempt. I used the top portion of the key drawing to make the earrings. Super simple!


Follow me on facebook

Saturday, April 28, 2012

It's a New Day and a New Blog

I'm on the move today. Packed up and shipped out from Wordpress and over to Blogspot. I was having so much trouble with my blog over there and finally decided to take the leap and switch. I already know it was the right decision for me and I'm happy I did it. I'll be having surgery on Monday morning and will be laid up for a bit with nothing to do but work on this one.

My plan for this blog will be to share with you all my new creations,exciting news about upcoming events and to inspire you with tutorials using polymer clay. I was one of those people that had never picked up a ball of clay a few months ago and wasn't sure I could even do anything with it.

My good friend Brenda Sue Lansdown from Bsue Boutiques got me started with one of her monthly challenges and a new love was found. I had no idea when I started that I could sculpt clay. So glad I found it! I love it and hope you'll come along on this journey with me as I learn more and more and share it all with you.

Here's a little video I made of some of my work that will be going into the Raw Artist showcase in Portland Oregon in May. I'll blog about that exciting news soon.

I've always been passionate about animals and flowers and used to do oil pastel paintings and cake decorating, so I guess you could say it's a natural progression for me with clay. I'm still learning and probably always will be. This darn video camera is my nemesis now as I would love to get some videos done so you can see that you too can sculpt with clay. I've got the Youtube channel all ready and the instructions for the camera at my side and ready to read. Wish me luck on this new venture into teaching and please be patient with me as I go along at first.

Tamara

Friday, April 27, 2012

How to make a Polymer Clay Sand Dollar

Hello and welcome to my little studio here at Irrysistable Jewels :)
I’m working on a new polymer clay necklace to add to my Etsy store and thought I’d take a breather and teach you how to make a Sand Dollar out of clay. It’s easy and anyone can do it! Nothing in nature is identical so only happy accidents can happen, therefore you can do this one without fear.
First you’ll need some polymer clay. I personally use sculpey but any clay would work. I’ll be exploring the different kinds of polymer in the near future. Make sure your clay is well conditioned and ready by working it in the palms of your hands until it is soft and malleable.
As far as tools go, you can use whatever works best for you. I started out with only a pocket knife and a toothpick but my dear Husband bought me some carving tools for Christmas, so I have graduated to using those now. I’m a firm believer in using whatever you can find that will give you the effect that you’re looking for though and have used some pretty unconventional items in my creations.
Pinch off enough clay to form the size of Sand Dollar you’re thinking of and form that into a small ball. Create one more small ball  and flatten both out until they are pretty close to the same size. Don’t worry about the edges at this point. No need for a perfect circle here.
Now with whatever you chose for a tool, I am using a clay stylus here, create the little star flower shape on the top of one of the circles. Usually there are five petals and smaller petals inside those, but this is your Sand Dollar so be creative here if you’d like. I created little dots in the center of mine with the stylus.

carve the 5 petal design into the the clay but not all the way through, just enough to indent it
Now take the Sand Dollar you just marked and dome the underside a little. You can do this with just your finger. Just a small dome though as Sand Dollars are not flat and not extremely puffy either.

Use either your finger tip or a ball stylus to gently dome the clay you just carved
Attach the other flattened circle to the bottom of the domed piece and carefully pinch the seams together until the seams disappear.

pinch the seams gently until they disappear, your dome will flatten a bitcut out the holes through both layers carefully trying not to disturb the imprints
Very carefully, with a razor blade or sharp pick, cutout the holes through both layers. A little tricky to do without messing up the top but just be gentle with it and you’ll have a gorgeous Sand Dollar. At this point, you could add anything you’d like to the top, like stones or crystals. Make an indention as big as the stone and glue the stone in after the baking process or leave the stone in place and anchor it with more clay. Either way works, but I find that taking the stone out and glueing it back into place shows more of the gem and it’s my preference.
I’m not sure how most people go

Add paint,glitter or indentations for stones. Whatever you want at this point, it is Your Sand Dollar and should reflect your own personal style
about this next phase but personally I like to paint my pieces before I bake them. At this stage  you can add some glitter,paint or more texture. I added some pearl paint, a little copper glitter and a slight dusting of peach powder to this one. When you’re happy with the outcome, pop it in the oven on 275 degrees(if you are using sculpey clay, check the type of clay for the instructions on baking what you are using as all are a little different) for about 35 minutes.
I will typically add more details to mine after it’s taken out of the oven until I get the desired effect and then cook it again. I like to seal my pieces with a clay sealant before I add any embellishments like gems, or stones.  Let your piece dry and set before adding it to any jewelry components. I am so impatient, I had to learn this the hard way!
I’d love to see your  finished Sand Dollars. I’m hoping to do many more this year and I promise I’ll get better at them. Maybe I will learn to do a video as well in the near future. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and have fun making your own Sand Dollar. I’ll post my finished necklace as soon as it’s finished so you can see how I used my sand dollar in Jewelry.