Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Art Fire and Thanksgiving

I have been awfully busy lately, you see I have decided after a long time to sign up with art fire. I still will list on Etsy of course, but art fire has a lot of things Etsy does not. For example, art fire gives you tools for stats. Right now they are running a promotion that if you get ten people refered to the site you get unlimited listing for free. This is normally $20.00 per month, which right now is $7.00 per month for a different promotion.

I'm really excited, and hey if you are interested in art fire feel free to use my refer link. Yes a little shameless promoting haha! ;)

My referal link:

Register on ArtFire.com



I wanted to let everyone know that I will be busy this coming weekend with Thanksgiving and all. I did get my first custom order from my Husbands work too. I am making a custom black bear family Christmas tree ornament, so excited. :)


Happy Thanksgiving, and I shall be back on Monday with new tutorials, techniques, and lots of giggles.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Featured Etsy Seller: 1337art

I've been busy this week learning how to sculpt dragons. Hopefully I will be able to show you all a picture of my first dragon. Right now she, my hubby decided it's a girl dragon, is at my Husband's work climbing up his cubical wall.

Actually the subject of dragons does bring me to 1337art's shop, I'll explain later haha. :)


Who Did I Discover:


A shop with a variety of items with the motto: "Elite art for those elite at heart." This shop includes jewelry, men accessories, hair accessories, key chains, and bookmarks in it's inventory.


Who Is 1337art?


1337art or rather leetart meaning elite art is a female from Washington. She is also a licensed business as I'm sure many people on Etsy are.

You can fine 1337 shop by clicking here.

My Top Picks are:

1) With such a variety in 1337art's shop it was difficult to narrow it down to three, but I did. My first pick are these very pretty magnets called Flaming magnets.



I am partial to red and black, so these did grab my attention right away. Plus they magnets are very handy in my house. :)


2) Next up would be dogs and bones pewter bookmark. The pet lover in me couldn't resist. ;)



I do not have a dog myself, these are still just so cute! I am also warming up to pewter, good combination here.


3) My most favorite item from 1337art's shop is well, remember how I said that dragons brought me to 1337art's shop? Here is, dragon whisper masculine necklace:




Okay so this necklace is in the "men accessories" section, but I would buy it in a second if I could myself. ;) I love the detailing of the dragon, as well as the fact that it's pewter. Gives it more of an aged look.


1337art's Advice To Beginners:


" Start out small and learn from your mistakes. Experiment with techniques and materials until you find out where your niche is...never give up; we're in a competitive market. "


My Final Words:


1337art's shop has a variety of different items for both men and women. I believe that's an important quality in a shop to gear towards different people. Also I do like her pewter. I hope you enjoyed this feature! :)

Saturday, November 15, 2008

BTB: Which Polymer Clay Type is Better?

I have decided to start up a new series of posts called "BTB" or rather Back To Basics. These posts are not just for beginners, they may have valid information for more experienced polymer clay workers too! ;)

To Discuss:

Today I thought I would touch upon a very important question that most ask when researching polymer clay. This question would be "Which Polymer Clay Type is Better?" I know this was a question I had, that required a lot of independent experimenting by myself. I do believe that experimentation is a good thing; however, saving money on not buying all the types of polymer clay is also good. :P

Types of Polymer Clay:

There are many types of polymer clay and it is important to know their names, before you just grab the first one on the shelf at the local craft store. ;) Below are pictures, as well as titles to different types of polymer clay.



(The above picture is not mine! It belongs to "Garies Shop," a link is found under the tests section :) )

From the picture above you can see several types of polymer clay, most of these are the more popular brand names that you will see in common craft stores. The exceptions being Cernit and Kato, I have only seen them in Hobby Lobby once.

Under some of the brand names there are several different sub-categories, for lack of a better word, of polymer clay. Below I have organized them under the brand name.

Fimo:

1) Fimo Classic: This was the first of polymer clays to hit the market
2) Fimo Soft: Softer then classic, formula changed.
3) Fimo Effects: These usually include glitter, and metallic effects built into the clay.

4) Fimo Puppin: This was made specifically with doll makers in mind. It comes in several "skin colors."

5) Fimo Decorating Gel: This is actually Fimo liquid clay. It is transparent, and good for transferring as well.


Sculpey:

1) Studio by Sculpey: Has lots of colors for decorating.
2) Sculpey III: Very soft, made for sculpting
3) Premo Sculpey: Lots of colors and different effects to be made.
4) Sculpey Liquid Clay: Transparent in nature, can be used like Fimo's liquid clay.


The Tests:

Now that you know most of the polymer clay types out there, I can now show you some tests that have been performed by fellow polymer clay workers. :) These are all unscientific tests, meaning not done in a lab; however, very informative! Below I will summarize, as well as link, to different tests that have been done.

1) The first set of tests are from "Garies Shop." They did a test on flexibility, and strength by stetching the clay with a weighted scale. They also bent each cured peice of clay 140 times, unless it broke before 140 times were up.

Garies Shop Results:

"After the above tests, the contender is Cernit Polymer Clay, next Kato Polymer Clay, then Sculpey Studio, Fimo Classic, Sculpey Firm, Fimo Soft, Sculpey Premo, Super Sculpey and Sculpey III."

Here is the website to their test:
http://www.garieinternational.com.sg/clay/shop/tension_test.htm


2) The next test I found on gigagraphica's site. There tests were on conditioning time, needle poke, finger pressure, and the noodle. The noodle test consisted of making each type of polymer clay into long "noodles" then curing them. After curing each noodle was then bent, and stretched to determine flexibility. ;)



The picture above is from gigagraphica's site, and shows the noodle test. :)


Gigagraphica's Results:

"Cernit was the most flexible after curing. It bent and stretched quite a bit without breaking.
Durability rating: very good

Fimo Soft was extremely durable after curing. It was flexible, not breaking when bent, but finally breaking when stretched. Durability rating: excellent

Premo was durable and flexible after curing. It flexed without breaking, and stretched a bit
before breaking. Durability rating: good to very good

Sculpey III was not durable after curing. It was brittle, crumbly, and stiff, and took very little bending to break. Did not stretch at all without breaking. Durability rating: poor

Super Sculpey was somewhat flexible but broke and crumbled when tested with mild abuse. Durability rating: fair to poor"


Test Link: http://www.gigagraphica.com/poly/polyclay.html


My Final Words:

I have to say that these tests are amazing to look at and I wish I had thought to look online to find them before I started experimenting. Really each test is to be taken with a grain of salt; however, I find them to have lots of information. These tests can help one to make a final decision, but that decision in the end is still yours to make. :)

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Technique Time: Inclusions

Inclusions are very fun to work with when it comes to polymer clay. I will only be showing just a small sample of what materials one can use, be creative and experiment. ;)

What Are Inclusions:

For polymer clay inclusions are materials that you can put into the clay, and then bake. These materials may change the texture, color, or simply the look of the polymer clay. Some inclusions include glitter, mica powders, sand, shells, glass, foils, and much more.

Why Should I use Inclusions:

Inclusions can be used for varies looks including for making faux materials. It can give your polymer clay a more diverse look, not to mention it's a whole lot of fun!

How Do I Use Inclusions:

I am actually going to discuss a few of my favorite inclusions that I use in my polymer clay items. I often mix and match these materials to get great results. :)

1) Glitter:

A. Glitter can be used in two ways one is to have heat resistant glitter and simply mix it into the clay, then bake. The glitter should also be ultra fine, as the picture below shows.




B. The second way of using glitter is to use transparent liquid clay. First you put on the transparent liquid clay, I use fimo liquid, covering all areas you will be putting glitter on. Then you simply mix the glitter into the liquid clay. Since the liquid clay is transparent, you can really see the glitter sparkle! You may wish to mix it in with a Popsicle stick as well, it can get sticky.

Here we have a plain sheet of transparent clay:



Now to compare is the sheet of transparent clay with glitter and transparent liquid clay. Love that sparkle:




2) Mica Powders:

Mica powders are very fine particles that can be baked directly into the clay. I love using Pearl-X mica powders.




Tip: One will want to wear a mask so you do not breath in the fine particles, as it can get into your lungs. Also, you may want to work with it away from children and animals.
This material can be used in the same way glitter is, either into clay or used with transparent liquid clay. In the pendant below I used both techniques with different colored mica powders.



The blue and green clay is actually mica powders mixed into transparent clay, while the silver-ish colored dots is mica powder mixed with transparent liquid clay. Mica powders mixed with liquid clay can give it a glass like look.


3) Foils:

Foils can be put into clay, as well as be used as on top of clay. When it is in clay it is considered an inclusion. The foils I use are "John Tones." In the pendant below I used colored foil with transparent clay.




This pendant actually includes all of the inclusions I have mentioned in this post to give the look of faux dichroic glass. :) The purple lines, and white teardrop shapes is the foil.

Question to answer: Can you find the rest of the inclusions in my faux dichroic glass pendant?

If you need more pictures of this pendant it is listed here:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=16939092

My Final Words:

There are many more inclusions to experiment with, I'm sure I haven't even found them all. Some of them do get a little messy, and soon your work space will be colorful and sparkly with glitters and the like. ;)