21.4.09 Polymer Clay Mezuzah

I found the instructions for the canes in the book:

"Créer ses bijoux en pâte polymère" de Edith Maccotta Soffiati, Lecon 15 - Les Canes Cervelle, p.33.
I made the Mezuzah in August 2008, but only now had the opportunity to bake it. It was supposed to be a present for the Binder Family, but I gave up since the result was not ai ai ai and I take it more as an exercise/practice than a creation I feel comfort to give.
I like the central "ש" on the front side, that accidently appears while working on the cane.

20.4.09 "Lovely Little Lamb"

My version to the "Lovely Little Lamb" by Christi Friesen (Bead & Button, June 2008, Issue 85, pp.98-100).

12.4.08 My first polymer clay jewel - "The red kiwi necklace for Rony"

For my friend's birthday (11.4), I spent part of last night making this necklace. I learned so much during the work, which is not clean and there is still much to learn and improve, but yet it was very fun.

I based myself on the excellent french book "Créer ses bijoux en pâte polymère" (Édith Maccotta-Soffiati). I tried the "Collier Kiwi" project (p.42-44) and ended up with this version.

I also found a use for those coral beads I got from Frida. Now I need to think what should I do with all these polymer clay leftovers...

6.4.08 Finally, a positive experience with polymer clay :-)

I think that today I really overcame my rational. I succeeded to make plenty of mistakes and experiencing new techniques for the first time, without discouraging myself and even enjoying the process of creation which lead me to somewhere unknown.
This time, I baked the mixed polymer clay (Fimo & Premo) for 30mn in my old oven on level #3-#4. I discovered that if I let it cool after baking it doesn't break :)

For the first time,
- I used the pasta machine and discovered through Omer that you can condition the clay by passing it through the machine several times
- I did a degradation of 2 colours
- I did a millefiori cane in several sizes
- I made beads with the millefori slices
- I succeeded baking the clay in the oven
- I understood that my white "Fimo Effect" is in fact not white but transparent

You will laugh if you see where I took the idea from:

http://cristalline.blogspot.com/2008/03/1.html "Tuto petites fleurs en degrade 2" - Cristalline has great tutos, by the way...

But anyway, I am quite glad with the final result. I am sure that in few days, months and years I will be very critical about it, but for my first time - I feel it's a nice trial.

Where are Txin-Txin and Veronique Erramuzpe?

I am looking for 2 artists on the net:

1- I don''t know her name but her nick is Txin-Txin - she is a very talented and nice young girl expertising in jewelry and accessories from resin mainly
2 -Veronique Erramuzpe - an amazing cardboard furniture artist


Txin-Txin

She does beautiful jewelry from Resin. I bought from her a necklace before I knew anything about beads and I haven't stop appreciating it.
I can see she is mentioned in the following links - but I found no site nor blog. As we say in hebrew "Haval" (=it's ashame).
http://www.lecloitre.org/Txin%20txin.html
http://korazon.over-blog.com/article-17354847.html
http://korazon.over-blog.com/article-14292151.html

Véronique Erramuzpe

I took this picture during an extraordinary artfairy in Bayonne (France), about 2 years ago, on the 12.7.2006.
When I saw the sight you can look at in the pictures below, I decided I MUST learn how to do cardboard furniture. I met Veronique in her small shop and I asked her if she was giving workshops. She told me she was planning to. I asked if she had a site and the answer was negative. Since I had to leave Bayonne at that time and I have few days in Paris, I managed to find the last copy of a french book on cardboard furniture:
"Meubles et objets en carton by Michèle Papin"
This is how in August 2006, when Omer was in Lebanon, I started to learn how to make for him a "chevet"
http://judith27k.blogspot.com/2007/03/vine-chevet-for-omer.html

Now, it's been a year I didn't touch the cardboard.
Since that meeting with Veronique, every now and then I am checking the net to see if maybe she has changed her mind and opened a site or blog. Each time - I am disappointed to discover that she hasn't. She is doing such beautiful things that are giving such positive feelings and inspiration - that I wish I could see her creations more often on the net...

LoloMosquito

I discovered this blog today while looking for Txin-txin and Veronique Erramuzpe. She is from the same region in France.
Lolomosquito is doing magnificent candy jewelry - I would buy them all!!! :=)
I admire her compositions and colours
I recommend you to visit her site and/or blog:
http://www.lolomosquito.com/

http://lolomosquito.over-blog.net/

13.12.07 Good news and Bad news with Polymer clay experience - Chapter II

Today's experiment was to check the old oven that we have with a Sculpy thermometer. I first checked only with the thermometer in order to get a scale of the actual temperatures.

I checked the temperature after 10 mn in each level, starting from the lowest. Here are the results:

#1=~50 C

#2=75 C

#3=100 C

#4=~125 C

#3-#4=~125 C

#9=230~250 C

From curiosity, I checked the so called "100 C" in my toaster-oven, on grill from both sides - and guess what?- It was actually 125 C! The Fimo I was trying to bake few months ago burnt there after 5 mn, wonder why... What a stinky fume there was... I will never use anymore this awful toaster-oven. Never!

What to start with - the bad or the good news?

Let's start from the bad.

I made some more polymer clay balls with the same colours and product as yesterday.

I checked them after 20 mn in the oven on #3 (=~110-120 C) and tried to smash them. All of them had started to break, most with deep fractures. I thought maybe the fact that I didn't let them get cold a bit, caused them to crack. I still let them for 10 more mn (total of 30 mn) at the same temperature.

Now again, I tried to break/smash them and you can see what happened; none of them are conserved (even the blue has some cracks from the first smash, but I couldn't break it):

You want to know the good news? - My oven can bake polymer clay without burning it!!!

So now I can use the Microwave for Sculpy clay and Oven for all the clays! :)

I summarized the results in the following picture:

I still need to find the courage to keep on, till I find the right conditions, but I feel I am on a better way than last time...

12.12.07 A Microwave experience with Polymer clay - Chapter I

After my poor and lousy experience with polymer clay, I discovered last week that one can bake polymer clay in microwave, but of course not on dry - but covered with water, in a special microwave container. Garie Sim did a remarkable experience she shared with us in the following links and connected links:

http://www.garieinternational.com.sg/clay/shop/twenty.htm

At the beginning, I was quiet afraid to try - with all the toxic vapors that might come out and the recommendations not to use microwave for baking polymer clay, but my toaster-oven is so unreliable that I had no much choice - assuming I want to bake the polymer clay at home and not in the neighbor's oven.


Today I dared to make the experiment.

I made one bead with Cernit clay and Fimo clay. After 10 mn of baking in tap water on the max level in the microwave, the bead came out very strong - but also very dusty.

I thought it might be caused even because of an overcooking or because of the disgusting calcid tap water we have here in Rehovot, IL.

You can see the dark spots became grey:

I thought things were going to be OK - as on Garie page, if I do several more experiences to find the right conditions...

Regardless, I needed more polymer clay colours, so I went to our nearby craft shop to buy 3 more packages of polymer clay. I prefer to be constant with one brand - but I liked the yellow colour of another brand then Fimo - so I took it to try. It was made by Sculpey.

I did a new experience. This time, with only 5 mn cooking but with mineral water.

Here are the results:

As you can see, unfortunately, the Fimo behaves very badly, as already shown by Garie (after being overcooked), but this time I just think it is because of the water. I really believe the Fimo connects well with the calcium and becomes so dusty. Bad for me, I have about 8 Fimo packages...
The Cernit green bead was the first I touched and tried to break. Indeed it broke. Is it because of undercooking? Is it because it was so hard to work and the bead that was done wasn't enough agglomerated? However, the colour and texture was better this time as well as less dusty.
Finally , something good and surprising! The premo Sculpey bead came out P E R F E CT!!!
There is hope in all this experiment, although I have only one Sculpy colour :-( ...
Anyway, this is my first positive experience with polymer clay. Let's hope we become more friends in future.
The next experiment will be 5mn in the microwave with distill water over the Fimo polymer clay. I need to get some ddH2O.