Dang.
I checked out a library book last week, and found my HUGE craft swap project in the polymer clay pages. (HUGe is an annual craft swap that works like a cookie exchange-make 10 of something, send 9 to the organizer, she sends you 9 assorted little gifties for you to give to friends and neighbors, who are in turn awed by your largesse and buy you adult beverages. You hope.)
I was SOOO excited. I found my supplies online, and was impatiently waiting for them. I flung myself out the door on Sunday to drive drive drive to Michaels and pick up some clay, just because I wanted to 'spearmint.
This project didn't go well. DH won't let me roll out clay with the pasta machine (he hasn't actually made pasta in 10 years, but I will respect the Italian family connection and not use the pasta machine his mom and dad bought him), I couldn't make it look like the picture, and this clay business was certainly harder than it looked. I'm used to following the directions exactly in knitting, and getting a decent looking something.
These were not beautiful.
I made goofy burnt blue plastic cookies. (The adage dark cookie sheets=dark cookie bottoms applies for petrochemical products, too.) It took me two hours to produce them. I could have skipped rolling and shaping all together, and just slammed clay on a cookie sheet, and had the same result.
Sigh.
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21 hours ago
6 comments:
ummm...those pasta machines work really well with the clay and all...and they clean easily....tell mark to ..never mind...hate that when a project just doesn't work out. I'm still debating whether my HUGe project is totally cool or totally dorky. I know my rellies who like handmade would like it...but that may not be sayin' much.
Bets,
If you're not giving up on clay right now, invest in a pasta machine specifically for the clay. Nothing else can do what that machine does for blending colors, for rapid softening, for just being able to get an overall flat piece of clay that isn't thick enough to be a floor tile.
Also, try those wonderful parchment squares when you bake the clay ~ no burnt bottoms! (Also, of course, you are using a really low temp, right?)
Don't give up!
I think I saw pasta machines especially made/packaged for crafters at Michaels. In the Sculpey/Fimo area of the store. Wasn't even that spendy, if I recall...plus once you use the pasta machine for clay you can't (shouldn't?) use it for food anymore, from what I've heard.
Rome wasn't built in a day.
Don't you love the smell of burnt Fimo wafting through the house?
Oh I know that feeling. I was drooling over Fimo buttons in the LYS yesterday, thinking, How hard could that really be?...and then remembering they don't come out that way without hours and hours of experience and work. Good luck, can't wait to see what you come up with .
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