Polymer Clay Smoosher member Kelly, of Black Dog Jewelry lives in a beautiful seaside community in Vero Beach Florida which offers her the perfect backdrop to make her wonderful jewelry. Her unique handcrafted jewelry has a fun, whimsical flair. She says "I take great pride in creating each piece and will not send it to you
until I know it's perfect. Once you have it in your hands you will
agree that Black Dog Jewelry is truly one of a kind." And Rosa, the namesake of this company has a delightful story as well. "Rosa, the black dog of Black Dog Jewelry, is also one of a kind. She is
a rescue who loves adventure. She enjoys going for walks, doing yoga
with me, playing with her Daddy, attending doggy daycare, taking naps
and she just discovered she enjoys going for a ride on the paddle boat!"
Kelly's interests include metal fabrication, precious metal clay, art jewelry, fine silver,
unique, animal lover, wire wrapping, seaglass, beach glass, polymer
clay, and critter. These different influences can be seen in the wide variety of jewelry she creates.
You can find Black Dog Jewelry online at http://www.blackdogjewelry.blogspot.com/, http://www.blackdogjewelry.net/, http://www.facebook.com/BlackDogJewelry, http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackdogjewelry, and http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/BlackDogJewelry.
Below is a sample of some of the delightful jewelry you can find in her ArtFire shop.
Baby Gargoyle necklace
Zebra necklace
Skunk necklace
Halloween Wine Charms
And there are plenty more cute creations where these came from! Be sure to stop by Black Dog Jewelry to see all the wonderful things available!
The entries are in for the Polymer Clay Smooshers Autumn Colors/ Halloween challenge!
From Illusion Everything we have this totally awesome set of 3 Lady Skeleton cabochons available in your choice of colors.
The largest measures 1 1/2" tall by 1 1/4" wide. The smaller 2 measure 3/4" tall by 1/2" wide and they would be great to add to your own bezels or just add a jump ring, ear wires and a chain for a delightfully spooky jewelry set! Just Jewelry by Joan made these wonderful little Pandora Style Pumpkin beads.
These would be wonderful for any Fall jewelry you wanted to create!
Artmakers Worlds really outdid herself with this Halloween Green Bat Pincushion Clay Covered Tin.
It's unique and decorative on it's own, but is also functional. 25 long, green pearl head pins are included in the tin. The hands and feet even glow in the dark!
Her second entry is this Spooky Night polymer Clay Covered Pen and Pencil Holder.
It features a big full moon, a bare tree with an owl on the
branch and bats flying on the other side. The moon and even the owls
eyes are made with glow in the dark clay.
This Wicked Witch art doll from Fantasy Clay would make a fabulous Halloween decoration.
She has a soft poseable body with polymer clay head, hands and feet and stands on her own. She has a black dress with lace
details and a soft shawl. Her hair is Tibetan mohair and she stands 9 inches tall.
The pendant is made with polymer clay and colored turquoise nuggets. The
3-dimensional tree and the gemstones add a sense of depth to this piece.
The picture this creates is a tree that has lost most of its colorful
fall leaves which are lying around the tree base.
CreativeCritters entered two pieces. This Halloween Black Cat Keepsake Tin is the Halloween entry.
The cute black cat is wearing a witch's hat and has the insignia from the TV show Charmed on his chest in glow in the dark polymer clay. The stars also glow, and glow in the dark powder has been added to the blue liquid clay on the lid.
This whimsical Autumn Dragon sculpture is the Autumn Colors entry.
The red and orange dragon is holding his collection of fallen leaves which have been sprinkled with gold glitter to add a bit of Autumn magic ;-) The dragon measures 3 1/2 inches tall and would be a whimsical addition to your Fall decor.
So there you have it! Lots of wonderful entries for this challenge! And each of these items are available for sale- just click on the picture to be taken directly to the listing. I want to thank everyone who entered this challenge, as well as everyone who has stopped by to check out these awesome handmade Halloween and Autumn creations :-)
No matter how soft polymer clay is when you unwrap it, it still needs to be conditioned. Conditioning polymer clay redistributes the ingredients in the clay that may have settled during storage. If you don't properly condition your clay your finished piece may be weaker and more prone to breakage. You know your clay is properly conditioned when you can fold it without having it crack.
To condition your clay start by cutting the block of clay into thin slices using a straight blade. Roll over each slice with a clay roller, fold it in half and repeat several times until it starts to become softer. Continue conditioning with your hands, smooshing, rolling, and folding the clay until it becomes warm and pliable. You can condition the clay completely by hand or finish conditioning it with a pasta machine. Be sure to always insert the clay through the pasta machine fold first to prevent air bubbles from becoming trapped between the layers.
Here's a short video showing how to condition polymer clay.
Softer clays such as Sculpey III and Pardo can usually be conditioned by hand by simply kneading them for a few minutes. Using a pasta machine makes quick work of conditioning clay and you can usually find pasta machines for a reasonable price in most craft stores and online sites that sell polymer clay.
Firmer clays can be crumbly and difficult to condition. With these clays you need to start warming the clay and conditioning by hand before trying to run them through the pasta machine to complete the conditioning process. One way to soften the clay is to mix in small amounts of
translucent clay. However, if you add too much you may change the color
of the clay. You can also add a few drops of liquid clay and knead it
in thoroughly. Only add a few drops at a time or you will end up with a
goopy mess! Yet another way to warm your clay in preparation for
conditioning is to place wrapped blocks of clay on a Ziploc bag filled
with 1/2 cup of rice that's been microwaved for 30-45 seconds. The rice
will stay warm for up to an hour. You may want to put a cloth between
the bag of rice and your clay to prevent overheating. You don't want
the clay to begin curing. One method I use to warm stiff clay is to sit
on the clay or put it in my pocket (wrapped in it's original package or
in a bag). Just never put polymer clay in the microwave for any
reason.
The heat of your hands can make some clays softer and softer while you're working with them. If your clay becomes too soft and difficult to work with you may need to set it aside for a while and let it cool off. Some people even put it in the refrigerator for a short time.
You can make soft clay firmer by a process called leaching, which
removes some of the plasticizers from the clay. While leaching will
make the clay firmer to work with, it can also lessen the strength of
the finished piece. To leach your clay sandwich thin pieces of polymer
clay between several layers of printer paper. Place your "clay
sandwich" on your work tile and set a heavy book on top. Check your
clay every so often until the desired firmness is achieved. This
process can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Replace the
paper when it appears saturated. It will look like a grease stain on
the paper. And remember not to leave unbaked clay on painted,
varnished, or lacquered surfaces, as the clay will damage them.
When working with different colors of clay start with the lightest colors first whenever possible. Light colored clays can be difficult to keep clean since they will pick up anything on your hands, tools, or work surface. This post has more tips on working with light colored clay: Tips For Sculpting With White and Light Colored Polymer Clay. Baby wipes work well for cleaning your hands not only in between colors, but every so often while you're working with your light color. I also wipe down my tools to be sure there are no bits of darker clay on them. Just be sure your wipes are lint free and don't leave fine particles on your hands, as these will quickly transfer to the clay.
My preferred work surface is a ceramic tile. Tiles come in a variety of sizes and are fairly inexpensive at home improvement stores like Home Depot or Lowes. They're smooth and easy to clean and don't affect the clay. The tiles are nearly impervious to scratching and can go right from your work table to the oven. I have tiles in several sizes for different sized projects.
If you don't want your clay to stick to your tile parchment type deli paper works quite nicely. Placing your project on this allows you to move it around without distorting it. I find this very useful when cutting out leaves and flowers. I can cut them out on the paper and easily remove them to place them on my sculpture. you can find this deli paper, also known as patty paper, in bulk at grocery warehouses and restaurant supply stores. Baking on this paper also helps prevent shiny spots from forming on the bottom of your piece.
I hope these tips have helped you learn some of the basics of working with polymer clay!
