6 Videos #338 to #343: So real looking, it may just even fool Mother Nature!
When Jocelyn C (a loyal member that has been around here forever) emailed me a picture of Labradorite stone, with only the word “Labradorite?” in the subject line, I pretty much dropped what I was doing and started working on the tutorial right away!
You see Jocelyn, as well as several others, have been sending me their tutorial requests for a long time. Some are things I’ve already been working on and others I haven’t yet tried. But every once in awhile a request comes in that gets the fire burning in my belly and pushes all the other ideas out of the way, for another day.
For those of you who have been around for some time, you may remember this happening when KaronKay Cowger, needed a Red Clover Flower for a special State themed bouquet she was working on. That flash of inspiration resulted in the Red Clover Flower Bead Tutorial.
Any who… back to the Labradorite. The picture she sent (which was from Google images so I don’t have permission to post it here), made my mind whirl until I figured out how to get that glowing layered look of the colored stone, with all its amazing striations that make it so unique.
Well I figured it out, and am happy to say it is ready for you guys to learn how to make too! Posted just below is a Sneak Peek and overview of this months Faux Labradorite Pendant Tutorial. The rest of this 6 part video series will be posted tomorrow (Friday, February 1, 2013) in the Vol-057 members only area at the Polymer Clay Tutor Library.
Oh btw, if this tutorial looks exciting to you, please do click that YouTube Like button. Many of you have been giving the Thumbs Up to the weekly YouTube videos, which is great… Thank You! However, these monthly tutorial intro clips need some Love as well. When they don’t get the Likes, it makes it look like they are not appreciated as much… which surely can’t be true with all the nice comments you all leave :)
Vol-057-1: Video #338: Introduction: In this 6 part video tutorial series, you will learn how to master my original Faux Labradorite Technique to make a stunning one of a kind pendant and several other projects using the faux stone slab you create. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how much you will learn in this Faux Labradorite Pendant project series.
Vol-057-2: Video #339:
Building Faux Labradorite Slab:
In this video you will learn how to make your own custom translucent color blend, as well as begin to create the Faux Labradorite slab using Lisa Pavelka Crafting Foils or some other unique options that I also show. The special layering in this step is what will make your faux labradorite stones look like the real thing.
Vol-057-3: Video #340:
Inking and Layering:
This video teaches you how to get the perfect color base for your Faux Labradorite and to seal in that beauty with a protective layer. There are many color options for Labradorite so you can customize your stones in your favorite color way. Do a search for ‘Labradorite’ in Google Images for a wonderful selection of inspirational photos.
Vol-057-4: Video #341:
Creating The Striations:
In this video you will learn my secrets for getting the distinct lines and markings into your Faux Labradorite Slab. It is my own special technique that will have you recreating these striations that you won’t see in any other Polymer Clay Faux Labradorite Tutorial out there. And you are going to be amazed how easy it is to do!
Vol-057-5: Video #342:
Making the Pendant:
Here’s where you finally get to start putting together your pendant. In this video I show you how to make a professional looking backing; my little trick for putting the hole in your bead/pendant; another trick for getting beautifully beveled edges on your piece; and several different options for getting the most out of your polymer clay Faux Labradorite Slab.
Vol-057-6: Video #343:
Baking, Sanding, Buffing, Waxing:
Finally I show you how to give your pendant a professional quality finish which includes the proper way to bake, sand, buff and polish your beads with an amazing high gloss finish. You’ll be right up there competing with Mother Nature with your gorgeous Faux Labradorite stones!
Other Supplies:
- Rubbing Alcohol
- Paper Towel
- Glad Cling Wrap
- Ceramic Tile
- Cardstock, File Folder or Sheet of Plain Paper
- Shape Cutters
- Piercing Wires
- Polishing Papers in 400, 600, 1200, 4000, 6000, 8000 grits
Or Wet/Dry Sandpaper in 320, 400, 600, 800, 1200, 2000 grit
Or Micro-Mesh Pads
By the way, many of the “shopping” links I provide for the various tools and supplies used in my tutorials, are “affiliate” resources. That means companies like Amazon and the other suppliers I refer, pay me a small commission if you click on the links and end up making a purchase at their site. It’s not a lot, but every little bit helps in keeping the cost of my tutorials down. And, the prices for products that you may purchase through my links, are exactly the same as what you would normally pay, even if it is a “sale” price. So please feel free to click whenever you need to pick up a few things for your studio. Thanks so much for your support.
The full video series for the Faux Labradorite tutorial described above, is available in Vol-057 at the Polymer Clay Library.
If you would like to receive 3 free beginner videos right now, plus some free color recipes that get sent out each week in my Friday email newsletter, please click this link: Polymer Clay Tutorials
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… Please Note: A general prerequisite for all of my monthly library tutorials is that you have a good understanding of the polymer clay basics, including: conditioning clay, using a pasta machine, clay blade and other simple tools, making Skinner Blends, baking clay, as well as sanding and finishing. If you need help in these areas, my Polymer Clay Beginners Course will get you up to speed quickly. There is also plenty of free information on this blog. Use the search box at the top of the page to find articles on specific topics.
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Customer Feedback About Membership Value:
Hi Cindy, I just purchased a subscription (yay!!) and I have been wanting to do that for awhile. I just finished watching your series of videos on making a faux jasper cabochon. Your videos are phenomenal! You explain things thoroughly and clearly, and you don’t miss or skip any steps. It is an absolute joy to sit and watch you go through the process – I feel like I just attended a class I should have paid $100 for. I am so excited to see what other videos come my way! Thank you for all the hard work you put into making these videos and coming up with color recipes. Your work is truly amazing. ~Karen-R
Cindy I like how you create quick simple processes. You are great a simplifying things. Thanks. ~Claycass
Hi, Cindy! If it were for me, I’d gladly watch videos about the faux semiprecious stones every Friday. I enjoyed all the “faux” videos I’ve seen here until now. Of course, the Faux Raku was just the icing on the cake. And I love all the innovations you come up with and that we can see nowhere else on the net. On the other hand, all the techniques you teach are so instructive, even if we tried them before. ~Squash
The full video series for the Faux Labradorite Pendant tutorial described above, is available in Vol-057 at the Polymer Clay Library.
If you would like to receive 3 free beginner videos right now, plus some free color recipes that get sent out each week in my Friday email newsletter, please click this link: Polymer Clay Tutorials
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Love the look of these stones. Such pretty striations.
Ah, Cindy, as always, creating a new tutorial even before I know I need it!
I am so excited to watch this video and start making this gorgeous stone. After looking up images online for it and comparing it to
yours Cindy, it is amazing how well you duplicated it with polymer clay. Thanks to Jocelyn for sending you that photo.
So pretty. Can’t wait to see how these are made!!
Cindy, for you and the stone….because sometimes music is just better…..
Troggs, 1966, Wild Thing
Joc – just love the music. LOL Wild thang, indeed!!!! LOL……….You Rock!!!!
What UV resin and light do you recommend? There is a Lisa Pavelka light and corresponding resin on Amazon. I have a gift card from Christmas, and I was thinking I would invest in these things. I noticed your post about getting a small fee back if we link through your site. Do you have a place with links for these or other products of this kind you might recommend?
Thanks.
Gina
Hi Gina, I usually recommend Ultradome resin. I think you have access to the Vol-024 UV Resin Tutorial where I demonstrate how to use this product. And there is also tons of info on the blog here, about the different resins and uv lamps available in the marketplace. It’s been a popular topic over the years. Just type ‘uv resin’ or ‘uv lamps’ into the search box at the top of the page and lots will come up about that.
As far as wanting to use our Amazon links… thank you. That is sweet of you! Just click one of the Amazon links above in the widget box of suggested supplies and then navigate to the product(s) you are wanting to purchase. We should get credited that waay. Doug and I appreciate your support!
I have a question which is sort of related to this project. I recently made some faux stopieces that involved essentially the same technique (layering the clay and then cutting out the shapes). I work and work until they look perfectly smooth, and then, after baking, the surface almost appears to have the faintest suggestion of—well, forgive me for the reference, but the surface almost looks like cellulite—like there are lumps and bumps below the top surface. Sometimes it is very subtle. Sometimes it is very pronounced. I assume this is trapped air that expands during baking. It drives me bananas because I will have a really nice looking piece that I feel is essentially ruined. Before I try this project, I would like to figure out what am I doing wrong?
Hi Gina!
I can think of a couple different areas to look at when you solve that puzzle. If I hurry, and am not slow and precise while making a package, it seems like more bubbles show up.
The first is the brand of clay….some translucent clays develop plaguing which show up like little moons in the top layer.
The second is how you condition the clay, in that bubbles can be added and trapped which you have described perfectly as cellulite, lol!
The third is if you have not waiting for the inks to dry. If you cover them wet, in the heat of the oven, that wet ink is going to cause bubbles.
The fourth is how you bake the piece. If you are sure that you have pinpricked every pocket and smoothed it add a sheet of paper on top, then take a tile and place it smooth side down on the paper. It acts as a weight which will prevent a lots of bubbles while curing. For bigger works, like the pendents, even two tiles on top. Then tent it and bake.
If you go up to the upper left search box, and place terms “plaquing,” “proper conditioning” and “trapped air” you get a whole list of blogs and tutes where Cindy addresses these issues. Once you access an item from search, I find that if I use control/find and add that key phrase, it will systematically take you to each point that is mentioned in the blogs and comments which helps me stay focused.
Also, rewatch the video today and notice how she slowly and patiently stretches and drapes the translucent over the top. The stretching of the clay removes air bubbles, as does the way you lay it down on the surface.
The last thing I think I am finding is that I get less bubbling when I use the bake with bicarb soda technique. I think the bicarb actually helps absorbing any air escaping quickly causing less surface bubbling and the double tiles on top keep that air out after it goes. “Baking with bicarb” search will give you those instructions.
I am sure others here will know of even more tips and solutions, so come back and read the thread here in a day or so to pick up those comments.
Hope this helps. All best!
Thank you Jocelyn for the perfect answer for Gina! I truly couldn’t have said it better myself!
I will try ALL these things. I have been working on some pieces that look like hammered copper and tourguoise that I hope to sell to a local gift shope. I want the quality to be as good as I can make it as I would love some repeat orders.
It may sound silly, but I think I have another “solution” to add. After I posted this, I looked around my work area. I am a bit of a night owl and although I have fairly good lighting in here, I am thinking I need to purchase a better, desk lamp or light just for my work surface. The light I have in here is an overhead, fluorescent fixture that sits WAY above my work surface. I also think it produces shadows over the clay. I am 51 and have finally had to start wearing “reading glasses,” and I think I may buy a pair just slightly stronger than my perscription to wear while working. Eye doctor said it was fine as long as I did not wear them all the time.
I work in here, and bake in the kitchen, so I may be seeing things there that I am missing here too.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I adore working with this, and just recently made some really pretty ivy leaves with assorted green, Swarovski crystals. With the copper wire, I was able to make the curly-q vines and such and it looks so pretty. I don’t have the issues with these free form pieces…just my flat pendants and such, so I think you have hit the nail on the head here.
Just glad to be able to help. So excited to hear about your other work. Cindy has a Facebook Photo Gallery Site as an adjunct to this main site, established primarily for pics since it is hard to post pics in these threads.
Her husband and partner here, Doug, is an outstanding video photographer, and you have to oogle his work there. Daughter Willow is coming up fast too, lots of her nature pics are being used to inspire the color palettes. We just love the the young bro Fisher, he cracks us up.
We love pictures! Please put up a few pics of where you are going even if they are formulating. And also, check out Cindy’s Pinterest site for visual fun.
Oh Cindy -these Labradorites are just beautiful !!!! So much time and effort goes into these tutorials. Thank You, thank you. Can’t wait to make a whole bunch. With the Pantone colors this year – they fit right in. How great is that?
Hi all
Wanted to pop in and say WOW
Loved making this FUN faux labradorite !!
( it’s on the counter cooling off )
Thank You Cindy for creating such a Wonderful tutorial
AND Thank You Jocelyn for putting Cindy’s imagination on this path :D
off to sand :)
I have a convection oven. It is my understanding that a convection blows the heat around. Should I still tent the clay or will that defeat the purpose of the fan?
I don’t actually know Anna, that is a good question! Is the element exposed? If not, then you probably won’t need to tent your pieces. It would be a good thing to check though. Put a light piece of clay in there and crank up the heat higher than usual and see if there are any spots that are darker than others. DO come back and let us know. If my oven ever quits, I probably will get a convection oven myself and I know several others here have them, so it would be great info to have. Thanks! Hope you’re well!
Some thing are “bothered” by the fan blowing air around. Easy fix – just tent everything! LOL. It’s what I have done from square 1. Hope this helps.:}
This is a really beautiful technique, Cindy, with lots of useful tricks that can be applied to other things. Your method for making the striations is particularly clever!
I love faux stones and surface effects — in my mind this is closer to the latter due to the subtle/striking viewing angle thing that even large slabs of real labradorite have, but that’s me being a pedant ;) — and it’s a real treat to get two of “my” kinds of tutorials in a row. Many thanks! :D
I can think of a whole bunch of different things to try based on this technique, and hope I can squeeze some time for claying into what will be a busy and probably sleep-free weekend. If not, I’ll definitely have to give it a go next week because I’m really itching to try it… I keep sneaking into the studio to start, but my conscience doesn’t let me stay there for more than a few minutes! LOL
Just had to have a look at the real stone and before I knew it had bid on a large chunk and hey! I was the only one bidding, so got it for a song
Loved the added bonus of hearing The Troggs (Thanks Jocelyn) brought back some great memories of wicked days and naughty nights!!
Cannot play with clay for a few of weeks but that gives me time to order in new supplies
I was amazed on reading the healing properties of Labradorite ( such a difficult stone to pronounce) and I giggled along with you Cindy, nearly as dificult to say as, Swarovski
Did you know the Canadian Innuit legend? The Northern Lights once got trapped in the rocks along the coast of Labrador. With a mighty blow of his spear he freed most of them. However some of the Lights were still caught within the stone. You have certainly captured those northern lights Cindy with your clever technique, simply stunning…cheers xx…………………
Elaine, you are the sweetest. Hope you are feeling better.
Elaine -I love the story about capturing the Northern Lights. Fun to add this to re-telling it – if some one should ask LOL. Thanks……..
I love it! You hit a home run again, Cindy and Doug!
OK, so I couldn’t help myself and just had to try this out!
I tried a few variations, from sticking closely to the instructions to, well, not. ;D
This is my most successful version although it still needs a bit of refinement:
Faux Labradorite
Thanks for another awesome and inspiring tutorial, Cindy! Oodles of potential and tremendous fun! :)
Lordy, the “OHHHHHHH” just popped out of my mouth. Wow. Did you get a nice buff on those babies or what? Thanks for the share!
Nice job -Sue. This will be fun to play with – right?
Simply gorgeous Sue! I am very impressed. Would you mind if I pinned your pictures to my Pinterest Board? I’d love to put them in the Student Gallery.
Thanks, Cindy! :)
And you’re welcome to pin any of my pictures to your Pinterest board if you’d like to. Thank you for asking!
I have a couple of jewellery pieces planned for this technique and I’ll post pictures when I’ve made them.
I’ve also got a whole BUNCH of ideas triggered by different parts of the tutorial. Heaps of fun! :D
:-D
Sue F !!! Your take on the labradorite is just gorgeous? I’m a Beads & Beading tutorial member, but found your image on Pinterest! Did you use all the same steps just changing colors? I just love the earth tones! so warm! beautiful, beautiful! I am sure you’ve made Cindy proud!
Thanks Christine! :D
No, some of the steps and some of the materials are quite different to the tutorial, although I got lovely results by following the tutorial too, and that’s definitely where the inspiration for my variation comes from. I just like to experiment, and I’m not terribly good at following instructions in the first place anyway, so I tried various things until the result approximated the mental picture I’d started out with.
I’ve refined my variation a bit since then and would be happy to share the technique, but I’m not sure how best to do so without giving away the parts that are Cindy’s, like her wonderful method for producing the striations.
Sue, I have her tutorial, so maybe describe what you did differently…then I too can apply my own spin to that! 80) I’m trying to see if I can figure it out by looking closely at your work, but you did such a great job it’s hard to tell!
Hi Sue! I love your Labradorite pieces! I have bought Cindy’s tutorial but I would love to hear about your variations! I am unable to find the white translucent Premo right now as all the stores that carry it in my area are out! I saw that you offered your variations to Cindy and gave her permission to share with her tutorial customers but thought it might be easier to go directly through you to get this information. If you aren’t willing to do this I will reach out to Cindy per your offer. I just thought it might be more expedient to go through you rather than bother Cindy. Either way I appreciate your artistry and your willingness to share your techniques! Keep up the beautiful work and again thanks for sharing your beauties!!
Lorri
Hi Lorri,
Many thanks for your comments! :)
While I’m happy to share details of what I do in my variation, I can’t do so *here* because this blog is public and can be read by anybody, not just people who’ve bought Cindy’s faux labradorite tutorial.
Doug has started a discussion below about possible ways of safely sharing information that gets into the intricacies of paid content. Please let us know your thoughts on that.
Sue
Just wanted to jump in and expand on what Sue-F mentioned above … and below … about the challenge of discussing the paid tutorials in too much depth, at threads like this.
For those who do not know, all of the conversations that happen here at the blog, are public. In other words, anyone and everyone can see them.
So in order to keep the value of the paid tutorials exclusive to those who have in fact paid for them, some restraint must be exercised with shop-talk types of conversations.
The solution to this problem would be to set up a special commenting section that is only available to owners of the specific paid tutorial being discussed.
I’ve proposed this idea in the past, but the response was… how shall I put it… received enthusiastically by just a very small proportion of the membership.
Setting up password protected commenting areas for each of the individual tutorials is a fairly significant undertaking… and we would need to know in advance if there was enough interest from the community at large.
The last thing we would want is to go to all the work of setting up something like this, and then have it ending up as a place where we can all listen to the crickets chirping (i.e. no one really using the facility).
So… I am putting it out there again to see if there is more interest at this stage.
Both Cindy and I agree that it would be awesome for paid tutorial owners to have the opportunity to bounce ideas off each other without having to worry about giving away the secret sauce so to speak. It would add so much more to the learning experience here at the PcT Community.
>> Let us know how you feel by posting a comment. <<
.
Doug I have been out of the loop for a long time but I just wanted to jump in and tell you I love this idea. I have been spending some time trying to catch up on conversations here on this blog.
I only see one problem by going ahead with this which you might of already done and I just haven’t come across the information on it yet. I assume one very important reason 2nd to getting information out for your members through this blog is to get information out to potential new members. Coming across this blog is why I joined and fairly certain many others have joined also. If you go to a private blog for members only will there be enough information shared in this blog also to entice new members. What I am trying to say is will the members leave this blog and spend all their time on the private blog where it might jeopardise new membership for you. I do know you have your youtube videos which also, or at least I would immagine bring new members in for you. So hopefully there would be nothing to worry about with this private blog. Don’t mean to be a downer just want what is best for you also. Because without you there is no us.
Love all the two of you or I should say 4 of you do for this group and wouldn’t want anything to change that. Even if I don’t get to visit as often as I would like. Miss sharing with you and everyone else here. I wouldn’t be where I am or continue on my path if not for all of you.
THANK YOU
Great to hear from you Peggy… it’s been a while. Hopefully you are staying healthy and living well :-)
Thanks for you input about the value of this blog site. We will keep it going as well. The goal will be to achieve a good balance of community interaction on both sites.
Thanks Cindy for your reply with my viewing problems. Not sure what it was, but I believe it was all my end! I got to watch the series late last night…. I thoroughly enjoyed this set of videos. Really keen on this one!
In Finland there is a lot of Labradorite, so I think your version is pretty close to the real mccoy, although the Finnish type can be quite dark. Much like the Finnish version of Amethyst is very milky compared to Brazilian which is really deep purple.
We also have the Northern Lights *Aurora Borealis* or Revontulet as we call them here.. and I think it might be possible to to really recreate that with this technique, just with a dark blueish black and a vivid green.
The story telling in this country varies from that above. It’s name Revontulet tells in old fashioned Finnish its origin. Revon means in old style Finnish Fox’s and Tulet means fires. Therefore it is Fox’s Fire. The story goes that the arctic fox’s tail was brushing the winter sky and causes sparks to fly! :D Today the word for Fox is Kettu….go figure!
Btw. I recognised RENAISSANCE WAX immediately as I have a friend in Norway that sells it. I have given him this page’s details, with regards to supply if you need it for the group. His website is for antiques and such.. but as yet, the wax is not actually on the site.
Cindy, I have to point out that you spelled pendant wrong in the name and descriptions of the tutorial.It’s pendAnt, not pendEnt.
That type was actually my fault… the typo has already been rendered into the video title bars before I noticed the mistake… and it would have taken too many hours to make the correction. Sorry about that.
Hi Doug,
According to the OXFORD COMPLETE WORD FINDER published by Readers Digest
Pendant/Pendent is a hanging jewel suspended by chain or rope etc. worn around the neck. So you see you ARE correct as it is one of a number of words that can be spelt either way …………………cheers xx……………………
Elaine – It’s great to see that you have such a penchant for words and wordology …
…especially with your poetry contributions.
Thanks for the Oxford reference
Of course, to complicate things further it depends on whether it is ‘pendent’ adjective or ‘pendant’ noun!
In this instance it should have been pendant, *as you would have normally put* …….as the video was regarding a noun *object*….. Although haha, it is a noun WITH an adjectival use…….that is, describing a condition of hanging, either figuratively or literally! Pendant would actually be a mis-spelling for the adjectival use….
Confused? You will be! :D LOL!!
Hi All:
Renaissance Wax Polish, can you tell me any sources to buy this item? I love the result while watching on the video! I prefer wax polishes myself, but the idea of a micro crystalline has me intrigued. Anyone with ideas?
I have a friend in Norway who sells it. I have given him Cindys details to make contact. If you look above I put his website in my last comment. The item is not currently shown there on his site….but you can drop him a message. I have told him that there may be some interested people if he gets it on his site or one of his other locations soon. x
Pauline, if Cindy has a link for it click on it and it will take you to Amazon.com where you can purchase it and she will get a little percentage when you order it. She always lists her supplies for each video series, so you should find the link there.
Cindy, I have a related question……
Do you know how long the alcohol inks last inside finished polymer clay items?
Are they subject to sunlight issues?
Do the colours fade over time?
What are your experiences?
Hi Mrs. Rainbow, that is a question that has had much debate within the polymer clay community.
Some pigments, whether they are in paints, inks, dyes or what-have-you can be what artists call ‘fugitive’, meaning that that can fade over time. This was a real problem in some of the ancient paintings. You will often find a light-fast rating on oil and acrylic paints and inks, especially if they are made for the artist market.
The fading is mainly due to sunlight, so if your piece will be exposed to a lot of sunlight, a finish with a UV protector in it such as PYMII or Renaissance Wax, can help keep the colors in your alcohol inks brighter for longer.
Unless your piece is gallery bound or for some reason absolutely needs to be the identical color its entire life, I don’t worry about fading alcohol inks too much. Plus I have always loved the natural aging of any piece that happens over time.
That being said, I personally have not seen any of my pieces that contain alcohol inks, fade at all. And from my comment above, if fading eventually occurred, it wouldn’t bother me if it did.
Hope that answers your questions!
Thanks Cindy. Yes partially it does. I was thinking that the outer coating would play a part in it keeping it vibrant. I am also interested on whether there is a chemical change (ie any breakdown in the binding spots) between the inks and the polymer over time too…… but I guess time will tell on that issue. :D
Over time, the latest person looking at or wearing an item would not know the original status anyway….. So I was more meaning changes possibly occuring within five years or so really.
You know how some customers can be, if you do not advertise every minute detail of the product prior to sale….. so I am just checking bases to get all the facts…..or as many as poss anyway! :D
Hi Mrs Rainbow!
Boy, have I been suffering from the lack of sleep the last month or two due to the solar flares and possibility of the Aurora Borealis making an appearance. Keep setting the alarm clock to go off every two hours, lol.
Thus I am reading, and I ran across your question. If you want to double insure against fading due to UV light, I would recommend that as you layer and bake, you apply coats of Preserve Your Memories II, which comes in liquid and spray form.
Here is a link to their site, and you can see Cindy there, along with videos which describe the process and product.
Hope this helps and all best!
Cindy – do you think the white area (left side ) on the large faux labradorite piece I made could have been caused by me not making 100% sure the inks were dry? (photo at Cindy’s FB page)
I want to get this right and that’s the only reason I can think of
thanks guys :)
Yup.
Aha– went back and watched the 3rd video and yup that sounds like what happened ;/ thanks – Sherry
….where is my hair dryer….
:)
Hi Cindy,
Love the look of this “stone”, however, I have attempted to make this three times and am not having any luck. I think it might have something to do with my translucent clay {I use premo} I can’t find any white premo translucent, so I tried using white fimo translucent…no good. Then I made one with the premo….still no good. My third attempt was with the premo, but I made sure the top two layers were as thin as I could get them. The piece came out very cloudy, you can only see a hint of color underneath. What am I doing wrong?????? Is it my translucent clay?
Thanks for your wonderful tutes!!
Jan
Hi Jan, there could be a few reasons you aren’t seeing clarity on your translucent top layers. -Adding too much Silver clay. – Over conditioning translucent clay trapping air or moisture in it causing plaquing. -Temp too low. Use oven thermometer. – Layer too thick. Measure the spaces between the rollers on your pasta machine using playing cards to make sure you have the same settings as I used in the tutorial. – Air pockets between layering. – Not baking long enough. Bake for full hour. Also try re-baking your cloudy pieces. – Not sanding enough.
Re-watch the videos to make sure you haven’t missed anything and keep the above tips in mind. Don’t worry, you will have success with this technique. You may even be able to salvage the ones that you have already made.
Good luck!
Thanks Cindy! I actually baked the pieces for an hour at ~ 275 degrees. The last one I did had a lot of plaquing so I may have conditioned too much. I’ll try using less silver next time and keep my fingers crossed! I do love the look.
Cindy–one of my friends told me he blows pieces out of his small cutters. If there’s a good “seal” along the edge, the piece should pop right out, or at least an edge will pop out and you can ease the piece out!
Thanks for coming back to share that cool tip with us Priscilla!! Wish I knew that one before I shot the video! :)
I have a question regarding the Renaissance Wax. Is it better (for getting that high gloss shine) to buff with felt and a rotary tool, or use only the Ren wax like you did in the video? Or put the Ren wax on and then use the rotary tool? Or use the rotary tool and then the Ren wax?
:-)
Hi Karen, I have used the wax for a year now and I usually buff my bead first then put a coat of wax on it, let it sit for a minute or so and then do a final buffing with the dremel. It puts a beautiful finish on it. By buffing the bead first It brings out the clay shine and the wax enhances that shine. Hope this helps.
Ditto!
Cindy – thanks for your help with my subscription renewal. I enjoy your videos too much to ever give them up.
Hi,
I have used the Lisa P foils for some time but I was out of the silver so I bought some of the Jones Tones. Not one of the colors will stick to any of my clays? What am I doing wrong? Used my silver leaf instead and was pleased with the results. Mine came out very green as I only had a dark blue ink.
Hi Carolyn,
I too used silver Jones Tones foils when I did the foil version of this tutorial.
I found that the Jones Tones foil needed quite a bit of rubbing to get it to adhere to the clay properly, but once I used my fingers directly to do this, instead of the normal piece of paper, it worked much better. Using my fingers directly generated much more heat, and that distinct warmth seemed necessary to get it to stick. It transferred very nicely once I’d done this, however!
The other thing to watch out for with Jones Tones foils, presumably because they don’t adhere quite as naturally/strongly to polymer clay, is that if you use too much alcohol ink too many times (as I did on one test piece trying to get the patterning I wanted!), the foil will start to fracture and break into pieces which detracts from the look.
I hope that helps,
Sue
Thank you for this hint. I will try it as soon as I get home from work. Hubby will be Ok to wait for his dinner till later!
My dear dear Cindy,
Thank you sooo much for helping me get all of my library account issues figured out. So grateful… thank you for your patience.
I don’t know how you do all what you do and still manage to keep your sunny personality. You are my hero, lol.
Yours truly from cold, but sunny Sudbury, Ontario. Come visit sometime!
Melodie
Hi Cindy I have a query too. When i was sanding the piece i made i actually ended up sanding the whole top layer of translucent off and got that beautiful shine like yours. Somehow though i don”t think that is how you do it. For the top layer i used premo frost translucent, and at a thinner setting so as to get the lovely shine after sanding and buffing. The reason i ended up taking the top layer off is cause it wouldn’t shine up. Is the frost too “coloured” and not translucent enuf?
andyone’s thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks’
Sandra
Hi Sandra,
Premo Frost is one of the clearest translucent clays. It has a slight salmon tint to it, but it’s not normally so opaque that you can’t see through it, particularly if the layer is thin. (I’m a total Katomaniac, but even I think Premo Frost is the best all-round translucent; there are others that are clearer but I don’t think they’re as nice to handle. I use Premo Frost with this technique, for what it’s worth.)
Sometimes translucent clay appears opaque due to plaqueing (plaquing? computer people can’t spell! ;D), which happens when moisture gets into the clay. If it looks like there are circular to semi-circular areas of greater opacity, it’s probably plaqueing. Jocelyn C had a bunch of really useful suggestion on minimising plaqueing earlier in this thread. One other possible cause of plaqueing is moisture from your hands when you’re handling the clay… I know some people wear latex or similar gloves to prevent this (although I’m too lazy to!).
Cindy also had a few other suggestions on a range of possible causes for a lack of clarity in the translucent top layers, so perhaps that might help too.
I don’t think it would matter too much if you sanded all of the top layer off, although you’d want to make sure the coloured layer is covered or sealed so that it doesn’t fade.
Premo Frost normally buffs to a nice shine… if it doesn’t buff to a high shine after proper sanding, perhaps the clay isn’t cured to maximum strength. Sometimes rebaking, for a longer time or at a higher temperature helps with that kind of thing. (In my case, because everything is Kato clay except for the Premo Frost, I bake my items at Kato temperature, i.e. 150C/300F. It doesn’t seem to cause a problem with Premo Frost particularly if the layers are thin, and it sands and buffs well.)
One last side-note on clay shininess… Even though Kato Translucent is probably the LEAST clear of the translucent clays, it does buff to an amazing shine. Sometimes mixing in a bit of that with your other clay can help it achieve a higher shine. For translucent layers you wouldn’t want to add too much because of how opaque Kato is, and you’d need to make sure the mix was used in very thin layers, but it can give a handy although minor boost to coloured and mica clay.
I hope that helps,
Sue
Thanks, for that. I did get a wonderful shine on the pieces and they do look great! I will try all suggestions. Also thanks Sue F for the tip on using TLS from the inquiry i made about putting wire in the top of pieces. It worked a treat.
I live in Co Kilkenny Ireland. I design and handcraft beaded jewellery and bookmarks. I recently discovered polymer clay whilst on a jewellery course and am now totally addicted. I find Cindy’s tutorials invaluable as there are no courses etc available here in Ireland also they allow me learn at my own pace usually late at night when my sons are asleep and I can grab a few minutes of bliss a great escape from my day job as a nurse caring for people with Dementia and Alzheimers.
I’ve made a few more pieces refining my version of Cindy’s Faux Labradorite technique. These are better than the the pieces in the photo I posted previously.
The first three photos show a variety of shapes which will become pendants, earring drops and earring studs. There are three photos of the same set of items because my camera skills suck!
Photo 1 (overview, left side a bit out of focus)
Photo 2 (best for front and left pieces)
Photo 3 (a bit closer in, best for right pieces)
I propped them up at a bit of an angle to try to capture the reflectivity and the way the colour changes slightly depending on the viewing angle — the placement is a bit haphazard because they kept sliding around LOL — but they’re difficult to photograph accurately with my cheapie point-and-shoot camera. One of these days I’ll get around to making a proper lightbox and getting a good camera.
The shield shape and rounded tapered rectangle in the top right have probably the best (most realistic) colour and viewing angle behaviour I’ve managed so far.
I also made a pair of close-fitting cuff bracelets. They need a bit more finishing, but here they are anyway:
Photo 1 (side by side)
Photo 2 (one on its edge)
Photo 3 (wearing one)
I’m going to make a (round) bracelet next with the faux labradorite on the inside as well as the outside, i.e. trying to make it look like it’s all labradorite. Just waiting on some supplies for that because I’ve been playing too much and have nearly run out of a few things!
I also have a collar-style necklace partially done that I’m severely procrastinating about finishing. I changed my mind part way through constructing it so it’ll take a LOT of sanding to finish off.
When either those are done I’ll post some more pics. Love this idea! :)
Sue, this work is simply stunning. Thanks for the share!
Gorgeous; love them! Great job!!!
Incredible Sue! Awesome job. I love your use of color and the smooth more streaky way you added the ink. Also really like the striation color. Did you add a little Pitch Black with the Butterscotch instead of Slate or is it just the lighting in the photograph? I just picked some up some Pitch Black ink and have been wanting to test it out, to see how it looks.
Thanks, Cindy! :)
I’m actually not using ink for the coloured layer. I’ll send you an email tonight Australian time with a description. (I’m happy to share what I did but don’t want to give away the parts of the overall technique that are yours here on the public blog.)
The striations are mostly Slate, although I used Denim where the background colour was bluer, and Mushroom and Oregano where it was lighter and/or yellower. I went overboard a little while ago and bought all the Adirondack and Pinata alcohol ink colours, so I just picked those that best matched the look I had in mind. Now that you mention it, though, there’s also a construction difference in what I did that would tend to make the striations look darker. (I have something else planned for the next bracelet, but I haven’t tested it yet so I hope it works out!)
Gobsmacked ( an old old southern expression) to me it means picking my jaw up off the floor after seeing your pics !!
Just beautiful :)
Tantesherry ~ Gobsmacked is a much used and long held expression also in the U.K. which is where I originally hail from! :D It’s a great phrase! :D
That’s cool to know :)
Sue those a re amazing. I have been toying with the idea of a cuff bracelet as well, but i thought that the foils might crack with the bending. Did you just make a large peice to make it sure it fit without stretching? your thoughts are most appreciated.
Thanks, Sandra! :)
I actually don’t use foil in my version so cracking isn’t an issue for me. There are some things that I do exactly as Cindy taught, like her wonderful method for producing the striations, but there are other things that I do completely differently; the coloured reflective layer is one of those. This blog is public rather than being restricted to subscribers and I don’t want to give away the parts of the overall technique that are Cindy’s, or I’d describe what I do in more detail. But I did send Cindy the details, and I’m happy with her sharing as much of it as she wants to either here or in the relevant subscriber area.
However, if you *are* using foil, my suggestion based on other foil-based projects would be to make a piece of faux labradorite large enough that you can compress it horizontally to close up any cracks that might occur. That is, instead of allowing the foil layer of the faux labradorite to stretch as you wrap it into a bracelet, press the faux labradorite horizontally back into itself as you wrap it, preventing the foil layer from stretching and compressing the lower layers instead as it bends. I hope that makes sense… it’s one of those “I know what I mean” things!
SUE!! Those are amazing!! I just love the colors and the effect. Great work and thanks for sharing the pics.
Beautiful pieces Sue! You really take it up a notch girl!
Thanks, ladies! :)
Hi Sue, wonderful work.
Love the colors.
really professional.
Haven’t been doing much PC lately, am missing out.
I am in Aus, the tropics, where are you?
XXX
Thanks, Elizabeth!
I’m in Sydney at the moment. The closest to the tropics I’ve lived was in Brisbane — I remember trying a sauna shortly after returning from there and being distinctly underwhelmed (“This is just like Brisbane. What’s the big deal?”) — so I expect claying in the tropics might be slightly uncomfortable in summertime unless the airconditioning is going, but I hope you get a chance to get back to your clay again soon. :)
Amazing work Sue!
Hi ! Total newbie here. I just purchased a labradorite which I suspect is false, googled it and ended up here.
My question is: why do you make those “faux” gemstones? Is it really less expensive than buying the real thing?
Thanks!
Hi Lisa,
First, I want to say that as far as I know Labradorite is not a stone that is synthesized or simulated, i.e. someone tries to use natural elements or compounds to recreate a mineral in a lab environment (as is done for spinel, alexandrite, diamond, sapphire, opal, etc.). It is a member of the feldspar family and similar minerals are mistakenly called Labradorite, or may be misidentified as such. For example, there is a stone people call “Black Labradorite”, which is wrong and is usually another feldspar really named Larvikite. So if it is some kind of natural mineral your piece may mislabeled (innocently or deliberately) rather than “faux”.
But if it appears to really be some man-made/man-altered material like glass or clay, then shame on the person who did not tell you it is faux. I certainly can’t speak for every crafter/artist but I would say most of us do this because we admire and respect natural beauty. It can be something of a challenge to try to recreate the colors and patterns found in nature.
Yes, in some cases the real thing can be quite expensive. But it could also be hard to find really nice examples of some stones, because a small amount of the material is gem quality or the source is mined out or too dangerous to work further. (And rarity does not necessarily make something expensive, demand is usually a better indicator of price.) Or maybe it would be unethical to use the natural material so we try to create it out of another material, e.g. ivory or certain corals.
But even with an inexpensive commonly available material, sometimes I just want to put my own twist on something natural, i.e. I want to make large oval shaped beads but this material can only be cut as slabs. Or I want the look of banded agate with colors that have not (yet) been found naturally.
Labradorite is one of my favorite stones and I have way more natural pieces of it than I am likely to ever use, but I am still planning to use Cindy’s technique to make my own homage to this fascinating material.
Hi Lisa,
Good question! :)
I think there are many reasons why people make faux gemstones. Here are a few:
WEIGHT. Some people find heavy jewellery to be uncomfortable to wear, and designs that involve large pieces of real stone can be quite heavy. Replacing those large real stone pieces with faux stone gets around that problem.
AVAILABILITY. It’s not always easy — and sometimes it’s impossible — to find real gemstones of the type, shape, size, colour, etc. that you want, particularly if it’s something large or unusual. In places like Australia, even in Sydney, the most populous city, bead and gemstone suppliers have a comparatively limited range of stock and you either have to order online or by mail and hope for the best (you might not get what you expect from looking at photos, or you might get a different kind of fake gemstone, e.g. a dyed or treated version of a cheaper stone), or wait for the once-a-year bead and gemstone show that’s about the only chance to shop around properly for unusual gemstone pieces, and even then you might not find what you want.
ACCESSIBILITY. If you’re like me, the urge to create jewellery can strike randomly… late at night, for instance! And sometimes I’ll have an event to go to where I decide relatively late that I need a new piece of custom jewellery. I probably won’t have time to source and order real gemstones (see previous point), but I can make something with polymer clay that looks like what I want in a matter of hours.
DESIGN FACTORS. Sometimes you simply can’t get real gemstones to suit a particular design idea. It could be because there’s no demand for such, so unless you cut and finish your own gemstones from the raw material you’re out of luck. Or it could be that the real gemstone’s physical properties don’t let it be shaped a particular way, e.g. it’s brittle, or fractures on certain planes, or just doesn’t form in the size required, and so on. For example, I’ve made a wide collar-style necklace which looks like it’s made out of a single large piece of labradorite; there’s no way I could have made one of those with real labradorite.
AS A CREATIVE OUTLET. It’s actually quite fun exploring all the different things you can do with polymer clay, which is an incredibly versatile medium. Envisage something… and then see if you can realise it! Make it realistic, put your own spin on it, etc. (Why paint when you can take photos? Why sculpt when there’s digital 3D modelling? That kind of thing…)
COST. Since you mention cost, it often takes only a few dollars worth of supplies to make quite a large number of faux gemstone pieces — or a few large faux gemstone pieces, which is where the cost difference becomes really significant. For me, cost is much less important than the other factors I’ve listed so far, but it is much cheaper to make polymer clay faux gemstones than to buy real ones.
I’m sure other people have plenty of other reasons too!
I hope that helps,
Sue
Oh Lisa, isn’t everybody here so cool! They gave you such wonderful answers to your question, “Why would someone make a faux gemstone?”
Here, I was going to say… “Because we can!”
But I like Bertha and Sue’s answers much better! :)
They are indeed, Cindy!
Thank you so much for taking the time and putting so much thought into your answers, Bertha and Sue! That was really interesting!
Wishing you all a great day and many more jewels! :)
Hi Cindy!
I was so excited to try the faux labradorite but I am on vacation and can not find the white translucent by Premo. Every store I’ve called is out of it. They all have the regular translucent but I’m afraid it won’t be clear enough. Have you used it and if so did you have good results? Thanks for your input!
Hi Lorri
I’m thinking that White Trans and Frost are the same formula
– does that sound right to the rest of you guys?
the number is 5317 Frost
hope that helps -Sherry
Well now I found the white translucent. Thanks for the answer on the white frost! i will remember that if I can’t find the white translucent.
Hi Doug, I am all in favor of having a password encrypted blog to share with other paid Members to pass our ideas back and forth. I must not have been around when you first proposed this but I think it is an excellent idea especially with the clan growing so large. It would enhance our knowledge and learning a great deal and lessen Cindys load. I would volunteer to be a Moderator.
Dixie Ann… thanks for your offer to moderate. That’s awesome!
Considering the growth of PCT – I do think a “private” password, or something similar, is an excellent idea. We know that this means a LOT of extra work for you Doug. But, if you are willing, I would appreciate it! Contacting you or Cindy cuts into your time that SHOULD be spent with family. We all know how important that is!
There are so many ins and outs that we would like to touch on. A private pass word would enable us to get questions answered and help other with their problems.
Thanks for taking the time to, again, ask this question. LOL Hope this times it passes!!
Patt
I do so like this idea of a private area to discuss specific “Cindy’s tricks of the tute” amongst members, but, would sure like to see it as a function that links to the general blog discussions visibly so that non members would be encouraged to purchase the tute to learn more. Once we hit the “open private discussion to each blog entry” link, password required.
Do not wish to see the paid membership take off to their own area and leave the general blogs completely because all this discussion information is critical and Google searchable for those paying to learn.
Dixie, you’d make a great moderator, and I so appreciate you volunteering.
Of course, I would expect to pay more for this feature, if you do add it.
Excellent points Jocelyn… one of my main concerns is that the “regulars” would shift all activity over to the private area… which means that non-members here at the public blog, would end up getting neglected.
I didn’t originally see the need for a moderator, but if there was one — and if the software supported it, of course! — the moderator could either move or duplicate comments to ensure that the public blog wasn’t neglected, and that sensitive content went into the relevant private area.
Thanks Patt… you are so right about family time. Thank you.
Different people have access to different tutorials, so access to unrestricted discussion on each month’s material would logically need to be limited to those members who had purchased that particular month.
And since access to a particular month’s paid content is already limited to members who have purchased that month, wouldn’t that level of access control be sufficient to allow or deny participation in an unrestricted discussion area about that month’s content? I really don’t see any need for an additional password, or any benefit in having one, which is what recent comments seem to imply. (You can’t have a single all-members password to a general members discussion area because we don’t all have access to the same tutorials. And it would not be practical to have a different topic-related password for each topic-specific member discussion area… I have *way* too many passwords to remember as it is! All members already have their own password which accesses the content they’ve paid for, so the sensible thing to do is to tie it in with that.)
The way I envisage it, once you’ve logged into the membership area and are viewing a particular paid video set or colour palette (or individual video or colour recipe for older content), there’d be a discussion area at the bottom of the page on which that confirmed-as-paid content is displayed. I don’t know what the specific technical capabilities and restrictions of the paid content management platform are, but it could be as simple as being able to post comments that all go into a single semi-threaded stream (much like how we can comment on the public blog postings now), or as complex as a structured, multi-level discussion forum (where discussion could be grouped into separate titled threads, e.g. why is my top layer hard to see through? how do I deal with foil cracking? and what is that variation that Sue-F is being so mysterious about?).
By attaching the discussion area to individual paid content pages, the approach described above should tie in technically with existing subscription management mechanisms. It should also help keep discussion “on topic” and together. Comments on blogs are notoriously bad at the latter compared to more traditional discussion forums, but I suspect that the blog approach would be easier to implement on the current platform. (To clarify: blogs are more for enabling the blog owner to post articles and gather comments on them from multiple other people; discussion forums are more for enabling anybody to raise and respond to topics for discussion in a structured manner.)
I do like the idea of being able to discuss each month’s techniques in detail without worrying about giving away too much information. It could possibly even be an additional enticement to purchase individual tutorials… when questions that go too much into the heart of a technique come up in the public blog, whether directly or about variations as has happened with this technique, people could be directed to the relevant paid area instead of us just doing the electronic equivalent of mumbling and looking at our toes.
In that line, it would also encourage participation if more people posted photos of their work. I’m sure there’d be lots of questions about what we’re all doing, if only we could see! Note also that not everybody uses Facebook — some people like me wouldn