Comments on: Hammered Copper Wire Hookmark with Polymer Clay Beads and Ribbon

By: Cindy Lietz@Best Finishes for Polymer Clay

Cindy Lietz@Best Finishes for Polymer Clay — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 01:55:24 +0000

@Brenda Anthony: Hi Brenda, welcome back! It is nice to see you around these parts again! Your find sounds like it could be a good one. But make sure you do a “time test” with it. In other words, put some on a test clay piece and let it sit for awhile. If after a few months there is no reaction, the product will likely be pretty safe to use with your polymer clay. Just because a product appears to be the same, doesn’t mean it doesn’t have an added ingredients that could react badly with the clay over time. Sometimes, a piece will seem fine when first coated with a finish, only to become sticky weeks down the road. Just thought I would mention that, so you don’t have unhappy surprises down the road. Do let us know what kind of results you get with your test. I am sure everyone would appreciate the information. Thanks!

By: Brenda Anthony

Brenda Anthony — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 04:48:08 +0000

Hi everyone! Haven’t posted in a while, but just HAD TO remind you all about free wire. Yes, the wire Arlene and Ken paid $$ for. Get friendly with a home builder or electrician and pick up their scraps from job sites. You’ll have a whole variety of wires to pick from!

I also finally found the “equal” to Future Floor Finish. For our American crafters, if there is a Family Dollar store in your town, they carry their own brand of this acrylic floor finish over by the mops and brooms and dish detergents, etc. I paid $1.25 for a 24 ounch bottle and it worked great!

Arlene: These book marks are soooooooo pretty! Thank you for sharing!

By: Cindy Lietz@Polymer Clay Beads - No Need for Perfect

Cindy Lietz@Polymer Clay Beads - No Need for Perfect — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:30:45 +0000

You guys are all doing a fantastic job of supporting Arlene and her great beaded bookmark! It sure is nice to see the community growing and developing this way. Very satisfying to see. Keep up the great work everyone!

By: Jocelyn

Jocelyn — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 03:21:49 +0000

Yonat’s tut “No Background Cane”
youtube.com/watch?v=4ecS_Sa0KbM
flickr.com/photos/yonat-dascalu/

Wow! Thanks for the heads up….

By: Arlene Harrison

Arlene Harrison — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 19:07:53 +0000

Anna wrote: Arleen, I went to your blog and you do beautiful work. While at the IPCA retreat there was a clayer form Isreal, her name is Yonat.
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That’s the name I couldn’t remember! There has been a fair amount of chatter on several groups about this process but it didn’t make sense until I saw the video that she did. Totally cool! A couple of things I did learn the hard way… after you wrap the play dough around your flower cane, use a needle tool or small knitting needle to push it down into the valleys between the petals. Then pack as you normally would but use scrap clay. I use extruded snakes to pack mine. I fill in with the snakes and pack tightly enough to maintain the shape of the petals. Then wrap all of it with a nice THICK sheet of scrap clay. Reduce to the size you want, cut into smaller sections, then use a craft knife to cut down one side, then just peel it off. The thick clay peels off much easier than thin does (ask me how I know this!!!) I also find it works best – particularly in Mississippi in the summer – to let the flower cane “rest” for a while before you pack it. That cane that was so pretty before you started reducing it is just as pretty – not distorted – just smaller!!! LOVE IT!
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By: Arlene Harrison

Arlene Harrison — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 18:53:11 +0000

Re: Ken’s comment – just brought a 15ft package 12g romex wire for a non-PC project (no, I’m not that brave to do electrical work) for a little under $10…

I only bought 1 foot of the kind that I found. The man in the line behind me told me that wasn’t even long enough to go from the switch box to something… he looked at me just a little strangly when I told him it was for a craft project!

One thing that I did discover is that the piece that I bought only had one usable piece of copper, the rest were smaller wires twisted together. The roll that was in my workshop had three so the only waste was the plastic coating on the wire. Love it!

By: nancy reddick

nancy reddick — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 18:05:21 +0000

Arlene, what beautiful canes, I am always in awe of the detail some artist can instill in a cane. I am just a novice with canes, so mine still lack any detail. Thanks for sharing your beautiful gift…

By: Maureen

Maureen — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 17:17:39 +0000

Anna, I have also seen the canes made with the paydoh. One of the ladies in our guild gave a demo and it worked great! She did a flower cane with the playdoh between the leaves and then wrapped with scrap clay around it, as you said. After it was reduced, she just peeled off the outer wrap and the playdoh. What was left she rinsed off under water. The playdoh washes right off. Beautiful flowers standing on their own with no background. Very cool!!

By: Anna Sabina

Anna Sabina — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 13:08:43 +0000

Arleen, I went to your blog and you do beautiful work. While at the IPCA retreat there was a clayer form Isreal, her name is Yonat. She did a mini demo on how to use Playdough to keep flower cane shape. It sounds ridiculous but it so so slick and works great. Yonat was doing rose canes, she used a ran the playdough through the thickest setting of he pasta machine and then added scrap clay on top of that. Your blog is so cool. I loved all the postings about things you use in your studio, especially recycling the white board.

By: Silverleaf

Silverleaf — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 11:13:37 +0000

Okay, so some of the characters didn’t come out properly there. You get the idea anyway.