Comments on: Translucent Polymer Clay Secrets for Surviving on a Deserted Island

By: Ken H.

Ken H. — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:04:45 +0000

I hope to try again this week end. After watching part two of the raku video i’m begining to wonder if the roses weren’t baked long enough, when your sheet started to crumble after the inital heat treatment it was VERY reminicent of what happened to the outer petals of some of the roses. I am also going to try different colors of jade this weekend (I guess you could say I’m in my jade period). I want to get Jade under by belt before I move on to the next faux I want to try – Lapis.

By: Cindy Lietz@Jupiter Beads

Cindy Lietz@Jupiter Beads — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 18:47:30 +0000

@Lynn: Your candle holders sound lovely! I would love to see pictures of them. If you click the Jupiter Beads link by my name you will see a post about the new Spotlight articles I am writing, featuring the work of people who come to this blog. I would be happy to feature your work

@Ken: Same for you Ken… would love to see your Jade flowers good or bad. You know from being at this site for awhile that there is as much to learn from mistakes as there is from successes. I would love to see pictures from you on both the jade projects that went right and the ones that went wrong plus how you solved the issues.

By: Ken H.

Ken H. — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 07:07:01 +0000

Well here is the report on the faux jade roses, the formula for the jade came out fantastic, the roses – not so much – I think I made the petals too thin, after dropping them in the ice bath, I went to pull them out and some of the outer petals started to crack off, they look beautiful though and I will be applying future tomorrow, also did a few beads while I had my tools out, the beads are unbelievable, I have one coat of future so far and they already shine like polished jade, and they actually have the internal glow that jade has. Well one out of two isn’t bad, will try the roses again making the petals a little thicker next time. Good Night everyone.

By: lynn watts

lynn watts — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 02:44:03 +0000

I have used the sculpey 111 and the kato. I like kato, it is hard to condition but I like the results. I tint my trans,make canes and cover candle holders with the cane slices. It lets the light thru when the candle is lit. It really looks nice depending on your cane slices you use. The candle holders is the ones you have left over when you buy a candle and it is used up, or the ones you can buy at the thrift stores. I have bought alot from there. I also use wine glasses, etc. Lynn W.

By: Cindy Lietz@Polymer Clay Tutorial - Faux Raku

Cindy Lietz@Polymer Clay Tutorial - Faux Raku — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 21:21:22 +0000

Sorry I’m running short on time, so I can’t respond to each of you like I would like to. Excellent comments and tips everyone! Thank you so much for your comments! :-)

Just to respond to the couple of questions…

@Lori: I am not sure exactly what you mean by swapping secrets for the how-to. Could you explain further so I can properly answer your request?

@Cheryl: Ken is right, plunging your beads straight from the oven into ice water does help with making the translucent clearer. Not by much mind you, but every little bit helps.

@Ken: Yes, the foil will crack nicely on a sheet of translucent and therefore you idea to make a ‘ghost sheet’, is a good one!

By: Ken H.

Ken H. — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 14:36:40 +0000

@Cheryl

that’s what I do, drop them into the ice bath right out of the oven.

By: Ken H.

Ken H. — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 14:34:44 +0000

Just watched my new back issue #5 videos, I have a question: will the foils crack on top of translucent as well as they would on the opaque clay? Thinking about making a "ghost sheet" instead of a ghost cane. would this work?

By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 02:43:31 +0000

Do you plunge the beads in ice water as soon as they are out of the oven?

By: Lori

Lori — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:06:08 +0000

I use the “bleached” translucent Fimo, aka Frost.
I will swap my secrets of using this translucent in cool ways for the how-to on the varigated roses!! ?

By: Arlene Harrison

Arlene Harrison — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:36:36 +0000

I’ve recently tried 3 different options. Normally I use Premo – regular, not frost – but I was doing some experimenting using the alcohol inks on gold leaf technique that you had on here not too long ago and wanted something that would bake clearer than the Premo. I tried both Kato and Sculpey III and I could not tell any major difference between the three except that the Kato was hard to condition and the Sculpey III was too soft. So I’ll stick to my Premo and use the ice water bath method to clear them up. I’ve also had success using a heat gun but I’m generally not that patient!