Plus Some Kind Musings From Sandy’s Simple Inspiration Polymer Clay Blog:
Friday was an exciting day for the extended unveiling of my tutorial video on how to use teardrop shaped pieces of polymer clay to make color blends and gradients. That’s because my friends Chica and Jo, were gracious enough to help get the word out in their weekly Feature Friday article.
You can read it here: Teardrop Method for Polymer Clay Blends
I would also like to give a special shout out to Sandy of Simple Inspirations for the blog article and kind words she posted earlier this week. Here’s that link: Cindy Lietz’s New Method for Skinner Blends
Sandy regularly publishes musings about her hobbies with a current focus on polymer clay… which is why her RSS feed has been in my Google Reader for quite some time now. Thanks Sandy for all of the contributions you make to the polymer clay community.
With Chica and Jo, I was first introduced to their craft site just this past December 2008. That’s when they published a wonderful polymer clay tutorial for making a Christmas Advent Calendar House.
It is such a cute idea… a tiny polymer clay house with lots of tiny polymer clay accessories such as a Christmas tree, a table with a plate of cookies, a rug, little candles, a fireplace, stockings, presents, kids, a dog… you get the idea.
Each day leading up to Christmas, you add one item to the house. Can you imagine how fun that would be for your kids? My daughter would be rearranging the furniture over and over till she got it how she wanted. And then my son would move the dog onto the table to eat the cookies!
It’s a great tutorial and you should check it out. However instead of Sculpey III I would use Premo since it is a lot stronger. You’ll want something wonderful like this to last for years and years.
You also may want to check out some of Chica and Jo’s other crafting projects. I love the rainbow frosting idea for cupcakes, and the neat desk organizer using a recycled phone book!
Enjoy… or better yet as Chica And Jo would say… “Enjoy Tackling Life, One Project at a Time.”
Have you checked out the Chica and Jo’s site yet… or Sandy’s Simple Inspirations Blog? Did you get any good ideas that you would like to discuss? You know me… always looking to get the conversation going :-)
Oh, I’m so glad that I found you! Your work is so beautiful and the video’s are so well done even a beginner like me can follow. I can’t wait to see what you will have coming next. You don’t have to reply I know you must be very busy. I hope I’m not bothering you with this reply but I couldn’t resist telling you. Thanks Again, Mary Deforge
Hi Mary,
I can assure you that comments like this do not bother me at all :) :) :)
I love it that you took the time to send me your thoughts.
Hi Cindy,
Visited both sites and found them both to be sites I will return to. The Advent houses are awesome. What patience those gals have!!
Thanks for sharing.
Hi MJ! Nice to hear from you again! I know, both sites are great! I think that advent house is really cool too. So much work, but since you would enjoy it for years, it would be worth it!
hi,
how are you, hope your fine, i really need your help i want to make a frosting for a cupcake only i saw a cute website that make’s something like that only i really don’t know how to make it.
i really hope you can help me
hear from you soon
@samia: Hi Samia, I just wanted to say, “Hi!” I haven’t really played around with cupcakes or frosting before, as this website mostly deals with other types of jewelry making beads. Cindy has done a few miniature items, though. This article on Making Miniature Food for Dollhouses has some examples of food items, as well as a discussion on size & proportion. This comment, on another page talks about how to make icing.
The “icing” comment is on the same page as this article on “Scented Polymer Clay.”
If you read the comments, you’ll find all kinds of ideas and tips on scenting your baked goods so they smell good. Unfortunately, there are no tutorials on baking the actual cupcakes. It shouldn’t be too difficult, though, at least after you understand how to work with polymer clay. You can choose a color for the bottom of the cupcake, condition it, and then shape it into a cylinder. Then use a tool like a needle or toothpick to make “lines” that look like the paper wrapper a cupcake bakes in. For icing, shape a “snake” of clay around the base cupcake, or use the tip for making icing from the other page. (Making thinned-down clay to frost your cupcake.) Alternatively, you can put the thinned clay in a plastic baggie, and cut a tiny piece off the corner to make a decorative “icing bag.” Squeeze the clay from the bag into a swirl to look like frosting. Add a hook or eyepin to your cupcake charm, then bake. (Be sure to follow Cindy’s video instructions, or read some of the baking articles at this blog.)
For information about how to condition clay, bake your pieces, and finish them, you should look into Cindy’s Polymer Clay Beginners Course. It has all the info you need to get started on working with polymer clay. The link is at the top of the page. (It’s a great deal — 39 videos that teach you what you need to get started!) There’s information all over this blog, as well. Just use the search box at the top left of the page to find the subject you want. For example, type “how to bake clay” or “adding varnish to charms” or whatever you’re looking for, and you’ll get a list of articles on that topic.
I’ll leave you with one last article, a Spotlight on one of the members who made some cute miniatures. These are Catalina’s Dollhouse Miniatures.
I hope I was able to help you some. Leave another comment if you have any other questions. Have fun! ~Kat Riverside, CA USA