Video #570: Roadtrip #3-02 (OR): Bring something home from your travels to work into a polymer clay project… creating memories.
Topics Covered In This Video:
- On the spit, Fort Stevens State Park, Oregon at the mouth of the mighty Columbia River.
- The Columbia River is the dividing line between the State of Oregon on the South bank and Washington to the North.
- Just had a picnic on the beach and found some cool inspiration along the shoreline / river bank.
- Pitch black sand on the beach in ripples and patches alongside regular tan colored sand.
- With some later research I discovered that this type of black sand is actually a combination of minerals from placer deposits that are heavy, glossy and partly magnetic. This partial kind of black sand often contains minerals such as rare earth elements, thorium, titanium, tungsten, zirconium and gemstones like garnet, topaz, ruby, sapphire and diamond. Hence the magnetic qualities and the gorgeous sparkle! Because it is heavier than regular silica sand, it only gets thrown up into the beach in heavy waves and then stays behind as the water retreats. That was why it was collected in little pockets and in ripples on the beach. How cool is that!?
- You can mix sand into translucent clay as an inclusion.
- This black sand would look cool on the outside of a polymer clay bead.
- It could be mixed with liquid polymer clay (TLS) to make a realistic grout for Micro Mosaic Polymer Pins.
- Would be great added to the paint in the Faux Turquoise Technique.
- When you are out on a vacation or enjoying yourself out there in the world, see if you can bring back something from the trip to use in your polymer clay creations.
- Driftwood, sand, pebbles, beach glass, are great mementos and additions to your polymer clay projects.
- Related Video: Fort Stevens State Park Rustic Texture Inpiration
- Related Video: Micro Mosaic Pins Polymer Clay Tutorial
- Related Video: Polymer Clay Tutorial Faux Turquoise Beads
- Related Video: Polymer Clay Faux Pebble Beads and Beach Jewelry Projects
Do you have any suggestions for videos on tips, techniques or products you would like to learn more about? Let me know in the comments section below!
My goal is to help you to learn quicker and easier ways to bring up the professionalism in your polymer clay art.
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Looking forward to hearing from you!
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Love that sand and all your ideas. As an East Coast ocean girl, a couple of cautions.
Dark sand may contain organic inclusions that might give off an odor later on, make sure you rinse it thoroughly in bleach, even soak it a couple of days, before you add to poly clay.
Dark sand here contains magnetite. Thomas Edison tried to start a recovery operation here, since all you need to do is drag a magnet through the darker sand, and it comes up with magnetite (iron) clumped all over it.
Never be tempted to use an acrylic roller or your pasta machine to run through sand mixed into poly clay. It scratches and might gum up the works of the machine.
I’m thinking about having a chess set made of polymer clay. Will the pieces hold up with a lot of use and also would they break easy
Thanks
Hi Diane, it depends on who makes it, what brand of polymer clay they use and how they bake the piece, as to whether or not it would be durable. If the piece is made with Premo, Fimo or Kato clay, is made so that any appendages are well adhered and is fully cured for a full hour (40 min for Kato) then it should be plenty strong enough to last you for years.
Hi Cindy…
I have made a few projects and am learning more and more through your
tutorials. I have a question. I don’t know if I’m baking long enought or
what. I bake my clay items at appx 265-275F for about an hour and ten
minutes. Is it typical, after sanding/polishing/glazing, for the
finished project to be easy to make a fingernail dent in the clay? Does
is never get rock hard? If not, is there a way to make it harder? I
think I saw you touch on this in a video, but I don’t remember which
one. I searched through your search box, but probably am not using the
right wording. I have made some cabochons for ring mounts that I can
sculpt really well. But after sanding and polishing and glazing, they are
still susceptible to marks. Help!!!!
Regards,
Janice Armistead
Hi Janice – This video will helpful for you…
Should Polymer Clay Still Bend After It’s Been Baked?
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Oh my gracious yes!
I’ve JARS and jars of sand from all my trips to the Caribbean, but haven’t been even THINKING about what I can utilize it with when coupled with polymer!
I feel so foolish, and so INSPIRED!
Thank you Cindy!
(and just in time, my honeymoon is in Oregon no less! XD )