Video #302: Roadtrip #1-07: “One of the (Dragons) I made, my dog decided to eat!” ~Dana Murphy
It was during our recent visit to Portland Oregon, with Margaret Murphy and her daughter (Dana), that we learned of yet another misguided pooch vs polymer clay munching incident.
The first time was when Arvita and Ross Elam told us how their conniving little Cooper used his canines to chew off the nose and an ear from poor ole Henry (aka Middle Earth Man). This prompted a few other members to post even more stories about their own puppies feasting on a variety of different sculpted pieces and parts.
Now in today’s video (below), you will hear about Dana’s dragon eating dog… along with some valuable tips for Margaret who was asking for advice on baking, sanding and finishing her flat polymer clay clay pieces…
Please join me in welcoming Margaret and Dana to our growing clay family.
And feel free to share more pet vs polymer clay stories in the comments section below. Like I said above in the title of this post… Who Knew???
  |
Another great meeting. I can always use refreshers and tips. Hi Margaret and Dana very nice to meet you both.
Glad you were able to glean some tips from the video. It is nice to start getting to know everyone in person… Hopefully we will meet you some day Pollyanna!
Lovely to meet Margaret and Dana. Would love to see a pic of Dana’s dragon, he sounds gorgeous.
Your son Fisher is quite a character! made a sick woman laugh! I have a nasty cold courtesy of my son! thanks for a neat video, its really cool getting to see people and places like this.
I know Sandra! Fisher always surprises me when he does that kind of stuff. He is generally quiet … then he comes in with that big booming voice and says something totally unexpected and I too laugh right out loud! I’d like to get him on camera more often. It would be fun to do some clay experiments with him as my lab assistant… who knows, a mother can always dream!
Nothing beats watching someone solve a problem in real time. I am so grateful for the videos that prove that over and over.
So glad to meet Margaret and Dana! Adorable to watch the daughter become entranced in the teaching process.
That is sweet of you to say Jocelyn! I agree… it is neat to see someone has that light bulb moment. That is one f the most rewarding aspects of being a teacher.
There’s Margaret’s problems with her NOT flat bottoms…………OUCH
Then Dana’s Dragon getting all chewed up…………………………….CRUNCH
What is it with these hungry little doggies?
They all want to try P/C for their lunch!
Think we should all start making doggie bikkies
And fashion tasty P/C doggie bones
Then slather them in hot hot chillie pepper
Sit back and hear their little doggie moans…………………… (thats wicked)
Now CINDY, should you carry bottled water,
Dish soap and a bowl to sand your stuff
For when we visit (If we cannot have a coffee)
We might all just walk right off in a huff!!
My naughty little dog Jessica decided to help herself to my ham sandwich that I had left on the coffee table when I went to answer the doorbell. I love English mustard and had used plenty. She is now sitting under my chair having a little moan to herself, so perhaps you should cover your baked masterpieces in mustard (it will wash off) until these little doggies learn that P/C is not for eating……..cheers xx…………….
LOVE IT Elaine! How fun to get reprimanded by poem! I promise that by the time we get our roadtrip out to England, that we will have our act together. We need to get something called an inverter, so that we can use our battery power at the wall plugs… that way we can use our coffee maker. (Or I suppose we could just get a stove top kettle and a drip cone and use the gas instead.) Plus we will make sure that we have bottled water for making the coffee and handling any impromptu sanding sessions that may come up. The last thing I would want is you stomping off in a huff! lol
Great travel videos! Fun to meet folks and this one on sanding was perfect for where I’m at now as well.
Thanks Patty! It really was too bad we were not able to meet up with you while in Spokane. It would have been fun for everyone to meet you as well. Oh well… maybe next time? Glad you are learning and enjoying the series. That is exactly what we wanted to have happen. We are looking forward to doing more of these trips!
Hi Cindy,
We love your video tutorials, my little girl is only 5 but whenever I get the clay out she also has to play, she will avidly watch your videos with me. Keep them up, we love em.
Dawn
That is very sweet to hear Dawn! I love it that you and your daughter can both get something out of the videos. Say Hi to her for me. I would love to meet you two sometime!
Hi Cindy,
Oh my, I have just finished some beautiful sweet pea and clover earrings!
I can’t tell you how much being part of your “group” continues to mean to me.
Sure hope you and your family will be able to visit Virginia on one of your motor home treks. It is a beautiful state….Spring or Fall would be the best times. I’d be glad to help with arrangements if you need a contact person, so please be in touch when you are coming this way!
The very best to you and your family. May God keep you in His care.
Carol Thurston
Charlottesville, VA
We would love to come see you in Virginia Carol! Hopefully we can do that. Our plans are to do a cross countries (Canada and USA) trip this Summer if we can pull it off and will do our best to come your way. We would love help with planning so we’ll have to chat about that next year, closer to the date. So glad you are having fun with us here. Happy to be part of your creative journey!
I so enjoyed this visit. I just watched it for the second time this morning with my cup of coffee. Very nice to meet you Margaret and Dana. Thanks for all the tips Cindy. I’ve heard you mention before about baking upside down in between the tiles, but it never really registered, lol, and I confess I too have a resin obsession. It makes a beautiful piece amazing. I just had two compliments this week, from men (that’s never happened before), on my peacock cane earings that are covered in…you guessed it, resin! Don’t forget Upstate NY Cindy. Is there anybody else from the Upstate NY area? Maybe we could all plan to get together when Cindy and her family are able to come our way and have a meeting at one of our craft stores. WOULDN’T THAT BE FUN!!!!! Thanks again.
We would also love to see you too Michelle! We will pin upstate New York to the map as well and hopefully we can make it happen. I think it would be TREMENDOUS FUN!
Yippee! Thanks for the confirmation about adding a bit of mold maker to the clay to make it more flexible. On another note, I was just reading the postings on using a toaster oven to bake pc. I’ve just recently started using the convection oven I bought at a tag sale and there’s a bit of a learning curve I’m so used to baking in my oven. I’ve already burnt a few pieces, though they still turned out pretty cool. I tried putting my pieces on top of a piece of card stock and they stuck to the paper. I was able to soak and sand it off though. I’ve been using the “bake” setting, at a lower temperature (I know I need to get an oven thermometer) which heats from the bottom. Should I be using the “toaster” setting which looks like it will heat from the top?
Hey Michelle, sorry to take so long to get to your questions. As far as the paper sticking to the cardstock, that is kinda weird. Is it possible that the paper had some kind of finish on it? I know that there are some ‘clay coated’ glossy papers out there and some other coated photo papers and such that I am thinking may have been the cause of your clay getting stuck to your paper. A regular un-coated file folder or plain copy paper won’t normally stick at all. Try changing the paper next time and see if that will make a difference.
Or here is another idea… maybe you put a glaze on your clay before baking it? That would stick to paper as well.
In regards to the oven settings, definitely pick up an oven thermometer. You don’t need anything too fancy. I got mine for about $6 in the grocery store where the gadgets were. Though some day I would like to get one that is digital and has an alarm on it that will let you know if the temperature drops too low or goes too high. That would be even nicer.
I would use a setting that cooks from below and above if you can. I don’t know whether that would be your bake setting your your toaster setting, you’d have to test that to find out. Just don’t use the broiler setting if you have it, since that for sure would be from the top only. It is always best to have the heat from all over, rather than only one direction.
Any way, sounds like you will have to play around with your new oven until you get it behaving how you want it to. Watch the Simple Tips for Avoiding Burnt Beads Video if you haven’t already, it will help to moderate the temp, and hopefully prevent you from burning too many more items. Good luck!
Great, thanks for all the tips Cindy. :o)
I watched this video today with the comment about the dog eating part of the dinosaur! We have a puppy who has an affinity for anything that falls onto the floor! And yes, he has eaten clay! Only a tiny bit, but I do try to keep him away from my work area. :-D
Oh Betty not you too!! What is with these darn puppies? You would think that the smell would make them shy away from the clay, but may plastic smells tasty to dogs? Well I’m glad to hear that he only got a tiny bite… for both of your sakes. So happy to have you here as part of our clay family. Thank you for your comment!
How nice meeting Margaret & Dana! Caught myself with another goofy grin after watching this video (and that was before seeing Fisher-LOL!) So nice seeing other members, and getting these extra videos & tips!
Miss Kat, so great to see you back posting! Yay! Missed you. Hope all is well with your and yours!