Hello and Welcome!

[oTrissa]

Emm-Kaye

oTrissa

Well where can I use a kiln in public? Like a pottery store or something? I don't have a huge oven that gets to like 4,000 degree's in my house.
Well I figured that clay that wasn't cooked wouldn't be useful for dishware, though I would love to do deco things. The deco phone cases for iphones you see? I would love to make things like those but on other things. What is used for that and to get the tiny details?

I know there are some shops here that let you fire clay pieces - usually you have to buy the greenware there, and glaze the pieces there as well. I actually have my own kiln, so have only ever gone into one once. The pieces they had were mostly vases, tableware (plates, cups, etc.), limited choices in small decorative figurines, that kind of thing.

I have a friend who has made some lovely items, like earrings, candle holders, and small Christmas ornaments, out of the plastic clays - even some metallic ones...I can check with her to see what type(s) she recommends if you'd be interested.

I want to shape my own so not doing it at a store if I have to buy it there. I wonder if I can just do it at my college....
Please ask her?  

[[Elisabeth]]

oTrissa

I do not know a great deal about clay but I have been using some for several years.
I have tried Sculpey Clay Original and I just recently tried some Super Sculpey.
(There is also something called Paper Clay that sounds interesting, but I have not had a chance to try that yet so I cannot say much for it other than a couple of things that I have seen made from it.)

Both Original and Super Sculpey are an oven bake clay. (15 minutes at 275 degrees per every 1/4" thick.)

From what I have seen Sculpey Original holds up pretty good, you can paint it as well but if you do I would suggest sealing it with something. (I use Triple Thick Gloss Glaze by DecoArt and it has worked well for me.)

I cannot say much yet for the Super Sculpey because I have only used it a bit, but so far it has also worked well.

I have a thread here in the Crafting Pics section and if you would like to see what Sculpey can do then I have a few things that I have made there.

But it would probably work well for Deco Den items.....

redface
A very long post, I am sorry..
xd 4laugh

 

[oTrissa]

[Elisabeth]

oTrissa

I do not know a great deal about clay but I have been using some for several years.
I have tried Sculpey Clay Original and I just recently tried some Super Sculpey.
(There is also something called Paper Clay that sounds interesting, but I have not had a chance to try that yet so I cannot say much for it other than a couple of things that I have seen made from it.)

Both Original and Super Sculpey are an oven bake clay. (15 minutes at 275 degrees per every 1/4" thick.)

From what I have seen Sculpey Original holds up pretty good, you can paint it as well but if you do I would suggest sealing it with something. (I use Triple Thick Gloss Glaze by DecoArt and it has worked well for me.)

I cannot say much yet for the Super Sculpey because I have only used it a bit, but so far it has also worked well.

I have a thread here in the Crafting Pics section and if you would like to see what Sculpey can do then I have a few things that I have made there.

But it would probably work well for Deco Den items.....

redface
A very long post, I am sorry..
xd 4laugh

Love your avi btw.
Can you link me to the things you made?

Would I need the tiny tools for the little deco den details?
I mean do you know what people in the stores on etsy use? I'm interested in making those things for myself and when I get better hopefully making a store on there.
Which clay do you think is better? Original or super sculpy?

Where do you think I could find the paper clay? That really does sound interesting.  

[[Elisabeth]]

oTrissa

Love your avi btw.
Can you link me to the things you made?

Would I need the tiny tools for the little deco den details?
I mean do you know what people in the stores on etsy use? I'm interested in making those things for myself and when I get better hopefully making a store on there.
Which clay do you think is better? Original or super sculpy?

Where do you think I could find the paper clay? That really does sound interesting.

Thank you very much!

I can!
Piece of Chocolate Cake Charm
[♥]
Three Hair Bows
[♥]
Pink Hair Bow with Diamonds
[♥]
"Paris" Hair Bow Set
[♥] [♥]
Zebra Hair Bow
[♥]
"Best Friends" Mini-Pizza Necklace
[♥] [♥] [♥]

It would really help to have some tools but if you just want to play around to start with you can use toothpicks, needles/pins, etc. Most of my tools are just little things that may not even be made for clay, they just work for me so I use them. ^-^
If you are doing things like Deco then you can also look into children's play-doh toys, I have found several sets with molds for tiny cakes, cupcakes, sweets, etc.
Youtube videos also help because sometimes people will show you how to make things on there with normal items that you may have around your house that you would never think of until you see it done.
(Example is that I found out from Youtube you can take a button, put some tape over the holes, and make a doll plate mold out of it and it looks very good.)
But, I honestly do not know what the people in the Etsy stores use to make things like that, though.

Hmm, like I had said I do not think that I have used Super Sculpey enough to really know. I have it to make some dolls and I have only done a few pieces with it so I do not know how well that it would hold up but the Original works good enough I would say for accessories, etc.

I am not really certain on the paperclay as far as a store goes, maybe a Hobby Lobby or something?
Here is a link for the company.

There is also another type of clay, I cannot recall the brand, but it is a pre-colored type.
I have never used any of those. The good thing about them is that you do not have to paint them which makes them come out looking a bit cleaner but the bad thing is that you have to use the colors that they provide.

 

[oTrissa]

[Elisabeth]

oTrissa

Love your avi btw.
Can you link me to the things you made?

Would I need the tiny tools for the little deco den details?
I mean do you know what people in the stores on etsy use? I'm interested in making those things for myself and when I get better hopefully making a store on there.
Which clay do you think is better? Original or super sculpy?

Where do you think I could find the paper clay? That really does sound interesting.

Thank you very much!

I can!
Piece of Chocolate Cake Charm
[♥]
Three Hair Bows
[♥]
Pink Hair Bow with Diamonds
[♥]
"Paris" Hair Bow Set
[♥] [♥]
Zebra Hair Bow
[♥]
"Best Friends" Mini-Pizza Necklace
[♥] [♥] [♥]

It would really help to have some tools but if you just want to play around to start with you can use toothpicks, needles/pins, etc. Most of my tools are just little things that may not even be made for clay, they just work for me so I use them. ^-^
If you are doing things like Deco then you can also look into children's play-doh toys, I have found several sets with molds for tiny cakes, cupcakes, sweets, etc.
Youtube videos also help because sometimes people will show you how to make things on there with normal items that you may have around your house that you would never think of until you see it done.
(Example is that I found out from Youtube you can take a button, put some tape over the holes, and make a doll plate mold out of it and it looks very good.)
But, I honestly do not know what the people in the Etsy stores use to make things like that, though.

Hmm, like I had said I do not think that I have used Super Sculpey enough to really know. I have it to make some dolls and I have only done a few pieces with it so I do not know how well that it would hold up but the Original works good enough I would say for accessories, etc.

I am not really certain on the paperclay as far as a store goes, maybe a Hobby Lobby or something?
Here is a link for the company.

There is also another type of clay, I cannot recall the brand, but it is a pre-colored type.
I have never used any of those. The good thing about them is that you do not have to paint them which makes them come out looking a bit cleaner but the bad thing is that you have to use the colors that they provide.

Oh those are really cute. About how long does it take you to make the little mini things?

What other tools are useful?
Oh that's awesome to know. Molds would make everything so much easier.
What youtube videos are good? Or what should I search?
Can I get the original at Micheals? What's the exact name?  

[[Elisabeth]]

oTrissa

Oh those are really cute. About how long does it take you to make the little mini things?

What other tools are useful?
Oh that's awesome to know. Molds would make everything so much easier.
What youtube videos are good? Or what should I search?
Can I get the original at Micheals? What's the exact name?

Thank you.
It has honestly been a little while since I made a lot of things like that. I did make a piece of cake recently and it took maybe ten minutes or so, once you do things more often you get to where you can do it quick, easy and just the way that you want it. But the whole process does take a bit of time when you consider making, baking, painting, sealing and the drying process of it all..

(I just took some pictures because they always make things easier. ^-^ )
Here is a picture of some tools that I use.
I have not used the wax carving tools yet but I have used similar things and they can be quite useful for poking at small things, if you can find a set of dental tools they would probably work really well and maybe even better than the wax tools.
I highly suggest an x-acto knife set (If you do not already own one.), they are just so helpful at trimming away unwanted clay.
Something to roll clay out with helps, I just have some toy rolling pins there that do the job.
The white thing is actually something to clean dishes with but it helps when you have something made, it gets stuck to your work area and you do not want to pick it up incase it may smush it, you just scrape it under your project and it normally picks it up without too much trouble.
As you can see there is a straw and ice cream scoop, I use them for textures.

I also recently purchased these, they have a silicone like tip that works much better with clay than something metal in my opinion. Especially if you are working on small details.

The following pictures are some ideas of molds and things that you can also use.
Here.
And some Play-Doh toys that would be good to use.
Here. Here. Here.

I found this, this at Goodwill, which has a lot of shapes that could be used.

This is what the packages look like for the Super Sculpey and Original Sculpey.
I do not know if I have ever been to a Micheals before but if it is like Jo-Ann's or Hobby Lobby then they should have it.

A few more tips:
I use an aluminum pie pan to bake my things on and it works well.
I use wax paper for my work area, when you are done you just throw the wax paper away and you do not have a sticky mess to clean up after the fact.
When I use molds I normally put some powder (I think that I use corn starch.) in the mold before I push the clay in so that the clay does not stick to the mold.

As for Youtube....I have a few things saved, I will add those and from there you will probably find a lot of suggested videos on the right side of the window that you may like.
This. This. This. This. This. This.

For searching, I would do something like..... "How to Deco Den" "How to Deco Den Cake" (Or whatever you are looking to make.)

 

[oTrissa]

[Elisabeth]

oTrissa

Oh those are really cute. About how long does it take you to make the little mini things?

What other tools are useful?
Oh that's awesome to know. Molds would make everything so much easier.
What youtube videos are good? Or what should I search?
Can I get the original at Micheals? What's the exact name?

Thank you.
It has honestly been a little while since I made a lot of things like that. I did make a piece of cake recently and it took maybe ten minutes or so, once you do things more often you get to where you can do it quick, easy and just the way that you want it. But the whole process does take a bit of time when you consider making, baking, painting, sealing and the drying process of it all..

(I just took some pictures because they always make things easier. ^-^ )
Here is a picture of some tools that I use.
I have not used the wax carving tools yet but I have used similar things and they can be quite useful for poking at small things, if you can find a set of dental tools they would probably work really well and maybe even better than the wax tools.
I highly suggest an x-acto knife set (If you do not already own one.), they are just so helpful at trimming away unwanted clay.
Something to roll clay out with helps, I just have some toy rolling pins there that do the job.
The white thing is actually something to clean dishes with but it helps when you have something made, it gets stuck to your work area and you do not want to pick it up incase it may smush it, you just scrape it under your project and it normally picks it up without too much trouble.
As you can see there is a straw and ice cream scoop, I use them for textures.

I also recently purchased these, they have a silicone like tip that works much better with clay than something metal in my opinion. Especially if you are working on small details.

The following pictures are some ideas of molds and things that you can also use.
Here.
And some Play-Doh toys that would be good to use.
Here. Here. Here.

I found this, this at Goodwill, which has a lot of shapes that could be used.

This is what the packages look like for the Super Sculpey and Original Sculpey.
I do not know if I have ever been to a Micheals before but if it is like Jo-Ann's or Hobby Lobby then they should have it.

A few more tips:
I use an aluminum pie pan to bake my things on and it works well.
I use wax paper for my work area, when you are done you just throw the wax paper away and you do not have a sticky mess to clean up after the fact.
When I use molds I normally put some powder (I think that I use corn starch.) in the mold before I push the clay in so that the clay does not stick to the mold.

As for Youtube....I have a few things saved, I will add those and from there you will probably find a lot of suggested videos on the right side of the window that you may like.
This. This. This. This. This. This.

For searching, I would do something like..... "How to Deco Den" "How to Deco Den Cake" (Or whatever you are looking to make.)

Oh wow, that's a lot of tools, but with all that I think it'd be easier for me than I though to start doing this. <3

Guess I'll go o Micheals and pick up a few things soon. Honestly I probably have a ton of tools in my back room, it's just so messy. (Not my stuff) It's going to be a pain to look through.

And yes pics do make everything easier. smile

Where did you get the silicone tip things and do they have a specific name?
(this post must have taken you forever to type out, lol)

I want to jack all your molds. My bf would probably be like WTF are you having a baby if I buy stuff like this.

Thank you for all the tips, you've been really helpful. smile  

[[Elisabeth]]

oTrissa

Oh wow, that's a lot of tools, but with all that I think it'd be easier for me than I though to start doing this. <3

Guess I'll go o Micheals and pick up a few things soon. Honestly I probably have a ton of tools in my back room, it's just so messy. (Not my stuff) It's going to be a pain to look through.

And yes pics do make everything easier. smile

Where did you get the silicone tip things and do they have a specific name?
(this post must have taken you forever to type out, lol)

I want to jack all your molds. My bf would probably be like WTF are you having a baby if I buy stuff like this.

Thank you for all the tips, you've been really helpful. smile

Mmmhmm!

They do! 3nodding

I believe that it was Hobby Lobby in the doll section.
They are not actually made for sculpting but they are basically just like tools that they do make for sculpting.
They are called Colour Shapers for painting.
Mine are Firm size 0 for Oil/Acrylic/Watercolor by West Design.
They were normally $29.99 but on sale for $17.99.....
(I tend to type at a good pace so other than having to add the pictures in it went by rather quickly. 4laugh 3nodding )

Hehe!
I actually felt like that myself by being in the children's section looking for "toys" but when you actually find something it makes you feel a lot better, like you did not do it all for nothing. xd

You are most welcome!
And if you ever have a question I cannot promise that I will always know the answer but you are welcome to send me a message and I will try to help if I can!

 

[Emm-Kaye]

oTrissa

Emm-Kaye

I have a friend who has made some lovely items, like earrings, candle holders, and small Christmas ornaments, out of the plastic clays - even some metallic ones...I can check with her to see what type(s) she recommends if you'd be interested.

Please ask her?

She said that Sculpy would probably be easiest for a beginner, since you can reuse it if you don't bake it. Once it's baked, it's permanently shaped. There are other Polymer clays that she uses also (Fimo is one brand she said she really likes).  

[oTrissa]

Emm-Kaye

oTrissa

Emm-Kaye

I have a friend who has made some lovely items, like earrings, candle holders, and small Christmas ornaments, out of the plastic clays - even some metallic ones...I can check with her to see what type(s) she recommends if you'd be interested.

Please ask her?

She said that Sculpy would probably be easiest for a beginner, since you can reuse it if you don't bake it. Once it's baked, it's permanently shaped. There are other Polymer clays that she uses also (Fimo is one brand she said she really likes).

Awesome thank you. That';s great to know, if I mess up I don;t have to worry so much. smile  

[eMberzane]

The name's Ember.

I do a variety of crafts:
Knitting (mainly on looms because I drop stitches), crocheting, sketching, ceramics, pastel art, paintings, cross-stitching, I used to do stepping stones, but haven't done one in a while.

My boyfriend does jewelry and hemp. Two things I don't have much patience for, right now.

I would like to get into sewing (make my own clothes and costumes), candle making, soap making and anything else that I can make and sell.

We are doing crafts right now and are going to start a business on Etsy once we get enough. Right now, I just haven't had time.  

[Emm-Kaye]

eMberzane

The name's Ember.

I do a variety of crafts:
Knitting (mainly on looms because I drop stitches), crocheting, sketching, ceramics, pastel art, paintings, cross-stitching, I used to do stepping stones, but haven't done one in a while.

My boyfriend does jewelry and hemp. Two things I don't have much patience for, right now.

I would like to get into sewing (make my own clothes and costumes), candle making, soap making and anything else that I can make and sell.

We are doing crafts right now and are going to start a business on Etsy once we get enough. Right now, I just haven't had time.

Welcome, Ember! Hope you enjoy yourself here.  

[Cyborg Hannah]

Hello everyone and anyone! My name is Hannah and I am crazy about DIY.

I especially love at the moment :
Crocheting
Sewing
Wilderness Survival techniques *cough*
~That counts right?
It's not a whole lot compared to what most of you guys do but it's a start.

Anyways.. I'd love to do more and I plan on doing more at one point and I hope to share my projects with you in the future! I'm so happy I found this guild. emotion_kirakira  

[Emm-Kaye]

Cyborg Hannah

Hello everyone and anyone! My name is Hannah and I am crazy about DIY.

I especially love at the moment :
Crocheting
Sewing
Wilderness Survival techniques *cough*
~That counts right?
It's not a whole lot compared to what most of you guys do but it's a start.

Anyways.. I'd love to do more and I plan on doing more at one point and I hope to share my projects with you in the future! I'm so happy I found this guild. emotion_kirakira

Welcome, Hannah!
Of course Wilderness Survival counts...lol. Hope you enjoy our guild!  

[MissAnti]

Hello~ It's nice to be here.
I'm Anti.
I make handcrafted jewelry. Here're a few of my new pieces. ;D







My shop is in my sig. I keep my other items there and update new pieces there. ^^