July 2007
Monthly Archive
Polymer Clay TV videocast # 7 - a demonstration of how to work with pigment inks and stamp pads
Posted by Kira on 19 Jul 2007 | Tagged as: , , Vodcasts
Surprise! Your video is one day early. We hope you enjoy it, and we can’t wait to report back to you from CHA! It’s been an exciting week as we get ready and hope that we don’t forget to bring anything with us!
Last week, we talked about pigment inks and now you get to see them in action, being stamped, rubbed, painted, and mushed onto and into polymer clay. We used Tsukineko Brilliance Dewdrops, which are small but thick and juicy stamp pads. They have a pointy edge so you can really get them where you want them to go, and a broad end for bigger areas.
We have created a full length video tutorial that you can follow along with to make a lightswitch plate cover for your home. This technique can be adapted to create so many other things- like journal covers, covered tins and boxes, and anything else you want to cover with clay.
Available at www.polymerclayclassroom.com
We would like to take a moment to gently remind you to give us a review wherever you pick up your video and podcasts- itunes, meefedia, youtube, google videos- they all have a review system in place and it would really help if our audience members started telling others how they feel about the show. And, if you’re not a newsletter subscriber, sign up now and you’ll get our August 1st mailing! Thank you and we’ll talk next week!
Polymer Clay TV Comes Earlier This Week Learn How To Work With Pigment Ink
Posted by Ilysa on 18 Jul 2007 | Tagged as:
Since I will be leaving early tomorrow morning to go to CHA in Chicago, we have decided to release Polymer Clay TV before Friday. Kira is planning on having the video ready sometime this evening or at the latest tomorrow, so you will get to watch it a few days early this week. We will be demonstrating how to use pigment ink with polymer clay. You can do so many cool things with http://www.tsukineko.com Brilliance Dew Drop Inks. I like to use multiple colors on the same project it creates a neat look and I always love the look and use it often. We hope you will give this technique a try since it is so easy but looks so great!
I am really looking forward to getting to see my old friend David who I haven’t seen in 6 years but have know since we were about 14 years old. He lives in Chicago with his family and I found out that he recently joined a band and is the singer. I haven’t heard their music but if you get a chance you might want to check him out at one of his upcoming gigs. http://www.midlifecrisisrocks.info
We are looking forward to bringing all kinds of new products, info and techniques back from CHA so stay tuned.
Polymer Clay TV Demo This Week And We Are Heading To The Creative Hobby Association Show(CHA)
Posted by Ilysa on 16 Jul 2007 | Tagged as:
I can feel this week is going to go by very fast. On Thursday morning I am off to Chicago to attend the Creative Hobby Association show and Kira will be coming in Thursday evening. We have so many things planned while we are there, so we will have tons of things to share with you. We have all kinds of interviews lined up and we are covering the Amaco reception so make sure to tune in as we are planning on sharing what goodies we find at the show. We will be on the look out for new and exciting things that will work well with polymer clay and we will bring back all the information we can find out about the new clay Polyform has developed called Studio By Sculpey.
Make sure to come back on Friday when a new episode of Polymer Clay TV will be available. We will be demonstrating how to use pigment ink on the show. We will also have a new episode of Polymer Clay Classroom available in our shop and this week we show you how to make unique light switch covers accented with pigment ink.
I am looking forward to coming home with lots of inspiration to share on the shows. For those of you who always wanted to go to CHA we plan on bringing CHA to you so make sure to subscribe to the show so you don’t miss anything.
Polymer Clay Podcast Episode 6 - working with pigment inks
Posted by Kira on 12 Jul 2007 | Tagged as: , , Podcasts
You can click the links directly below to listen to the podcast right here. Or you can use the link on the right to get our podcast from many different places, like yahoo, or itunes.
There are two general types of inks that you can use, referred to as Pigment inks, which we talk about today, and Alcohal or Dye inks, which we saved for our next podcast in two weeks.
The main difference between the two is that pigment inks stay where you put them, and dye inks “bleed” and tend to dye whatever clay is around them a new color.
Pigment inks are created with ground pigments, much like the pigment powder we discussed last week, and a wetting agent or “binder.” The simplest binder is water, but the company creating the ink decides what else to put in the ink to create it’s many properties- such as how long it stays wet, how flexible it is, how opaque it is, and whether or not you need to heat set it. Most pigment inks need to be heat set on polymer clay so they won’t smear. That makes using them with clay very convenient, since you have to bake it anyway!
You can use pigment inks on top of uncured clay, you can mix it in to change the color of the clay, you can partially mix it in- which creates a marbled effect, you can use a stamp to make an image, you can use the stamp pad, your finger, or a brush to put ink exactly where you want it. You can put it on the raised areas of a design, or you can paint it into the cracks of a textured design. You can even use it as a mold release instead of water or cornstarch. You can stamp onto a baked piece of clay if you want to see the stamped image clearly. You can brush or smear it onto baked clay to create antiqued effects or to highlight a portion of a design. Pigment ink is so versatile with polymer clay you will never run out of ways to use it. Be sure to come back and watch Polymer Clay TV next week, when we will demonstrate everything we discussed in our podcast.
Special thanks to Tsukineko- they sent us a box of goodies to try out and we selected DewDrop inks in metallic and pearlescent colors to feature in this episode, and also in Polymer Clay Classroom- our downloadable full length project tutorial where you can watch, learn, and create along with us as we make two different light switch covers using polymer clay and DewDrop inkpads.
Next weekend, Ilysa and I will be at the CHA conference in Chicago. We are very excited to announce a couple of things- we are going to take a little class with Donna Dewberry- she is introducing a new clay, called Sculpey Studio. There has been a lot of controversy about this, because Donna D. is best known for starting the One-Stroke painting craze, and she is not known for working with clay, at all. The established claying community is full of wonderful talented artists who have been working with polymer clay for many years, so there has been a lot of buzz about this. We hope to talk to Donna and we will definately take the class and tell you all about the new clay. We have also been invited by Amaco to cover a reception they are having, and we have confirmation from several polymer clay artists for interviews. So we will be coming back with lots of extras for our listeners and viewers!
I’m publishing early tonight- Harry Potter 5 is calling and I must answer the call! I will never grow up…
Polymer Clay Is Pefect For Summer Projects With The Kids
Posted by Ilysa on 11 Jul 2007 | Tagged as:
This week has been pretty hectic. My sister and family have been in town for the last week house hunting but they are on their way home as I write this post. While my niece Rachel was in town of course we had to fit in playing with the clay, even though it was late at night we managed to squeeze it in. Rachel loves playing with polymer clay as most kids do, so I started thinking that its the perfect medium for kids to use since its non toxic and comes in a large variety of colors and can be fired at temperatures less than 300 degrees. I encourage you to introduce polymer clay to any children you know, they will love it! I am hoping to share polymer clay with a bunch of the local children at my library this summer. I was thinking they might enjoy making some ladybugs,lizards,snakes,bees and more out of the clay. The colors are so bright and fun that they will be inspired to use their creativity and imagination. The topic we are discussing this week is using ink with polymer clay, its a fun and easy way to enhance textured designs. Make sure to listen this Friday to Polymer Clay Podcast. Hope you have a creative summer!
