Recycled Polymer Clay

Tags

art bead, bead, handmade, polymer clay, recycling, zero waste

For a while now I have been distressed that polymer clay is plastic and questioning whether I should be adding more of it to the world. While looking for eco friendly options for polymer clay, I found this article by Wendy Moore where she discusses her own considerations on the responsible use of polymer clay. Even though I don’t rely on my creations as a livelihood (as the women of Samunnat do), I have discovered that making things is vital for my mental health.

I have considered whether there are alternatives that I would find equally satisfying, but I haven’t thought of anything yet. Making lampwork glass beads would require constant burning of fuel while I’m working and I would no longer be directly in contact with the pieces due to the high temperatures. Earth clays would dry out and be wasted due to my erratic availability of time (not to mention requiring a furnace to cure). Even wool felt can be considered to have a negative ecological impact when considering the manufacturing of dyes (I don’t know if natural dyes could get the bright colours I’d want).

There does not seem to be a perfect solution, just relative improvements. Since I already have a stock of polymer clay, it seems better for me to focus on using it without creating waste until there is a more sustainable option. Unbaked clay is no problem (sometimes I don’t have enough) as it can be infinitely reused as a base with decorative veneers on top. However there are techniques e.g. carving that I really like which result in baked polymer clay scraps. (I also collect the scraps produced when drilling beads.)

I have previously used the baked polymer scraps decoratively by rolling them into the surface of unbaked clay to make “frit” beads. I have also used scraps as inclusions in thin sheets of clay that I bake and use for creating mosaic pieces. Since making the mosaics results in more tiny offcuts I decided to test how far I could push the cycle. I used tiny pieces to make stud earrings and then used the offcuts from that to make a new sheet ready to use in future mosaics. Since I need to use fresh polymer clay to use up the offcuts, I hope people will like the studs!

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The other place where I have concerns about the waste produced, is the sludge left behind after wet sanding beads. I’m not very keen on sanding so I don’t always do it, but some components just look better when sanded. I have started collecting the dust and working it into raw polymer clay as you might do with mica powders. Because I’m often sanding beads with mixed colours this can result in some neutral shades. I decided to make some of my favourite patchwork beads using these shades of neutral*. I even ended up mixing them with some more colourful pieces because I wasn’t very keen on the colourful mix on it’s own. I don’t sand the beads when I use this technique, so this method closes the loop instead of making more.

With all these techniques, I think it’s important to make something appealing. After all if it doesn’t result in something that someone will treasure it’s going to end up in landfill.

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* Of course if I didn’t like the colour of the dust mix, I could also use it in the same way as unbaked scrap clay with a decorative veneer on top.

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Video Tutorial – Dreadlock Beads

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dreadlock beads, handmade beads, large hole bead, polymer clay, tutorials02, video tutorial

Here’s a video tutorial where I make dreadlock beads. Of course this technique could be adapted to other large hole beads, or even smaller ones for jewellery making.

What’s a wishpot?

Tags

affirmation, handmade jewellery, polymer clay, positive thinking, wishpot

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you will have come across my wishpots before. I created the first wishpot when my daughter was born and we were planning a family gathering to welcome her. I was inspired by the fairy tales where the fairy godmothers give blessings to the newborn baby. Everyone spoke a wish for her future and I sealed the lid closed. Since then I have made a few different versions as I have been refining the way that the stopper bead is attached.

Selection of polymer clay wishpots

This current method of stringing allows the wishpot to be worn as a pendant on a necklace, or stand alone as an ornament. Here’s a little video clip to show you.

I now have a few of these listed for sale on my website with more colours on the way. The wishpots come in a recycled paper gift box with a little scroll that reads:
“This is a wishpot. The idea is to use it as a focus for your own empowerment and gratitude. It can be worn as a pendant or stand alone as an ornament. To use it: open by pulling the bead lid upwards. Speak your affirmation or imagine your intended circumstance and blow into the open wishpot to add your wish. Close it by pulling the thread on the side (the one that’s shorter when open). When your wish is complete, open the wishpot to release it and say “thank you” as it goes.”

I have a couple of these wishpots myself and I wear one nearly every day. Speaking of things to be grateful for – I have just discovered it’s a Bank Holiday on Monday. What a lovely surprise! I hope you have a great weekend and that your wishes come true.

Tutorial Video – Sheep Components

Tags

free tutorial, polymer clay, tutorials02

Here’s another video tutorial. In this one I’m making polymer clay components with embedded wire. I was on the struggle bus with this one and I had to alter my plans because the cane I was using was too old and brittle. I left some of the disasters in the video because my problem solving might be useful to someone else.

Since doing the original stream I have stumbled across some other techniques which work slightly better to recondition old canes, but I’m still testing these. If you have any good tips for working with old canes, please put them in the comments!

Mixed media wand – Part 2

Tags

fairy wand, mixed media, polymer clay, tutorials02

Here’s part 2 for my mixed media wand tutorial. Enjoy.

The original footage for these videos was recorded during my livestreams. You can join me on Tuesday mornings (10am UK time).

P.S. Here’s Part 1.

Mixed media wand – Part 1

Tags

fairy wand, mixed media, polymer clay, tutorials02

Here’s another video tutorial(ish) I made a while back but forgot to link here on my blog. Enjoy.

I’ve just uploaded part 2. It’s available here.

Mica tip video

Tags

free tutorial, mica powder, polymer clay, tutorials02

I’ve just realised that I never put a link here on my blog to a little video that I made a while ago showing how I mix mica powders with water to highlight textures in my unbaked polymer clay. Once added the mica sinks to the bottom and the water evaporates leaving the mica just in the dents.

*I like to use a brand of mica powders that includes a built in binder so I don’t need to varnish the finished beads. I have found that once baked it takes concerted effort to scrape off the mica and since the mica is mostly in the indentations it will be protected from casual wear and tear.

You can find links to all my other free tutorials on this page.

P.S. I got a better camera after making this video. You can see it in action during my streams on Tuesday mornings (10am UK time).

And now with more ‘shrooms

Tags

earrings, fungus, handmade beads, mushroom, polymer clay, toadstool

Last year I worked on a red mushroom cane using the colours from my Red Palette. I started off by creating a vector image of my design so that I could test how the pattern would repeat. It took me ages to get the cane built as I wanted to follow my sketch quite accurately, and I was pleased with the finished result.

Original vector sketch for cane design.

Slices from my finished polymer clay cane.

Here are some finished earrings that I made using my mushroom cane. I’m still tweaking the sizing for some of these components and refining the domed stud attachment but I am happy with them as prototypes.

Red mushroom themed polymer clay earrings by Cate van Alphen

This year I have decided to choose some pieces of my art to get printed as greeting cards. While my mushroom vector sketch had enough detail to be used as a cane, I thought it was a little bland when enlarged to the size of a card. Therefore I decided to add in more details and some texture to the background incorporating scans of monoprinted paper. I didn’t particularly intend to make it psychedelic, but I suppose stereotypes happen for a reason! What do you think – is it fun or bonkers?

Fly agaric by Cate van Alphen

By the way, I have done a lot of the work on these projects during my Tuesday morning livestreams. You are welcome to join me for a chat or you can watch the videos on catchup (they remain available for 2 weeks).

Is polymer clay colourfast? Follow-up

Tags

colourfast, fimo professional, polymer clay

Back in May I wrote a blog about my experiment to see if polymer clay was light fast. After that I wondered how the colours would fare directly in the sun. If you remember, I had cut three strips from the same spectrum gradient blend of Fimo Professional “True Colours”. This time I used the strip that had been on my wall in a North facing room as the colours had not changed much (I wanted to preserve the control strip which had been stored in a drawer, and compare to the strip that had been sitting inside on a South facing windowsill). This time I left the piece on a South facing windowsill outside for the summer.

From top to bottom: Strip left inside on windowsill for a year, strip kept in a dark drawer, strip left outside for the summer

As you can see, this time there is a definite colour change. The strip has faded overall, but the yellow seems particularly affected. The orange and green (when blending with the yellow) have particularly changed while the others have mostly kept their hue but have become paler.

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From left to right: Strip left inside on windowsill for a year, strip kept in a dark drawer, strip left outside for the summer

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I am a little disappointed that the colours do fade, although the strip is still nice and colourful when not compared to the original colours. I have seen some lovely garden ornaments made from polymer clay and they withstand the elements very well, but it would probably be best to stick to earthy colours when making something intended to go outside. This way a slight shift in hue would not make a big difference. Perhaps there’s a UV protective varnish that can be used to preserve the bright colours?

Since I’ve only tested one brand of polymer clay here: please let me know in the comments if you’ve had any experience with colours changing (or even better – not changing!).

I’ve finished my 24 samples

Tags

24ozPolymerClay, art bead, bead, earrings, handmade, polymer clay

About 2 weeks ago I finished all 24oz of my polymer clay sample challenge. I unpacked all the beads I had made on a Twitch live stream if you are interested in all the details. Here’s a photograph to summarise.

Variety of handmade polymer clay beads.

Now there are so many beads to choose from I’m struggling to know where to start, but I have made a few of these beads into earrings. (If you are subscribed to my newsletter you may have already seen these.)

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What was good about this challenge?

It was really helpful for me to have preselected colours to work with. Often I find myself overwhelmed with the unlimited potential of polymer clay that I end up dithering when trying to decide where to start so I don’t actually do anything. I tried to experiment when making some of the beads by thinking that I have already allocated the clay to be used so I may as well use it (actually this is true for any polymer clay since things that are not working out can be squished into scrap). I had to be creative and find different ways to finish some beads as I couldn’t add more clay to do my first idea.

What was not so good?

When making canes I had to keep things smaller than usual as I had an imposed limit to the amount of clay I could use. It would have been better to start with larger canes so I could keep different sizes aside as I reduced. I struggled to find enough scrap clay for the inners of my beads so I didn’t get as many beads as I could have from a finished cane (i.e. by putting a thin decorative slice onto a thicker layer of scrap). There were some beads where I thought it would be nice add contrasting caps or edge the outside of a cane but I had already used up the colours I wanted to use so I couldn’t do that.

What will I do next?

I found it really useful to have a specific goal in mind to keep me motivated so I’m intending to define what I’m going to work on next. Unfortunately this week gone I was completely disabled watching the news of violence and looting in South Africa so I haven’t been able to make any decisions. I’m planning to continue with my colour palette reruns, so there’s still time for you to choose a colour in my survey.

Till next time, stay safe!