This is our last podcast for 2009! There isn't a whole lot going on in the polymer clay world this week, so we'll just say happy holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, we'll talk next year!

We're back and we had a blast! Christie Friesen, Lynne Ann Schwartzenberg, Penni Jo Couch, Dan Cormier and Tracy Holmes...and bonus, Tommie Howl sculpting away in the daytripper room! We saw amazing polymer clay art and had a great time with the Ladies and Gents of the Orlando Guild.

This week, enjoy an interview with Jeanette, aka ClayHappy.etsy.com. Ilysa and Kira met her when Ilysa went looking for a butterfly cane, and Kira ordered a Panda pendant for her sister. The quality of Jeanette's work is incredible- the backs of her pendants look like porcelain, and the fronts look like glass. She tells us how to achieve this finish, and will teach you if you convo her.

Enjoy the interview! And come back next time for a demo on how to make faux wood for Father's Day.

How to glue precured clay pieces onto unbakeable items- we made badge holders for work.

Enjoy this week's footage from the show we went to. Next year, if you're in Orlando, make sure you email us first so we can get together!

Judy is the current President of the National Polymer Clay Guild- npcg.org. She is very interesting and a great talker, so we hope you enjoy listening to what she had to say about her art, being the big-cheese, and the Synergy conference (where we will get to meet her!)

We also discussed her book and dvd, which she was kind enough to donate to us to watch and read, and she also sent a signed copy of each- which we will be giving away to two lucky newsletter subscribers, so make sure you sign up.

This week, we are talking about inclusions- that means putting something that is not clay, into the clay to change it. You can use lots of things- including baked bits of clay. Spices such as oregano and parsley create great faux stone effects. Make sure if you use anything organic (once alive, such as plant parts) that they are completely dried out before including them in clay. Otherwise the water content could bubble or cause "mooning," especially in translucent, which is the best color of clay to use with inclusions. You can tint translucent clay with a bit of colored clay, and then add inclusions. You can also use the following things to change either the color, or the interior look, of the clay:

chopped up crayons
play sand, or colored craft sand
inks- dye or pigment
powdered pigment, chalk, makeup, spices, metals
acrylic paint
glitter, metal leafs and foils
embossing powder
crystals, beads, micro-beads (beads without holes)

The way you add inclusions makes a difference too. If you mush and twist it in with your hands, you will get a swirly marbled effect. If you use your pasta machine and keep rolling, you will get even distribution. You can harden your clay in the fridge and grate it into piece with a cheese grater, then add your inclusions and mush it all back together just enough to stick- then you can create convincing stone-matrix effect that mimic marble, lapis, jade, and turquoise.

We decided to review Judy Belcher's book, Polymer Clay Creative Traditions. In it, Judy has created projects that showcase the incredible versatility of the clay. With practice, you can make polymer clay look like almost anything else, and you can emulate techniques used in different media, such as quilting, batik and fabric crafts, paper crafts, metal crafts, painting, stone and jewelry craft, enamelling, almost any other art media you can think of. The galleries in this book are amazing and there is plenty of inspiration here. We highly recommend it, and we thank Judy for sending us a signed copy.

This also led us into a discussion regarding the "value" of polymer clay artwork. Some people still see it as an intrisically worthless art media, saying things like "I can't bring myself to spend that much on something my kid could have made at summer camp." Well, we encourage an open mind when viewing all kinds of art- the worth of the materials used may be close to nothing- but the skill and creativity of the artist who made it may be priceless. Art is largely subjective- being an art teacher, I could say that I can objectively view a piece of artwork and tell you whether the composition, use of color, balance, harmony and unity are "good-" and even if they are, I might not like it because I don't relate to the message, or the colors, or whatever. When viewing or creating polymer clay art, think not only about the dollar value of the clay used, but about the color, the finishing, the overall presentation- is it worth something to you? Or does the artist need more practice? That is important- just because you can make something, doesn't necessarily mean it's ready to be sold. You need to be your own critic first. You can read a great thread over at Etsy.com regarding the value of polymer clay beads-
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5288983

Enjoy the show, and be sure to come back next week for the demo on Polymer Clay TV.

This week, in preparation for the American holiday of Halloween on the 31st, we decided to explore the making of masks from clay. Remember to make them light and thin if you want to wear them! You can use all clay, or embellishments like scrapbooking brads or metal parts, glitter, metal leaf, Jones Tones foils, crystals and stones, anything you want! Here's a tip- buy a simple plastic mask to use as a template, that way your eye holes will be in the right spot.

Enjoy, and come back next week for the video!

 

A great video showing you how to use a mold made from polymer clay. You can mold almost anything, using either scrap clay, or products made especially for moldmaking like Superelasticlay or silicone rubber. For a clay mold you will probably need a mold release- this gets between your clay and your mold and helps the clay to “pop‿ out of the mold, instead of getting stuck in it. You can try cornstarch, powdered pigments, water, or a silicone spray.

Enjoy the video- later this week we will release our full-length downloadable tutorial on how to make buttons and pendants, and how to make your own mold.

Don’t forget to enter our Call for Creativity- if you didn’t listent to last week’s podcast, please do to get all the details!

This week we want to encourage you to work with molds. Molds are fun, you can take them of almost anything. You can use polymer clay to make a mold, or silicone rubber, or SuperElasticlay (a sculpey product). I mix superelasticlay with premo, about half and half, to get a flexible mold, and Ilysa prefers a hard mold so she just uses clay. You must bake your polymer clay molds before using them! Be sure to return next week for our video demo.

We invite you to listen to our discussion with Lisa Clarke. She operates a Polymer Clay (mostly) bookstore, a blog, and her own radio podcast at her site, www.polkadotcreations.com. She also has an Etsy.com shop for her own polymer clay creations. Lisa is an great person with interesting experiences to share. We hope you enjoy our interview with her as much as we did.

Don't forget- the Call for Creativity starts this month. We encourage you to try out translucent clay and effects, using a fall palette of golds, reds, oranges, and turning-greens (think leaves). If you need more direction, feel free to create a votive candleholder. If you crave an open challenge, make anything you like- using translucent clay. Then load it up on the forum board or our flickr account, and later in the month I'll be making a collage out of them to display here for everyone to see.

Last but not least, the PCAGOE had our monthly Challenge, based on our Favorite Books, in September. The winner was humblebeads- check out her work. http://humblebeads.etsy.com.

 

 

For ipod subscribers- sorry it took so long to load this one up! A great quick video on how to use composition leaf with your polymer clay.

Hi Everyone! We're back in action- we filmed 12 episodes of Polymer Clay TV and Polymer Clay Classroom last weekend and had a blast. We're doing the videos in a new format and we hope you love them. We will be showing basic gold leaf techniques next week, so don't miss that.

LISTEN to to podcast right here!
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We reviewed a book called Clay Techniques with a Pasta Machine, by Maureen Carlson (who we interviewed in the Synergy podcast- be sure to listen to that one.)
This book is published by Design Originals- <a href="http://www.d-originals.com">www.d-originals.com</a>. We really like it, it is my favorite book to point people to when they want to know why they need a pasta machine. I don't know what I did before I got mine (actually, I remember lots of failed attempts to make nice smooth flat sheets) and we highly recommend it. We will be giving a copy away to a lucky listener this month, so be sure to sign up for our newsletter or comment on the site. We enter everyone who does into our monthly contests.

Next month, we will be unveiling the first of several new elements of Polymer Clay Podcast - our Monthly Call for Creativity. We are hoping that with a little "directed inspiration" we can all challenge ourselves to be creative and learn new techniques. So each month, we will announce three things- an overall theme, a technique, and an object to focus on. For example: Theme: Ocean, Technique: Silver Leaf, Focus object: lightswitch plates. Then, you can show us your creativity by making something either for the focus group (a lightswitch plate) or the Open Call- which means you would make anything you are inspired to make, using the Ocean theme and silver leaf. We will be building a special board in our forum where you can discuss the theme, show your pictures, and vote for the People's Choice Awards. The winners will receive a gift from us- and we will also randomly choose a winner from the folks that come over and vote. We haven't completely "fleshed out" this idea yet, but we will be announcing our first Call on October 1 in our Newsletter and we hope that our first month is fun and inspirational for everyone.

Please consider donating Bottles of Hope or polymer clay supplies to our friend Barbara Reider for distribution at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in MA. She has been very active in getting a Bottles of Hope program going there, and we think it's a great cause to support.

Please support our show by reviewing our podcast, either at itunes, Meefeedia, or anywhere else you pick up our podcast or videos (youtube, google, myspace, etc.) We really appreciate the kudos, thanks to everyone who has helped to increase our rankings!

Be sure to sign up for the newsletter this month, and come back next week for our Silver and Gold leaf video!

This week, Ilysa shows some of her work and discusses her experience with art and craft shows. Enjoy the video.

We plan to film our next series of instructional videos this weekend, hopefully the fates will allow it! We have great plans in store for a slightly new format that we know you're going to love and the best part is, we took our audience's advice. We love your feedback, so please keep it coming!

This week we review Polymer Clay Treasures from Heart in Hand, Lisa Pavelka's demo video. Visit our site, polymerclayproductions.com, for full shownotes and links.

Learn how to use polymer clay with rubber stamps to create popular jewelry items. Visit polymerclayproduction.com for full show notes.

Today we give you interviews with Seth Lee Saverik, Sarah Shriver, Maggie Maggio, and Maureen Carlson.

They have each told us a little about themselves, and something about the conference, which is happening next February in Baltimore, Maryland on the East Coast of the US. It promises to be an exciting event, so be sure to check out the class catalog at the NPCG's website.

Enjoy. This is a long podcast- an hour and 3 minutes. It may take a few minutes to download.

Watch today's video and see us demonstrate the use of liquid dye inks with polymer clays such as fimo, premo, sculpey, kato, and cernit.

Dye inks change the color of clay, are a little messy to work with, can be mixed into new colors, and are not the right inks to use with stamps. The color will bleed. But that quality makes them fun to use!

Listen to last week's podcast for more information about dye inks.

While at Summer CHA 2007, Ilysa and Kira met three of the polymer clay artists that we "knew" from other places- the forums at Polymer Clay Central, various places where clay, canes, and beads are sold, and Kira and Lynne Ann did a swap a while ago. It is nice to finally put faces to names. Lynne Ann and Tommie were winners in the Bottle of Hope awards, too. Enjoy, we did.

Thanks, you guys! You Rock.

For your viewing pleasure, here is part 2 of Amaco's Bottle of Hope awards, which we filmed at the Summer CHA show in Chicago.

Lisa Pavelka is the MC, and in this part of the ceremony she will announce the winners.

Here's part 1 of Amaco's bottle of hope ceremony.

If you get this on an RSS feed, you will have to visit our site to watch this week's video-

Join us as we discuss our experience at the CHA show (Craft & Hobbies Association) in Chicago last weekend. It was great fun. We met a few polymer clay artists as well as representatives of the three polymer clay suppliers- Amaco, Polyform, and Makins. We did video interviews with Lynne, Tommie, and Cat which will air next Friday, and filmed Amaco’s Bottle of Hope awards. You can watch part 1 today, and part 2, as well as the interviews, will air next week. We saw Polyform’s new product, Studio by Sculpey, and got a few samples to share with you. We also talked to Donna Dewberry about the upcoming release of Studio clay in December, as well as the Home Décor projects she has planned. Some of the things displayed in the booth included wall mirrors, vases, candlesticks, votive holders, and garden tables. The clay was used sculpturally to make floral and leaf designs, as well as made to look like faux tiles. It was interesting and we will share more about this new clay as Polyform gives us the info.

 

It was so much fun to visit the show as Press. We were treated really well by CHA, the Press has a quiet room away from the hustle where we could have a hot drink or get cold water, sit for a minute, and conduct our interviews. This is also where we picked up catalogs and samples left by companies that wanted to get the word out about their new products. Definitely visit a CHA show if you get the chance!

 

We also picked up some great product samples to review and try, and some to give away. Coming soon to our shop- a prize gallery, where if you win a monthly giveaway, you can pick your prize!

 

Here are some links to things we talked about today-

www.studiobysculpey.com (nothing there yet but stay tuned)

www.makinsclay.com (air dry polymer clay…and wonderful tools)

www.amaco.com (check out the Bottles of Hope auction!)

www.riverpoetdesign.com (Lynne Ann Schwarzenberg- check out her classes)

www.catherienarts.com (Cat- check out her free video demos on Monday nights)

www.pcagoe.com – vote on your favorite representation of “Summer memories‿ to win a prize!

 

Don’t forget to leave us comments on our site in order to be entered to win one of our Studio by Sculpey clay samples. Also please consider writing us a review wherever you download your podcast- itunes, meefedia, yahoo, google, odeo….reviews help our rankings, so we thank you for taking the time!

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 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. Thank you and we'll talk next week!

 

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.

I'm publishing early tonight- Harry Potter 5 is calling and I must answer the call! I will never grow up...

In this third edition of Polymer Clay TV, Ilysa and Kira demonstrate how to add some flair and flash to your polymer clay artwork using powdered pigments. We show you how to put it on top of a raised area of clay to highlight it; how to use it as a mold release to keep your clay from sticking to a stamp, texture sheet or mold; how to make your own pigments from chalk, pastel, or makeup; and other types of powdered pigments available at the store. We demonstrate the Pink-Gold powdered pigment available in our shop, beautiful on black clay or colored clay. And finally, we show you how to use pigments as an inclusion- this means putting it inside the clay to change the actual color of the clay from the inside out.

After watching and playing with your clay and powdered pigments, why not stop in at our forum or flickr group to show us what you made, or discuss your learning process, or ask questions if we weren't clear to you? We look forward to hearing from our viewers! Don't forget to sign up for the newsletter. You could be a winner, like Cynthia T. who won our monthly prize for June and got a free kit!

 

So, you've seen powdered pigments at the craft stores, packaged under names like Perfect Pearls and Pearl-ex, and even online manufacturers of beads and scrapbooking supplies have gotten into the idea of selling pigments. What are they and how do you use them? That�s what we are talking about today, and will be showing next week in our videocast. You must come back next Friday to watch the show, because that�s how you will really understand what we are talking about.

 

Pigments have been used since art was born. Cave dwellers used natural materials such as plant parts and iron ores to leave marks on cave walls�now kids have the same idea when they use manufactured chalks on the sidewalk. A powdered pigment is by nature, dry. You can try anything with polymer clay- eye makeup, shavings from pastels, fine glitters�but you will really want to try using finely ground powdered pigments made especially for the task. We have our own line, and in the future you will see many more carefully crafted colors.

 

Powdered pigments work great with clay because the clay is tacky before baking, and anything (everything!!! Including lint and cat hair!!!) will stick to it easily. So for this technique, you will be exploiting the tacky nature of the clay. Powdered pigments go a long way. You do not need a lot to cover a piece, in fact when you get really excited and work with it a lot, you will probably lose/waste as much as you put onto the clay. Don�t use it on a windy day�it will blow away. In fact, don�t sneeze in it�s presence- same result. You can apply it with your fingers or a brush. Ilysa likes to use her fingers, Kira has a special soft brush that was actually made for watercolor painting. You can use one color, or a few, on the same piece. As long as you have bare clay showing, you can get pigment stuck to it.

 

Here�s a starter list of ways to use powdered pigments:

Ã�·        highlight the raised areas on a textured piece of clay

Ã�·        use it on a stamp as a mold release

Ã�·        mix it into translucent clay to add tint and sparkle

Ã�·        mix it into liquid clay to add color

Ã�·        mix it into your sealer as a final splash of color and sparkle

• coat your clay, stamp into it, bake, and then sand off the high parts- see the pigment stuck in the cracks?

   

 

You will invent your own ways of using powdered pigments, why not come over to the forum or post on our flickr group to show them off?

 

Next week we will show you all this and more on Polymer Clay TV�and we are also releasing our second Downloadable tutorial. This one shows us making mini books using textured clay covers with pigment powders and papers by Basic Grey. They were kind enough to sponsor the show and sent us a selection of papers and fibers to play with. Their paper is so fun we had a really hard time deciding which ones to use! But we have created three fun kits for you, if you purchase the kit you can follow right along with the video to make your own book.

 

Remember to sign up for the newsletter this week! We will be releasing our first one shortly, and also announcing the winner of this month�s contest. All newsletter subscribers are automatically entered. This month you could win one of our kits!

 

Visit www.polymerclayproductions.com

 

You can click right here to play on your computer, or download to your ipod on itunes, or use the link on the sidebar to get our show in other podcast and vidcast directories.

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Have you ever wondered how polymer clay artists get such wonderful visual textures on their clay pieces? This episode will show the basics- how to choose a texture tool with a nicely impressed image or design, and how to get your clay into and out of the texture tool easily.

First of all, you need a rubber stamp, texture sheet, rolling pin, or some other tool with a texture on it- and that texture should be “deeply impressed.‿ What that means is if it isn’t deep enough, it won’t leave a good mark in the clay. Here are some pictures of the stamps we used.

Before and while using your texture tools, you need to decide if a release is needed. If your clay is too mushy and sticky, or if it’s hot and humid, or if your stamp or tool is really deep and your clay gets stuck in it when you practice, you will probably need a release. This is just something that will get between your clay and your tool and keep the clay from sticking inside the tool. Water is a great release with polymer clay because the clay is not water soluble. Cornstarch is another good one- but only in certain circumstances. Cornstarch will stick to your clay and get onto it- but after baking, it dissolves in water. So it’s a good choice if you are going to decorate your clay after baking it. Not a good choice, say, if you want to decorate your clay with powdered pigments or inks prior to baking, because the cornstarch will stick to the clay and get in the way of the other things you might want to put on the clay. If you have some pigment powders you can try using that as a release. Just dust the clay and stamp with powdered pigments and stamp away. You can also try using pigment inks- I stamp all over the texture sheet and press my clay onto it. The ink gets into the crevices of the stamp and the wetness keeps the clay from sticking. Experiment and see which release works best for you!

We will be releasing our first downloadable project in our Shop shortly, and it is a full length video that teaches you how to make four polymer clay magnets from start to finish, using the texture sheets available in the shop. A companion kit will be available too, so check it out!

Welcome to Episode 2 of Polymer Clay Podcast! We hope you enjoy listening all about how to add texture to your clay pieces using rubber stamps and texture sheets. Make sure to visit us next week when we do a video demonstration of everything we talked about.

Some key points when using stamps- you need to test the compatibility of your clay and your texturing tool of choice. Sometimes the clay will stick and if it does, you will need what's called a release agent. That's a fancy way of saying something needs to help the clay not stick. You can try cornstarch baby powder, because it will wash off the baked clay with water. You can also try spritzing the stamp with water before applying the clay. Also try putting the stamp onto the clay and refrigerating the whole thing for a few minutes to firm up the clay, then peel the stamp off (gently!) Another success we've had is actually using the powdered pigments that you want as part of the surface design as a release- just powder up your clay before impressing the stamp and the powder gets between the stamp and the clay and helps it peel off easily. One more thing- try putting your stamp and your clay right into the oven. Only try this with unmounted sheet rubber stamps. The 275 F heat won't hurt the stamp, and this way you can let the whole thing cool down before removing the stamp and there will be less chances for your design to get smushed in the unpeeling process. DO NOT try this with sheet plastic texture sheets or clear "rubber" stamps. Any clear plastic item can not withstand the heat and it will melt, curl, or catch on fire. This tip goes for those of you who want to make clay covered pens- never use the clear kind.

What kind of stamp or texture sheets should you use? You need to find ones that are deeply impressed. That means that the stamp is actually deep, so it will make a good mark in the clay. Try buying unmounted rubber stamps- they are nice and flexible so you can have more control. Plastic texture sheets for embossing paper work well, as do the clear ones by Scratchart that we will be featuring in next week's video. We love these because they are big, so your design can cover a larger space. They also allow you to get two designs for the price of one- an "inny" and an "outy!" Ok, I'm just being silly- what I mean is, one side impresses the design into the clay, and the other side causes a raised design to be left on the surface of the clay.

While you are working with stamps and texture sheets, you will need to develop the skill to create a good impression. Ilysa puts her clay on her work surface and pushes the texture into the clay, sometimes using her acrylic roller to assist. I, on the other hand, usually put my texture tool down on the table and push my clay into it with my fingers. Practice makes perfect and the great thing about polymer clay is that you can just mush-up your mess-up and try it again. Next week when you watch the video you'll get to see both techniques in action.

 

We enjoy demonstrating many ways to use tools with your polymer clay. We are using Premo Sculpey in this demo. Tools used include cutting blades, acrylic rod roller, fondant roller, rubber stamps, plastic texture plates for scrapbooking and plastic double sided texture sheets, rubber molds, pasta machine, knitting needle, bamboo skewer, tile, cornstarch, pigment powders, water, and I’m sure I missed some. We look forward to our future episodes when we will concentrate on one tool at a time, but for now enjoy learning all about the basics.

Award winning Polymer Clay Artist Ilysa Bierer and Art Educator Kira Slye introduce you to Polymer Clay Podcast this week. We offer an introductory exploration of the history of polymer clay, the popular polymer clay brands, and the many tools that can be used to create art and crafts with polymer clay.

A brief history: in the 1930s, a German doll artisan was looking for a new material to make her doll heads, hands, and feet. She explored the polymers that were available and was dissatisfied. Eventually she handed off the project of finding a new clay to her daughter, whose nickname was FiFi. FiFi developed the product we know today as Fimo, named after herself. When Fimo hit the artist’s market as a colored clay with no special kiln required to cure it, a few artists became involved in pushing it as a medium for more than doll art. Nan Roche wrote the first book on polymer clay as an art medium, and called it The New Clay.

Now, in 2007, there are several brands of artist’s polymer clays available on the market. Some are easier to find than others, such as the Polyform brands of Sculpey, Sculpey III, and Premo Sculpey, as well as the Fimo brands called Fimo Classic (harder to find) and Fimo Soft. Cernit is a popular German brand that is only available from retailers who import it, all online. Kato Polyclay was developed by polymer clay artist Donna Kato and it is the newest formulation of polymer clay. Ilysa’s experiences with creating art with polymer clay focused mainly on Fimo Classic which tends to be a more firm clay, very good for canework which she excels at. Kira’s experience has focused mainly on Premo, which is a softer formula. In the podcast they discuss in depth why each of them has used their favorite brand of clay.

Polymer clay has become a popular material for art and craft due to it’s working properties- you don’t need any special tools or materials to work with it, and most of them can be found in, you guessed it- your kitchen! But we caution that even though polymer clays are non-toxic, any tools, including ovens, that are used with clay should be dedicated to clay and not returned to food use. Polymer clay does release fumes during the oven curing process, and these will coat the inside of your oven. For this reason some artists will bake pieces inside an enclosed metal roasting pan, a dedicated toaster, or a dedicated countertop convection oven. Many professional artists prefer the convection oven because it has the most even cooking temperatures. We recommend that you purchase an oven thermometer to be sure your oven dials are accurate and that your clay is being cured at the right temperature.

Some popular kitchen items that can be used with clay: marble rolling pins and cutting boards, garnishing tools, pasta machines, cheese graters, food processors, bamboo skewers, fondant shapers, and vegetable peelers. Other necessary tools include a work surface such as a tile or piece of glass, a sharp thin blade, an acrylic rolling pin, rubber stamps, texture sheets, interesting textured materials such as fabric or tree bark, inks, linoleum cutting tools and brayers, wax carving tools, wire, tinfoil, magnets, and leather tools. In fact, almost any tool that can be used to shape, cut, or impress can be adapted to use with polymer clay. Any material that can withstand the usual curing temperature of 275 degrees Fahrenheit can be stuck into the clay and baked along with it and a few artists have taken this technique to interesting limits. Gemstones, Swarovski Crystals, Pearls, glass bits, metal parts, and other found objects have all been baked into polymer clay artworks with great success.

We hope you enjoy listening to our first podcast dedicated entirely to polymer clay. Make sure to come back next week and watch Polymer Clay TV- where we will demonstrate in detail the use of many tools we talked about today.

Please subscribe to our newsletter as well, so you won’t miss a thing.

In this episode, Ilysa Bierer and Kira Slye discuss how they met on Etsy.com, through the Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy.com also known as PCAGOE. Both hosts live in Florida, Ilysa in North Florida and Kira in South Florida. They meet to film their videocast and use the internet to record their podcast about the popular art and craft medium of polymer clay. This includes the oven bake clays you can find at craft stores under the brand names Fimo, Premo, Sculpey and Sculpey III, as well as Cernit (another German brand) and Kato Polyclay. Listen to hear all about their upcoming plans for tutorials, webisodes (videocasts), podcasts, and products.

Make sure to tune in on June 1 at Polymerclayproductions.com, when Episode 1 is released. You can also browse the shop and talk in the forum and read much more about your Hosts and polymer clay in general on the website.

This post is just an FYI. Our first podcast will be officially launched on June 1, 2007. Prior to this, we will be releasing Episode #0- an introduction to your hosts, and a brief overview of our project and intentions.

If you find us here on libsyn, feel free to listen. However, you will want to visit our site, www.polymerclayproductions.com, to get the whole story of our friendship and our business. You can also shop for kits and downloadable projects, make friends and discuss polymer clay in our forum, and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

We have a great passion for polymer clay- this includes Fimo, Sculpey, Premo, Cernit, and other brands of oven-curing polymer based clays. We will be showing you how to use them, talking about news in the clay world, reviewing books and products for use with polymer clay, and doing interviews with artists who use polymer clays as a medium for their work.

Thank you for checking us out, and we hope to see you soon!