Home
Sherbert Glow, Niagara Falls, See_only_part_of_me
But never fear, it is not completely useless and you can successfully roll it to thin sheets in your pasta machine.

Really, I'm serious...it is possible. I use lots of Sculpey III in my mokume gane so I'm always needing sheets of this stuff.

Sculpey at in the best conditions is an extremely soft clay. Add a warm environment or warm hands and you've got a potential gooey mess on your hands. I know I have warm hands...sometimes they are hot like FIYA!

Hey, now, huh-huh
Hey, hey, hey, no, (Ow, now)
Hey, now, huh-huh
Hey, hey, hey, no

Fire (Uh) [Uh]
Fire (It’s all about) [Uh, uh]
Fire (Woo, woo, woo)
Fire


Sorry bout that but couldn't resist tossing a little Ohio Player's "Fire" lyrics in there.

Ok, back to the lovable mushy sticky Sculpey III . those of you that have been working with different brands of polymer clay, probably groan at the though of using Sculpey III and scream in horror even considering putting it through a pasta machine.
But it can be done...with out you having to use choice words as you disassemble you pasta machine trying to get out the 3/4 of the package that has gotten jammed up in there.

You really only need three things to create a thin sheet of sculpey using a pasta machine:
1. acrylic rod or roller
2. Patience (huh, what....don't worry I'll explain what I mean by this)
3. Wax or deli paper


How to do it and keep your sanity

1. Let's start with the stickiest, mushiest offender of the Sculpey III family (can I get some dramatic music inserted here)....translucent!
Ok no body head for the hills, it will be alright.

The suspect:
The troublemaker



2. Start by flattening the translucent with an acrylic rod or whatever you usually use to flatten clay. Oh, you may want to take it out of the package first.
Manually flattened with rod




3. Roll the flattened sheet through the pasta machine on the thickest setting. The fold the sheet and roll flat again with the rod. Here's when you insert some of that patience. Remember that sculpey turns to mush, so instead of immediately sticking it back in the pasta machine, let it sit a minute or two. Then roll it through the thickest setting repeating this entire step 2 or 3 more times, remembering to let the clay rest.
Rolled on thickst setting



4. Reduce the setting in the pasta machine by 1. Roll the sheet of clay through the pasta machine again and then let the sheet rest. Repeat reducing the setting, rolling through the pasta machine and resting until you reach about the mid point of setting on your pasta machine. (My pasta machine goes from 1-9, with 1 being the thickest. So I do this until I reach setting 4 or 5. It will depend on how warm my krapht room is. If is pretty warm. I'll stop at 4)
Rolled on next 2 settings




5. Cut a piece of the clay sheet. I generally work in 4-5 inch lengths. Now you want to grab your wax paper and tear off a strip of paper about 2 to 3 times longer than the legnth of you clay. This will let your clay elongate on the wax paper...otherwise you'll be digging clay out of your pasta machine anyway.
I fold the paper in half lengthwise then once again. I cut just enough of the folded long edge off so that the strip fits into my past machine.
(cut waxed paper.jpg)




6. Place you clay on the wax paper about 1 inch from the bottom of the paper. Add the 2nd piece of paper on top of your clay.
Clay placed on wax paper




7. Feed the bottom of the paper through the pasta machine just until the clay hits the rollers. Now turn the pasta machine to the next smaller setting.
Feed into pasta machine then set to smaller setting




8. Roll just a bit of the clay through. Then separate the clay from the wax papers and begin rolling the clay through. Insert a little more patience and let the clay rest a moment or two.
Separate paper and clay




9. Remember the setting you are on, then open you pasta machine back up to a setting large enough for the bottom of the paper to fit in again. Now go to next lower setting than you started with at the beginning of this step. Separate just the top sheet from the clay and Again roll the clay trough.

If at any time you get one of these pesky puckers, just separate the clay and bot sheets of paper again and roll through. Uh-huh you know the routine...let the clay rest
gathering




10. Continue to reduce the setting, separating the top sheet, rolling through and letting the clay rest until you have reached your desired thickness.
Repeat rolling through machine. Rolled on thinnest setting



You have now just beat Sculpey III at it's own game. No more sticky, gunked up pasta machine.


Hope this helps.

Viewmaster slide show for da kidz

  • Oct. 20th, 2007 at 8:11 AM
Sherbert Glow, Niagara Falls, See_only_part_of_me
I really love these slide shows.


Sherbert Glow, Niagara Falls, See_only_part_of_me

Oops
Originally uploaded by Kraphti-Dez
I was doing an ice bath for some mokume gane pieces trying to make the translucent a bit more translucent. Well, I stuck the bowl of water and polymer clay pieces in the freezer. When I'm in my right state of mind and not tired because it's almost midnight and I have to work the next morning, I take it out in less than 20 minutes.

Went sleep got the better of me and I completely forgot about it. Fast forward to the next afternoon after I get home from work, I go to the freeze to pull out some salmon to cook....and I'm standing there trying to figure out what the heck is the bowl of frozen water in here.

Well Duh? Who'd thunk water would freeze if left in the freezer that long.
Sherbert Glow, Niagara Falls, See_only_part_of_me

Mask with long scarf
Originally uploaded by Kraphti-Dez
Ha, bet ya thought I'd stopped making stuff and let the kids do all the work. Nah....but they are so creative, I have been posting more of their stuff than my own.

I haven't named this lady yet...I'm open for suggestions, if anyone has any.

This was a difficult piece to sand. She's about 20" long. and the scarf has lots of hills and valleys. I had to be extra careful when sanding her so that I didn't break the scarf. But I managed to get her done and ta-da....here she is!

I made her some time ago, but had been putting off sanding because of the challenge she presented. I can't remember what brand of clay I used for her, but I'm pretty sure the backing for the scarf is Kato polyclay. The mokume gane is probably a mix of premo and kato with some silver leaf thrown into the slab.

Yep, yet another page change.

  • Oct. 2nd, 2007 at 7:46 AM
Sherbert Glow, Niagara Falls, See_only_part_of_me
Well, I was playing around with the new Beta Customize thingy and found this great fall look.  I really like it.  Of course the fall is my favorite season. I love all the rich reds, yellows, oranges  and all their variations in the trees.  But this year I think we're gonna see mostly brown.  That late freeze early in the spring did a number on things here.  Then the "blazing" hot  dry summer didn't help matters.  So.....it looks like if we get any color I'll have to look at the leaves on the ground.  They'll probably start falling from the trees any day  now.

Tags:

New Shoe alert!!!!

  • Oct. 1st, 2007 at 11:32 AM
Sherbert Glow, Niagara Falls, See_only_part_of_me
Oh, now these I must have:
http://www.overstock.com/Clothing/Carlos-by-Carlos-Santana-Zebra-Peep-Toe-Pumps/2490564/product.html

It has been sooooo long since I've bought a pair of shoes.  At least 4 months. Yea, ya heard me right....4 months. Must be some kind of new record for me.

You know, I think i want both of these too:

http://www.overstock.com/Clothing/Glaze-by-Adi-Animal-Print-Peep-Toe-Pumps/2647017/product.html?ak=1

Time to clean out the shoe closet so some new ones can fit in.....not that I have a lot of pairs of shoes mind you....{looks around for the lightening strike}
Sherbert Glow, Niagara Falls, See_only_part_of_me

So for the past couple of weeks or so, some pretty great kids came over to “clay” with me….and man are they awesome.  They are the children of several of my friends and are very dear to my heart.

Now, because the internet is big and sometime not so friendly place, I’ll only refer to them with their first initials with the titles “Diva” for the glamorous girls and “Prince” for the rad boys.

{Side note to adults:  please be a little more conscious about the information you are posting on the internet about children.  I am always amazed at the personal information and pictures of children that I see on forums, photo hosting sites and blogs.  Often you have given so much information about yourself that it won’t take much for some devious person to find you…..and your kids.  Before you post, think of your children’s safety and ask if you are putting them at risk.  Sorry to preach, but I’ve got a pet peeve about children and internet safety.  Children younger and younger are spending more time out there in the World Wide Web, and it can be a dangerous place if you are not on your toes.  Teach your children internet safety and practice it yourself. } 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok now on to the good stuff...be sure too click on the pictures to go over to my flickr page and check out the closeup details on these pieces. 

Let me start by introducing the players: 

Diva “R” is the first artist and you can’t help but to be jealous of her because she’s all that.  She sassy (in a good way only), smart and creative.  WOW, what a combination.  She’s got some cool sculpting skillz.  Hey Diva “R” the next time we play in the clay, I need for you to teach me how to make figurines like yours.

Diva "R's" Sculpture Close up of Diva "R's" sculpture

She is also the texture queen...check out these pieces:

Diva "R's" Textured pieces.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Diva “K” is up next and she’s also very smart and creative. She is like me and likes color.  Girlfriend puts together these cool collages.  I’m thinking I need one of them for my wall.  And, she is quick to uses what’s around her to make her art more stable. Now that’s what I call resourceful.

 

Diva "K's" Collage Top view of Diva "K's" Collage

Now are you as clever as Diva "K"? She used toothpicks to make her piece sturdy:

Diva "K's" Heart Ornament

Check out the detail in this sculpture, loving the bow topper: Diva "K's" Sculpture

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Diva “S”  has been claying with me a little longer the others.  But she is also smart and very creative.  She can take some left over clay and work it into a masterpiece.  Diva “S” took most of her pieces with her before I got to photograph them, but believe me they are awesome.  She has got the marbling technique mastered.

 

Sculpture by Diva "S"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prince “D” is the dude of the bunch…and he’s “da man”!  Watch out all you clay-mation  wannabes,  Prince “D” is on the scene and he is in charge.  Like the others, he is very smart and creative.  And his inspirational work just makes you want to cry, it’s really touching.

 

Prince "D's" Pokemon figure Top view of Prince "D's" Pokemon Figure

Ok, pull out your tissue, this is so precious, you may cry:

Prince "D's" Angel

Now, I was not able to get a good image of the writing on the angel, but it says "Love 4 the Lord. In God we Trust."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

These guys started using Sculpey III, but their work is so great and complex, they need a stronger clay.  I think this class has graduated to Premo.  We’ve got a little to learn about conditioning clay, but they catch on super fast and I’ll probably have it a little pre-conditioned anyway.  Hey, I just thought of something….their parents are doing any claying…..hmmm I’ll have them condition the clay, that give us more time to play in the clay.   By George, I’m brilliant.  {Takes a bow}

 

Also, for the next go around, they’ll all be pleasantly surprised.  I purchased a new pasta machine, so now I have 3.  One of these will go into their clay tool box for their play.

 

{Whispers} Shhhhhh….next time, they’ll get to add stuff in their clay.  I won’t tell them what, but they’ll have a ball.  Watch for their next set of work to have lots of “bling”. I've given them their own little corner on my flickr site....so check back now and then to see the marvelous work they've done. Da Kidz Kreative Korner

 

Sherbert Glow, Niagara Falls, See_only_part_of_me
Ok, here's the problem with my muse learning a new technique....she tends to go overboard. Since she's got the hang of making swirlies. She's made about 100 of them. But guess what, she doesn't like to do the sanding. So you know who has been locked in the sanding box doing them. I swear my hands are beyond wrinkled.

I've been trying to convince folks of how much fun sanding is, but alas, there have been no takers.

{Sigh} I'm on 800 grit and only plan to go up to 1200. Hopefully by Friday, I'll be done.

Mastering the Swirly...well it's about time.

  • Aug. 21st, 2007 at 10:48 AM
Sherbert Glow, Niagara Falls, See_only_part_of_me

Mastering the Swirly
Originally uploaded by Kraphti-Dez
What's it been about 3 months now and for the life of me I could not manage a decent swirly. Oh, I did one by accident early on, but could not repeat it for the life of me.

But a minor...no make that a major miracle happened this weekend. I FINALLY GOT IT! I CAN NOW INTENTIONALLY MAKE A SWIRLY!

My new theme song: {Gotta picture me in a leotard and leg warmers Flashdance style} "She's a maniac, a maniac, for sure. And she's swirling like she's never swirled before!"

No, no, no....let's leave the leotards alone (keeping the leg warmers though.) Jump to something a little funkier "Girl get your swirl on. Get your swirl on!"

Problem is, now that I can swirl, I can't seem to stop. Help I've swirled and I can't get up...

OK, can I get a swirly intervention please?!!!! Canes used in my swirlies


Slideshow maker.

  • Aug. 16th, 2007 at 10:44 AM
Sherbert Glow, Niagara Falls, See_only_part_of_me
Ok, this is cool, just gotta figure out how to make it a permanent part of the page.
Sherbert Glow, Niagara Falls, See_only_part_of_me

You’ll notice most of my creations involve Mokume Gane.  This technique is a  favorite of mine because one slab can generate and endless number of patterns.  When you look at a mokume gane piece and come back and look a few minutes later, you’ll notice something different about the pattern. (Plus I  tend not to  follow instructions as written and mokume gane is pretty much stack and slice….can’t mess that up to bad can I? ;)   )

Mokume Gane (pronounced "moe-KOO-may GAH-nay"), translated as “wood eye”, is an ancient  Japanese metal working technique developed in the 17th century  by Denbie Shaomi to decorate swords belonging to the legendary samurai warriors. The beautiful wood-grained ring patterns quickly made their way into other areas of decoration, especially the jewelry world.

To see the striking work in the metal world, please check out the following links.  It gives you a greater appreciation of the work in Polymer clay when you see the technique done in metal work.
http://www.mokume-gane.com/Pages/What_is_Mokume.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mokume-gane

The versatile nature of polymer clay has allowed it’s users to replicate the beautiful patterns created by traditional mokume gane metal working artist.  In it simplest form, this is achieved by rolling thin sheets of clay, usually on a pasta machine (but can be done without one) and stacking them.  Small ball of clay are placed under the slab to create hills and valleys. Thin slices are then taken from the top of the slab to reveal the mokume gane pattern. 

However, polymer clay allows artist to take mokume gane to another level.  PC enthusiasts have found that there is no limit as to what other mediums you can add to the mokume gane slabs to create infinite patterns. Metallic leaf, paints, inks, mica powders, glitters are amongst some of the most popular choices.  Mossy Owl (Michael) has created    a top 10 list of popular additions to polymer clay mokume gane. See http://mossyowls.blogspot.com/2007_07_01_archive.html (Note: She also does other “top 10s in polymer clay” on her blog.  Her’s is certainly one to bookmark and visit regularly.) 

Also you  don’t have to use the balls of clay to create hills and valleys.  Simply poking holes into the slab and then compressing, will also help to create a pattern.  Rubber stamps can be impressed into the top of the slab and the slab  then sliced away to create beautiful patterns.  Clay shape cutters can also be used. Again an endless number tools can be used tools can be used to create a mokume gane pattern. 

There are some Polymer clay artist out there that should be noted for their mokume gane creations.  This list is by no means complete these are just a few of my favorites, so if you know of another noteworthy artist please add them to the list.

I’ve already mentioned Mossy Owl.  However, please take a moment to visit her flickr website.   http://www.flickr.com/photos/93262411@N00/sets/72157594474170045/ Her take on the mokume gane jelly roll is wonderful. 

Juile Picarello’s use of opaque colors in mokume gane are simply breath-taking. http://www.flickr.com/photos/8528368@N08/
http://www.yhdesigns.com/

Ruth Tarragano is another polymer clay artist that creates stunning mokume gane pieces.  She creates beautiful stones made of pebbles collected from the Sea of Galilee. See her esty shop for these pieces.
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5104759
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ruth-tarragano/871591041/in/pool-mgpc/
http://ruth-t.blogspot.com/

I am a member of a flickr group for Mokume gane lovers.  http://www.flickr.com/groups/mgpc/pool/.  This group is made up of many very talented folks that have a love for this technique.  So when you have a moment, browse through and check out the great works of this group.   

Interested in trying to create some Mokume Gane yourself?  You can just Google polymer clay and mokume gane and you’ll find dozens and dozens of how-to’s. 

In the meantime, I’ll paste some of my favorite tute links for Mokume Gane:
http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/mokume1.html
http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/cyclopedia/4colormg.html
http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/mini_mokume.html
http://www.polymerclayexpress.com/mar2002.html
http://www.thepolyparrot.com/mudpile.html
http://www.artistcrafts.com/polyclay/tutorials/oceanmgtut.htm
http://www.good-night-irene.com/mywork.html
http://www.polymerclayweb.com/this_n_that_mokume.asp

"Sophie" Mask Creation

  • Jul. 26th, 2007 at 5:54 PM
Sherbert Glow, Niagara Falls, See_only_part_of_me
"Sophie" Mask Creation
"Sophie" Mask Creation
Originally uploaded by Kraphti-Dez
Ohhhh, found a cool new tool on flickr. You can create mosiacs.

Sophie

  • Jul. 25th, 2007 at 8:27 PM
Sherbert Glow, Niagara Falls, See_only_part_of_me

Sophie
Originally uploaded by Kraphti-Dez
Well, I have finally have her baked, sanded, and painted.

Not sure why, but I decided to call her Sophie.

These scarves that have some dimension to them are difficult to sand. However thanks to Joyce's little sanding tool, the job was a lot easier.


Sophie close-up The white clay in the mokume gane started buring. I bake these on ceramic tiles so they will hold their shape and the tile gets extra hot. I forgot to add cardboard and card stock under the scarf. You can't really tell that it's burned, it actually looks good, more muted in color.
Sherbert Glow, Niagara Falls, See_only_part_of_me
Ok, so I'm back to Mokume Gane. Hey what can I say, I'm addicted to the process.

Well, once I bake this little lady, she's gonna give me some issues when it comes to sanding. The sheet ended up thinner than I'd planned and even though I started with a pretty smooth sheet, I pretty much mess that up, trying to get the scarf arranged the way I wanted.

She's hasn't been baked yet. I love the way the scarf turned out. I'm using Kato Polyclay as the backing and the mokume gane is made from Sculpey III and Fimo Soft (next time I'll probably uses polyclay in the mokume gane). You'll definitely want to use a clay with some body that will hold it's shape. I didn't even use forms to hold the scarf in place and it's been sitting overnight and hasn't slumped at all.
Sherbert Glow, Niagara Falls, See_only_part_of_me

Faux opals
Originally uploaded by Kraphti-Dez
I learned how to make these faux opals during a web demo given by Cat Therien. She is one of the great polymer clay artist...check out her work: http://www.catherienarts.com.
(Cat is working on a tutorial for these, so when she posts it, I'll drop a link on the blog for anyone that wants to give it a try.)

These are made with Fimo Soft translucent clay, iridescent flakes and the green ones have alcohol inks.


I am really digging this piece. I love the color depth and the sparkly flakes. Still gotta buff it some more to bring out more shine.

Faux stone
Sherbert Glow, Niagara Falls, See_only_part_of_me
....but I love the process so much, I just can't help myself.

This latest MG slab is called "Tequila Sunrise". My margatritas, better know by my friends as "Des-a-ritas" were actually the inspiration for this piece....a Peach-Mango one to be more specific.

Who says nothing good comes from drinking, my muse was very bubbly and creative.


See the Tequila Sunrise Mokume Gane for addtional pictures.

Shoe alert, shoe alert, shoe alert

  • Jul. 1st, 2007 at 10:37 PM
Sherbert Glow, Niagara Falls, See_only_part_of_me

Catwalk Green
Originally uploaded by Kraphti-Dez
Catwalk Green is my latest miniatrue shoe....and I love it. The artist is Kjell Engman of Kosta Boda. Isn't it beautiful.



Kosta Boda ain't cheap, but I got it at a steal on base at Fort Knox.

Tags:

Lady of the Lake Mokume Gane Mask

  • Jul. 1st, 2007 at 9:24 PM
Sherbert Glow, Niagara Falls, See_only_part_of_me
I am very pleased with the way this mokume gane turned out. The colors are incredible. There is some plaquing, (got to remember not to handle fimo soft transulcent to much with bare hands) but the plaquing looks good on this piece and fits in with the lake theme.



The Lady of the Lake was made with Fimo Soft polymer clays in: emerald, peppermint, windsor blue and tanslucent, sliver leaf sheets, and alcohol inks in stream, lettuce and eggplant. There is something funky about the emerald, the color in the raw clay stains everything. I thought it might be the one bar I had, so I opened the others and they are that way too. Haven't had this problem with emerald before so must be a bad batch.

Anyway, I ran the clay sheets on the two thinnest settings on the pasta machine. On several of the silver leaf sheets I randomly dropped the alcohol inks. I then stacked the sheets, always topping the sliver leaf with a translucent sheet. I trim the sides of the log and ball them into small beads to use on the undrside of the slab. This is what creates the mokume gane pattern. The slab should look something like this when stacked:


I began slicing the slab after letting it rest for about an hour (probably should let it rest a little longer, but I'm always to anxious to see what the slices look like). They were beautiful.


The slices were then applied to a sheet of windsor blue. I usually roll with and acrylic brayer to smooth the sheet and then send it through thickest settings on the pasta maker. The sheets always look so yummy, I'm tempted to bake them as is.


Close up before baking:


Close up after baking:

Niagara Falls

  • Jun. 27th, 2007 at 3:12 PM
Sherbert Glow, Niagara Falls, See_only_part_of_me
OMG, there are no words to describe the awsome beauty and power of Niagara Falls. Any pictures and videos just fail to capture the breath taking scene that appears before you.

When you go....and yes that's when and not if (make it a priority if you haven't already), be sure to experience it all. No two views of the falls are alike. You can walk as little as 5 feet and it's completely different.



Profile

Sherbert Glow, Niagara Falls, See_only_part_of_me
[info]kraphti
kraphti-dez

Latest Month

February 2008
S M T W T F S
     12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
242526272829 

Syndicate

RSS Atom
Powered by LiveJournal.com
Designed by Kenn Wislander