When I first began making jewelry, I ran out and purchased every available tool I could afford. On some of the more overpriced tools, I'd hold out until the tool either went on sale or I could get a hold of a store coupon.
As I became more comfortable with my jewelry making techniques, I found myself wanting to save my tool money for the purchase of jewelry making supplies like polymer clay, wire and findings. This led me to began looking around my home for suitable tool substitutions.
When I was going through my inventory of clay looking for which colors were low and needed reordered, I put aside all the packs already opened from previous projects. There were about 15 opened packs.
Instead of opening up any new clay, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to use those clay packs.
I have two upcoming craft fairs and will be teaching classes again in the month of April. Since I need beads and pendants to sell during these events, I decided it was time I get started.
This post will show you what I've been doing this morning.
Don't throw away those old packs of polymer clay. With a little work your clay can be brought back to life. By using a few drops of mineral oil or trying out some of the other tips listed on this post, you can make your clay once again usable.
Sometimes when I'm looking for a specific color of clay I find that the clay is a few years old. In order to use this old clay, I must bring the clay back to a soft, flexible state. To do so, I chop the clay into small pieces, add a few drops of baby oil (mineral oil) to the chopped up pieces and then squish them back together. Next, just roll the clay out, squish, roll out again, repeat until the clay is conditioned.
Another way to condition clay is to warm it up. Take hot water in a pan and set aside. Place your packages of clay into a ziploc bag and place the ziplocked bag into the hot water.
Attracting visitors to your website without using ads, affiliates or paying for search engine services like Google can be tough. That's why I've turned to Social Media.
Although I am using several Social Media services like Google+, Facebook and Twitter, I have found that Pinterest connects me with a lot more visitors.
I'm still under the belief that the Internet should remain free and no one should have to pay for a higher ranking on a search engine. Just my two cents worth.
Mokume Gane is a nice technique to use for showing off bold colors. Below are some of the basics I used to create this heart pendant,
1. Layer 4 contrasting colors of clay. I used 0.5 oz of Premo in the following colors: 18K Gold, Orange, Navy Blue and Spanish Olive. All layers were rolled using the #1 setting on my pasta machine.
2. Cut clay in half and place one half on top of the other. Roll through pasta machine again. Repeat cutting and rolling one more time. You should now have a total of 4 halves placed one on top of the other.
