2022-01 A New Start

It’s been three years since I last posted to this blog. I decided it was time to try again to have some fun with projects and to show some how-to photos. 

 I still live in a small travel trailer in Wickenburg, Arizona and still work in a small gift shop in town. Life hasn’t changed too much for us. But we have a better internet connection.

  I am still doing my art and craft projects and learning new things every day. So I felt it was time to go back to sharing what I make and how I do each project.

 For these first few posts in 2022 I am going to share photographs of some of the things I have made over the last couple of years. I have been busy and have made quite a variety of projects.

 Today I have pulled up pictures of some of my polymer clay creations. I sculpted gnomes, trolls and dragons in 2020 and 2021. Many were sold through the shop where I work part-time.

 Most pieces are a maximum of three inches because the clay oven is small and won’t hold anything taller.

 Each piece is one of a kind and hand sculpted. They were a lot of fun to create. Each one has a different personality.

 I used either Sculpey or CraftSmart clays that I bought from Michaels. When baking I set the temperature at approximately 230 degrees instead of the 265 that the packages recommend. This means the baking time is longer. But the chance of burning the clay piece is reduced. Because the pieces were thicker than ¼” they require a longer baking time. Though I tried to sculpt each piece so that it wasn’t too much more than ¼”.

 For stability I use toothpick to secure the head to the body. This prevents the head from sliding off or falling off during baking. I also use liquid Sculpey like a glue between some pieces to make sure they are well connected during baking. Sometimes when putting two pieces of clay together, like attaching the mushrooms to the base, the two pieces don’t stick to each other very well. The liquid Sculpey makes them sticky and they adhere better.

 This is a couple of pictures of my yoga trolls. I work in a metaphysical shop and at the time I made these guys we were hosting yoga classes. We have since moved the shop and have no room for yoga anymore. 

 The next piece is one of the gnomes. Each gnome holds a rose that was coated with liquid Sculpey before baking so it is preserved and more secure.

 This is a picture of three of the dragons I created. The largest one was done in pieces and glued together because of small clay oven.

 This last one is a small wizard. He is only about two inches tall. He is holding a quartz crystal I found here in Arizona.

 I love working with polymer clay. The variety of colors makes for some fun pieces, though I tend to use a lot of black.

 My next post will show how I used paint on some wood pieces and frames.

 Til next time. J

Terri

 To check out some of my other creations go to my Etsy store at http://www.etsy.com/shop/magikalstoneemporium