Hey look! It's a new experiment!
Since Glass Eternal is as much about cataloging my mistakes and learning from them as it is writing about inspiration and geeky things, I'm putting up what I learned this week about conditioning clay. I've even got pictures!
Things you'll need.
- Polymer clay that's all crumbly
- Some type of cutting tool (I'm using one of my old X-acto blades)
- freezer paper
- baby/mineral oil
- tape
- patience
1. Alrighty. First up, prep your work station by taping down a piece of freezer paper, slick side up.
2. Next, take your clay and chop it up. Chop Chop Chop!
Ohh, doesn't it look lovely? Not.
3. Now, add a FEW drops all over. Seriously, I'm talking ten drops. Max.
4. Take a little bit and start squishing it together. Fair warning. IT"S MESSY!
Really, really, really messy ladies and gents.
5. If your clay is not sticking together add one drop at a time to it, until it does.
it;s going to be all bumpy and ugly at this point. It's ok.
Now, roll it together between your hands. Round and round and round.
Does it look all smooth and pretty? Yes? Don't be fooled.
6. Smoosh it between your hands, or your fingers, or roll one fist against your palm. Whatever it takes to make it flat, I just don't suggest a pasta machine or a rolling pin at this point.
7. Fold it in half,
8. and in half again.
9. Roll it up into a ball till the outside and smooth again.
10. Now after doing this once or twice, your ball should start to feel VERY sticky. It's alright. Don't freak, (I did at first XD) it's the plasticizer in the clay activating.
11. You'll keep squishing and rolling the clay until it looks like this
At this point you should be able to easily pull, twist and roll out the clay. If so, you're done!
Congrats! If not, keep folding and rolling a little bit longer.
Go back to step 4 and repeat for the rest of the clay.
It takes about a half hour to an hour, depending on how much clay you're working with, but it's messy and fun.
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