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There are many pamphlets and books that are
available with instructions for all sorts of polymer clay projects in
most of the Indian general and book stores. They might even be available
in the local craft store. And if you are keen to start right away,
here's a quick project that will introduce you to the basics of polymer
clay, which is a marbled bead.
For any of the polymer clay projects that you might start, pick two or
more colors of clay that you like and that go well together. You can use
any clay brand, but if you're a beginner, you might want to use a brand
that offers a softer and easier clay to work with.
It is important to condition each color of clay by working it with your
hands until it's soft and pliable. The next step would be to squidge it
between your fingers, roll it between your hands, roll it out into a
snake shape and back into a ball. It is necessary to do this for a few
minutes with each color of clay.
Take a small chunk of each clay color and mix them together, rolling and
twisting to create a desired look. Sometimes you want them partly mixed,
but not completely. You can also use a toothpick, a long needle, or a
wooden skewer to pierce any desired shapes on the clay.
In the initial few clay projects that you try out, experiment with
different shapes: cube beads, long skinny beads, flat ovals for a pin or
earrings, etc. Once you have shaped the clay in the desired shape, line
a cookie sheet with plain white paper and put the clay shapes on it. Put
them in the oven at 250 degrees for 30 minutes or so to fire them. Take
them out, let them cool, and your polymer clay projects are just
completed.
With your clay projects, the idea is to learn, so experiment, play
around, and see what you get. Remember that you can really do anything
wrong with the shapes, as they are subject to your imagination.
You can infact get more creative with your clay projects and make
Holiday Ornaments using cookie cutters. It is a lot of much fun to
decorate holiday cookies. And whats better than to make them out of
polymer clay so you can enjoy them for years to come. While you are
working on your clay projects, it might be a good idea to have a
separate batch of cutters to use for clays, and to keep the food and
clay tools separate.
One of the drawbacks in the Indian retail and merchandise management is
that the certification of safety that is given to different objects is
not always reliable. Therefore, though polymer clays have been certified
as non-toxic by the Indian authorities, it would be a good idea to be
careful as it is always a good thing when dealing with art supplies of
any sort. You definitely don't want any of your family members to get
baked clay in their next bite of cookie.
Author M. Hemdev copyright
data 2004 Indianchild.com
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