It's Tutorial Tuesday Again!

Three new air-dry clay tutorials this week.

Steampunk Paperclay Book
Paperclay book (shown above) with embellishments such as safety pins
and lots and lots of scrapbooking items!

Air Dry Clay is Only for Kids - Not!

Kids project using Crayola Model Magic

On the topic of air-dry clay, I sometimes see comments that it's just a kids clay and quality of clay isn't good enough for 'real' artwork.  Sure, for many years about the only air-dry clay available was 'school grade' clay, intended for children in the classroom.  The only art quality clays had to be kiln-fired.   Then along came polymer clay, which, because it doesn't need a kiln, opened up the world of clay modeling to a lot more people.  With this increased interest in modeling and sculpting as a hobby, an assortment of new clays became available, including NEW air-dry clays.   Take a look of some of the ADC creations shown below...they range from simple kid crafts valued at pennies to complex ball-jointed dolls valued in the hundreds of dollars.

How to Start a Craft Business

If you're a crafty person who's looking for a bit of extra money, a craft business may be the answer for you. However, it can be difficult to simply start a business with no previous experience. For some ideas on how to get started, read this wiki article on How to Start a Successful Craft Business!

In case you missed these, here's a few suggested books on a related topic .... organization tips and inspiration from working artists!

Tips for Storing ADC - Update

I often get asked "How can I store my unused air-dry clay so that it doesn't dry out?"  Over a year ago I posted a collection of storage tips.   Today's post is a repeat with some updates!

One of the pros of air-dry clay is that it air dries. No need to bake!

One of the cons of air-dry clay is that it air dries! Long-term storage is always a problem.

Any exposure to light and air will start drying the clay. Some brands start drying faster than others, especially some of the polymer-based clays such as Model Magic, Hearty and Cloud Clay.
  

Tutorial Tuesday 7/24

It's been a  busy week at the homefront and only posted one tutorial this week!    This is a good one to make with the kids...a pink pig made from a water bottle and Cloud Clay.

How to Make a Mold of Your Sculpture

Mushroom Man by Amanda Day

Today we have a tutorial from Amanda Day DeVirgilio of 'Doll Makers Dream' showing us how to make silicone molds of our sculptures and use the molds to cast hydrostone sculptures.  She is demonstrating with a polymer clay sculpture, but the casting methods used would be the same for air-dry clay sculptures.

In this tutorial, Amanda has sculpted a fairly contained sculpture of a mushroom man.  'Contained' meaning there are no protruding limbs, gaps or open spaces.   The mold-making compound that Amanda is using is a super flexible brush on silicone rubber called Rebound 25 .  She also uses 'Stoner- Rapid Release', a releasing agent in spray form, and Hydrostone to make the cast.
(Note: Amanda is located in Australia, brand names mentioned may not be available everywhere.)

Tutorial Tuesday

Catching up with the latest tutorials posted at my ADC tutorial directory.    We started last week with the Paper Clay Barnacles shown above.   An easy to make decorative accent.   These are actually made with papier mache pulp, but artist is calling her modeling medium "paper clay", not to be confused with Creative Paperclay.  However, Creative Paperclay would be a good choice for these barnacles.

Design Your Own Cutters

Do you ever want to design and make your own clay shape cutters?   I just noticed there's a "Make Your Own Cookie Cutter" kit that can be purchased with all the gizmos and supplies needed to make your own.

Tell Us About Your Blog or Website

Do you have a blog or website about air-dry clay?  It can be about the dolls you create or other clay projects or maybe you're a supplier of clay and clay tools.   Anything that talks about air-dry, self-hardening and no-bake clays is welcome to add a link to their site here.  We all share a common interest, so let's get acquainted. Add a link and we can visit each other.  I'll get it started by listing my other clay sites!

School Grade and Artist Grade No-Bake Clays

Self-hardening, no-bake, air-dry clays have been around a long time, but these were mostly 'school quality' clays intended for children and not suitable for detailed sculpting or fine art. In recent years, many "new" clays have become available and that's what this blog is all about...the "new" clays!    Due to the rising popularity of air-dry clays, now we have clays that are a much finer quality and are suitable for fine art.  However, the quality and characteristics vary greatly from brand to brand and the artist must do their own research before buying.

Tutorial Tuesday

The round-up of tutorials posted this past week at my Air-Dry Clay Tutorial Directory starts with a


Paper Mache Buffalo

and then we have 3 more:

Lumina Clay Leaves

Divine Decadence Stump Doll

 How to Make a Strand of Clay Flowers

Meet a New Clay Artist: Nancy Wiley

Alice by Nancy Wiley

Nancy Wiley, is an award winning doll artist who often works with air-dry Paperclay. Since making her first doll in 1989, Nancy Wiley has earned recognition and accolades both within and outside of the doll field. Her stylized and imaginative figures have been featured in magazines such as Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion, In Style and George, as well as all the major doll-collecting publications.

Color Mixing Guide

Some brands of air-dry clay can be purchased pre-colored, but many are available as white (or off-white) only.  These can be pre-tinted or painted after curing.  Just about anything that has pigment in it can be used to pre-tint air-dry clays.  That includes acrylic paints, oil paints, pigment powders, pastel chalks, food coloring pastes and similar products.  Just add a little color into some clay and knead until mixed in.  It may sound like extra work, but it's actually quite handy to be able to mix your own colors as needed.  

Clearing Up Some Mis-information About ADC

Happy Independence Day to our friends in USA!

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I'm going to take an opportunity today to rant a little!   Hope you don't mind!  I'm tired of seeing websites passing out mis-information about air-dry clay and I want to set the record straight.

I do a lot of searching and surfing for new air-dry clay information and tutorials and in the past week or two I've come across a number of websites writing about air-dry clay but they don't really know what they're talking about.  These sites are passing around bad information.  It's become my new pet-peeve!

Tutorial Tuesday

Gosh, I can't believe how fast a week can go by sometimes!  It's Tuesday again and, just in case you missed one, it's time to review the new tutorials posted this past week at my Air-Dry Clay Tutorial Directory.  First up we have instructions for creating a life-like Heron using gourds and paperclay.   Some amazing sculptures can be created with these 2 simple materials and Phyllis Sickles shows us how.