I got a nice email from Janet, who read my review of Studio by Sculpey's Super Slicer Blades and had a suggestion for my old dull blade:

"I read a tip once (from Lisa Pavelka I believe) that you can sharpen your blades by running them through a sheet of sandpaper. Maybe you can try that on your original blade."

Sure enough, a couple of Lisa Pavelka's books have blade-sharpening tips. And an online search found a few more. If you have a dull clay blade you need to sharpen, here are some resources:

• How to Sharpen a Knife With Sand Paper: While not specific to clay blades, this tutorial gives a nice overview of the process.
• Lisa Pavelka's Polymer Clay Extravaganza book has blade-sharpening instructions (she recommends 800-grit sandpaper).
• Glass Attic's Cutters & Blades page: Skip down to the section titled "SHARPNESS of blades" for some tips on keeping your blade at its sharpest.

I sharpened my old blade, and I have to say I'm happy with the results. I used a sanding block, starting with 400 grit sandpaper for my super-dull blade and progressing up to 1000 grit. It took all of about 10 minutes, and while I wouldn't say my blade's as good as new, it's definitely better than it's been in years!

Of course, you should be very careful sharpening these blades. And don't forget to handle your blade more carefully once it's sharp again. I don't wanna hear about any severed fingers!

Thanks to Janet for the tip. While it's sometimes tempting to just replace tools (especially the relatively-inexpensive ones), it's often better to buy better-quality tools to begin with and maintain or repair them whevever possible.

Posted in: Polymer Clay , Quick Tips , Supplies & Tools | Comments (1)

As some of you may know, I work from home, splitting my time between blogging, crafting, and freelance web development. As part of the latter, I recently had the pleasure of attending an "un-conference" called Open Beta here in Oklahoma City.

Open Beta was set up as an opportunity for local web professionals with different specialties to connect with each other. See, while there are several groups in this area for tech professionals, they all have their specific niches: web designers, Ruby on Rails developers, Java developers, etc. There's never been one event for these people with different specialties to meet up and exchange ideas... until now. Open Beta gave people a chance to share what they were doing and see what others in the community were doing. It gave us a chance to meet folks we might not have otherwise. And it allowed everyone to get excited and inspired by the ideas of others.

I love being surrounded by creative people sharing their creative ideas. The excitement and energy is so contagious! And so I came away from Open Beta, not only having made connections with other local professionals that I may be able to work with in the future, but also totally inspired to hit the ground running with my own ideas.

Wondering why I'm talking about this on a crafting blog? Here's the reason:

I'd love to see this happen in the crafting community. We also tend to socialize based on our specific niches — a knitting group, a polymer clay group, an Etsy sellers group, etc. And that's great: it's a good way to learn together with others in your specialty. But it seems like there are very few opportunities to get together and share ideas with a broader group of creatives. Here are the benefits I think such a meet-up would have:

• Find out what else is going on in the local community. While I'm aware of things that are going on in the local polymer clay community and a few paper crafts groups, I know I miss out on a lot of other things. It wasn't til I started chatting with a gal at the state fair that I knew there was a local beading group. And I just learned from a Twitter friend this weekend that there's a monthly craft supply swap, an event I've frequently envied in other cities but hadn't realized we had here. If various crafty groups could print fliers or set up info tables at an event like this, think how many more interested folks could get involved in these groups.
• Share what you're working on and connect with like-minded folks. Open Beta had both demos (people showing their latest projects) and mini-talks (people talking about ideas or projects). I loved that a couple of the speeches were just ideas — things along the lines of "here's what I'd like to see happen... if anyone's interested in helping me make it happen, let me know." When you share like that, you open yourself up to finding kindred spirits, people who may have had the same ideas as you and want to partner up to make them happen. Things that seemed impossible on your own are suddenly possible. For example, I've wondered about starting a local Church of Craft group, but wasn't sure whether there would be any interest or how to get started. This would be a great place to find out! Same goes if you're thinking about starting a group that donates quilts to a local charity, or any other bigger-than-yourself project.
• Just get inspired. I've always been a bit on the shy side, but there's something about being around other creatives that can make me feel instantly connected. Seeing what others are doing and seeing the passion they have for their ideas can be truly inspirational.

So here's what I'm wondering:

If you're in the OKC area, would you be willing to work with me to make this Craft Un-Conference happen?

"The name 'unconference' arose to describe conferences that step outside of the more traditional model — that is, presentations selected months beforehand, sponsors buying speaking slots, boring panels of talking heads, and high fees." Unconference.net

There are a variety of different un-conference models (barcamps, foocamps, etc.). I'm imagining an event where, at the very least, groups can share information about where/when they meet and individuals can do talks and demonstrations about their projects or ideas. Some other options include:

• An opportunity for folks to sell items, though we'd want to limit the time on that. The sellers shouldn't be stuck behind their tables the whole time and miss out on the conference!
• A series of instructional workshops where anyone can share their expertise in any area (whether it's a specific craft, or a related topic like pricing your work to sell).

If you're interested in helping me make this happen in OKC, please contact me. I'd like to start bouncing ideas around.

If you're not from around here, I'd love to hear from you too. Have you been involved in any local events like this? What worked? What didn't? Leave me a comment telling me about your ideas or experiences.

Update: I've set up a new website for this. Sign up for the mailing list at Craftin' OKC to stay posted as plans for the un-conference progress.

Posted in: Inspiration , The Business of Crafting | Comments (8)

I was pleasantly surprised the other day when I found out my local Hobby Lobby has started carrying Studio by Sculpey products. Since I no longer have to order online and pay shipping, it seemed like a good time to give their Super Slicer blades a try. I've only ever had the one rigid clay blade, and it's gotten pretty dull with years of use, so I wanted to replace it. Plus, since I've never had a flexible, wavy or ripple blade before, I was looking forward to trying those out.

The price was the number one reason I selected Studio by Sculpey's set. Getting four blades for $12.99 seemed like a good value, compared to buying each blade individually. And of course, I used my 40% off coupon to save a little more.

One of Studio by Sculpey's big selling points for these blades is the safety of using their interchangeable handles. This wasn't really a big deal to me. I've used my clay blade for years without handles, and I know how to make my own handles from clay if I want them. I can imagine this would be an attraction for some people, though.

And for something that the company has put a lot of focus on, the handles seemed very poorly implemented. Not only are they not easy to interchange (I imagine I'll leave my handles on my most-used blade) — but the instructions for attaching the handles are awful. Jenny at Craft Test Dummies mentioned this in her review, but even having been warned, I was still surprised at how bad they were. (I've scanned in my package's instructions [PDF] in case anyone is interested in taking a look.) The main problem is that there are no diagrams in the instructions. Not only that, but there's no diagram or picture anywhere on the product packaging showing how the assembled handles should look. So when the instructions say, "For correct placement, longer part of handle should be angled slightly up diagonally from blade," you're left wondering which part is the longer part and what that slight angle might be. A simple diagram would have been much better than that description.

But that's not all. The instructions also fail to mention even once that you're going to have to take the handles apart to attach them to the blades. Since the handles come pre-assembled, it didn't occur to me that they came apart. I was imagining some sort of retractable mechanism inside the blades that snapped into place once I had it positioned correctly... and nothing in the instructions told me otherwise. It wasn't til I went out to their website looking for clarification that I saw their (much-better) online instructions and figured out how it all worked. Please, Studio by Sculpey, fix these package instructions.

While I'm talking about packaging, the actual packaging of the blades was also poorly done. They were taped into place in such a way that getting them out was a little dangerous. These are sharp blades. Don't make me pull and pry them out of the packaging. I think this was a missed opportunity, too. Studio by Sculpey could have packaged them in something re-usable, some sort of nice sleeve that could be used as storage throughout the life of the blades. They could even put some branding on it, and assume that folks will carry it that way to classes and guild meetings — a little free advertising for them.

But enough about the poor packaging and instructions. How do the blades work?

As I mentioned, I primarily needed a rigid blade to replace my old dull one. So I started by trying out the rigid blade. That is... once I figured out which one was the rigid one.

Unfortunately there's not a lot of difference between the flexible blade and the rigid blade. They're both pretty flimsy. I looked back at Studio by Sculpey's online product write-ups for the blades to see that the longer one is supposed to be the rigid one. But it's too thin and flexible for my tastes, much more so than the rigid blade I was replacing. I don't know whether this is a consequence of the increased length — perhaps you lose some of the rigidity as a result. But regardless I don't feel confident it will give me straight cuts.

I was originally concerned that it might not be strong enough to cut through thick blocks of clay. I tried it with a few new blocks of clay I had sitting around. It cut through them successfully, almost as well as my old blade. I'm not sure how well it would work on older or stiffer clays, though. It just doesn't seem sturdy enough.

I have been more pleased with the other blades. Of course, since I didn't have these blades previously, my requirements weren't as high for them. The ripple blades work well: I think I will enjoy playing with those for mokume gane and for decorative edge cutting. And although I don't see myself using the flexible blade much, perhaps having it around will encourage me to round my corners a bit more!

So would I recommend purchasing this blade set? It depends. If you're looking for a good strong rigid blade, this set doesn't have it. But if you've already got that, and just want a variety pack of blades for a decent price, this is a good choice. I don't recommend buying this set just for the handles, though. They're too much trouble to change from blade to blade, and just generally don't live up to expectations.

Summary

• Product: Studio by Sculpey Super Slicer Blades (4 blades with interchangeable handles)
• Price: $12.99
• Pros:
  • The set of four blades (rigid, flexible, wavy, and ripple) is a good value over buying the blades individually.
  • The length of the rigid blade is nice for cutting larger clay sheets. All of the blades are slightly longer than the blade I was replacing.
• Cons:
  • The rigid blade is not strong or sturdy enough for my tastes.
  • The package instructions are seriously lacking, and the blades are poorly packaged.
  • The interchangeable handles aren't worth the trouble required to switch them.

Posted in: Reviews , Supplies & Tools | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (1)

The very-generous Maria Maestri allowed me to teach a couple of projects from her Simply Ornaments CD (reviewed here) to my local polymer clay guild last weekend. As I was preparing samples for the class, I tried to come up with a variety of suggestions for changing up the projects and personalizing the characters. Turns out, one of the easiest ways to do that is to dress your characters up in different polymer clay clothes.

Here are a few ways to make your own "fabric" from polymer clay — whether you need it to clothe your custom characters or make mini clay quilts:

1. Make Patterned Canes: Canes are an obvious choice for creating your own polymer clay fabric, since you can cut lots of identical tiles to replicate a fabric's repeating pattern. If you need a starting place, check out Lisa Clarke's tutorials for making weave and plaid canes.
2. Extrude Your Own Fabric: I'm not much of a caner, so I was excited to find a recent tutorial by Sue Choppers-Wife on Art Ravings. She shows how to use an extruder to make your own polymer clay fabric.
3. Just Applique It: If you want an even easier option, use small cookie cutters to create simple shapes from an unbaked clay sheet. (Or use a hole punch with baked clay sheets.) Apply your appliques to a solid color or Skinner blend background to make a simple fabric.

Whichever method you use to create your fabric, don't forget to texture it. The Art Ravings fabric post suggests a straining screen, and I love her results. I also like ShadeTex Texture Sheets — the Textile set is perfect for texturing fabrics.

And once you've made your fabrics, what can you do with them?

• Clothe Your Characters: Maureen Carlson's books have the best instructions I've seen for making realistic clay clothes, with tips for making "patterns," draping fabric, and more. I can personally recommend her excellent How to Make Clay Characters. And while I haven't read it yet, her Family and Friends in Polymer Clay also appears to include good fabric- and clothes-making advice.
• Make Polymer Clay Quilts: If you've got some fabric scraps after clothing your characters, use those to make your own patchwork quilts. Sarajane Helm and Judith Skinner wrote the definitive book on this: Adapting Quilt Patterns To Polymer Clay. But you can also check out these sites for more quilted goodness:
  • beadyeyedbrat lists lots of polymer clay quilt resources, including cane tutorials, quilt inspiration photos, and more.
  • Jenny Patterson of Quilted In Clay has lots of gorgeous examples of polymer clay quilt blocks that she's turned into jewelry. She also occasionally writes about her creative process on her blog.

Winter may be on its its way — but if you follow these tips, your polymer clay characters will be happily bundled in warm clothes & quilts til the springtime thaw!

Posted in: Polymer Clay | Comments (6)