I love the idea of gardening. I want to snip fresh herbs to toss with pasta. Or make fresh salsa with homegrown tomatoes and peppers.

Unfortunately, my biological gardening clock (if there is such a thing) is a bit off. It's usually around Memorial Day weekend that it occurs to me to plant something. By this time, even the pre-started plants at the nurseries are on clearance, because (I'm guessing) everybody except me understands that it's too late to plant stuff. This does not deter me. I see an abandoned plant in a clearance bin, and I go into rescue mode. How could I just let that poor thing sit there and die, alone and unloved? So I bring home plants I shouldn't and do my best to save them from the coming blazing-hot summer days. Eventually the Oklahoma sun and dry winds win, and I give up on the poor wilted plants. But by Memorial Day of the next year, I'm ready to give it another shot.

A few years back, I (unintentionally) did something smart. I got some perennial herbs, oregano and sage, that have made a happy life for themselves despite my lack of gardening expertise. Both of the past two years, these herbs have come back without a bit of effort on my part. Since these plants make me so happy, I decided to make them a little gift in return.

These polymer clay plant markers are simple to make and they're a great way to identify your favorite plants... whether you're the type who starts them from seedlings, or — like me — just feel fortunate that the plants have chosen to grace you with their presence one more year. I'm showing you how to make two slightly different styles of plant markers. The first is a more sculpted look, and it's great for flowering plants, fruits, or veggies. The second is a more natural look, well-suited for an herb garden. Both projects start and end the same way — it's the step in the middle that make the difference.

Plant Marker Instructions

1. Create Background. I chose UltraLight Sculpey as the background for my plant marker because it's lightweight — less likely to make the wooden stakes top-heavy. Roll the clay out to a medium-thick setting on your pasta machine and cut out two copies of any shape you want. I used a round cookie cutter.
2. Add Stake. Apply Bake and Bond bakeable adhesive to both sides of the end of a craft stick. Apply a little Bake and Bond all over one of your clay sheets, too. Then sandwich the stick between the sheets, pressing lightly to adhere everything together. I did the remainder of the project on a bakeable surface (try a ceramic tile or an index card), so I wouldn't have to move the project for baking. If you have to move it, do so carefully, sliding an aluminum scraper underneath the bottom clay layer. Don't forget and grab it by the craft stick, since this will likely pop the stick right out of the unbaked clay.
   
   Bake and Bond Note: I like to use Bake and Bond in cases like this because it seems to have some of the properties of white glue and some of the properties of liquid polymer clay. If you don't have Bake and Bond, you can use white glue instead.
3. Decorate Marker
   • Sculpted Plant Marker: I'm sure you have different plants than I do, so I'll just give general instructions on sculpting a plant. First, study the plant. If you don't have the plant itself in front of you — very likely if you're just starting the seedlings — then you'll have to settle for studying a seed packet, a photo from a plant book, or a botanical drawing. Look at the leaf shape, color, texture and placement. Are there always a certain number of leaves or flowers grouped together? What makes this plant unique? Understanding these things will help you create a better likeness.
     
     For my sage marker, I mixed a green color consisting of 1 part each Premo Green, Sea Green, White, and Raw Sienna. I tried various methods of getting the raised dot look of a sage leaf, but I wasn't happy with any of them until I "cheated" and used an actual sage leaf for texture. For the flowers, I made tiny balls from a few different shades of lavender. I then poked my Sculpey cone tip shaper tool into the ball, and pinched out the edges to make them look like petals. I followed the same steps with green balls and wrapped those around the flowers to make the leaves at the base of the petals.
   • Leaf Impression Plant Marker: You have to actually have some of the plant's leaves on hand, so this style doesn't work so well if you want to mark where you planted seedlings. (Plan ahead and make some for next year!) Pick a few fairly unblemished leaves, and press the backs of them into your clay background (the details from the leaf back usually transfer more clearly than those on the front). Once you've made a good impression in the clay, peel the leaves off.
4. Label It. Once you're happy with the decorative part of the plant marker, use rubber stamps to impress the name of the plant into the clay. I used an Alphabet Stamp Set by Studio G. You can also add any other texture, borders, etc. at this point.
5. Bake and Antique It. Bake the plant marker according to the clay manufacturer's instructions, keeping the craft stick in place (wood is oven safe at clay temperatures). Once it's baked and cooled, apply acrylic paint to a stiff-bristled paintbrush or an old toothbrush. Dab the paint into the letters and any other textured areas, making sure the paint gets into all the crevices. Then wipe away the paint on the surface with a paper towel. This highlights the textured areas and gives the piece an antiqued look.
   
   UltraLight Sculpey Note: I was in for a surprise the first time I antiqued UltraLight Sculpey. The stuff is made to be paintable, so it absorbs the paint much more than a brand like Premo. If you don't work quickly when you're antiquing, you'll find the paint has become permanent.
6. Protect It. Polymer clay colors can fade in the sunlight. If you're creating your plant markers for an outdoor garden, seal your clay with a topcoat that includes UV protectorant, such as Rust-Oleum's Varathane polyurethane wood sealant.

Of course, there are lots of variations. These plant markers are two-sided. Try decorating the back in a different style, or even doing an image transfer with details about the plant and its sun and watering preferences. Use an extruder to create a matching (or contrasting) polymer clay border. Change the shape and size of the background. Vary the antiquing color to make (for example) all your herb markers green, all your veggie markers yellow, etc.

I'd give you more ideas for variations, but I've got a trip to make. I believe some clearance rack plants are calling my name. :-)

This post is part of the Craft Social Garden Party Blog Carnival. Check out the other posts for more garden-fresh inspiration!

Posted in: Polymer Clay , Project Instructions | Comments (6)

I'm not a huge jewelry person... but when I do wear jewelry, I'm hopelessly matchy-matchy. I love to have earrings that match the necklace. Bonus if there's a matching bracelet, too. It affects me to the point that, even if I absolutely love a necklace in my jewelry box, if I don't have the perfect earrings for it, I find myself not wearing it.

I'm guessing Isabelle Ceramy-Debray, author of Polymer Clay Beaded Jewellery, is the same way. Her new 48-page page book has instructions for creating several matching pieces for each technique — necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings, and more. This is a nice touch for beginners who want matching jewelry but who need extra guidance to make each specific piece. There are several things, in fact, that make this book best suited for beginners. But there are also a couple of reasons I'd prefer beginners pick up a different book instead...

The Book

This book was originally published in France in 2007. A few clunky word choices make it obvious that this is a translated version — things like keeping unbaked clay away from dust so you don't "spoil the clay," or where it says "false" instead of "faux" enamel. It's not a big deal — more the sort of thing that'll make you re-read the sentence than cause you major confusion.

The author starts with a brief section on polymer clay basics. I was a little surprised she recommended Sculpey III, but then again, beads aren't as prone to the breakage problems common with that brand. I do like the book's large photos of materials and supplies — 2.5 pages worth of very clear photos, labeled with each item's name and purpose. This is a nice touch, since beginners may not know, for example, what flat-nosed and round pliers look like and what each one is used for.

While these photos are very clear, there are some in the book that aren't so clear. Even some of the beauty shots are downright blurry. It makes me wonder if the out-of-focus look on the front cover is stylistic or if they just didn't have any shots that were completely in focus. Other than the problems with some of the photos, though, I liked the clean layout of the book. The beauty shots have simple props like glass vases, and they are incorporated nicely into the page design.

The Projects

• Watercolor (necklace, bracelet, keychain, earrings)
• Savannah (necklace, earrings, pendant, ring)
• Marina (ring, necklace, bracelet)
• Primrose (earrings, hanging pendant, ring)
• Venice (necklace, keyring, earrings)
• Moonlight (earrings, necklace, ring, hair clip)
• Rosebud (hair clip, necklace, earrings)
• Coral (necklace, earrings)
• Trump heart (hanging pendant, earrings)
• Harlequin (necklace, bracelet, earrings)
• Tenderness (keyring, necklace, bracelet, brooch)

As you may notice, the names of the projects don't really tell you much. That's one of the things I dislike about this book. It does a decent job of covering polymer clay basics — things like using an extruder, making canes, adding inclusions, and doing Mokume Gane. But it does so without really acknowledging that these are all established polymer clay techniques. For example, it doesn't use the words Mokume Gane at all. So someone new to clay wouldn't know to look up that term for more ways to do it.

Another thing I personally disliked was the way the directions were written. Here's an example from p. 46:

"Take the balls B3, B4, J5, J6, R5, R6, V5 and V6. Cut each ball in half to make one B3a and one B3b, one B4a and one B4b, one J5a and one J5b, one J6a and one J6b, one R5a and one R5b, one R6a and one R6b, one V5a and one V5b, one V6a and one V6b."

It's a very specific, pattern-based way to write instructions. And perhaps it prevents misunderstandings. But I think it reminded me too much of algebra. (Oh wait, I liked algebra.) It was difficult to read, so my eyes glazed over and my brain resisted wrapping itself around the words. Granted, some people may prefer this very formulaic style. But to me, it just made things seem more complicated than they were. And I would imagine that would create a barrier for many beginners.

I had mixed feelings about the projects themselves. I liked five of them well enough to consider doing them: Watercolor (coiled extruder beads), Marina (Mokume Gane), Primrose (faux enamel), Coral (faux coral), and Trump Heart (clay inclusions). The techniques themselves weren't particularly unique on these, but I thought the color choices were pretty and the end results were nice. None of the other projects caught my eye.

I did discover a few new materials in the book, like copper wire sheathed in cotton. Granted, I haven't found it in local stores yet, so I don't know how difficult it will be to find. But it did look cool.

I mentioned that I liked having multiple jewelry pieces for each pattern. I also liked the fact that the book included several rings. Aside from Ancient Modern and Polymer Clay Mixed Media Jewelry, I can't think of any recent polymer clay books that have ring projects.

My Results

I felt like the Primrose (faux enamel) project was very simple and resulted in very pretty results. The only tricky part is finding rubber stamps that work well for the technique — I suspect I'll be buying a few more stamps so I can play more with this idea. I liked the look of the ribbon necklace until I realized that she didn't include instructions for any sort of clasp. I feel like the measurements she gave for the ribbon make this necklace a little too short to tie on.

The Marina project showed an easy way to do Mokume Gane — perfect for beginners eager to see good results. The places where it called for "transparent white" confused me. Just a translation thing, I'm sure, but I wasn't sure whether to use my translucent or some mixture of translucent and white. [5/21/10 Note: Sue cleared this up for me in the comments -- I wasn't aware Fimo Effect's translucent was called translucent white. Thanks Sue!] And I found myself wishing the instructions listed pasta machine settings (I have no idea what thickness 1 mm is).

Just a handy note for those of you who like the bracelet finding here. She recommends some findings by Eberhard Faber, which I haven't found anywhere. But I tried Premo's new Fashion Art jewelry findings kit (now available at Michael's), and it worked perfectly here. Look for a separate review of that coming soon.

Summary

• Title: Polymer Clay Beaded Jewellery by Isabelle Cheramy-Debray
• Price: $11.86 plus shipping
• Pros:
  • Includes polymer clay instructions AND jewelry assembly instructions.
  • Has instructions for several matching jewelry pieces (necklace, earrings, etc.) for each technique.
    
• Cons:
  • Not much in the way of new techniques.
  • The instructions can be difficult to read.

• Who It's Good For:
  • Polymer clay beginners who want full jewelry assembly instructions and don't mind wading through meticulously-detailed instructions.

Reviewed Materials Source / Disclaimer: This book/product was provided by the publisher, Search Press, for review purposes. No further compensation was received for this review. I always strive to be honest and unbiased in my reviews, but your results with the book may vary.

Posted in: Polymer Clay , Reviews | Comments (6)

This is a tip a lot of you have heard of. I'm writing about it because, while I had heard of it, too, I was skeptical that it would make a difference. Turns out I was wrong...

My polymer clay ovens get a bit moody sometimes. And it seems like that "sometimes" is usually right in the middle of a big deadline.

My previously-reliable oven had started under-baking things, a fact I didn't realize until some of my "finished" clay mosaic tiles were crumbly instead of nice and strong. (My oven thermometer had fallen off the shelf onto the element below, and I kept forgetting to retrieve it when the oven was cool. My bad.) A whole day's worth of clay stuff was under-baked, a fact I found especially frustrating since I was furiously working on projects for my book deadline.

I hate trying to find the sweet spot on an oven knob when the thermostat is off. It requires immeasurable patience: fiddle with the knob slightly, give it 10 minutes for the oven adjust its new temperature, check the thermometer, and fiddle with the knob again. It can take an hour or more to get the right temperature.

After messing with that process a while (and getting nowhere), I got impatient. I cranked the temperature way up and made a mental note to keep a very close eye on it, lest it overheat. Luckily for me, I also did something else. I tented the project with aluminum foil.

You know what's coming next. I lost my mental note and forgot to check the oven until the timer went off. I don't remember now what the exact temperature was, but I know it was above 300. I lifted the aluminum foil piece, expecting the worst. But, to my surprise, it hadn't burned or toasted. It was just fine.

My close call reminded me that, if I didn't have time to fiddle with an oven knob, I certainly didn't have time to lose projects to a hot oven. So I took the time to get it right. But I kept that tenting thing in the back of my mind, and decided to look into it a bit more when I had more time.

If you're not familiar with tenting, it's not an especially complicated process. Take aluminum foil (I use the heavy-duty stuff because it's stronger) and shape it into a pointed shape large enough to cover your item. I re-use the same piece again and again, tweaking its shape if necessary to accommodate taller or wider items. Just place it on top of your clay tile so it sits over, but doesn't touch, the item you're baking. Leave it in place until you're done baking.

I'd never messed with tenting before, because it didn't seem logical that it would work. And I won't pretend that I understand now why it works. Something about the heat being indirect? But it does work for me. I've even gone so far as to put my clay pieces, tented, in the oven while it preheats... and I always used to think that was a bad idea.

It served as a reminder to me that there's more than one good way to do things... and sometimes it pays to experiment with new methods, even if they may not seem intuitive. Live and learn.

What about you? Have you found a better way of doing things, maybe a way that you initially resisted?

Posted in: Quick Tips | Comments (2)