The Blue Bottle Tree

This is the fifth time I've done a 100 Day Project (see them all on my website). And every time, it goes through phases.

At some point, you get to where you have NO ideas. You're empty. And you have to dig deep, desperately trying to find something to make.

Other times, you are working like a well-oiled machine, and ideas just come OUT OF YOUR HEAD and fall into the clay. It's magical.

This week, they just went right through me. Easily. Like I waved my hand and they were there.

I couldn't have done this on day one of working with this medium. I've been doing intentional, focused, and limit-pushing practice for years.

You're not always going to be where you are. Just like lifting weights or playing piano...the more you do it, the better you get. This is why I keep doing these 100 Day Projects.

It's quite a heady feeling to know that I still have another 44 days of wall art yet to make and it's all in my head yet to be formed. What magic that is!

Did you know that Cernit has a line of Alcohol Inks?

While I don't generally recommend them for surface work, they do have their place, and the Cernit Alcohol Inks are a great line.

Read my full review on the website.

Most brands of polymer clay have metallic colors in their line. But not all metallic colors are the same.

They differ greatly in color, the size of the sparkly metallic particles, the clay's sheen, and how well they handle mica shift techniques.

I tested and compared all major brands of polymer clay and compared how well they stack up against each other. You can read the whole story on my website. (Search for "metallic" to find the article easily.)

We're at the halfway point in my 100 Days of Polymer Clay Wall Art.

You can read more about them all on my website.

I'm posting the full writeup each day in Blue Bottle Insiders.

I've completed week five of 100 Days of Polymer Clay Wall Art.

I'm sharing my experiments with new media in my daily post in Blue Bottle Insiders.

BTW, did you know that dozens and dozens of Insiders members are ALSO doing their own 100 Day Projects? Their daily posts are also shared in the 100 Day Project section of the Insiders website. There are sculptures, collages, canes, drawings, surface patterns, embellishments, and so much more. I'm inspired each day by what these intrepid explorers are making.

There's also a ton of interaction on the main boards. You just never know what we'll discuss next!

You can join from the link in my bio or head to my website.

If you look on Amazon or other marketplaces, you’ll see dozens of different brands of clay machines. What’s the difference?

Well, I’ll let you in on a secret. They’re not really clay conditioning machines. They’re pasta machines, and there’s very little difference between them (if any). They’re not originally designed to be polymer clay rollers.

Okay, okay, let’s roll this back a bit. There are three main categories of machines that you can use with your clay.

1. Lucy Clay Machine – the only one INTENDED for polymer clay use. Very pricey. Beyond the scope of this post, but you can read my review of an early version of these machines on my website.

2. Italian Pasta Machines – Usually made by either Marcato (the Atlas) or Imperia, these are heavy-duty pasta machines that work well with polymer clay (within reason).

3. Imitations – China does what China will do. And factories there have copied the basic design of the Atlas and produced them with sloppy tolerances, cheap metal, and sharp corners. Years ago, when pasta-making was big, you could find the same machines flooding cheap markets, definitely labeled as “pasta machines”. Now that polymer clay is big, you guessed it, they’re selling the same thing as “clay conditioning machines”. They’re not. They’re knock-off pasta machines.

Read the rest of the article on my website. I'll put the link in the comments.

Have you seen those triangle templates for making Skinner blends? Yeah, not necessary. In fact, you don't need to use triangles at all to make a blended sheet like this.

Just like a "dump cake", Ginger's Dump Blend just dumps the colors in the pasta machine and out comes something like this.

And while we're at it, did you know that you can ADJUST and MODIFY a blended sheet? I show you how and explain the whole thing in the article on my website.

Another week in the books of my 100 Days of Polymer Clay Wall Art.

There's more info on each one on my website. And as always, there's a full writeup for each on each day's post in Blue Bottle Insiders.

Speaking of Insiders, there are a couple dozen more of us doing the 100 Day Project, each with our own theme. It's fascinating seeing what everyone is doing each day. And very educational!

The main area of Insiders is hopping right now, too. We've had quite a few new members and 12 posts in the past day. If you've ever felt alone in the polymer clay world, that stops here. Come join us in Insiders!

A Skinner blend is a graduated ombre blend of color across a sheet of polymer clay.

I've written a few tips for preventing some common problems when making a Skinner blend.

Head to the article by searching on my website for "Skinner".

Week 4 of 100 Days of Polymer Clay Wall Art.

I continued exploring the draped/folded forms with different treatments and also started dabbling with acrylic inks. (So much more to explore here.)

Swipe to see them individually. You can see them all on my website. And remember, I'm sharing the how-to's and thought processes in the daily post in Blue Bottle Insiders, too.

If you have a cane that's been sitting around for a while, you might notice that it's stiff and tends to crack when you flex it. Even if you can slice it without crumbling, the clay is often quite resistant to blending with other clay. Mixing the cane will ruin it. So how can you condition it?

Because we typically condition our clay by sheeting and folding with a roller, it's easy to assume that mixing is an important part of the process. But it's actually not. Polymer clay needs to be DISTURBED to be conditioned. Mixing is just the fastest and easiest way to do it. Just like we have to slowly move stiff muscles first thing in the morning, we also need to "wake up" our canes in order to use them.

Wake up your canes first by warming them. Carry them next to your body or set them on a low (body temperature) heating pad for a while. Next, gently start wiggling the cane. Twist it gently. Essentially, you are trying to make the clay move on a micro level without causing the design to smear or distort. Do this for a while, and you should start to feel the resistance soften.

Next, start pressing on the cane as if you are reducing it. In fact, reducing a cane is a perfect way to get it conditioned and ready to use. For this reason, I recommend storing your canes large and then reducing them to the size you need right before use.

As you've found with conditioning in general, the clay brand matters. Shattering clays like Fimo, Cernit Number One, Pardo, and CosClay will usually soften with movement and reduction. Premo, Souffle, and Kato will often need to have softener added.

To do this, smear your cane with a liquid clay softener, wrap it in plastic, and let it sit for a week or more. Check to see if the cane has absorbed the liquid, and add more as necessary. This doesn't always work, but it's worth a try. Hopefully, the softener will absorb into the cane, softening it. Then, resume trying to wiggle/move it.

Sadly, sometimes canes can't be revived. I've had a few that were completely resistant to being saved. But at least you have more information to get you headed in the right direction. Good luck!

Look what Joan Tayler Design has been up to!