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New Products, New Ideas
By Karen Mitchell and Ann Mitchell,
AnKara Designs
Karen, Ann, and Mike Melia and the Fimo vest
The new year brings fun new products and exciting changes. Okay, so it’s March, and not January. We are finally back in our studio after a trade show, a conference, several arts and craft shows, a lecture, and some classes (teaching mixed media polymer clay), with lots of information to share with you. In February, we attended the winter Craft and Hobby Association (CHA) show in Anaheim, California, and spent most of the time at the three and a half day show either demonstrating or teaching about a wide assortment of craft materials.
Let’s rewind a bit. Back in October 2007, Staedtler took over distribution of Fimo polymer clay in the United States from the American Art Clay Company (AMACO). AMACO continues to carry a nice array of clay tools, bead rollers, and other great products such as foil, mesh and wire that combine well with polymer clay. Staedtler is well established as an international company with high quality art supplies, especially pens, pencils, and technical drawing tools. This year at CHA, Staedtler showcased their drawing and art materials alongside their new selection of clays, including Fimo polymer clays (soft, classic, effect, decorating gel), and Efaplast air-dry and microwave clays. We had the pleasure of demonstrating in their booth, as well as making quite a few samples for display (http://www.staedtler-usa.com/Cha_2008_us.Staedtler?ActiveID=113102). We would like to share with you information on the clay products, even though they are not all polymer based.
 One of the most intriguing clays is the new Efaplast microwave clay (photo 2). For those of you who are polymer die-hards, this clay is nothing like polymer in texture or properties. It certainly has the potential for unique applications- we have only just started to explore the possibilities. The microwave clay comes in either white and or terra cotta in a 250-gram packages (28 grams to an ounce). The clay will start to harden in the air once the package is opened, so it is a good idea to take out the amount that you need, and place the rest in a re-sealable plastic bag. This clay is quite lightweight, and is even more so once cured, as the water is removed from the clay. It needs to be conditioned, because any air pockets left in the clay will expand during curing and harden in a distorted shape. The easiest way to condition it is to knead it in your hands. Make sure to clean your tools before and after working with this clay, as it will leave a bit of a residue. Once conditioned, it is best to use the microwave clay at a 1/4” or greater thickness, as thin sheets are fragile. We’d recommend using an acrylic rod or brayer to flatten it, not your pasta machine. It is important to read the curing instructions carefully for best results. Set the microwave at 600 watts or medium high. The clay should be placed on a flat, microwave-safe surface, with a microwave-safe container half-full of cold water next to it. You the microwave the clay for 10 minutes and it is cured! The cured feel is very lightweight (great for jewelry elements), and somewhat stiff like Styrofoam.
 Naturally, once we got a feel for the properties of this new material, we wanted to add color and texture. The microwave clay can be colored quickly and easily with the Staedtler Watercolor Brush Markers (photo 3). When you use a water-based pen on a water-saturated clay, the pen colors absorb into the clay during the curing process, creating a beautiful abstract watercolor effect. You can achieve this with or without adding texture to the clay. For both the necklace and clock samples, color was first stamped onto the clay, and then additional marker was added on the surface of the clay before curing (photo 4). After curing, the texture remained but the colors on the surface seeped into the clay and blended (photo 5). During this process of making these samples, we discovered that the clay takes texture really well, and can be enhanced with texture sheets, stamps, and molds. For a mold or texture sheet release, lightly applied non-stick cooking spray is quite effective. In looking for a method to best enhance the texture, we found that adding a layer of liquid polymer clay (Fimo decorating gel) tinted with mica powder over the surface of the textured and cured microwave clay tiles gave the microwave clay a finish resembling glazed ceramic tile (photo 6). Just a note, the liquid polymer clay was baked on with the traditional method of a regular (toaster) oven. This frame project will be available on the Staedtler web site starting in late April. These are only the beginnings to an exciting exploration of the microwave clay.
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Necklace and earrings using Staedtler Watercolor Brush Markers.
Clock using Staedtler Watercolor Brush Markers.
Tiles using Staedtler Watercolor Brush Markers.
The Efaplast classic air-dry clay is also nothing like polymer clay. The air-dry clay comes in white and terra cotta, in 500-gram packages (photo 7). The 500-gram package of air-dry Efaplast classic, is about the same amount of clay as is contained in 250-gram package of microwave clay. Both lose water in curing, so over all, the air-dry clay is denser and heavier. In the package, the white air-dry clay looks gray (and dries white), much like traditional modeling clay, and has a similar texture. As with the microwave clay, it will start to dry out as soon as it is removed from the package, so only take out what you need and place the rest in a resealable bag. The clay will take several days to fully air harden, so be patient. Again, it would be better to use a brayer to roll out this clay, and not your pasta machine, as there will be residue.
We found that once dry, the air-dry clay was quite fragile in thin sheets, since our first piece was a delicate flower necklace (photo 8). Although it yielded a very nice effect once colored with the Staedtler Watercolor Brush Markers and coated with acrylic sealer, the delicacy of the clay would make this necklace difficult to wear (but it looks great on display!). Also, the clay would not stay adhered well to the wire stems, and would detach with any pressure, even after the flowers were reinforced from the back. We’d recommend making larger, more solid pieces with this clay, and allowing adequate drying time. It can be painted with acrylic paints as well. We decided to make the most of the delicate quality of the thin sheets of air-dry clay. We made a few plain thin sheets, and colored them randomly with the markers. After drying, we broke the sheets into shards, like broken china. These bits made very nice mosaic tiles with a very earthy look. We attached them onto a frame (photo 9), and also embedded them into a polymer clay base and baked them onto a jar (photo 10) to make some fun, decorative pieces. This is only the beginning of what can be done with this clay.
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 And what about polymer clay, you might ask? We spent the most time in the Staedtler booth at CHA demonstrating Fimo soft and effect polymer clays, as well as the Fimo decorating gel. We were thrilled to be asked by Staedtler to design a clay vest, something we definitely have experience with (photo 11), “Mosaic Vest” 1997, (photo #12) - “Windows of India”, 2001)! The concept was to create a travel journal of a trip to Italy and Greece on which the featured couple got engaged. Staedtler supplied us with the travel photos from the now happily married couple, and the rest was left to our imagination.
We used a variety of techniques, most importantly, our own transfer techniques with liquid clay. We used both color and black-and-white transfers. The color transfers utilized photos that the couple took on their trip. The black-and-white geometric images were enhanced with the Staedtler Ergosoft colored pencils (photo 13), which transfer beautifully with virtually no color change.
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We also added stamping, layering, mosaics, impression glazing, molds, millefiore canes, and hand sculpting. The panels are attached by wire loops and jump rings (photo 14-Karen works on completing the vest), and woven together on the edges with ribbon and yarn for a collage effect. We continued to make and assemble the panels throughout the show, and completed the vest on the final day (photo 15). We would like to thank Mike Melia and Kathy Louis of Staedtler for giving us the opportunity to work with the extensive variety of high-quality products that Staedlter has to offer. We look forward to continuing our adventures with this assortment of clays and we hope that you will try some of these great products to add new dimension to your own work.
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