Another newbie with questions....

Hi folks! I've been a member of a couple of other newsgroups for a
while, and just discovered this one.

I've been doing sculpting and glass wrapping for about 4 years now,
after abandoning my artistic side (at least the sculptor part of it)
for about 20 years. I'm loving this new world...

A couple of questions for those with more long-term experience:

I've notice a lot of people write about using acrylic glazes and brand names for finishing the baked polymer, but I started with lacquer and then moved over to polyurethane. I enjoy the high gloss and especially the slightly rubbery texture (my pieces tend toward the slightly alien-esque....). But are there long-term problems with polyurethane that I don't know about yet?
I've sold several pieces and I'm frightened of a rash of phone calls
down the road with complaints of disentegrating art....

I particulartly enjoy playing with the metallic and stone clays put out by Fimo and Sculpey, but I'm not finding the stone (particularly black) in the Sculpey line except for their little sampler packs. Has it been discontinued? If so, does anybody have a stockpile that they're black-marketing?

All for now, any help would be appreciated.

Of all the finishing products out there, varathane is still considered
by most to be the best. I believe that Sarajane Holm has done quite a
bit of testing of it's durability. You have to get it at a place like
Home Depot, but if you are doing sculptures it's great because it comes
in a large quantity unlike Fimo or Sculpey glaze which comes in those
tiny bottles.

I use Future floor polish on my pieces and so far have not had any
problems with it. I often work with a mixed media technique which
includes embossing powders, and a few coats of the Future keeps the
embossing powder from scratching and becoming dull.

As far as stone colored clays, have you tried Cernit's stone colors? If
not, I recommend you get a sampler pack and see how you like them. I
think they are awesome. They come in several colors and mixed with the
regular clay, a little goes a long way. One artist who uses them alot
in her work is Christi Friesen (www.cforiginals.com) and it yields some
awesome results.

Happy Claying!

Cheryl
www.cherylsart.net

Oops! Typo! It's Sarajane Helm, not Holm! Sorry Sarajane!

Cheryl

I cannot find Varathane at either Home Depot or Lowes, locally. You
might want to try smaller hardware or woodworking stores.

Here is Sarajanes wonderful page regarding Varathane:

http://www.polyclay.com/varathane.htm

-------
Barbara
http://www.penguintrax.com
Blog at http://www.penguintrax.com/chatter

eBay & Justbeadsenguintrax

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wrote:

Of all the finishing products out there, varathane is still considered
by most to be the best. I believe that Sarajane Holm has done quite a
bit of testing of it's durability. You have to get it at a place like
Home Depot, but if you are doing sculptures it's great because it comes
in a large quantity unlike Fimo or Sculpey glaze which comes in those
tiny bottles.

I use Future floor polish on my pieces and so far have not had any
problems with it. I often work with a mixed media technique which
includes embossing powders, and a few coats of the Future keeps the
embossing powder from scratching and becoming dull.

As far as stone colored clays, have you tried Cernit's stone colors? If
not, I recommend you get a sampler pack and see how you like them. I
think they are awesome. They come in several colors and mixed with the
regular clay, a little goes a long way. One artist who uses them alot
in her work is Christi Friesen (www.cforiginals.com) and it yields some
awesome results.

Happy Claying!

Cheryl
www.cherylsart.net

Thanks folks!
I'm currently looking around for Cernit clay, I'll order online if I
have to....
And I'll give the Varathane a try. I'm still curious as to whether or
not there are any potential problems with the pieces that I've already
polyurethaned.
If anyone has any horror stories about it, I'd like to hear them.
Another question What can be done about fingerprints? I know some
people kind of like them, but they make me a little crazy....

Wear latex gloves.
Sand. Sand. Sand. Some people sand up to 1500 and 2000 grits (available in
automotive supply places, for touching up). Others find just 400 grit and
600 grit adequate.

"Emmett" wrote in message
oups.com...
snip
What can be done about fingerprints? I know some
people kind of like them, but they make me a little crazy....

Hi Emmett,

The Varathane version of polyurethane that's used on polymer clay is
generally the water-washup one. I've never heard of real problems with
it unless it applied incorrectly and bubbles or brush-marks occur,
etc., but I don't think that's what you mean.
You can read all about using Varathane with polymer clay and any
problems clayers have had (as well as about using Future and other
compatible liquids and waxes) on this page, if you're interested:
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/finishes.htm

As for fingerprints and clay, check out this page in particular:
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/sculpture.htm
(click on "Fingerprints, Smoothing")

There have been several "stone-look" polymer clays over the years...
unfortunately some of the best IMO are no longer made (before being
discontinued, they were in the FimoSoft line but originally they were
just plain old Fimo before it became two lines).
The stone clays by Sculpey called Granitex are quite different in from
those in that they're more like lint mixed into one of several colors
of opaque clay.
The Cernit stone clays (called "Nature Colors") now come in a range of
types, but some of them are much more like the old Fimo ones than like
Granitex.
You should be able to mail order Cernit from several of the clay
suppliers listed on this page:
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/supplysources.htm
And there's more on the different types and brands of stone clays he
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/Characteristics.htm
(click on "Special Colors...Stone"...)

It's also fun to make your own stone-looks and stone-clays by mixing
various inclusions into the clay, or by doing things to the clay after
shaping or baking.
See these pages for much more on both of those ideas:
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/Faux--many.htm (...click on "Rocklike
Rock & Stone"...)
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/inclusions.htm


HTH!


Diane B.
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/contents.htm
--polymer clay "encyclopedia"