Playing with Clay

I've been obsessing over clay the last few days....searching websites that talk about clay, online video tutorials...even just browsing beads made of clay...I love them. I tried making some pendants last week with an air dry clay by AMACO (modeling clay which also can be baked). I liked the ceramic feeling of the finished piece. However, it cracked and didn't seem strong enough. Maybe air drying really isn't enough. So, I plan on firing it...maybe in a "homemade type of kiln"... I read about how to make one using a metal garbage bin somewhere online. 

Today, though, I am giving Polymer clay a try. I bought some new materials and "toys" to play with. Here's the clay....

Starting out with the Kato polyclay and Studio Sculpey brands. I heard that Kato polyclay is real strong but very hard at first before conditioning. The little jars are Pearl-Ex.... i chose Duo blue-green (681), Red Russet (653), and Supper Copper (655)

Yey!

I also got these goodies....

A bunch of cookie cutters...a cheese slicer ( I will probably take off the string like wire in the top and use the white round tube as sort of a small rolling pin)

And these...which most Filipinos will be familiar with for molding a sweet Filipino candy/short bread called Polvoron.

These could mold round and oval type beads and it has that push on top that will pop the clay right out.

Here's what the candy would look like...

(Picture credit - this image comes from dessert comes first - click here for the article)

 More cookie cutters...this time flower shapes in various sizes...fun!!!

Yey! Yey!

Best of all...I got this.... 

Pasta machine...this ought to make life a lot easier!!!

Yey! Yey! Yey!

I've been collecting some knick knacks here and there to be used to add texture to whatever I end up making...I have a whole bunch already, so, I'll leave those pictures for another day!

Now, I have to get off the computer and start playing!

Have a good day!