Fimo food:  don't feel intimidated by fimo. It is wonderful to play with and food is a great thing to begin with. May I give you a tip that I always share with my classes? I have never seen anyone  offer this tip in any of the fimo classes I have checked out.

     When you are warming and working your clay, don't use your fingers to do it. Use the palms of your hands and roll it back and forth between the palms of both hands. That way your hands won't get so tired and you will enjoy the experience better. If you start with a small piece, get it soft and pliable then add a little of the fresh clay at a time, the warm chemicals will help the fresh piece soften quicker and easier.

     I have arthritis in my hands and try to save them as much as possible. I found a jar for a blender  at a yard sale. Their blender motor broke. I use that jar on my blender for chopping the clay(start with a little bit) and that helps. Then I bought a pasta machine from Dee’s and I am in clay Heaven!  Never, never use any thing that will come in contact with food for your clay. I use a glass sheet cake dish to bake with, but I always use the outside bottom for clay and the inside for cakes. It works.

Norieta in Hawaii

Bakers Clay - This is a recipe from the Morton Salt Co. back in the '70's. At that time it was "crafty" to make a large lattice bowl for rolls at the dinner table. You mix 2 cups of regular flour with 1 cup table salt and 1 cup warm water. Knead well and store in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. If it gets sticky while working with it, add a little flour as you work on a ceramic tile. I make all my miniature bread, rolls, bagels, etc. with this. Bake in a toaster oven at 300 degrees until you get the desired brown color. It makes a very realistic sour dough loaf (cutting the slits in the top before baking). Bake bagels for different lengths of time for different colors. Naturally, the longer it is baked, the darker it gets. Can't give a specific time, you just watch it. Anywhere from 10 minutes to a half hour. Since it doesn't have all the properties of "bread clay" and no other additives, it keeps well. I have pieces over 20 years old and have never had bugs or any other problems. After the items are baked, I brush the top with cheap clear nail polish for a finished look. It does look like real bread.

Ruth Mazur, Grass Valley, CA

Solar Ovens: Solar ovens come in a variety of configurations.  The ones I've seen most often consist of a dish shaped mirror with a sort of tripod over it that the pot/ pot holder sits on.  The dish shaped mirror focuses the sun's rays on the pot and heats it up.  These sit on legs sort of like a barbecue grill and you angle the dish so it collects the most possible sun. Here is a URL that will explain it all in more detail and describes more types etc.

http://www.accessone.com/~sbcn/solarcooking-faq.htm

Marsha Hedrick

Fimo Buttons: Roll out a snake of Fimo and cut cross-sections from it. Take a needle (of the diameter that you want the holes to be) and poke holes in it. That would be for a very simple button. For one that has a border, find a straw or something that is smaller than your button, coat with talc, and impress gently into the cross-section and push the holes in. Bake and glaze with the Fimo varnish. I have also used seed beads for buttons, though it is advisable to use the nicest ones you can find. The cheapies tend not to have much uniformity.

Kim from Canada

Clay: I invested about $20 in a nice toaster oven dedicated to polymer clay, and it is my best friend!  If you are using your regular oven for clay, cover your work with  a tent of foil to keep the plasticizers from floating around and clinging to the oven walls, and make sure you use an oven thermometer!  Even for toaster ovens, all oven temps fluctuate, and it can make for some nasty fumes and burnt clay!  Also, if you use any kitchen utensils (knives, etc.) for polymer clay, just make sure it's something that won't be missed, 'cause you'll have to dedicate that utensil for clay use only.  Even washing with soap and water won't do the trick;  those plasticizers are stubborn!

Sharon B.

Cold Porcelain: I received this recipe from an egger.

Cold porcelain paste recipe

• 3/4 cup of white glue
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1 teaspoon of cold cream
• 1 teaspoon of glycerin

Mix wet ingredients until smooth over medium heat. Cook for a few minutes and add cornstarch. Stir continually until it forms a ball, remove from pan and mix thoroughly with hands. (I like to cover with a damp cloth until it's cool enough to handle.) Do not refrigerate. Keep in an airtight bag... Use as you would any modeling paste, can be molded and used in many ways... use chalk powder to color, or paint with any paint when dry. Use cold cream to moisten mold and/or when you are working with it, if it becomes sticky.. Or ..dust with cornstarch...adjust ingredients for more or less.

Another one (for some reason called Mastic)

• 1/4 cup of water
• 1/4 cup of cornstarch
• 1/4 cup of Bicarb soda

Mix all ingredients together and cook (stirring) until it forms a ball. This is used the same as above. Great for flowers and tiny things!!!! and so soft to work with!

Bonnie Gibson - Tucson, Arizona

Fimo Additives: PLEASE DO NOT ADD ANY CHEMICALS TO FIMO AND OTHER MODELING COMPOUNDS unless you don't value your life! Fimo is a non-toxic fun substance and fooling around with its composition with chemicals is extremely dangerous. If you need thinned modeling compounds, use Liquid Sculpey.

Mary Eccher

Polymer Clay How To Book: For anyone who is interested in getting into polymer clay, I'd have to recommend Sue Heaser's book quot;Making Dolls House Miniatures in Polymer Clay." I learned to make a basic teapot from this book. Then, I went on to try some ideas of my own. I painted some teapots. But mostly I added Fimo bits to them, for example, tiny Fimo roses, stems and leaves, or little cut-outs done with a Kemper cutter. Sue explains how to make the roses in her book, too. The lemon sponge cake that I made is also from Sue's book. Once you've tried making one cake using her instructions, it's fairly easy to try one of your own ideas. So, I went on and made the carrot cake after carefully observing what they looked like in a bake shop. Of course, I had to eat a piece of carrot cake to be sure I'd get it right! As for the cherry Tiffany lamp in the Mary Engelbreit room, again, I used Sue Heaser's book as the starting point. She makes her shades out of Sculpey and then rolls thin "snakes" of clay for the leading. That seemed a little difficult to me, so I made a plain shade of Sculpey following her directions. I bought one of those small plastic bottles with the very tiny metal tips. I put Gallery Glass liquid leading in the bottle and squeezed out the design on the shade. Then painted the shade with glass paints.

Paula

Chrome-colored Paint on Clay: Polymer clay doesn't react well with most finishes that are petroleum based. The finish will remain tacky due to a chemical reaction between the plasticizers in the clay and the solvent in the varnish or paint. Water-based varnishes cause no interaction with the clay. There are two spray brands that will work on polymer clay, too. They are Carnival Arts Ultraglaze and Krylon's Matte Spray Coating. Both need to be sprayed on in a very light single coat. These are clear coatings though, not chrome. Even some nail polishes stay sticky on polymer clay, so always test before you coat a finished piece of clay work.

I think that I would try a test piece of clay, with a clear coat of either water-based varnish or even thinned down tacky glue. Then try spraying with your chrome paint and see if the physical barrier of the clear coat will prevent the undesirable chemical reaction.

Tere

Painting Fimo and painting non-compatible materials. I have had some success using a barrier by Floquil. Floquil is a model railroad paint and Floquil barrier is for painting on plastic before using Floquil paints which dissolve or crinkle plastic. I have used the barrier on Sculpy with success. The barrier seems to stand up to different paints including lacquer. I would try it on something not precious or a keeper first.

Bill

Baking Electrical Wires in Fimo: I don't think the insulation on the wiring would stand up to the heat of baking Fimo. Suggestion: put brass tubing inside the Fimo and then bake it. Then you can run the wire in the tubing. If you need the tubing softer so it can be bent easier, then anneal it. That is to heat it until it is slightly turning red or a very faint glow. Don't heat it any more or it will melt. You can lay it on an electric burner and watch it very carefully. As soon as it starts to show a little color take it off (with pliers or tweezers) and put it into water. If you drop the hot tubing on the vinyl floor the floor is a goner.

Bill Hudson

Baking Electrical Wires in Fimo: I do not imagine that the temperature that Fimo is baked at will affect the wire. I would suggest that if the wire is insulated you place just a piece of the wire as it would be when it is imbedded in the Fimo and bake that alone in the oven. If it survives that test then you can bake it in the Fimo.

Bob

Baking Wires in Fimo: Why not bake your Fimo and then run the wire through it. I have made several lighted fixtures in this way. You can leave a place for the wire to exit and then thread it through.

Mary Kaliski

Roberta's Homemade Clay: Roberta's recipe for the self-drying clay is fantastic. We have been experimenting with it, and to color it (to save painting) we use food coloring powder. Take your mix and bit by bit put VERY little color into it, mixing very well. Be careful because when it is dry it darkens quite a bit! Just experiment with it. You can keep it in the fridge for quite a while, just wrap it in cling wrap and put it in a container (the less air the better). Don't use liquid food color because it makes it soggy. If you find it is too soft, add more flour.

Mirta

Baking Lighting Wires in Fimo: Don't put wiring in the oven. The insulation will melt off the wires and they might touch causing a short circuit. Instead, form your candlestick around something like a hollow piece of tubing, one with a hole large enough for the wire to go through, and bake it, then wire it.

June Simpson

Polymer Clay Sites: Here are some neat sites on Polymer Clay (Fimo, Sculpey and others):

http://www.heaser.demon.co.uk/sue/suetemp.htm

http://www.delphi.com/polymerclay/pcc/opening.html

http://www.sculpey.com/

http://www.yeoldouthouse.com/clayhints.html

http://www.prairiecraft.com/

Peggy

Air Dry Clay Recipe: 1 Cup Ponal (or other brand), Wood Glue (WHITE), 1 Cup Cornstarch, 60ml (12 Teaspoons) Baby Oil

Mix glue, oil and half the cornstarch. Heat in microwave 30 seconds until hot (do not boil). Mix in remainder of cornstarch and heat a further 20-30 seconds. Mix well. Kneed until smooth and store in a plastic bag in the fridge, Colour with powdered food coloring. Roll out thin to make flowers or to mold. Air dry. Do not bake. If it is too sticky add a little more cornstarch.

Roberta

Polymer Mold Coating: I have heard that if you dust lightly with corn starch, your mold will release with ease.

Michelle Geoffrion-Mahler

Polymer Clay Molds: Molds for polymer clay are among the easiest molds to make because they can be made from many hard products. Polymer clay itself is very popular for tiny molds.

One sided press molds: Make sure your item will release from a press mold. It shouldn't have any undercuts for the clay to get caught in. If it does you will need to make a separate mold for that part and attach it to your casting or make a multi part mold.

1. Glue a handle of some kind on the back of your original so you can remove it from the mold when you are done. (A button back or a glued on piece of dowel works well.

2. Coat your master piece with a very light coat of liquid soap so it will release from the mold

3. Take a very soft piece of clay you have warmed up and press your master into it.

4. Remove the master and bake your mold as usual. Now you can press clay into the new mold and create several flat pieces.

If you need this to be a two-sided item like the front and back if a doll's head and neck, make one mold for the face side and one for the back side and press these together after removing from the mold.

If you need a mold for larger castings or a more permanent mold, you can make it from many other materials. The process is the same for plaster, resin, or rubber silicone. I prefer silicone because it is flexible so you can have an item with small undercuts and still remove you castings. You will need a disposable plastic or cardboard box. (Plastic take-out box , margarine container, checkbook box, etc.)

1. Attach your soaped master tightly to the bottom of the box. (Rubber cement works well for this so you can get it back off the box). Mix your mold-making material as directed on the packaging. Pour over the master and fill the box enough to comfortably cover the object plus a little more for strength. Let the mold-making material set up. Don't rush this process. Break or tear away the box and remove the original from the new mold. (Let plaster molds sit 24 hours or so until they are no longer wet and cold to the touch before using them.) You can now cast in your new mold:

Plaster molds: Cast with ceramic or porcelain, press in polymer clays.

Resin molds: Hard mold - used for press in clay only

Silicone mold: Flexible mold used for casting resin pieces or pressing in fimo, etc. It is also used for making master molds to create other molds

Deb Laue

Polymer Clay Molds: Fimo is a polymer clay and, yes, all polymers are good for the die you want to cast. For the mold, I use Dow-Cornings HSIII. It is a very flexible rubber that allows for some undercuts without tearing. Very easy to use although pricey for what I mold. A pound container is approximately $27, but you can mold quite a few things with a pound. Allow 1/4" to 1/2" of "rubber" over your die and around all sides.

Mary Lou