PaperClay: I'm sure Rik will jump in here - but let me clarify my own earlier comments about re-wetting the PaperClay. It doesn't really work to "re-wet" the PaperClay if it is stone dry. But while you are working with the medium and it starts to dry it can be re-wetted. A damp cloth can be placed over a work-in-progress to slow drying while taking a short break for lunch, etc. If something has gone completely dry and you don't like it - either cut it out with a knife (it slices right up!) or sand it off (kinda fun!) or apply a thin layer of glue and put a new layer of rolled out PaperClay on top and go to work!

No, you can't bake it to set it like clay. But once it is dry it will maintain its shape unless put to great stress (like soaking it in your bathtub). You *can* however, use an oven to speed drying - there are directions on the web site about that www.creativepaperclay.com. You can also spray a light coat of sealer if you think there are any issues. I have not sealed my cottage PaperClay, and I'm fairly positive I could "splash" water on my current cottage and have minimal damage i anything. I'd just blot it dry and I doubt I'd see anything once it dried. I wouldn't however, advise submerging it in a tub of water, though!

The PaperClay is basically (for a lack of a better description) "shredded paper" that is extremely fine. It's wetpacked so it can be molded into many shapes. It can take a lot of textures and surfaces. For the "melting" issues, if you think about how a fully dry brown paper bag reacts to water being sprinkled, poured, or soaked (holds shape when slightly damp, but starts to pull apart if soaked for a long time) you get more in the ballpark.

Best thing to do it buy a small package of PaperClay, construct a little sidewalk of stones or a partial chimney over a piece of foam core. Let it dry. Play with it. See how it holds up to abuse.

Laura Isabella

FIMO cooking times: Polymer clay is a combination of chemicals, they are activated by heat and combine to form the clay in it's baked state. You MUST cook it for a minimum of 20 minutes or the chemical process will not complete, as polymer clay is 'live' until cooked not completing the cooking correctly is potentially dangerous. The temperature of your oven is important, never bake at higher than 130c it will not cook quicker!! this is not cake mixture here it's as near to rocket science that we mini makers get!!! If you're using a pale clay try lowering the temp. just a teeny weenie bit, no lower than 120c.If your stuff is scorching try using a shield of baking foil, cover the delicate pieces with loosely wrapped foil, the foil will diffuse the heat so baking times must be observed. Your average oven takes at least 10mins to reach the set temp. you need at least 15mins cooking time after that, 20mins is the barest limit. Not cooking your clay minis properly can result in them crumbling and falling apart later on, please remember the manufacturer has to conduct rigorous tests on the product before it goes on sale, he/she does know what they're talking about. As a final note, I use polymer clay every day and I have only had one scorching mishap, using my cooker oven and switching the temp just a bit too high. I now use a toaster oven with the temp set at 130c and I bake everything for 30 min.

Jacquie Hall

Future Floor Wax for Fimo: Yes, Future Wax works beautifully for getting a shiny coat on Fimo items. I learned this from Judy Kafka, renown for her Fimo Candy Castles and trains. No stickiness whatsoever. Future is made by Johnson Wax Co. of Racine, Wisconsin and is still available as far as I know. I've used it on my no-wax floors, too, to enhance them.

Jeanette in Wisconsin

Potatoes: I make russet potatoes from white FIMO, poke a few little holes with a needle tool for eyes and bake at 250 degrees for 12 minutes. For the coating, I use ground brown chalk. Just rub the chalk over a piece of screen. When I put them in a pot with Envirotex (casting resin), they then look wet andunder water. Different colored chalks have a lot of uses. I've scraped many over a screen and store in one of those 12-section plastic boxes.

Ruth

Snow: Snow is easy to do - you can build up drifts or snowmen or whatever with PaperClay, foam core, etc. When you have it shaped the way you want, apply a layer of Snow-Tex or Outdoor Snow decorative snow (comes in a 4 oz tub and can be found at craft stores or places like Wal-mart) The most effective touch is to buy the most ultra fine iridescent glitter - so fine it almost looks like powder - in a tiny glass vial - and sprinkle it on the wet snow. It looks very realistic. You can also create patches of ice for your mini people to fall on with Envirotex - just pour it on areas to simulate ice. I used this technique for a pheasant woodcarving and it turned out very effective - except no one believes it is real snow when it is 90 degrees outside...

Bonnie Gibson - Tucson, Arizona

Marlene Chapman-Ontario

Air Dry Clay: I bought a package of terra cotta colored air dry clay at Michael's to make my own mission tiles and floor tile for the scene I am working on. The brand I found is Laguna. I made a template so all the tiles would be about the same size. Because I wanted them to look like the real thing, the bottom of the template was wider than the top. I rolled the clay thin, then let it dry just enough so I could pull it off the paper I was working on without ripping the clay. Then I pressed it over a straw to round it. I finished shaping it with my fingers so the tiles would be fairly even height. Even so, all my tiles looked, well....handmade. However, I was going for the rustic look, so no problem there. The clay dried overnight and looked very dark. However, the box says it takes up to 3 days to totally cure, and it does seem as though they are lightening back to the terra cotta color. They feel as firm as Fimo would be after it was baked, so it is pretty strong when dry. I also made some flat tiles for the floor of the scene. The clay seems to be easier to use than Fimo because it is soft to start with, doesn't need to be baked, and had a less plastic look when it is dry. I only used about a third of the package I bought, so it goes a long way. I would say this is a pretty good thing to use if you are silly enough (like me!) to make your own mission tiles. I am surprised I haven't seen some of the ceramic companies offer these tiles for sale commercially. Guess they would be expensive, but so are lots of other mini components and people buy those...!

Bonnie Gibson - Tucson, Arizona

Clay: In Bluette Meloney's classes we used Paper Clay for tiles and it is fabulous. Roll it out to about a quarter inch, put glue on surface you are tiling, place it on the surface, use a stylus of some typed to draw your lines delineating the tiles, keep wiping the stylus and sort of round or soften your corners to make the tiles look real and not manufactured. Let it dry (overnight is best), then dry brush some color on it. For terra cotta use Georgia Clay or similar color and give it a base coat. Then dry brush a little lighter shades (go for brown or gray palette but stay in which ever you choose) Adding those additional colors gives it a depth you wouldn't believe.

You can get a stone effect by using grays, ending up dry brushing a bit of white lightly on the edge surface of the tile, probably on the same side on all the tiles, because it gives the effect of light on them. If anyone who has ever been in class with me is reading this you are probably rolling on the floor by now, since I am the student who always has a million questions and needs help and here I am giving advice....but that's what a good teacher gives you the confidence to do!!!!

Molly Cromwell

Birds and Clay: FIMO, Sculpey and Premo are not in fact clays. They are a non-cured form of PVC. They do indeed give off a fume as the plasticizers that are one of their ingredients (listed as hazardous by OSHA) "cure" in the oven. Nan Roche, polymer clay artist and expert, in her book, "The New Clay" says to keep small children, and all pets, ESPECIALLY BIRDS, out of the room where you are baking clay.

Polymer clay is a wonderful medium, but as a clay artist myself, I ask you to please refer to the book referenced above, contact the manufacturer as someone else suggested, and when in doubt, don't.

Becky

Tiny Floor Tiles: I used the Laguna brand terra cotta air dry clay for the floor tiles in my SW mission tile house. It worked out great and has just enough unevenness to look very realistic. I also made some garden pavers with this clay, the adobe mission tiles on the mission tile house, and I am now using that clay to fill my flower pots before adding the topsoil. It dries overnight and looks good.

Bonnie Gibson

Tiles: One of the fireplace fronts in one of the false walls (in the original Hell-House) had brick all around it, and then the wooden fireplace around that. I tried removing the bricks to reuse them, but they were just a mess when they came off, lots of junk stuck to them, and besides, I didn't like the way they looked in the first place. I started looking around for something else to use, and decided to make some tiles.

I used green Granitex to do this. I put it through the pasta machine (setting #1), and then dusted it with a little baby powder, and then rolled a bead (this is a 5/8" long gold cylindrical bead, 3/8" diameter, with a design carved in it, got them at Michael's) straight across the clay, from one side to the other. So then I had a long strip, with the design imbedded in it. Then I used a clay blade, and cut just above the design, and just below it. This bead has a line of "flashing" going down either side of it, which makes perfect "cutting" lines in the clay. I wanted the tiles smaller, tho, about the size of a mini brick, so I cut those tiles in half again, and they came out just the right size. (I have made these tiles before, only with regular pink Fimo, and at that time I did not have any baby powder, so I used some Estee Lauder talc that I had (I know, I know) and the Estee had some superfine"glitter" in it, and those tiles came out stunning. The glitter made them sort of glisten.)

I baked them (275, 10 minutes) and then coated them with varnish, and after they dry I will glue them in place and grout them with some spackle. It was quick and easy and fun, something I am not used to when we are talking about Hell-House! Tips: First of all, make more than you think you will need, you might break some when you sand them later.

Try to keep even pressure as you roll the bead across the clay, and do all of this right on a ceramic tile. Cut the tiles apart before baking, and use your clay blade to even them up and clean the edges (saves on sanding later on) Also use a super-fine grit sandpaper after they are baked (I use 400) because it is very easy to take off too much. And go easy on the varnish, or you will lose your design. Hope this gives someone some ideas... tub surrounds, backsplashes, fireplace fronts, whatever.

Deena in Miami

rubber molds - a small addition: Dr. Bob wrote an excellent set of instructions for making latex molds.

I would like to just add a couple of other things. Be sure the object you are molding can be easily removed by peeling back - otherwise it might be best to do 2 parts. (I can add that instruction if there is interest).

The other addition is after the 2nd or third coat, soak some gauze in the latex and apply it like it is a mummy - wrapping well. Any deep areas can be strengthened by putting in extra gauze at this time. The mold will be stronger and can be used more times but it won't stretch as well with the gauze. After that is dry, continue the dipping or painting as Dr. Bob wrote. Also, if you brush rather than dip, dip the brush in liquid detergent and the latex will wash right out.

Jacqui in Hilo, Goddess of Chaos

making rubber molds: I made a few rubber molds, not 40 years worth like Dr. Bob, but feel that I must add a warning to his instructions. Molds cannot be made of just any shape.

Say for instance, you have a doll that you made with its arm bent and the hand on the hip, also with it's legs separated a little. You follow Dr. Bob's instructions. However, you will never get doll, the original or any copies out of the mold. You cannot have any enclosed places, like the arm and the space between the legs. When you pull the mold off, you will rip the arm and legs off. You could get around the legs by making them separately, but nothing can be done about that arm.

I know this is as clear as mud, but perhaps someone who knows what I am talking about can explain it better without pictures.

Mary Lou in Portage, IN

Getting doll out of mold: you can get the doll out if you cut the part line on the inside of the opening that the arm makes by having her hand on her hip. Most any doll in any position can be released when you use a silicone mold. I haven't made rubber molds but I would think its the same principal. It all depends on where you make your cuts.

Nancy

Rubber molds: Ironically I am including inst. for making rubber molds in my Jan. DM project ( yes, I am working on now Jan. now). I also use the dip method.

To answer Viola's questions from my experience ...(do keep in mind that I am reproducing very small items)...I use sticky wax to attach the base of the item to be reproduced to a small square of 1/2" foamcore. Then I can hold on to the foamcore when dipping. This also allows me to poke a toothpick or skewer into the foamcore base and "hang" the drying mold by poking the other end of the pick or skewer into a block of Styrofoam. I hang subsequent dippings up and down as the rubber does tend to sag a bit with the thickness obtained by dipping. Right after dipping I use a toothpick to smooth and join the rubber that is on the bottom of the mold and on the base, thus forming a lip on the base. When the desired thickness is obtained the rubber will peel from the foamcore leaving a pour hole once the positive has been removed. I have found that once the mold is peeled from the base it is wise to let it sit for another day to let the air get to the underside.

Rubber mold making is not something that is done in a day....it is easy but there is a lot of down time. But it is fun, relatively inexpensive, will add another notch to your craft know-how and great when you need a bunch of little like-items. As when working with any new material do read the label carefully and follow the precautions and suggestions listed.

Joann Swanson

Rubber mold: I believe this is how she did it. I never saw it done. She bought some rubber-mold stuff and painted it on the model. I suspect that the model had to be painted with some kind of mold release, but the mold package should tell you how to do it.... (First, she secured the model down to a board that's just slightly bigger than the model, so it would not fall over.) That end of the model would provide a "pour hole" and she'd pour the sculpey into that hole. So it's wise to take some time to decide where you want that hole to be.

For example: The pour hole (or the portion to be glued to a board), needs to be the biggest part of the model because the remainder of the model will have to be able to be pulled through that hole, when you remove it. Rubber does stretch to help get larger pieces through smaller holes, but there is a limit to the amount it will stretch.

Then she continued to give the model more and more coats of rubber paint until the rubber paint was about 1/8" thick (?)... something like that. I believe she had to dry between coats, but the instructions would tell you what to do.

When dry, she opened it up and peeled rubber down and pulled out the model. If there were deep "under cuts" the rubber would tear or have to be cut so the model could come out. That's ok. It will still work but wherever the mold tore, there will be a small seam that will need to be sanded away later on.

I never saw her do this so I'm working on memories of what she told me and what I assume has to be done... be sure to follow directions that come with the package.

The rubber mold would have to be removed from the board. When that is done you will see that it left an opening so you can see inside of the mold. That will be the "pour hole"

You now have to find some way to make that floppy rubber mold stand up while you pour the sculpey into it. I would want to make a plaster mold to hold it. Here's how I would do it: Get a milk carton and cut it down to about 2" taller than your mold, and pour about 1/2" plaster into it. Let it set a bit (not hard, but enough so rubber mold will not sink to the bottom when you put it on top of the plaster). Then put the rubber mold (with model still inside it) into the plaster (board-side "up"). If possible push the rubber mold slightly into the plaster to help hold it in place. Then pour plaster to half-way up the rubber mold. Dry overnight. Leave in the milk carton. Paint the exposed part of the plaster with liquid dishwashing detergent. Then pour more plaster to just up to (but not covering) the board. Let dry at least overnight.

Now take it all out of the milk carton. Separate the two parts of the plaster mold, remove the rubber mold, and pull out the model. When you wish to cast the sculpey, place the rubber mold (without the model, you'll not need the model again) inside the bottom plaster mold, with the pour hole up. Then set the top plaster mold on top of that. Rubber band the pieces together. Pour the sculpey. Let sit a few minutes (or follow instructions on the sculpey package). Then remove rubber mold and bake only rubber mold/sculpey in oven. Set plaster aside to use next time.

I am still concerned about one thing: How do you keep the rubber mold upright in the oven? The board has been removed to provide the pour hole. You may have to sink the rubber mold into a slab of regular sculpey... and bake them together. If that works, then you could save that slab of sculpey and use it every time you want to bake the rubber mold/sculpey combination. So make it a good sturdy support; it may have to be thick enough to go 1/4 of the way up the rubber mold. And to easily determine just HOW/WHERE that rubber mold should sit inside the support, use a felt pen and draw a line from the rubber mold down over the support. Then next time you use it, you can just match up the lines that will appear on the rubber mold and the support piece.
I don't believe you need a mold-release for rubber.

Just a reminder: I have NOT seen this done... I think my idea would work. But I've never done it, other than in my mind. If you can get better advice, please use that. But if not, I think you could give my idea a try and would probably learn how to do it using that as a beginning idea.

Viola

Mold Material: To all who inquired; I have seen a few posts to SS asking what can be used to make molds from an original. I have used liquid latex which is natural liquid rubber or use the man made neoprene. Both work the same way "Dip and dry".

DrBob

Mold Material: I use the two compound type rubber molding material. I find this may be messier, but is much more reliable in creating the mold. I also use the method (two piece mold for the many undercut item, one piece for simple objects, laying object in a form, surround with clay for making the pour hole and perimeter of mold, etc steps) taught to me by a porcelain mold artist. I find this method minimizes bubbles, strengthens mold for many uses and allows casting in different types of materials from low temp metals such as pewter to polyresin compatible with the rubber. (Not all polyresins are compatible with all rubber materials). I hope this helps those questioning the rubber mold making process.

Rhonda in Fl

Making rubber molds: I can only relate as to how I made them.

Make your original object. From plaster; Fimo; wood etc. I applied a coat of talcum powder to the plaster of Paris models I made. Then I would dip the original item into either liquid latex (the natural latex**rubber**) or the synthetic (neoprene). Wait for each coat to dry before dipping it in again.

Wear old clothes because if this latex/neoprene gets onto a garment and is not removed while in its liquid state it hardens as "rubber" into the material weave. Make sure all the bubbles are broken as you remove the original from each dipping. Dip about 6 times at least. If it is a large mold that will hold a lot of material during reproduction make more dippings. This will make a thicker wall for the mold. When you have achieved the thickness of the walls for the mold that you desire. just peel it off the original like peeling off a rubber glove. Any bubbles that were not broken will leave tiny craters in the mold and this will result in little "nipples" in the reproduction. so they must be sanded off the reproduction or the bubble holes filled in prior to pouring the reproduction.

The process is very simple but like anything that appears simple, I was doing it for about 40 years so it was "simple" when I got good at it in the 39th year. ;~)

DrBob

Deena's Tiles - I really like your idea on making the tile strips with a bead. And you know, if the bead being used happened to be one with a larger hole, you could probably thread a skewer or dowel through it and have a little "rolling pin" which would make it easier to regulate pressure and such. Thanks for sharing such a neat idea - now I've got to think of something to use it on! :)

Mary Lynne in Huntington, WV