More Crackle with Inka Gold

December 12, 2012

I have had a lot of comments about the products we reviewed in the latest issue of The Polymer Arts magazine. Inka Gold by Viva Decor has been of particular interest. Since we didn’t have room in the issue to actually demonstrate some of the techniques, I thought I’d pause here and send you in the right direction should you want to explore the Inka Gold options.

Inka Gold works very much like Gilder’s paste, although it’s water based so there are some different considerations. We have Trish Hodgens of Poly Clay Play to thank for the overview in the magazine. You can get her tips and tricks for highlighting textures on her website here to start you off.

The best tutorial on the crackling possibilities is probably on EJR Beads‘ tutorial pages. Here Emma shows you how to create a nice dense crackle, such as you see in the earrings below.

There is also this video by Barbara at Joggles.com with great tips for applying Inka Gold to a variety of surfaces. She never actually brings up polymer, but the pieces she works on would behave just like baked polymer pieces, so the tips, such as watering down for transparency, burnishing details, and stamping, would all apply. Wendy Orlowski, of The Art of My Clay and CaBezels, also has some nice stamping ideas for Inka Gold on her blog here.

If you don’t have your stash of Inka Gold, go visit Trish at Poly Clay Play to get some play time supplies.

 

Hope for Translucents

I’ve been keeping an eye on the experiments people have making with the Pardo translucent clay. At this point, I think it’s pretty obvious that it is the clearest translucent on the market. It also seems to be the most elusive which is probably because it’s becoming quite popular. Just look at what can be done with it.

Here we have a Lindly Haunani inspired pinch petal necklace by Nora Pero of San Diego, California. The petals look to be made from sheets that, judging by the other photos she has on her Flickr site, are probably 2 cards thicks and yet the dark background comes through with no visible yellowing. How cool is that?

When I was in Atlanta last month, I got to see and handle some pieces made by Ellen Prophater with this clay. So clear with no yellowing, I was amazed. They sold it there but since I was traveling by car in the south, there was no point in packing some up as it’d likely be baked in my Subaru-style oven. What the heck, I’d seen it at a local hobby store. I’ll get it when I get back home.

But alas, there has been no translucent, and very little Pardo to be found all along the Colorado front range. Some intensive research on the internet brought up only two sources — Amazon, where someone who has realized the value of the rare material was selling it at twice its retail price and our friends at Poly Clay Play.

I have, however, written my contact at Viva Decor to get the scoop on the translucent clay supply. I will update you as I get information!

More Crackle with Inka Gold

December 12, 2012
Posted in

I have had a lot of comments about the products we reviewed in the latest issue of The Polymer Arts magazine. Inka Gold by Viva Decor has been of particular interest. Since we didn’t have room in the issue to actually demonstrate some of the techniques, I thought I’d pause here and send you in the right direction should you want to explore the Inka Gold options.

Inka Gold works very much like Gilder’s paste, although it’s water based so there are some different considerations. We have Trish Hodgens of Poly Clay Play to thank for the overview in the magazine. You can get her tips and tricks for highlighting textures on her website here to start you off.

The best tutorial on the crackling possibilities is probably on EJR Beads‘ tutorial pages. Here Emma shows you how to create a nice dense crackle, such as you see in the earrings below.

There is also this video by Barbara at Joggles.com with great tips for applying Inka Gold to a variety of surfaces. She never actually brings up polymer, but the pieces she works on would behave just like baked polymer pieces, so the tips, such as watering down for transparency, burnishing details, and stamping, would all apply. Wendy Orlowski, of The Art of My Clay and CaBezels, also has some nice stamping ideas for Inka Gold on her blog here.

If you don’t have your stash of Inka Gold, go visit Trish at Poly Clay Play to get some play time supplies.

 

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Hope for Translucents

October 20, 2012
Posted in ,

I’ve been keeping an eye on the experiments people have making with the Pardo translucent clay. At this point, I think it’s pretty obvious that it is the clearest translucent on the market. It also seems to be the most elusive which is probably because it’s becoming quite popular. Just look at what can be done with it.

Here we have a Lindly Haunani inspired pinch petal necklace by Nora Pero of San Diego, California. The petals look to be made from sheets that, judging by the other photos she has on her Flickr site, are probably 2 cards thicks and yet the dark background comes through with no visible yellowing. How cool is that?

When I was in Atlanta last month, I got to see and handle some pieces made by Ellen Prophater with this clay. So clear with no yellowing, I was amazed. They sold it there but since I was traveling by car in the south, there was no point in packing some up as it’d likely be baked in my Subaru-style oven. What the heck, I’d seen it at a local hobby store. I’ll get it when I get back home.

But alas, there has been no translucent, and very little Pardo to be found all along the Colorado front range. Some intensive research on the internet brought up only two sources — Amazon, where someone who has realized the value of the rare material was selling it at twice its retail price and our friends at Poly Clay Play.

I have, however, written my contact at Viva Decor to get the scoop on the translucent clay supply. I will update you as I get information!

Read More
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