July 20, 2013

The June meeting of the Central Mississippi Polymer Clay Guild will be on Saturday, July 20, 2013, at 10:00 a.m. at the Pearl Library, Pearl, Mississippi.  Joyce is going to step us through the process of making Casablanca Beads, based on the tutorial on the famous Desiree's website: http://desiredcreations.com/howTo_CACasablancaBead.htm    This is a pretty long process so we need to start as soon after 10 as possible. 

 

We picked this project for several reasons. You will learn how to make narrow blends, you will learn color blending and you will have some fabulous results! Desiree has been nice enough to share with us all the hard work she did and shares so willingly. 

To be able to work through the beads we will be making narrow blends of lots of colors. Your ability to do this depends on some apparatus to enable this process (also known as "narrower"). Please have this made and baked BEFORE the meeting, we won't have time to do that in July.  Don’t forget your magnets!  http://desiredcreations.com/howTo_TLPMNarrower.htm

If you prefer, you can purchase a ready-made “narrower” - something like "the Shark" from Dan Cormier. Please understand you MUST still have the original fenders on your pasta machine to use this tool, otherwise it will not work. Don't ask me how I know that... 

You can use your choice of 4 to 5 colors or you can use the colors Desiree uses on her website (use the link in the first paragraph to get to Desiree’s website.  It's a good idea to read through her process so you can pick colors that work for you).  And also bring white and black with you. Basically you will be working with a light color, a very dark color and 2-3 colors in medium value.  In any case there will be a lot of blending. It's also most helpful to use your motor. I have done this process manually and it's rather hard to get a long piece of clay without 3 hands. I have used aluminum foil to hold my clay manually to help with this part of the process. 

The only other item you will need to bring is a very sharp, preferably new bendable blade and a spray bottle for water if you have one. 

Bring plenty of clay and your own home made blends will be great for this. Also remember you will be traveling at a hot time of the year. Plan to bring your cooler bag and a ice pack for the trip home to save what clay you do not use for your trip home if you’re spending some time in Jackson that day. And you may want a sweater with you for the room we meet in.

CLAY (See Desiree’s tutorial for help on color choices)

Several blocks of black and white
4 to 5 blocks of your choice of colors 

CLAY TOOLS:

Be sure to bring your normal travel kit with a minimum of your pasta machine, clear roller, clay blade, ceramic tile or other work surface, baby wipes.A sharp flexible blade/tissue blade

SPECIAL SUPPLIES:

Narrower tool made using Desiree’s tutorial
Magnets
*Aluminum foil (if you don’t use a motor) Optional