Resinsoul Lu with custom ears and face up. Short motion picture. Резинсоул кукла БЖД Лу

My latest arrival from Resinsoul Lu - MSD size ball jointed doll. She was a special order, i.e. human ears instead of huge ears as in its original sculpt. I have paid only $10 extra for swapping the ears. Also Resinsoul was able to fulfill my custom face up for extra $25.

Lu's head is smaller than other MSD size heads. She is really unique sculpt and I am very happy the way she turned out. If you are interested to see her box opening and quick comparison with the other MSD resinsoul please watch this video:

I have ordered Lu in single jointed body. On her arrival I have hot glue sueded her, re-strung and "wired". She poses now better than my other double jointed bodies.

Here is a very short motion picture featuring my Lu:

Here she is in handmade wig:

Lu with other MSD size doll (artist made head Lazuli)

Chinese/Japanese book review about making cats and cute kittens from polymer clay or air dry clay

This is a review for Chinese or Japanese language book about making cats from clay. The book is amazing and I would recommend getting it.  In my video review you will see the whole book and I will show you couple of my cats I have made from the book. Hope you'll enjoy!

If you love cats - you'll love the book

First impression of FIMO Professional Doll Art polymer clay (Skin Colours Mixing Set) + Doll's Art Lilly Mould.

Hi craft-y folks,

Please check out my first impression video of new Fimo professional doll clay set plus included dolls mold (Lilly).

Jumping clay review

I know it has been awhile since i updated my blog. Forgive me :)

Though to make it up to you i am reviewing a Jumping clay today or to be precise "Jum Ping clay" - magical modelling material. Indeed!

So, what is so special about this clay?

Well, first of all i think the potential this clay can offer to miniaturists and to decoden makers is enormous.

It is EXTREMELY light, non sticky, water resistant, does not colour your hands and when dries it absolutely feather like, and plus it does not shrink. 

Lightweigh as you would not believe.

I bought a 6 (i think) pack box at the 'Range' store (the one at Longwater Lane, Cosstessey) for about £4. Each tub is around 150 ml. Obviously the weight of the actual clay was much much less.

It is air dry clay, not ordinary earth clay though. It looks like a japanese resin clay, but with extra soft and airy texture.

Believe me or not it was an impulse buy and the packaging was definitely targeted to children

So it says on the box "5+".

When i first opened it i thought ...."nice box". My impression has changed dramatically when i start "claying" with this medium.

 Very soft and stretchy, though firm enough to take am impression. I made some molds with it and it is very hard with the slight bent to it. 

As i said the clay is not sticky, but it sticks to itself like mad. Also it does stick to its own hardened kind. When i tried to mold the raw clay and inserted it to the hardened mold - i was not able to remove the piece afterwards, so i have to bin the mold!! Thus be careful. But i think if you decide to make molds from it and use to mold ordinary polymer clay then you will be fine.

The clay does not stick to the silicone molds (relieved) and i was pleased with the outcome of these hearts:

After the piece has hardened i still can bend the handle on the miniature kettle without leaving any marks:

Well, i left the negative side of this clay to the very end.

When i opened the package i had to chuck out red and white clays, because they have hardened inside their tubs! And when i opened the green tub of clay today i found the rock hard piece:

 It is like a hard foam and believe me you will not be able to revive it. Dead!

What a shame. I was thinking of making more sweet hearts ))

So, be aware, that sealed tub is not a guarantee of the usable product.

Enjoy your clay.

P.S. i have not tested it for "jumpness"

URO POLYMER CLAY REVIEW

URO clay is produced in the UK by "Newclay products" and relatively new on the craft market.

I wanted to try URO clay for some months now and finally have ordered 5 different colours to try: white, violet, magnolia, pink and orange.

I have paid £8 including postage for 5 X65g “bricks” of clay. But if you buy more packs you can get each brick as low as £1.35. There is a good choice of colours as well.

Packaging: plastic, similar to the more popular polymer clay brands, though it is very plain, as you can see, but who cares? I do not. What I did not like is that there is no colour/tone identification on the “brick”, but again it is not something that is able to turn me off URO.

Now, the most important bit is coming: physical appearance, performance and pliability. 

Smell: err… the smell reminded me my childhood. URO smells of plasticine, not overly strong at all. And to be honest – I like it.

The feel: Right! I was rather taken aback when I have opened the package and tear a piece. It looked “crumbl-ish”, but when I worked it out with my hands the crumbling disappeared and I was pleased with the texture of clay. What it feels like? Have you tried KATO polymer clay before? If yes, then it is very similar: stiff to knead, does not leave colour residue on hands and workable the same time. Very “sturdy” clay, keeps the shape well, not excessively responsive to the heat of the hands, thus it is difficult to smooth the seams out.

 

Actually, coming back to clay is being brittle before kneading: the texture is perfect for ice cream and insides of a cake. 

Colours: colours are lovely and do not fade once cured.

 

Personally I would name the URO colours that I’ve got as:

Magnolia = vanilla ice-cream

Pink = pink icing on the bun

Violet = “violets”

Orange = Halloween. Orange is a gorgeous bright pumpkin colour. I was immediately inspired to quickly model 2 pumpkins. 

I have not opened the white URO; I guess it is just white lol

Curing process: Though FIMO these days can be cured at 110C, URO as per instruction requires 130C. When I was baking it the smell of plasticine was a bit stronger, but not annoying.

Baked pieces

Please note that i have brushed some glitter to the gummy bears, aliens and middle of the cookie before baking

Overall:

-          You need to have strong hands or pasta machine to condition URO properly

-          Clay keeps the shape very well and will be perfect for making canes and jewellery

-          Takes texture well, but at the same time difficult to smooth the seams out

-          Does not leave colour residue on hands – big bonus!

-          Colours do not fade after baking

-          Easily mixed with other colours and other clay brands
-       There is no traslucent in URO range - may be one day

      -          Clay is not very tacky but pieces can be attached to each other effortlessly

I hope this review will help you to make a wise choice depending on your craft needs.

I will definitely use URO clay for making miniatures.

I bought URO clay from here:  http://pollymcclaycreations.co.uk/ArtShop.aspx

Also I think you can find it on Ebay, but it is more costly there.

Make and bake hobbycraft shop own polymer clay brand. Review

At last! Hobbycraft shop has opened its doors to the crafters in Norwich! I was there couple of days after of official opening to avoid the crowd. I was delighted at first and taken aback slightly, as some products were not really 'fresh'. I mean, for example, puff paint was dry. At first i thought that the shop was pricy, but when i  came back home and googled each product from my receipt - everything was cheaper in the shop than on-line, apart from POLYMER CLAY and TOOLS!! How unfair!
Anyway, i try refrain myself from complaining at this point and quickly tell you about newly found 'Make and bake' Hobbycraft own polymer clay brand.

When I have opened the package and "broke" the block of clay my first impression was: 'Its "Creall-therm' polymer clay texture and feeling.

For those who is not familiar with old “Creall-therm” I will go into details. ‘Make and bake’ clay is hard to knead, very crumbly, lumpy, colors are terrible, plus original price was £1.99 for 58 gramms, whilst for that price you can buy smooth and firm Premo Sculpey. And by looking at the package i assumed it was designed for children. I am not sure whether a child will be able to knead "that".


After curing the piece of clay is loosing its brightness and look like it has got some ‘bumps’ on the surface. Brrrrr….

Therefore - there is plenty of room for improvement. But I do not think that this will happen though in regards to 'Make and bake' polymer clay.

Sukerukun Transparent Japanese Resin Clay review

A few weeks ago I have bought Japanese resin clay called "Sukeruku". The reason behind my purchase was a promised ~ 85% transparency effect after drying. I was rubbing my hands in anticipation that at last i will be able to make a "glass" miniature jars and other useful minis. Here is my trial of the clay:

When I mixed some golden powder into raw clay i got strange yellow color somewhat transparent, but still not what I was looking for. You can add oil pain to it, but instead of transparent you will get opaque color "on transparent side":

The texture is pleasant. It is air dry and very easy to work with, not sticky, smooth and silky. But you need to be fast as it drying quickly. It is very oily, even after drying have some oily patches on it. Washing the ready product with soapy water has partly cured the problem. Also this clay is flexible after drying and not brittle at all. Have some funny smell to it, but not repulsive.

There is a good side i love about this clay - it shrinks! About 30% from original size, which is very handy for my miniatures.

I have achieved promised level of transparency by rolling it very thinly:

So....i think clay is perfect for miniature ice cubes, mini jars, glasses and cups once you will get used to this interesting product.