Hold On, Don’t Scrap It Yet!

Hold On, Don’t Scrap It Yet!

By Beverley Start, Polymer Clay Artist

October 5 2011

Sometimes I’ll be in the middle of a project and look up to see that my usable clay pile has been gobbled up by my scrap clay pile. With a little creativity and a lot of nece$$ity I found a few solutions. Here are a few of my ideas on how to turn scrap back into usable clay.

1. Roll it out and use it! – Scrap from any project can be turned into a brand new masterpiece just by putting it through the pasta machine a few times making sure to keep the lines of color in the same direction every time. What this will give you is a beautifully colored striped sheet of clay that can then be cookie cutter-ed, sliced, rolled, or molded in to new pieces. Check out some examples here.

2. Make grey. – Hunks of all-colored clay can be run through the pasta maker or food processor until it becomes a uniform shade of grey. Use it to make a sculpture which can then be cured and painted. Click here for an example.

3. Make black. – Old or leftover clay can be blended using powered black pigment (purchased from any craft store) and clay softener in a food processor. I just put little bits of each in until it’s the consistency and shade I need.

4. Use it as filler. – When making something that requires strength try using some old clay as filler. For example if I were making a picture frame I might make it from filler clay and then cover it with decorative clay. No one will see the inside.

5. Make tags or gift cards. – Sometimes when I roll a piece of scrap through the pasta maker I notice patches of beautifully swirled color and I’ll cookie cutter it out to use as a tag for a special gift. Click here for examples

I’m sure there are tons more ways to use up left over clay but these five are my staples.

Tags: art, artisan, artist, creating, Creative Handmade Artisans, polymer clay, recycle

Posted in Handmade Harbor, Information