Polymer clay

Re: Faux Labradorite Experiment - New Information

jilla — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:34:59 GMT

One of the ladies from my Guild has a long-time business relationship with Donna and Tony so she asked Tony for his thoughts on what might be happening with my liquid clay. He asked for the batch number so he could look at the batch history, but he also suggested that I stir the liquid clay to see if anything had separated or settled because of the age. Bingo! My bottle is at least two years old and when I put a stir stick into the bottle I found a firm glop of settled/partially hardened stuff. Some of it was soft enough to reincorporate into the liquid by stiring, but some of it was too hard - essentially a semi-cured lump.

So the lessons I learned are: Use the liquid clay before it gets too old. Just like regular clay, the older it gets the greater the potential for it to change consistency. If you seldom use the liquid clay, give it a stir every so often to keep it "conditioned", meaning keeping everything incorporated and liquid. This is not a recommendation from Tony - it's just a rule I made up for myself. And from now on I'm going to write the date of acquisition on my bottle so I can be sure how old it is, and every six months or so run a test piece to make sure it's holding clear, before I use it on a "real" piece.

My bottle might have been the old formula before they made it phthalate-free, so the newer stuff might not ever coagulate at the bottom of the bottle no matter how old it gets. However, I will stir and test periodically anyway just to be safe.

Re: Faux Labradorite Experiment - New Information

jilla — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 16:35:21 GMT

When I initially put it in the oven it was set at 300 for Kato. OOPS. After it started to scorch, which Premo Pearl LOVES to do, I pulled it out and almost tossed it. But I liked the color so much I put it back in for another 10 minutes or so at 225 to finish it off. No smoke. Just a slow burn.

Re: Faux Labradorite Experiment

Linelle — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 04:28:56 GMT

I love it! How hot did it get?

Re: Faux Labradorite Experiment

dressagewoman — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 01:49:05 GMT

I didn't log in for a couple days and missed all the fun! Sounds as if the culprit has been identified! Can't wait to see the next round!

Re: Faux Labradorite Experiment

jilla — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 01:12:11 GMT

Scorched!

Re: Faux Labradorite Experiment

Linelle — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 00:17:09 GMT

Happy accident? Scorch?

Dude, you're living dangerously.

I've never scorched anything. Knock on wood. What happened? How hot did it get? I thought I read that as long as you don't go over the max. temperature, you're okay. Maybe not.

Isn't silver + pearl supposed to make platinum? Anyway, please post those pics. I love mixed metal. I can't wear gold, but after decades of nothing but silver, I'm craving copper, bronze and oxidized brass. Although I had an unhappy accident oxidizing brass myself. Got some brass chain and read that you can oxidize it with Clorox toilet bowl cleaner. Yep. Look it up! It said it takes a day or two. Well, after one day, it had oxidized very slightly, but not enough for me, so I left it in another day. When I lifted it out of the slime, it came out in 4 pieces, none of which would sufficiently encircle my neck. Chucked the whole mess.

Re: Faux Labradorite Experiment

jilla — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 22:45:05 GMT

Yes, although I've become pretty good at shaping by hand as well. Using the mold helps to measure the clay and keep the size consistent. And I've found that if I start with a molded cab and put it between the palms of my hands and jiggle it with just the right motion and pressure, it makes a lovely 2-sided cab which I can then turn into a bead.

AND, THE FINAL TEST OF KATO LIQUID ON A PIECE OF KATO WHITE - the liquid yellowed in the oven, at the proper baking temp, for the proper baking time, and using a pretty darn thin coat. So I guess that Kato liquid sort of has a "shelf life". Off to run this by Guild to see what they think.........

Re: Faux Labradorite Experiment

LoveBeads — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 22:35:36 GMT

Jilla-

Are you using a mold to obtain those "perfect" shapes?

Re: Faux Labradorite Experiment

jilla — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 21:51:50 GMT

Yep - I've got to do a controlled test. I came close yesterday when I had a white Kato base, Kato liquid. and Kato trans. The only place that yellowed was where I had the Kato liquid. The edges where I didn't spread it stayed white and the base showed through the trans just fine. That's what led me to be suspicious that the liquid is the culprit.

In the mean time, though, I had a happy accident with a 50/50 blend of Premo silver and Premo pearl. It started to scorch and I opened the windows and doors and let it run because I liked what I was seeing - it has a gorgeous silver/oxidized copper thing going. Plus it's got the mica glow from the silver and pearl clays. Perfect for mixed metal work that combines silver and copper.

Need.........more..........time!

Re: Faux Labradorite Experiment

Linelle — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 20:01:48 GMT

You know just how to get my mad science going, Jill. I can't participate in experimenting right now, but I will be cheering from the sidelines.

Have you tried baking your faux lab mix 1) without a different color base bead and 2) without any trans on top? Or without using Kato liquid between the lab mix and the trans?

Why not make some plain flat sheets of white, cover with liquid Kato and see what happens with the color?

Sounds like you've got a few possible culprits: 1) Kato black, 2) Kato liquid, and whatever you're using for trans.

Reminds me of when I started getting a hideous mauve cast to an MG mix that was supposed to be red or brown. Turned out to be Premo Frost!

Re: Faux Labradorite Experiment

jilla — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 16:44:12 GMT

Linelle I'm so glad you chimed in, and I know what you mean about picking the paint colors.

I did another round of testing on the faux labradorite and I got suspicious about the yellow/green cast being so consistently present.

So I don't have pics, but my first theory was that Kato black has a lot of green in it. I tried Premo black, and the gray held when baked. So I think I'm right on that, and Kato black probably has a fair amount of green.

But then just for the heck of it I used a white Kato core with flakes mixed in (no powders or anything else added) and covered it with Kato trans to mute the flash from the flakes. In order to reduce bubbles, I always use a thin layer of Kato liquid like glue to adhere the thin sheet of trans to the raw base. When I baked this piece, it was suspiciously and definitely to the yellow side even though it was short on baking time. So now I'm suspicious of the Kato liquid clay. My bottle of Kato liquid is over 2 years old because I don't use it all that much, and it still looks white but I'm wondering if it has aged and is causing all the yellowing I've been getting throughout the entire faux labradorite testing process.

I do like the pieces I'm getting, even though it's not what I'm going for. But the fiddle factor on this is reminding me of the copper leaf mystery we were working on last year. What is it about February and weird clay stuff?

Back to the labratory!

Re: Faux Labradorite Experiment

Linelle — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 16:16:06 GMT

Hey Jill, love how you've shown us how this is coming along, in true PC science mode. Amazing how the color has shifted and how the yellow's won over the blue. That being said, I like the greenish. While genuine labradorite has that great flash thing going, I don't like its watery blue-gray color. It's death on me. So I like the internal lab thing, but in a different color. And ain't that one of the great things about PC! Change the darn color! I do like the lower right one the best so far, and know you'll tweak those flakes or whatever just right. And have fun trying.

I'm still on PC hiatus, hopefully to return soon as my studio becomes a more manageable temperature. Currently planning to have my house interior painted. I want a soft sage green for my bedroom and the variations are ENDLESS. It reminds me of your labradorite. I bought sample jars of what I thought were similar colors: one looks tan, the other too much blue. Then the light shifts and they are totally different. Too many choices!!!

Re: Faux Labradorite Experiment

jilla — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 04:23:13 GMT

I think I agree. Less flake. And I think I've figured out a different way to tweak the mica powder parts.

And I've never had anything do such a dramatic color shift during baking! I think that's the mica powders so hopefully next try will be better.

Re: Faux Labradorite Experiment

dressagewoman — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 23:53:59 GMT

Your favorite is also my favorite. My additional two cents from the peanut gallery is that it somehow looks both too uniform and too added-fllake-y compared to the real thing. Would it work to use some mica and swirl it in/on? Yours looks more natural than what's posted on polymeclay central to my eye, but I think it wants a more marbled and less speckled appearence. MHO.

Re: Faux Labradorite Experiment

sparklebee — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 23:40:07 GMT

here's my take on this project... to me labradorite is more bluish, translucent, and "flash"y. I'd approach it with translucent clay tinted blue with ink and layered with super thin sheets of translucent with oil swirl or pearlidecent foil.