We finally got round to playing working with the air dry clay. I covered one of my worktables, and assembled everything we needed
we each worked with a small ball, kneading it to make it smooth
I rolled out my lump, and using a cookie cutter, cut out this fish
which I then decorated (badly!)
Malcolm meantime had produced two elegant starfish
my turtle left a leg behind
and Malcolm's seahorse lost its tail
this was turning out to be harder than we thought it would be! Malcolm's next attempt, a penguin, turned out fine, perhaps because he didn't roll the clay out as thinly
then I changed tack and made a bowl
my next idea was to cover a tiny glass bowl with clingfilm
and press clay into it
a quick rake through the stash produced a bit of lace I had cut off an old t-shirt
I pressed it into the clay to make a pattern on the bowl
Malcolm too was creating freehand items
exhausted by all this creativity, we left the pieces to dry
today I thought I would try painting some of the pieces, but first I wanted to test their strength. First I dropped my funny little fish on the carpet ........ and it broke!
so I thought I would try the first bowl I made, as it was by far the thickest, sturdiest piece ........ and it broke as well
we will have to have a serious re-think on what we will make with the clay - there is rather a lot of it left! Fortunately it didn't cost very much, so the broken pieces aren't that much of a disaster. Have you used it, and if so do you have any advice to offer? I did watch some videos online, but there was no mention of it breaking so easily. Ah well, thinking caps on!!