How to make a pinch pot for small potted plants with cold porcelain clay

How To Make A Pot For Small Potted Plants With Cold Porcelain

      

Making your own pinch pot for plants flower and pottery needs can be fun. You can make your own unique bowls and pots to fit your style. You can even make this special pot waterproof! 

Here is what you’ll need: 
Stacie Laurell Stone Porcelain Air Dry Clay 
Sculpting tools (optional) 
Paint (optional) 
Flex Seal spray 
Waterproof sealer/varnish 

Use the amount of clay needed for the size you would like and start kneading it with your hands.  Make sure it’s nice and pliable. Next, Form your clay into a nice round ball. Make it as perfectly round as you can make it. Next take your thumb and start pushing a hole in the center of your round clay ball.  When you have pushed down half way, start rotating the ball in your hand and start pinching your clay as you rotated it around and around in the palm of your hand. The more you pinch the bigger your bowl should get. Once the bowl has reached your desired size, you can leave it as is or try to shape the bowl in to any unique shape you would like.  When done shaping, let the bowl sit on a dry hard surface to dry. Depending on the size of your bowl it may take anywhere from a few hrs to 2 to 3 days to full dry. Once your clay pot has fully dried, you can paint it or brush on waterproof varnish. You can find waterproof varnish at any arts and crafts store. Any varnish that is water based is usually waterproof.  Next to make your pot extremely water proof you can add a strong sealer called flex seal. Flex seal will seal anything with a durable and hard waterproof seal. This sealant is usually black so it’s best to spray the inside of the pot as well as the bottom. When dried your pot is ready to go and ready to use! you can paint it and decorate it however you would like! 

Hope this was helpful and visit our store for Stone Porcelain or any one of our clay products and accessories! 
http://stores.ebay.com/Stacie-Laurell-Crafts Stacielaurellcrafts.com 

Stacie Laurell Crafts 

 

What You Need To Know About Cold Porcelain Air Dry Clay

 

 

Cold Porcelain air dry clay, is a non toxic clay that air dries to a very hard and durable finish. Although made with common household ingredients some may think it’s easy to make but it’s not and if you don’t know what you are doing, you will ruin your clay every time. There are several different recipes online that will give you different results but once you’ve found the one right for you, you will be pleased with Cold Porcelain Clay.  Some people who has never worked with the clay before may expect it to be like store bought polymer clay and because they are not familiar with the clay they may assume that the clay is crap to them. This of course is furthest from the truth but they do not know that because they are unaware of how great this clay is and how the possibilities are endless.  In addition, some people have absolutely no patience and cannot wait for the clay to dry. When they disturb the clay prematurely and it so happens to break or crack they will blame it on the clay and say the clay is cheap and useless. This again is another misconception by those who know nothing about working with cold porcelain clay. 
This type of clay is usually used by artist. True clay artisans knows the value of cold porcelain clay and knows how to use it. But just because you are not a seasoned artist doesn’t mean you cannot learn. In fact, many people prefer cold porcelain air dry clay oven baked sculpey/premo/fimo polymer clay. 

In order to get the best results from your cold porcelain clay you must know a few important details about cold porcelain. Here are some need to know tips for working with cold porcelain clay:

• This is an air drying clay- Because of this you must be prepared for working with the clay for long periods of time. Keep in mind that it may be drying out slowly while you work with it and for that reason you must:
• Keep a bowl of water as well as sculpting tools and brushes near by- Lubricating your piece with water while sculpting can help you a great deal. You can join pieces together effortlessly and sculpt your piece creating fine details. You can also condition your clay before you start working with it. You may do this by using Stacie Laurell Clay Conditioning Lotion. Conditioning your clay before hand can help slow down the drying out process buying you more time to sculpt and create. The Clay conditioning lotion also has other great benefits for you and your clay. (Only sold by Stacie Laurell Crafts).
• Make sure your clay is fully dried before handling- If you are an impatient person perhaps air drying clay isn’t best for you. However it doesn’t take that long for Cold Porcelain air dry clay to dry. When dried it dries to a hard and durable beautiful finish.  If you pick up or handle the clay before it’s dried you could cause cracking and breaking.
• If you clay does crack a bit it can be easily fixed. All you have to do is add a small piece of clay over the cracked area and have it sanded and varnished down. It always looks good as new and is a clever way to save your project.
• Turn Off Your Dehumidifier- I had a customer email me once and complain saying that my clay doesn’t dry! I thought to myself what does she mean by “Your Clay Won’t Dry” not to mention she sound really upset over it. I had to ask her a few question that lead to what I had already believed. She was running a humidifier in her home. I told her that humidifier put moisture back into the air, if you’re clay is not drying it’s because the air in your home is moist and that will prevent drying as this is an air drying clay. She said she will turn it off and shee what happens and I haven’t heard from her since. I’m assuming she must have been a bit embarrassed.  Nevertheless, make sure your home is suitable for drying air dry clay.

That’s all the tips I have for you today. Please make sure to check back for important new facts about cold porcelain clay and visit our store at  http://stores.ebay.com/Stacie-Laurell-Crafts.  

Thank you 
Stacie Laurell Crafts 
 

 

How to use Stacie Laurell Clay Conditioning Lotion with Cold Porcelain Clay

Stacie Laurell launched a new product called Clay Conditioning Lotion. This lotion is a necessity for clay artists or anyone working with this special type of clay. First I’ll tell you a little more about Cold Porcelain Clay. 
What is air dry cold porcelain? 
Cold Porcelain clay is a special type of clay that many artist around the world use. It is not your average Fimo or Premo clay nor is it play dough or kids craft clay. 
Cold Porcelain is a smooth modeling clay and looks like porcelain when dried. It is not plastic-like as clays like Fimo and Premo that are bought in the stores. Instead, this clay can be manipulated to look like almost any medium such as glass, porcelain China, marble, Pearls, ceramics and more. This particular clay recipe is listed all over the internet and is usually made with regular house hold items, such as cornstarch, water & mineral oil. Although the recipe may seem easy many people have trouble making this clay or mastering the right formula. 

  This clay primarily originated in Argentina and is very popular over there. In fact, it is also becoming rapidly popular in the United States as well. Some are abandoning their love for oven baked polymer clay and flocking towards cold porcelain clay.  One great benefit of porcelain clay is it’s ability to stretch into very thin pieces, allowing artist to make such things as delicate flowers and bouquets that looks life like but last forever. Although it can be stretched to amazing capacity, when dried, the stretched piece is very strong and durable and doesn’t break or tear easily. Some people have tried to sell other clay and market it as cold porcelain clay but it is not. Cold porcelain clay properties are distinctive and if you pay attention to the abilities of this clay, you can compare and see if you’ve purchased real cold porcelain verses the imitation.  Stacie Laurell’s Cold Porcelain clay is made with a special recipe. Our clay’s consistency can be changed or altered by you. If you encourage your clay to be more firm or you can make it as soft or fluid as you would like with our special Clay Conditioning Lotion.  

Our lotion can help with several things such as:

• Conditioning and softening your clay
• changing the texture of your clay
• restore moisture to clay that is old and may be starting to dry out
• can restore clay back to original state after clay has been frozen or placed in the fridge
• Help keeps your clay moist and from drying out while working with it
• help condition your clay to prevent cracks in your finished pieces
• helps to correct flaws and cracks in finished pieces. 
• extends the shelf life of air dry clay

If you are a clay artist or just love working with cold porcelain but sure to stop by our store and pick up a bottle of our clay conditioning lotion 🙂  http://stores.ebay.com/Stacie-Laurell-Crafts

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How To Make Non Toxic Air Dry Clay For Kids

Here is a quick and simple way to make non toxic air dry clay with your kids. Here’s what you will need: 

Corn starch 
Baking Soda 
Water 
Mixing Bowl 
Sauce pan 
Food Coloring (optional)  

First get a sauce pan and fill it with 1 cup of cornstarch 
Next, add 1 1/4 cup of baking soda 
Then add 2 cups of water 
Turn the oven on to low heat and start stirring the mixture. You will have to keep stirring the mixture until it starts to thickens. It will take anywhere from 5 to 10 mins. You can add food coloring while you are stirring to color your clay or you can leave it to be colored later with acrylic paint by your kids. When the mixture starts to thicken you can wait till it starts to look like slightly done mashed potatoes and then you can remove it from the fire. You may want to keep stirring if you would like for the consistency to be very thick. 

You can make all sorts of awesome projects with your clay and it’s non toxic. You can make Christmas ornaments, earrings, necklaces, picture frames, flowers, and much much!. Great for any art project and air dries your kids will love making clay with you and you can be at ease knowing it’s safe and free of toxins 🙂 

Stacie Laurell  http://stores.ebay.com/Stacie-Laurell-Crafts

How to Color Cold porcelain Air Dry Clay

 

Working with cold porcelain clay can be a lot of fun! Whether it’s a project with your kids or creating beautiful art for your hobby or craft business, working with cold porcelain has endless possibilities.  Many people have asked the questions ” can I color my cold porcelain air dry clay? and the answer is yes of course!  Here are some great tips and techniques for coloring cold porcelain clay! 

• Acrylic Paints–  Acrylic paints are great for coloring cold porcelain clay. This clay can be painted when dried and holds the colors really well. Because this is not a porous clay, acrylic paints works great with cold porcelain. Paint can be applied with paint brushes or art sponges.
• Powder acrylic paints– Powder acrylic paints are great for coloring cold porcelain. One of the advantages of using powered acrylics as oppose to liquid acrylics is that you can increase or decrease the intensity of the color by adding more or less water. You can manipulate the colors more with powder acrylics. Also, because you have to add water to mix the paint, you can make the paint into a paste and create different cool textures on your finished clay pieces.
• Permanent Markers– Some people have used this technique to color their cold porcelain clay but you would have to rub a large amount of the marker onto the clay (before it has dried) in order to intensify the color. This technique works well with young kids if you don’t want them to get too messy with acrylic paints. Be sure to use washable markers for children as they work well too and are as stated , washable 🙂 I would recommend using markers for children but not for professional use.
• Liquid food coloring– Food coloring is another way you can color cold porcelain clay. This method however can get quite messy and again you would have to use a large amount to intensify the color of your clay. This method is good for tinting your clay rather than really coloring it.
• Alcohol inks-  Alcohol inks are great because you can use your imagination and create interesting color patterns to your clay. You can use it before the clay has dried and after. Alcohol inks are great for tinting your clay for pastel colors or for translucent colors. All you need to do is drop a few drops or more onto your clay and then working the color in with your hands. Alcohol inks will not give you rich colors when used but it tints your clay really well.
• Fabric dyes–  I just love fabric dyes. They have rich intense color! You can add fabric dyes before and after the clay has been dried. If you choose to use the dye after the clay has been dried, you can apply it with a brush and the dye will stain the clay. This can get messy if not done properly so wear gloves and spread some newspaper down or an old blanket to help minimize the “clean up”. Fabric dyes come in a variety of colors and also comes in powder form as well as liquid.
• Clay-  With Stacie Laurell Cold Porcelain Clay, you can color your clay with clay! that’s right, our clay can be mixed with other clay colors we carry in order to color your clay. Our colors blend beautifully allowing you to create your own unique colors and shades! To intensify color, use more colored clay. You can create hundreds of colors just by mixing different color clay together. 

Visit my store at Stacielaurellcrafts.com or http://stores.ebay.com/Stacie-Laurell-Crafts

5 Useful Things You Can Make With Cold Porcelain Clay

There are so many useful things that can be made with cold porcelain clay. You can make anything from household items to art projects with your kids but here are a few ideas for using cold porcelain at home.

1. Jewelry– Cold Porcelain clay is great for making jewelry. You can make gorgeous one of a kind earrings to necklaces even rings. Bangles are in this season. You can make your own bangles with cold porcelain. Here’s a easy tutorial.  Take one or two different colors of clay and slightly mix them together. Roll it into a ball and then roll it out into a snake about 9 inches long. Form into a semi circle or you can make it connect or over lap. Leave on a dry surface to dry. Once dried you can paint it, add swaroski crystals or sand it. Then varnish it and you have a nice bangle.
2. Kitchen Cabinet Knobs– What? Kitchen Cabinet Knobs? Yup that’s right!. If you want to upgrade your kitchen you can get really creative and make your own cabinet knobs. You can make color patterns with your clay and place it over your existing knobs or you can form the knob yourself and add it to your cabinet. It can be painted, sanded and varnished.This is also great for cabinets that aren’t functional and are just for show. If you have no idea how to make knobs no worries. You can Youtube it to get great video tutorials. This is not only fun but you will save money with do it yourself projects.
3. Christmas Tree Ornaments– Oh my Gosh! it is so much fun to make memories by making Christmas tree ornaments with your kids. Make sure to have your cold porcelain clay in many different colors or the two colors you would like. You can make great ornaments with polymer clay molds, silicone molds or by scratch. You can make miniature Christmas trees, snow mans, Santa’s angels and more! Also if you want to make round hanging Christmas ornaments you can start off by forming a ball out of foil paper. Once you’ve formed a nice round ( as round as you can make it) ball you can then add the cold porcelain clay over it, let dry and then paint. it’s easy fun and makes for great decorations.
4. Fixed chipped or cracked porcelain or figurines– If you have a cracked porcelain or ceramic cup plate you can fix it by using cold porcelain clay. Hopefully these are collectables and you are not using these cups and plates for eating and drinking. However if you are there are precautions you must take in order to do so. But right now we will talk about how to fix collectables or China that is for display only. You can take a piece of clay depending on the amount you need and use it to fix a crack or chip. First make sure to clean the area that you plan to fix with soap and water and make sure it is dried throughly. Remove all dirt and debre for maximum results. Next, take the piece of clay you plan on using and patch the hole or crack. Leave it alone to let dry. This is not for the impatient so make sure you leave it alone to dry thoroughly and properly. You make have to add more layers of clay but use your own judgement. After it is completely dried you can sand and varnish the newly patched piece. Next add a gloss varnish. You can add one that is waterproof if you’d like. It may also be a good idea to use one that is specifically for ceramic use. Once you let it dry it should be good as new.
5. Make miniature bowls, pen holders & paperweights– A few years ago i made several small bowls that i now use on my desk to store my arts n crafts needs. I once read that you cannot make bowls with cold porcelain clay and they were wrong. I suppose what they meant was you shouldn’t make bowls that will be used to hold water because cold porcelain clay melts. Again that isn’t entirely true. In fact if you want to make cold porcelain bowls and cups that you would like to use there are precautions that you must take but i think it can be done but for now we’re talking about making bowls for functional use.  I’ve made some very sturdy and durable and functional bowls and cups. To make a functional bowl first start off with firm cold porcelain clay. (please note: Stacie Laurell is the only clay that can be manipulated to be either firm or soft because of our specially formulated formula 🙂 Next, roll your clay (a good size) into a ball. stick your thumb in the center of the ball. start rotating the ball in your hand while trying to even out the walls of the ball. This is the starting process of making a pinch pot.  Pinch pots are fairly easy to make. If you don’t know how to make a pinch pot and need more of a visual guidance you can youtube how to make a pinch pot. My bowls does a great job in holding my art supplies and storing such things as beads, clips, charms and more!.

Thank you for taking the time to read my guide and i sure hope it was helpful in teaching you more about cold porcelain clay!   http://stores.ebay.com/Stacie-Laurell-Crafts

Stacielaurellcrafts.com   http://stores.ebay.com/stacielaurellcrafts/

10 Reasons People Love Cold Porcelain Clay over Polymer Clay

1. Cold Porcelain Clay is Soft– Cold Porcelain has a softer & more pliable texture than polymer clay, making it easier to condition and roll with clay roller.
2. Cold Porcelain Air Dries    Unlike polymer clay, cold porcelain clay does not require baking because it air dries.  You won’t have to worry about accidentally burning your clay in the oven because you don’t need one.  (please note: Cold porcelain clay should not be baked however, Stacie Laurell’s Stone Porcelain Clay can be baked as well as air dry)
3. Flaws and imperfections can be fixed with cold porcelain clay  Polymer clay can not be altered much after it has been baked.  So if you make a mistake you’re pretty much stuck with it.  However, cold porcelain clay can be altered or fixed after it has been  dried/cured.  Prior to adding a sealer you can sand, varnish or wet the blemished area and sculpt over it.  Making corrections are possible with cold porcelain clay but not with polymer clay.
4. Cold Porcelain Clay Is Non-toxic- You won’t have to worry about any toxic fumes with cold porcelain because it is made with natural ingredients.  Polymer clay however, releases fumes when over baked.  none of the makers of polymer clay will either confirm nor deny the claims that polymer clay may be toxic under certain circumstances. However non has claimed to be non toxic either.
5. Cold Porcelain can be stretched to thin pieces but polymer clay cannot–  Most artist love cold porcelain and uses it specifically for this added benefit.  They make artificial flowers by stretching the clay into thin pieces allowing them to make delicate and beautiful life like petals.
6. Cold Porcelain texture can be changed- If you want your clay to be firm, you can place your packaged clay or air tight container of clay in the fridge and if you want it to be soft you can place your sealed clay package in a bowl of hot tap water and the clay will immediately soften.  
7. Used by many professional clay artist- Cold porcelain clay originated in Argentina and is a very popular and expensive clay overseas.  This clay is gaining popularity and is being used more by many sculpting artist.
8. Cold Porcelain can be manipulated   This clay can be manipulated to look like glass, marble, porcelain, ceramic and other mediums. Because of it’s special blend of ingredients it has a leg up over polymer clay.
9. Clay can be painted – Cold porcelain can be painted. Because of polymer clay’s plastic like properties, it isn’t as beautiful as cold porcelain when painted.  This clay can be painted, varnished, sanded & more!
10. Stacie Laurell’s Cold Porcelain Clay can be frozen for longer shelf life.  You can place our specially made clay in your fridge or freezer and preserve it for a very long time.  When ready to use just thaw out your clay in warm tap water and condition your clay with our specially formulated clay conditioning lotion and your clay will be back to it’s original state ( please note: Do not place clay directly in water. Always make sure that it is wrapped or sealed in it’s original package or sealed in a ziplock bag or air tight container before submerging in water).

This can only be done with Stacie Laurell Cold Porcelain Clay  http://stores.ebay.com/Stacie-Laurell-Crafts or Stacielaurellcrafts.com

 

Working with Cold Porcelain Clay The New Polymer Clay!

 

 

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Regular Polymer clay has been around for quite a while and has been used by many for their arts n crafts needs. But lately a new type of clay has stepped out on the scene and it’s called Cold Porcelain Clay. Now, this is considered a new type of clay because it isn’t wildly sold in stores. In fact it first originated in Argentina and if you wanted to get some cold porcelain clay you would have to import it from Argentina which can be very costly.  If you wanted cold porcelain clay you can also make it yourself. The ingredients are found online and you may already have all the ingredients in your home. There are tutorials on You tube and many think that it’s easy to make. It is not. Although the ingredients are simple making the clay comes down to a specific science. There are many different types of recipes where the ingredients are slightly different making some better than others. Many people have tried making it and thought it was very easy but found that they failed at it because again there is a specific formula you must follow. If you decided to cook your clay, time makes a huge difference because if you over cook it you can destroy the clay and if you under cook it, it can be useless as well. Another issue people have is trying to color the clay. Some people use food coloring, markers, acrylic paints etc! but again if you don’t know the process of coloring you can ruin your clay. So because it’s not easy to make people rather buy it.  

There is one issue that people are having that I’ve noticed. Working with Cold porcelain clay is different from working with oven baked polymer clay. I once had someone leave feedback on my store regarding my clay and she wrote ” droops, cracks, doesn’t dry, shrinks”. Then she decided to put a plug in on my review for crayola clay. Needless to say I wasn’t pleased. However, I quickly realized that this person had NO IDEA how to work with cold porcelain clay. I’ve had professional artist buy my clay and give great reviews because they are professionals and know how to work with cold porcelain and has been working with it for years. But people trying it out for the first time expect the clay to react just as polymer clay. That is a big mistake on their part. Cold porcelain clay is different for many reasons. One distinctive difference in cold porcelain clay is the fact that it can be manipulated to be firm and fluid by changing it’s temperature. For example our cold porcelain clay formula by Stacie Laurell crafts) is a specially formulated one. 

If you buy a package and you feel the clay is too soft you can place the unopened package in the fridge for a few mins or hrs and it will get more firm. if you feel the clay is too firm you can place the unopened package into a bowl of hot tap water and it will start to soften. the longer you leave it in the hot water the softer it becomes. So you are able to manipulate the clay to the exact firmness or softness you would like. You can control the fluidity of the clay. That is an awesome benefit! but if someone were unaware that cold porcelain clay can do this they will most likely complain about the clay and call it “droopy” not knowing that they can change that themselves. Don’t expect for cold porcelain clay to be like polymer clay because it is not and to many it is actually better than polymer clay. Another complaint people may have is that the clay “cracks”. What they don’t know is that all clay crack if you do not condition it properly. You cannot pop your clay out of the package and just start making things with it. You must always condition your clay. What does it mean to condition your clay? it means to work the clay in your hands and warm it up. kneading the clay will get rid of air bubbles that causes cracking. With oven baked polymer clay you have to condition it or when you bake it, it will break easily and crack. conditioning your clay is important for all types of clay. Also you cannot leave your finished cold porcelain pieces exposed to a draft. if it dries too fast you will have cracks in your finished work.  Learning to work with Cold Porcelain Clay is a great benefit for you but you must learn to work with it in the right way in order for your art work to be successfully. 

To Purchase some cold porcelain clay visit my store  Stacielaurellcrafts.com

Stacie Laurell Crafts 

How to make a face mask with cold porcelain air dry clay

This is an easy guide to show you how to make a very nice healthy face mask with YES! Cold Porcelain Clay.   
Here’s what you will need:

• Cold Porcelain Clay (uncolored) 
• Oatmeal
• Water

First take about 2 ounces of clay and place in a bowl. Add 1/2 cup of water. The water will help the clay to dissolve a bit and loosen up. Next add a half of cup of oatmeal. If you need more water for it to be a little more fluid you can do so.  You can next use a spoon or your hands to mix the ingredients! Apply your mud mask to your face and let dry! All the ingredients are good and safe for your skin. The school glue in the cold porcelain is non toxic and when dried can lift dirt and oil away from the skin. The oatmeal can help with blackheads and blemishes and also helps lighten dark spots.  This is a quick and easy way to make a fabulous mud mask for your face! 🙂 Check out more of my guides on the many things you can do with Cold Porcelain Air Dry Clay! 

If you would like a facial scrub you can add sea salt to your mixture or sugar for an exfoliating scrub! I would also add fine grade sand for optimum results.

How to make your own Pottery wheel Clay

 

            

Sometimes Pottery wheel sediment clay can cost quite a bit of money but you don’t have to let you or your child’s love for clay to break the bank! 
For this Pottery clay you don’t need a kiln because it air dries.   

What you will Need: 
Cornstarch 
baking soda 
Mineral oil 
sand (Fine Grade) 
Lemon Juice 

Steps:

1. Put 1 cup of Corn Starch and 1-1/4 cup of baking soda in a pot with 2 cups of water.
2. Add 1 teaspoon of mineral oil, or baby oil.
3. add 1 teaspoon of lemon Juice.
4. Turn on the stove and place on medium heat.
5. Continuously stir the pot mixing all the ingredients.
6. Continue stirring until the mixture starts to thicken.
7. keep stirring and wait for the mixture to start looking like mashed potatoes.
8. turn off the heat and keep stirring.
9. When the mixture is thick like mashed potatoes. Turn take the clay out of the pot and place it on a dry surface, (a table or plastic cutting board).
10. Place damn cloth over the pile of hot clay.
11. let it cool for about an hr.
12. When completely cooled Start kneading the dough and mix in the fine grade sand while kneading. 
13. Mix it the amount of sand you would like. More sand for a more dense clay less for a more lighter clay. ( the more dense it is the better). 
14. The clay should absorb the sand as you are mixing it in creating a more dense clay.
15. When finished wrap in plastic wrap and place in zip lock bag and keep in cool area.

If you would like to make the clay grey like real sediment clay you can add grey acrylic paint during the kneading and mixing process.  
And there you have it, you can make your own air drying pottery wheel clay! make it with your kids and give it to them to make projects on their pottery wheel! or make some for yourself!  
If you don’t want to make any and would like to purchase some visit  http://stores.ebay.com/Stacie-Laurell-Crafts  & Stacielaurellcrafts.com for all your crafting & clay needs. 

Thank You 
Stacie Laurell