Yesterday was a bit depressing. I got some feedback informing me that I had messed up big time.
A month or two a go I made some 3cm ish size textured and surface messed with disks as a way of showing my groovy textures. I then had a bright idea, they would make really nice buttons. So I drilled a couple of holes and put them on Etsy. Yay, Buttons! They got some likes and some kind soul bought some.
The trouble was, in my haste to get them out there, and with my concentration on what they looked like, I had overlooked an important thing about buttons and about the durability of polymer clay. Buttons have to be pretty strong, and a largish disk of polymer clay at about 2.5mm thick is not going to be strong enough to withstand the stresses that buttons need to withstand.
Sure enough, they broke and the buyer left a fully justified bad review. I of course apologised and offered a full refund including postage. I felt really stupid and guilty. . . Still do. So I have taken all the buttons I was selling off Etsy and will not offer any more for sale until I know that they are up to the task. I'm so annoyed at myself.
Ups -
This morning I sold a necklace! One of my image trans tube beads ones. Don't worry, unlike my buttons, my beads are solid! And the clasp on the necklace has been vigorously tug tested so that shouldn't embarrass me anytime soon. I sincerely hope!
And a local gallery sold two sets of my glass coasters. That cheered me up. I needed a bit of affirmation to counteract the button fiasco.
Well, onwards and upwards is what I say. .
Jon x
If polymer clay is not cured (baked) properly, it will be brittle. Joan Tayler Designs suggested a small cone shape piece of clay (or 2) be baked with each batch. Once cool, test the cone by applying pressure on its tip. If it bends slightly, the clay reached the proper temperature and was baked for proper time to fully polymerize. I used to bake using halogen oven and my pieces would
ReplyDelete...sometimes break even though I used a thermometer. Adding a clay cone solved this problem. The thickest part of your cone should reflect or exceed the thickest part of your piece. If the cone tip snapped off when pressure was applied, I re baked my pieces with a new cone. Read Joan Tayler's Design blog for more info.
ReplyDeleteThanks 3circles,
ReplyDeleteI shall have to try that trick. I've also been told that baking for 15 mins, leaving to cool then baking for another 15 and so on, will make a tougher result. Cernit is so tough that I think I am OK now. lesson learned.