resources
Linda March 31st, 2007
All Susan Oroyan book
Art Doll Chronicles
Quilting Arts magazine
Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine
Paper Clays: I worked many years with toxic chemicals and don’t think it is wise to expose myself to more. That is the reason I use paper clays. I use a dedicated food dehydrator to dry pieces that fit in it, if not, it takes at least one day to fully dry (or I have been told an oven on the lowest temp. will work too.) My “opinion” on the different brands are as follows:
Das air dry clay: It is cheap and easy to find. Very little or no shrinkage, easy to add to, and paint. It sands well but is not very sturdy. Dries white. You also buy terra cotta colored clay but I have never used it because I paint all my sculpts.
Creative Paper Clay: VERY light and creamy smooth, like soft butter. It is easy to add to and sand. It is the whitest clay I have ever seen. It too is not very sturdy but for puppet heads I think it is the best because there is very little weight. For the hands I would use another type of clay, Diamond Paper Clay.
Diamond Paper Clay: It has the consistantcy of Das Clay but when it dries it is “gritty”, not excessively so but you can feel it. It is very hard, you cannot use your finger nail to make an indentation once it is fully dry but as a result it is a “booger” to sand. You better like what you did the first time because you cannot use sanding to further sculpt it. It works very well however for making hands that are usualy prone to breakage. I think I have noticed “some” shrinkage but it was not a problem. It was not too much of a problem to add to this when it is dry but you need to work alittle more to make the lines smooth.
La Doll Air Dry Clay: I just got a package of this with my birthday money but have not used it yet.
Dawrii Air Dry Clay: this clay has much the same properties as the Das Clay (smooth, easy to blend, light weight, and finally it is sandable–for those of us who want to do some more scultping after the clay has dried.) On the other hand, it does NOT have the irritating paper fibers that can be found in some paper clays. It also has about the same hardness too..i.e. if dropped, it WILL break. I did buy this clay in a class that I took so I am not sure where to buy it.
Most of these clays can be bought on-line from: CR Craft’s
Kaffe Fasset
Doll makers groups (yahoo and local) Mine is called “Dollirious”, and meets in a quilt store in Arlington Wa. (check out the back of “Soft Dolls and Animals” -a magazine)
Prisma Pencils: trust me, you get what you pay for. They are costly but well worth it. You will end up paying over a dollar per pencil or you can buy a set to start out with.
Sharpies: I LOVE these, if you haven’t seen a pack recently, you need to go. They come in a rainbow of bright colors with dual tips. I use these for all sorts of things–coloring tennis shoes, filling in color on an art doll, fine detail on dolls, journaling, etc. I bought mine at CostCo. I seen them at Staples too but CostCo’s are cheaper by far.
Dental Floss: When I first started making cloth doll I was using all sorts of threads to attach arms and legs, only to have the thread break just when I thought it was tight enough (I don’t like floppy joints or “smushy” bodies”) Dental floss will NOT break no matter how hard you yank on it (actually it will cut your fingers first–yes, I learned that the hard way too.) You don’t need to use mint or easy glide–just the cheap stuff works best.
Fingernail Sanding Cubes: I used to buy these from the scrap book section of the store only to find out from a friend that it is just the same thing as what is used in salons. And it is alot cheaper in the drugstore section of the store then in the”speciality” craft department. I use these for sanding my paper clays, the grit is fine and because it is a sponge it will go around lumps.
Heavy Duty Electrical Wire: Yup, you can find all sorts of resources at your local hardware dept. If you have a friend who does electrical work, ask them to save you some good sized pieces. I like it alot better then the copper wire I was using. It is covered with a plastic coating which is not so hard on your hands and I like the idea of recycling–something beautiful our of something ugly.
