Today I will be sharing my review for Lumina Clay. I have been wanting to try this clay out for a while and I am very excited to share my thoughts on it.

Lumina clay is an air dry polymer clay. On the package it says that it is waterproof, Translucent, Highly flexible, durable, acid free and non toxic. On average it cost about $10 to $12 dollars online for a 5.25 oz block of clay but if you use a coupon you can usually get it for half price. Lumina clay is made in japan but easily found online in american shops. I think its starting to become more popular now since it seems a couple of years ago it wasnt as readily available.

When I first got the package of lumina in the mail I was a bit shocked at the amount. I guess since I was used to alot of air dry clays that have alot more volume since other brands are puffed up with air. Lumina clay is totally different than other air dry clays. Since this is an air dry polymer clay and not an air dry paper clay it really does feel different than other air dry products.

As you can see in the pic below it fits in the palm of my hand

Here are 2 comparison shot next to a block of sculpey III so you can get a feel for the size of the block of lumina clay

Here is how it comes wrapped

In japan polymer air dry clays are really popular and they are usually called resin clays. On the package of lumina it doesnt say exactly what is in but Im assuming that its like alot of other japanese clays. Those clays are usually a mix of polymers also called resins and starch which allow it to air dry. I also think that because on the package it says to keep away from heat and flame and the polymers they use are probably some sort of thermo plastic that would start to soften at higher temperatures.

Another crafter named camille young ” who by the way makes beautiful flowers with lumina clay” said HERE – In her lumina review that in high humidity her flowers soften and became a bit droopy but as soon as the air wasnt humid her flowers hardened and returned to their original state.

That makes me feel like they do contain some sort of thermo plastic. Camille also mentioned that the block of clay grew a bit of mold when let out. I assume that was due to the starch the clay may contain. Since she probably lives in a humid area the plastic wrap that the clay is in probably beaded up with bits of water. When the condensation appeared in the plastic wrap without drying out the starch must have absorbed it, broken down into a sugar which then feeds mold spores which grow into yucky furry patches. I dont think pieces that are drying out will grow mold. I think the block itself could grow mold if while wrapped condensation gets to it.

I think to avoid mold or the clay drying out and to keep it maybe for a couple of months you have to wrap it properly. You can keep it in an air tight container. If you do live in a humid area you may want to keep it in the fridge. Or just keep it wrapped in the plastic wrap just make sure it doesnt have condensation if in a humid area or unwrapped because if its not wrapped air tight it will dry out.

Here is a picture of the back of the clay package. Also notice the package has a stamp date on it mine says 9-12-09 so my batch is about a year old. I think this is important because it probably does have starch in it which can go bad after a while and they probably need to really know the shelf life on this type of clay.

Here are a couple of pictures of how lumina clay looks when a chunk of it is pulled away. It looks a bit like laffy taffy and it feels actually a bit like really warm squishy translucent sculpey. Lumina clay is not sticky and very easy to work with.

Now the best part about lumina clay is that its translucent. Now the key word is translucent not transparent, it just allows for light to shine through which makes it fantastic for making flowers.

In the picture below you can see how the light shines through very thin pieces. The clay must be rolled very thin for it to be translucent. In thicker pieces it wont be translucent at all. Since it is very flexible it wont crack when rolled paper thin.

I also think lumina clay would be beautiful as miniature lamps for dollhouse since if you light them up the light would give a fantastic glow.

If you have any questions feel free to ask away

Also dont forget to check out my other lumina articles

PART 2: LUMINA CLAY COLORING TUTORIAL
PART 3: LUMINA CLAY TIPS AND TRICKS
PART 4: Lumina Waterproof Experiment

I hope you enjoyed reading this review

I bought this clay from Joann.Com and it cost me $3.49 for this 1.75 oz package. I use it to make miniatures and with this package I estimate I can make about 130 3/4″ pieces so this can go a very long way.

This is how it looked when I first opened up the package.

It looks and feels just like a fresh marshmallow. It really is very soft , I can tell it has alot of air and not alot of moisture. When I first grabbed a piece of it, it pulls apart very easily and here is when the truth of working with hearty clay comes out. Due to the fact there isnt alot of moisture in it I can tell I cant work it too much. I tried to sculpt a few items but since it is soft and dries a bit fast the surface tends to crack some. I tried to smooth out the cracks but that didnt work out too well. I even added a touch of water where the cracks were but it didnt really smooth it out too much.

Here is a picture of the marshmallow I tried to sculpt. hehe after opening the package I just could resist making a marshmallow.

As you can see in the picture even with such a simple shape as a marshmallow it gets alot of cracks. It was because hearty clay really is not good when worked alot. I take that back, I didnt even work the clay alot , hearty clay is the lazy clay of air dry clay. It needs to get a job and get to work.

So I then decided to try it with my molds and whoila this is where Hearty clay may excel. Since it dries out quickly and doesnt really like to be worked too much this clay works fantastic with molds.

and do make sure when you use it in molds that the side of the clay being pushed into the mold doesnt have any folded lines or gaps going through it or you will get an indention as shown in the macaron in the picture below. Try to make a ball as smooth as possible to get a perfect molded piece.

Hearty Clay does shrink some. Here is a pic of a cookie I made after it dried and shrank on top of my mold so you can see the size reduction.

When Hearty clay is dry it does remain flexible. It is not very weak but it is not super strong either. I know many people want to make jewelry out of it and it could work if properly sealed which I will be testing soon. It is also extremely light so it may not handle alot of rough action.

With larger pieces like the marshmallow it still feels squishy and kind of foam like. So I decided to rip it in half so I could see the texture it produced.

To my surprise and joy it has a really cool texture alot like bread which is fantastic to make miniature cakes and other desserts that need that realistic texture. You can see also the little fibers sticking up in the air but you can easily trim those with scissors.

That texture just had me amazed so I decided to right away test my new soft pastels and see how it came out.

I think it looks like I tore off a perfect little piece of french bread. woo hoo

I then colored a few of the cookies just testing out a few different color combinations to see what I can make look more real. Its not quite right yet but its a start.

I then tested how Hearty Clay blended with soft pastel shavings and it worked perfectly. The picture below it shows the light pink donuts that I kneaded soft pastel shavings in. The hot pink ones I kneaded in some pink acrylic paint.

oh and this clay does not stick to your fingers at all. This is important because when I tested creative paper clay it was a super mess so thats a big bonus that hearty clay is a clean clay to work with.

So I do recommend this clay if you’re using it for molds as used in miniatures and decoden but I do not recommend this clay at all if you’re going to try to sculpt your own pieces. It dries way too fast and cracks when trying to sculpt a smooth piece.

I will keep this post updated as I get more techniques to test out in the next few days.

Happy Crafting

~Mixi

Here is a picture of how it came right out of the box

and here is what I got with all the Joanns labels taken off

and a close up

I got some:
White Hearty Clay
3 blocks of Sculpey III Clay
1 Pink tulip gellies bottle
Box of Soft Pastels
Pink Patio Paint
Teddy Bear cookie cutters
2 bottles of glass paint
Aleenes true snow

I’ll be doing a review on all the products I got soon.

Shopping at Joann.Com was easy and simple to do. It arrived quickly just took a few days and I was able to get it shipped free because I used a coupon code. I’ll share that coupon later when I look for it. The best part is , it has most of my products in one place instead of having to shop at multiple stores which some times dont even have all the products I want. This was a fantastic experience and one of my new favorite online shops.

I like to make felt plushies and this helps alot when I have to cut alot of felt circles. This really is a great tool.

In the picture below you can see the rotary blade, it has a slide on the side which moves up and down to cover up the round blade. You can also see the center spike that holds the fabric in place. The center spike also comes with a cover to protect it.

In this picture you can see a few circles I cut out.

and in this picture here is my cutter on the OLFA cutting mat. I LOVE IT

THE CONS:

• with thinner fabric you have to stabalize it a bit so it doesnt glide across the fabric or slip out of your hand. I just put a book on both sides of the fabric to keep it from moving
• The ruler on the base of the cutter does not have numbers on it, but you can easily put some on with a sharpie

Overall I love this little tool so much that if for some reason I broke it I would totally but it again even at FULL PRICE , oh yes lol it is actually worth it.

I hope this review was helpful