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

If you want to make your own glue that dries white all you need to do is to take your glue and just add some white acrylic paint and stir and as easy as 1.2.3 you have glue that dries white.

You can also do this with other colors or create your own custom color glue. The possibilities are endless. Now you can make rainbows from glue, tie dye effects, make cute characters from the glue, add embellishments and make flowers, jewelry or on paper tags there is just so much you can do that this sentence is going on and on and on and on .

This is a really fun thing to do.

It is very simple to do.

MATERIALS NEEDED

• Sculpey III
• Liquid Sculpey
• Bag or a container to mix in and a stirrer

Ok lets get started

Step 1: Gather your items an take your sculpey clay in your color choice and your bottle of liquid sculpey. Instead of making white whipped cream I want to make banana cream.

Step 2: Now you just have to mix the two items together to make an uniform mix.

At first I started to mix them in my little tin container but that was getting too messy for me.

So I just put it in a miniature zip lock baggie and mushed it together in there.

The baggie really is a better choice because to pipe it I was gonna put it in the bag anyways so it saved me time.

Tip: also when you are mixing the 2 together in the bag make sure to first squeeze out any excess air because one time the bag popped a hole because of the air pressure and the squeezing back and forth.

Step 3: Once its mixed cut a tiny snip in the corner of the bag and u can use that too pipe it out unto your fake mini cupcakes or whatever it is you’re putting it on.

I usually make a miniature piping tip but I didnt have time to do that today. I will show you that trick another day.

Step 4: Bake according to the clay package instructions and that is all you have to do. Once its done baking you can stand in awe of your super awsome creation.

If you have have any questions or if you liked this tutorial , leave me a comment below. Hope this tutorial was helpful.

Happy Crafting
~Mixi

STEP 1 is you need to buy some puff paint. There are a ton of different brands , one of the most popular brands of puff paint is Tulip but I always buy the cheapest one available. As you can see in the picture below I bought some puff paint on sale for 4 cents. lol yes that was a super deal oh and puff paint is also called dimensional paint, 3D Paint, Raised paint so just look for any of those names on the bottle.

STEP 2 Just squeeze in the shape of the design that you like and you’re done just let it dry between 24 to 48 hours depending on thick you make it.

Here is an example of puff paint used as icing on my crochet macaron

*TIPS*

- You can also make 3D shapes for jewelry just squeeze out your design on plastic cling film, let dry and peel it off.

- Puff Paint comes in a really large variety of colors that are widely available at most craft stores and even at most walmarts

- You can practice on a piece of paper if you want to make intricate designs like real icing, such as dollops or lines. Puff Paint will stick to the paper though, but its a cheap way to practice, or use on cling film and whatever turns out bad just cut them up and use as sprinkles.

- Also sometimes when you first squeeze the bottle the paint tends to curl a bit, so I usually never just apply it straight to my crafts. I squeeze it unto a toothpick and then pull away and then take the straight edge left on the tip unto my creations .

Here is an example of puff paint used as frosting on a clay candy I made.

Here is an example of Puff Paint used on a pom pom. Puff paint can be used on just about any material so its really versatile.

I hope you found this tutorial helpful , if you have any questions feel free to ask away.

MATERIALS

1. Ribbon
2. Ribbon Crimps
3. Jump Rings
4. Clasp
5. Flat Nose Pliers
6. Hot Glue Gun *optional