Using clay molds

[daffodil]

I just got two molds I ordered from ebay to make some jewelry with. The molds are made out of polymer clay. I remember reading I'm supposed to powder them so the clay will come out but the question is (and it may be a stupid one) but do I remove the clay from the mold and then bake it or do I bake it right in the mold? I made a small mold of my own of a button and had a hard time getting the clay out even with powder, that's why I'm wondering if I'm supposed to bake it and then remove it. I'll email the lady who sold it but figured I might get an answer quicker here. Wanted to give it a try tonight but don't want to ruin my mold. The mold is not flexible.

[Native87]

I would like to see some of the beads etc that you make. Do you deal with other custom beads or material?

I am pretty sure you leave them in the mold while baking. Maybe someone will know a better powder type to help you remove them.

[daffodil]

I would like to see some of the beads etc that you make. Do you deal with other custom beads or material?

I am pretty sure you leave them in the mold while baking. Maybe someone will know a better powder type to help you remove them.

Actually, I'm just starting out. I ordered an awareness ribbon mold and a paw print mold. I did a pig button mold on my own at home. I also made a dog bead and a pig bead since I couldn't find one that I liked that I could afford right now. I'm just using the polymer clay right now. I'm going to try to design a line of awareness jewelry mostly for canine cancer, canine kidney disease, animal abuse, humane treatment of farm animals and responsible farming. I will probably add more later on but those are the things that are important in my life right now and I want to focus on plus I have alot of contacts with "animal" people so it may help my sales a bit. I'm still waiting on some supplies to come in the mail to get started but I'm going to make some lapel pins and tie tacs to start off with. And I can do those with just the molds right now while I wait for the rest of the supplies to get here. I opened an etsy shop and after I get some things listed I'll post in the member businesses. You can PM me if you want the shop name. I don't think I'm supposed to list it or link to it in the posts. But I've been waiting for the molds to come and am excited about getting started. Might take my mind off everything else for awhile and help me deal with my pups passing.

[CarolAnn]

No, No! Don't bake them in the mold! That's why you use powder - so the soft unbaked clay will pop out cleanly.
I've made my own clay molds out of flexible polymer clay, and I'm fairly sure this is similar to what you've ordered already made up. If you ever want to make your own molds, I got my Sculpey Mold Maker clay at http://www.dickblick.com/products/sculpey-mold-maker/

If you make a polymer clay item that you want to reproduce, this is the way to go. You'll need to make a mold of each half, though, to get a 3-d image rather than just a relief impression of one side.

The first polymer clay items I ever saw were about 20 years ago in a craft shop in Calico Rock, Arkansas. I kick myself for not buying any because I certainly can't reproduce what I saw there: an exquisite tiny child sucking his thumb - with a blue blanket over her head so she was just peeking out, & funny clothes-wearing animals are what I remember best. The detail was fabulous and the figures were less than 2" tall.

[daffodil]

No, No! Don't bake them in the mold! That's why you use powder - so the soft unbaked clay will pop out cleanly.
I've made my own clay molds out of flexible polymer clay, and I'm fairly sure this is similar to what you've ordered already made up. If you ever want to make your own molds, I got my Sculpey Mold Maker clay at http://www.dickblick.com/products/sculpey-mold-maker/

If you make a polymer clay item that you want to reproduce, this is the way to go. You'll need to make a mold of each half, though, to get a 3-d image rather than just a relief impression of one side.

The first polymer clay items I ever saw were about 20 years ago in a craft shop in Calico Rock, Arkansas. I kick myself for not buying any because I certainly can't reproduce what I saw there: an exquisite tiny child sucking his thumb - with a blue blanket over her head so she was just peeking out, & funny clothes-wearing animals are what I remember best. The detail was fabulous and the figures were less than 2" tall.

I didn't put them in. Ended up the lady that sold them to me got back to me right away. I didn't realize there was a different clay to make molds from. I just stuck the button into the sculpey clay I made the beads out of. It turned out ok but the pig is so small the details don't really show when I make it out of one color clay. I'm going to try just making one free hand and then make a mold out of that. The molds ended up working really well (the ones I bought on ebay). The pieces came out really nice after some practice. I just got a coarser sand paper to get some of the little rough spots off. I used the real fine stuff and it made it look really nice. Now I have to find a glaze. Pat Catans didn't have any. And I need to find a way to take pics of them too. My camera doesn't take clear pics of small things. Tried it and you can't even make out what they are really. Wonder if a scanner would work for that.

[tomato204]

The scanner should work fine.

[daffodil]

The scanner should work fine.

Thanks! My aunt has one. I'll have to give it a try over her house one day.