Where to find thimble blanks

[JudyOK]

Hello,

Can anyone tell me where I could find blank thimbles, either wooden, porcelain and/or bisque? These are not sewing thimbles, I have pretty much retired my sewing thimbles. :o These are for crafting, painting, clay work for collector's thimbles. I am looking for a rather cheap source, inexpensive that is.

Also, anyone out there do stuff with Polymer clay?

JudyOK

[Zarah]

No idea on the thimbles, Judy, but I do have some experience with polymer clays. Anything particular you were wanting to know?

[JudyOK]

Oh, nothing in particular really, just wondered what other people do with it, what they make. Are you a big time crafts person, or just a piddler, like me? And what kind of clay do you prefer to work with? I like to cover thimbles with it for my collection, hence my need for more thimble blanks. Clay "play" is addicting to me, I think.

Blessings,
Judy

[Zarah]

Judy --

I'm a small-time crafter and full-time art student, so my polymer clay experience has mostly been with making macquettes for large-scale pieces, or doing sculpture when I didn't have a kiln around to fire regular ceramic work.

The wildest polymer project I've ever done was a 4-foot crucifix made from Sculpey. It was featured in an independent film that my sister-in-law was making. I made a wire-mesh form for the body, which was covered in newspaper with Sculpey layered over the top. I had to make the body in 3 parts because I couldn't fit the whole thing in my oven! Once it was baked, I used Bondo (auto body filler) to put the whole thing together before painting it & adding nails, hair, thorns, etc.

I would not exactly recommend Sculpey as the ideal material for projects on that scale, but it actually worked out pretty well.

I've always wanted to get into more "normal" polymer crafts, like making jewelry, but right now I don't have as much time for it as I would like. I've worked mostly with Sculpey and a little bit with Fimo. I like Sculpey better for the way it handles, but Fimo has a much nicer finished texture. Do you have a favorite?

Also -- do you have pics of your thimble projects? I'd love to see what you're doing!

[JudyOK]

Zarah,

Wow, so you do big stuff then. Is the crusifix you made pretty heavy? I guess Bondo makes a pretty good glue. Can you bake bondo? of course your piece was already fired before you bondoed it, but do you ever have to add something else and fire it again?

I am rather a newbie at this clay stuff, but it really has a grip on me now. heh heh What I do is cover thimble blanks, or old ugly thimbles that I don't particularly like (I collect thimbles) with the clay and try to make them prettier. I have done several, but don't have any really awesome wonderful creations yet. But I will send you a picture as soon as I get Hubby to take some for me. Maybe today he will do it. Most of them I haven't sanded down yet, but a few I have. I prefer the porcelain or china blanks, but have used also wooden ones and small steel or aluminum ones for covering.

I also have used Sculpey and Fimo. I, like you, like working with the Sculpey because it is easier to work with, conditions really fast, but I often have to put it in the fridge for a bit to firm it up again after working awhile with it. I like the Fimo sort of too, but it is harder to condition, and with arthritic hands, often that is a problem. But it does make a nicer finish, and it holds its shape better when I roll out my piece, it doesn't tear up so easily when picking up the piece to apply to the thimble.

Also, with the Sculpey, when I want a marbled clay, it tends to blend the colors together when Id rather not, after a little handling. The Fimo doesn't do that, the colors remain separate for quite awhile. I have come up with some pretty interesting and lovely marbled designs by combining the two clays, and it's easier to work with than just the Fino, but holds its shape better than the Sculpey alone. So really, that is my favorite way to do it. I know there is also Keto and Primo, and maybe some other names too, but I haven't tried them. I get my little 2 oz blocks of clay at Michaels. So far, I haven't required bigger chunks yet. With your projects, you probably buy clay in bulk, right?

Have you ever used the caned clay, clay logs with designs built into them? I have seen several on ebay that I would like to get and use, but haven't really figured out how to use them right. They are supposed to be really good for making beads, and I have almost thought about trying some bead making. But.... I really don't want to expend a lot of time pursuing another different hobby. I am happy to add to my thmble collection. And ONE OF THESE DAYS, I am going to turn out some pretty nice thimbles. LOL

Do you have a picture of your crusifix?

[Zarah]

Judy --

I went looking for a picture of the crucifix, and couldn't find a thing. Silly me: I should be documenting my work better!!! It wasn't as heavy as you might imagine -- I think I bought 20lbs of Sculpey overall, and didn't use quite all of that.

That's a great idea to mix the Fimo and Sculpey together. I wouldn't have thought of that. I'm also interested in your marbling idea... I have most often painted my pieces, so I'm not as familiar with how the colors mix. I would guess, though, that the reason the Sculpey colors don't stay as pure is that it's a much softer material.

Definitely post some pictures if you can get your husband to take them -- I'd love to see what you're up to!

[JudyOK]

Zarah,

I did manage to get some pictures taken of my thimbles, and they are not too blurry. So I have been trying for the last 45 minutes to post them on this forum. Weeeelllllll, not being the sharpest tack in the box, I haven't figured out how to do it, and I don't have a website. I could email them to you If you wouldn't mind me sending them to your personal email address, I could do that with no problems.If you want, to give me your addy, (I guess it would be best in the message place) I would love to show you my little "works of art". Don't expect anything too fancy or elegant.. yet. As I said, I am just getting going and have a lot of fine tuning to do on them.

Yes, the Sculpey clay does blend well, due to it being so soft. And that is good sometimes. Not having the whole array of colors on hand, sometimes I want a shade I don't have, and blending colors will get you almost anything you want. But I don't do that much, I like the sharpness of each color mostly. The marbling is fun and kind of what I like best so far, as you will be able to see when you see the thimbles I have done. There are so many possibilities.

I guess you make your projects from scratch, right?, Create things on your own? I sort of cheat... I just cover things already made. Thimbles so far, but I have thought about covering some small vases or boxes or other things, You can cover anything that will tolerate the heat of the oven. I fire mine at about 250 degrees. Well, let me know if I may email the pics to you, I hae about 4 or 5.

Judy

[tufhelp]

JudyOK, Hi, I just did a google for thimble blanks and came up with a good pile of sources... give it a try.

Tufhelp

[JudyOK]

Thanks, Tuf, I appreciate your help.

JudyOK

[Zarah]

Judy --

I sent you a private message with my e-mail. ;D

[CarolAnn]

If you want to keep your clay pieces light, you can make a filler with crumpled tin foil and just cover it with clay. I've seen some large beads done that way.

If you use the silver clay that needs to be fired rather than baked, you can use corn puffs or styrofoam inside - it fires out. (Also makes a terrible stink, so do this outside if possible!)

I've seen tutorials where they use a hand-torch to fire the PMC (Precious Metal Clay.)

Also, I use a toaster oven I got on sale just for my polymer clay. PC gives off poison gas that coats your oven - don't really want that toxic stuff on your food utinsils or the food oven!

I've used the flexi-clay to make molds that I then use for the hard-type clays. You can also mold in bits of sequins or glitter into the transparent clays to change the look.

There's also a liquid clay that you can use to bond two pieces of fired clay together.

You know how the thicker clay has to be fired longer? Well, don't forget that you can make the "guts" of a piece, bake them, and then put the "skin" on over the top and bake it again! This keeps thin areas from over-cooking!

My last pieces were Halloween hair pieces - snakes made in a spring-type coil to wind into long hair. I haven't figured out how to get them to STAY there yet - but there's still a few weeks until they can be used - maybe someone will have an idea about it!