Korean 401 Super Glue

I tested out a new product today. I got it from Art Friend a while ago. I'm always on the hunt for glues. I use a few different types for gluing different surfaces.

Being curious, I got a bottle of this Korean 401 Super Glue. I wanted to try gluing tougher surfaces with this.

If you're gluing wood pieces, I think there are other better wood glue out there which you can use which works faster.

I tested resin and metal parts with this.

I was going to give it a 2 out of 5 stars but I waited. I have to say it's NOT a fast dry super glue. You have to be patient!

But boy, once it is dried, the item is super strong. For its durability, I'll say it's good.

Don't use this if you want a speedy fast dry glue!

Good Claying Habits

I'm currently working on a new commissioned fake dessert project that requires me to use larger cups than I'm used to. If you follow me on my instagram, you may have seen this photo before.

The 2cm cups are the 1:12 scale dollhouse miniature cups. I'm working with the 3.5cm cups this time round for this project. The difference in 1.5cm in size does makes a lot of difference!!

This project will be made up of a lot of macarons, chocolate balls and whip cream. I do intend to blog more work in progress pictures for this project!

Meanwhile I'm making a lot of macarons first. And I'm really pacing myself for this.

I have 2 more colors to make, and I spent 2 days making these. 1 day for each color. Of course, I move onto other things after I finished 1 set of macaron color per day. But I need to be really mindful when I am working with macarons, especially if they require a detailed crows feet look.

Do you actually take care of your hands and wrists while working with clay? Perhaps you are young, and you don't think about these things. But even as a hobbyist, I hope you think about it and practice good claying habits if you wish to enjoy this hobby for a long time. Prolonged repetitive actions on one particular hand/wrist isn't healthy. Prolonged sitting down for hours isn't as well. Bad sitting posture can affect your nerves which affects other part of your body. So, I strongly suggest that everyone take good care of your body and health :) Schedule breaks frequently, get up, walk, exercise before coming back to claying. Maybe you need to take extra care if you are a polymer clay user as you need to condition your clay.

What are your claying habits? 

My creative rituals

I recently came across a few articles that made me think of my personal creative rituals. I'm sure all of us at some point feel uninspired, or tired. This is actually normal. I think what most creative people fear most is the lack of inspiration because that's pretty much the driving force of our work.

Having said that, I have also learnt through these years, that sustained creativity doesn't come from a single spark of a brilliant idea. You are what you do everyday. I cannot stress that enough. Having consistent rituals are essential to set the stage to help bringing your ideas to fruition.

So, when I saw this article which showcases the daily routines of some of the most world known creative people, I was truly fascinated. You know, I'm glad to know I'm not the only oddball who doesn't sit down for hours in a row creating. It just doesn't work for me.

But do you have creative rituals? And if so, what are some of your favorite rituals? Things that you need to do on a daily basis that helps you to keep your creative journey moving along?

Here are some of my favorite rituals.

1. Quiet mornings

The first few moments when we wake up is actually quite precious and important as it sets the tone for the rest of the day. I like waking up naturally and luckily, I am a morning person and don't have a problem waking up. I also don't have bad mood when I wake up, thankfully! I rarely laze in bed, and I like getting up to a quiet morning to start another brand new day!

2. My first cup of tea

Another one of my must favorite rituals! Nothing better than waking up and enjoying that first few sips! Seriously! I think even coffee drinkers will understand this, as it's similar to their first cup of coffee of the day.
I feel like I can accomplish and get through anything once I get my first taste of tea. I love my tea to be strong, bright and bold :) I usually have one cup in the morning and another in the afternoon.

Photo from here

3. Breakfast

This probably sounds crazy, but I love breakfast and sometimes I go to bed getting excited thinking about eating breakfast in the morning. I've had always eaten breakfast as a child, before going to school, so this is a routine for me. I can't start work without having some food in my stomach. These days, I'm into gluten free honey corn flakes. They are so yummy!

 

Photo from here

3. Take time to find beauty

I found that this works for me. When I'm uninspired, I take time to look and find beauty in things. I like going onto Pinterest to find beautiful pictures. Most of the time, and really I mean 99% most of the time, when I find something, I instantly feel excited and that helps to keep me going. I like looking at flowers, home decoration, desserts, cakes.  

4. Pause and be grateful

I learn not to take anything for granted. Being able to sit and create art is something to be extremely grateful for. I'm grateful that I am healthy and am able to pursue the things I enjoy doing. When you create with that mindset, your world changes. Every moment becomes precious and valuable.

 

Photo found here

5. Get in touch with nature

No matter how busy my day is, I never fail to go out to get in touch with nature. I love to be surrounded by trees, grass and flowers. It actually helps me in many ways. Sitting for long hours isn't healthy anyway, so I love going outdoors for my daily exercise. Depending on weather, I either go for a run, swim or walk. This has become an integral part of my lifestyle. I feel that I am a better artist because of this. 

Photo found here

I hope you enjoyed reading and knowing my creative rituals. A lot of it is living life in a simple way. What are some of your favorite rituals?

Using UV Resin To Make Miniature Transparent Cups

I'm so excited to share with you my experimentation of making dollhouse miniature transparent cups using UV Resin and some molds.

Before these materials were readily available, it was quite hard to make them properly, especially if you wanted your cups or glasses to look the same equally.

Then came the transparent air dry clay, which was pretty much the best answer to creating realistic looking transparent cups. The downside of it was that you had to be patient to let it dry. So if you want to make more than a few, you probably need a few days or even a week or two.

With UV Resin, everything is so much easier and faster. Below, I will write out the simple steps that you can follow to make your own!

How to use the UV Resin with Push Mold: 
It's really simple to use the UV resin with the push mold here. Simply squeeze the UV resin into the mold. It is best to fill up to 3/4 full. A way to check is to cover the top of the push mold and see if the resin comes right up to the lid of the push mold.

It is OK to have some UV Resin touching the top of the push mold. In fact, I prefer that so that your cups will be of the same equal height.

Keep the lid on and put it under the UV lamp for a few minutes.

After a few minutes, remove the top lid and remove cup from the mold. Use penknife to gently cut excess resin that has over-spilled.  Lastly, use sandpaper to gently buff the edges to give it a smooth round finish!

Here, I have the 2 different size cups made with UV Resin.

Both are suitable for 1/12 dollhouse miniature scale.

Cup molds are available here and here.
UV Resin is available here.

Lastly, the same method can be used for making plates, bowls as well! Have fun!

Why do my pictures turn darker on Blogger?

For a little while now, I realized that Blogspot has been editing my photos automatically. I noticed that for my photos which has a light/bright background, it now has an ugly dark overcast. I knew something was not right. I'm not sure if any of you who are using blogspot are also noticing this.

But I found out how to fix this and immediately did so.

You will need to sign into your Google Plus account.

• Click on Home > Settings
• Scroll down to find "Auto Enhance" section.
• Click "OFF" for "Automatically enhance new photos and videos.

Remember to click SAVE.

Please note that after you have done this, your future posts will now be OK. I went to check my previous posts which were affected and they were not corrected, so this means I had to manually delete and upload the photos again.

I hope this helps for those of you who are noticing your photos are a little different. 

Art Clay Tools Leveler

Recently, I had the chance to encounter these art clay tools. I wish they were made available way earlier when I started experimenting with clay. But nevertheless, I am happy to show you something really neat and easy to use!

 

This tool, which I call the Clay Leveler, helps you to create clay pieces of a particular thickness consistently. Simple as that.

 

When it comes to air dry clay, one of the things I am truly grateful for is that it doesn't require any conditioning. This means I don't have to worry about over working my wrists. I believe this is something all of us air dry clay users can appreciate.

 

Getting my piece of clay ready to begin work is much more simplified. 

 

This is how the 1mm thick clay leveler looks like.

 

 

Here I'll show you how to use the clay leveler in 3 easy steps.

 

How to use:

1. Get a piece of non-stick sheet and place it on an even surface.

2. Put the air dry clay on top of the sheet, and position the 2 acrylic clay levelers side by side, next to your clay.

3. Begin rolling out your piece of clay with a roller, until it no longer flattens out anymore.

 

End result: You will get a consistent piece of clay thickness! 

 

 

 

What if I need to make thicker clay?

Though there isn't a 5mm clay leveler, you may stack them up and secure the ends of the clay leveler with rubber band. Just make sure your roller doesn't roll over the rubber bands. 

 

I hope you will enjoy this easy method to make your air dry clay experience more wonderful!

My paint collection

While doing my cleaning routine, I decided to clean up the drawer that holds my paint collection as well. I usually don't clean this every week, but perhaps once in a while since they are all kept in a drawer. This is still not my complete collection of all the paints I own :D For those that I use on a very regular basis, they are taken out and placed on my desk.

I have a great amount of pink, greens, browns and whites in my collection. The colour that I re-purchase over and over again is white. Some of the colours are over 6 years old, and are discontinued colours.

The folkart ones are great when it comes to house keeping because they come with a colour tag on the top of the bottle which makes it easy to identify the colours. For the other brands, I have to write the names of the colour on the top of the bottle cap just so that I know what it is. Sometimes I also flip it over when I keep it, so I can see the colour from the bottom of the bottle.

I don't have the most perfect storage solution, but I make do with what I have.

I keep those colours that I seldom use at the back of the drawer usually. And for those that I use regularly will be pushed to the front so it's easily within reach. Simple enough for me.

Hope you enjoyed this little tour of my paint collection!

Grace Whip Cream Clay Discovery

There are so many different clay products out there to explore. I love playing, and discovering, the wonders of each. Today, I'll be writing more about the Grace Whip Cream Clay.

This is definitely not a new product. The one that I'm currently using has been with me for years - and I am not surprised if it's 2 years or more. I only use a bit each time, so one tube of this lasts a very long time.

It's not difficult to guess what this clay is used for, as the picture on the box would have given you an idea. Basically this has a whip cream texture, so you can use it to create highly realistic fake whip cream effect for cakes, desserts, ice cream, etc.

You can mix acrylic paints or oil paints into it to create different whip cream "flavors". It air dries naturally and no baking is required.

HOW TO USE:
This clay is extremely sticky to touch when it is just freshly opened. To use this, simply prepare a ziplock bag, or piping cream bag, or your self made piping bag ready when you are about to open a fresh tube. Once you cut open the tube, simply squeeze the cream into your piping bag. It is ready to use!

HOW TO STORE:
Once the tube is opened, use a firm paper clip like below to secure the package opening. Then, put it in a ziplock bag, and store into an air tight container.

I will say this though: The above way described to store the clay will prevent it from drying out, but it doesn't mean it won't dry out forever. It will still dry up, just more slowly. 

So what happens when it dries up?

From its fresh sticky state to drying up does take a long while. My 2 year old or more whip cream clay is possibly a good example. The current state is soft but non-sticky - AND definitely still usable. Think hearty, but a bit more elastic. :)

This is how my 2 year old whip cream clay feels like and looks like now. I purposely pull and stretch the clay a bit more just so that you can observe its texture. The fresh clay out from the tube obviously doesn't look like this - it's way more sticky and wispy when you try to pull the tails of the whip cream clay.

I just have to use it differently now which I am totally fine with.

I also tried to re-warm or re-heat the clay just to see if it can go back to its original texture.

HOW TO RE-HEAT:
I put some whipped cream clay into a ziplock bag. Meanwhile, I boiled some hot water. When the water is boiled, I pour some into a container and put that ziplock bag into it. Please note that due to the hot water, your ziplock bag may melt a little. After a few minutes you may check the texture of the whipped clay.

So, below is the comparison of the re-heated whipped cream and the old whip cream clay. On the left is the re-heated whip cream clay, and on the right is the older whip cream clay.

After re-heating, I touched and feel the texture with my fingers. It feels 90% similar to its original texture. Also, please note that the reason why the re-heated whip cream clay looks "ugly" is because, it was so sticky and stuck to my fingers a lot. Removing it from my fingers was a bit of work. If one wants to do any piping work, they should work immediately right after the whip cream clay is re-heated, as that is the best time to do it. 

To summarize this though, although the whip cream clay may dry out during your time of owning it, knowing its different texture change during its "life span" does help you to decide how best to use it during its different drying stage. Re-heating it will help to soften its texture significantly, if you wish to do piping work, but reheating won't bring it back to its original texture a hundred percent.

On the other hand, one may never even encounter such issues, because it all depends on how large your projects are. If you are purely making life size items, then you should be using the clay more quicker than those who are making purely dollhouse miniatures.

No Bake Clay Review

I have this no bake clay for a while now. Most of you would be familiar with the term air dry clay, but it's the same thing actually. Some people also call it "no bake clay".

I love testing out new stuff and today I am going to review the Tamiya Lightweight Clay.

The first touch of the clay is crucial and probably one of the most important aspect for me when it comes to trying out new clay. By touching and feeling it between my fingers, I can assess its basic properties. I then try to relate the texture to the popular brands of clay and see if there is common ground.

My first reaction when I touch this clay is that it is extremely similar to the Hearty Clay texture. Perhaps this is a really fresh pack, so it feels really soft and wet.

After kneading it for a little while and pressing it, I'll still say it's similar to Hearty Clay.

I love to do the "press test" to have a better idea of the clay characteristics.


The "press test" is really a guide for me to understand how the clay works and reacts when I press hard onto it. When the clay crumbles when you press on it, it doesn't mean the clay is no good, although many people may have this wrong perception. For me, I think about the possibilities of how I would use the clay to my best advantage.

The Tamiya Lightweight Clay comes in white colour. But for this testing purpose, I've added some ochre colour to it just so that it is easy to differentiate.

See how the clay reacts when I pressed it. Both clays hold well and doesn't crumble. It is smooth and there are no cracks too.

I then used the Tamiya Lightweight Clay to make a cookie from a decoden cookie mold.

Very nice. :) I'm going to let it dry naturally before I tell you about the properties once it is dried.

I'm also excited to test out another new product I have with the cookie, so there will be more the next time!

Meanwhile, the no bake clay and decoden mold can be found in my shop here.

Dollhouse Miniature Tools - My favourite ruler!

One of the most important dollhouse miniature tools that I can't live without is the ruler. I use it for almost everything. I've also tried everything from plastic, to metal and acrylic ones :) Tried different lengths too, but I prefer mine short. 15cm ones are good enough for me. Nothing longer than that.

When it comes to types, the acrylic ones are my favourite - they are sturdy, transparent (which means you are able to see through it), smooth enough that you can even use it on your clay and it doesn't stick. How much more awesome is that?

At the same time, I must tell you that I've ruined many rulers in my early days, when I was still learning to control it while cutting. When you apply too much force and pressure while cutting, sometimes it inevitably cuts into the acrylic ruler and it creates a little dent. Overtime, you get a slightly "crooked" ruler, which may be one of the reasons why you can never get a clean straight cut.

A side note:
When my students work on a piece that requires wood work, I'm always observing and looking at how they hold their pen knife and ruler. There is a moral obligation on my part to impart the right techniques when they are doing wood work - so that they form the right habits and practice it right from the start, as this prevents accidents/mishaps. I'm actually very serious about this when teaching wood work.

But...back to this ruler.

So when I saw this ruler in the shop, I felt it was the answer to my earlier problem.....because they have embedded a metal rod in the ruler.

This means, you'll never get to cut into the acrylic ruler itself as the metal rod blocks it! How brilliant is that!!

So now, I switch sides whenever I am ready to make a cut. I've been using this ruler for couple of weeks now and am very happy with this.

You should give this a try too. :)

It reminds me, that this post would compliment the other blog post which I've written 3 years ago, on Tips on Cutting Dollhouse Miniature Woodwork. If you have never read it, you might be interested to read it here.

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Air Dry Clay Review: Modena Soft Air Dry Polymer Clay

Today's air dry clay review is going to be on Modena Soft Air Dry Polymer Clay.

I have used this clay for quite a while now and though it has always been in my mind to do a review on it, but I didn't have the time to sit down to write till now.

As you can see from the photo below, this is NOT a new pack. I've been using it for sometime now. So, I think it is time for a review.

I'm still not sure why they call it Polymer Clay. Not only that, they have to include the words Air Dry in front of it.

But if you're confused, just know that this doesn't require baking in the oven.

 

 The words on the package say "Modena is air dry clay, soft & flexible. Dries with translucent & waterproof. Virtually unbreakable. Suitable for flowers, sweets & deco, doll." 

Like most of the high quality resin clay, when you open the package, the clay is tightly wrapped. 

I personally find that this clay doesn't dry out as quickly as other resin clay, which is a really good thing.

The only downside to this packaging is that the clay sticks to the sides of the plastic clear wrap so much that it does take a bit of effort to remove the clay out and not have any wastage of clay that clings onto the side.

Maybe that's also the reason why it doesn't dry out since there is not much opening for air to seep through ;)

Evidence of the stickiness

 

 The feel and touch of Modena Soft Clay is different from Hearty or Grace. It is very soft, but doesn't have the marshmallow feel of what Hearty gives. It is also not a resin clay type of feel, and I've experimented and used so many different types of air dry clay that I would say it has a unique feel of its own. 

When I press the clay in between my fingers, it is very soft and smooth. See the edges below. It remains soft and smooth, and the edges don't fray out even when it is being pressed.

Like all other clays, you can use all sort of colours to mix into the clay.

But I do want to draw your attention to the important part here.

I did some test to this clay to test out the translucency nature as it states.

Testing for Translucency
If you need to do some translucency test, simply use water colour to mix into the clay and let it dry thoroughly. The key point is to be patient and let it dry. Don't believe what you see until it is entirely dried.

Here, I apply some transparent colour to the clay.

 This is how it looks like after I mix the colour into the clay. A pretty pink!

I've used half a pack of this clay and till date, I've not seen the translucency results. It is definitely an opaque clay to me. So please do take note and always test it for yourself when you get any new clay.

With that said, I think it's a beautiful clay texture, and you may actually use it for anything that requires an opaque appearance. I've personally made lots of flowers with it and love its texture!

Here, I made a rose with it! The rose looks just like this after it is dried.

 I hope you find this air dry clay review useful :) If you had enjoyed this, drop me a comment to let me know.

Meanwhile I will try my best to review other air dry clay in my collection!

Air Dry Clay Review : Martha Stewart Air Dry Clay

Thanks to a sale which my aunt informed me about, I managed to grab a pack of Martha Stewart Air Dry Clay as I was really curious to try out its texture. If not for the sale, I probably would not have gotten this as I think it is rather costly in my opinion.

Looking at its texture just from the packet, to be honest, I really can't expect it to perform like resin clay. But I was really curious to know how does it performs compared to the other air dry clays.

I have a feeling that this clay is targeted for scrapbooking enthusiasts who wants to make flatback embellishments to further accessorize their scrapbook. There are quite a few reviews out there with that purpose in mind, so my review is probably more targeted for deco sweets makers who might want to know how this clay works compared to other air dry clay.

Texture

When I took it out from the packaging, my first impression of this clay was - it was FRESH and definitely very wet. It was probably the wettest air dry clay I've touched in my life. ;)

Just wanted to show how the Martha Stewart Clay looks like fresh out from the packaging...

 I think the closest comparison to this clay would be Hearty Clay. It feels the same to me, so I decided to compare them side by side.

Is crumbly good? It all depends on what you want to make. No matter how I press the Martha Stewart Clay, the edges doesn't fray out and crumble slightly like how Hearty Clay does.

One thing about the Martha Stewart Clay is, even if it is very wet,  when you try to roll a round shape between your palms, you might not get a very smooth crack-free ball.

TIPS

If you are using the Martha Stewart Clay with molds, perhaps you might want to smooth out a larger surface area of the clay first to make sure there are no cracks on it before you press it into the mold. This is a better method than inserting a round shape into the mold and pressing it down. Cracks, lines, whatever you call it - should be eliminated this way. 

I actually tried the way I described above with a mold, and that worked for me. I did not see any cracks when I release the clay from the mold.

Towards the end of this review, I am going to show you my failed result when I did not do what I described in one of my earlier experimentation with Martha Stewart Air Dry Clay.

But first, I also wanted to show you another texture comparison between Daiso Clay and Martha Stewart Air Dry Clay so you have a better idea.

Molds are just one way to use this air dry clay, but what I was really interested in, was how the texture really is when I sculpt a more challenging item such as a macaron since it involves more than just popping the clay out of a mold.


Having used other clays to create the fake macarons with the ball method to get the clay into the mold had always worked for me....so naturally I would think that it would work with the Martha Stewart Clay as well.

 See the crack/lines in my experiment

The reason why I would not sculpt macarons with Martha Stewart Clay is NOT because of the cracks and lines, but purely because of how much time it takes me to texturize the feet of the macarons. It's just not the  ideal clay for me to get the most natural effect that I want.

When dried, the Martha Stewart Clay is very lightweight, and flexible. (Think Hearty Clay). You can twist it, so don't expect it to dry to a rock hard finish.

Right now, I shall probably just use this as a Hearty Clay substitute till I find a way to use it for something else. :)

Air Dry Clay – Grace Clay : Another Discovery

I’m always discovering something new about air dry clay, in this case, Grace Clay. I bought some grace clay recently, and when it arrived, I pressed on the package to get a sense of whether it’s a fresh pack of clay or not. When it didn’t feel as soft as another batch of clay that I’ve got, I started investigating.

I studied the packaging and pressed on both packets of Grace Clay again (bought at different times). I suddenly thought of how my mom taught me how to tell if a fish is fresh when buying one in the market. One of the ways to tell was by pressing the meat with your finger. It should be resilient enough so your indentation disappears. If your fingerprint remains, move on.

Now, simply reverse this theory for testing Grace Clay. If the indentation remains, or it takes a longer time for the clay to revert back to its original shape, then it is a fresh packet. If it feels hard, move on.

I flipped to the back of the packaging and started to look for signs. Noticing a difference, I seriously wonder if this was the cause of it. I also did a search on the internet to find images of Grace Clay. I specifically wanted to see the back packaging (Not the front). But all I found are images of the front packaging which wasn’t helpful in my research.

Are there even “grades” for Grace Clay? But the packaging seems to indicate so. Even a non-clay user whom I asked thinks that it refers to Grade A and Grade B from the print. What do you think?

I did the finger indentation test just to show you what I meant. Below are the results.

This means details being sculpted on the Grade B clay would show up less obvious than on Grade A clay since it would spring back slightly, compared to Grade A which is softer and likely to hold details better.

I then tested the Grade B Grace Clay texture. I was thinking that maybe the finger indentation test was just psychological on my part. Maybe there would be no difference. I can recall very clearly how Grade A Grace Clay felt like on my fingers. It was very moist and soft. I can definitely say there is some difference. It’s not as soft as Grade A. Grade A also tend to retain its softness very well even after you’ve opened the packaging and keep it in good condition as what I’ve described in my tips here.

Does it mean it’s Doom’s Day?

This might be what you’re most concerned about. What does it mean to you as a user? Unfortunately, there really isn’t a good or bad because everyone sculpts different things in different sizes. How fast they consume the clay, and how well they keep their clay are other factors to consider.

Sure, of course everyone wants the best Grade, considering if my suspicion is true that there really is a Grade differentiation for Grace Clay. Based on my personal experience, the Grade A Clay keeps really well even for over a year. It remains soft. But what if you didn’t know beforehand, and you already have a Grade B clay sitting in your cupboard?

I always think that there are ways to work around it. Although you can’t change the texture of the clay, but you can think of what are the things that you can use it for and how you can use that to your advantage. What about making bigger items, or items that does not need that many fine details but still in good, long lasting durable quality?

This might also be a good experimental opportunity to mix it with other clays to see what results you can achieve.

You should always also consider these questions when buying your clay.

• What kind of things are you making them with mostly? (this should give you a rough indication of usage each time)
• How often would you be using the clay? (Once a week, everyday, every other week, once in a blue moon?)
• Would you be able to store it well until the next time you are using it?

So what is the Grade of your Grace Clay? Start flipping to the back of your packaging and inspect it today. I would love to hear from you, so I can continue to investigate and research. Would we even discover a Grade C or D? Or was it a batch number? Let me know. :)

Daiso Soft Clay Review

Sometime ago, I bought a Daiso Soft Clay, wanting to give it a try. I was quite curious to see and feel how it's like. I recently tried it and my first impression was I didn't like it. Unlike Hearty clay, this has a soft, powdery feel. Although it is soft, but no matter how you press or knead it, it crumbles, which means you can't really create or sculpt a proper shape out of this.

With that said, I was not ready to give up and toss it away. Crumbly can be a good thing if you know how to further adapt and find a way to use it. I made a macaron with mostly Daiso Soft Clay, and waited till the next day to see how it feels like after it is dried. When dried, I was actually very pleased that it came out to be rather rock solid hard but still retain its lightweight properties.

And then I tried a few more "concoctions". Try mixing Daiso, Hearty and Grace. Perfecto!

Do give Daiso Soft Clay a chance...if you experiment it enough, you might find the beauty of it! I did!

I just love the natural crumbly texture of it that I had to take a closeup photo!

Air Dry Clay – Shelf Life and Storage Tips

If you all do not know by now, I am a die hard fan of air dry clay and I use them in making all of my dollhouse miniatures. But today, I want to specifically talk about air dry clay. Probably all of you already know this, but yes there is a shelf life for Air Dry Clay – especially if you have opened the packet. There is also a shelf life for it even if you have not opened it. How can you tell? Well I mentioned this in my blog post here. You can tell by pressing onto the packet lightly. If you can press it easily, it is a fresh packet. Although this will take some experience to tell if the air dry clay is fresh or not.

I have been using air dry clay for years now, and perhaps because I use them all the time, I have not been affected by the shelf life issue. With that said, it does not mean I consume it quickly because a packet last me for a LONG time. I’ve been using my packet of Hearty clay (the largest size packet) for more than 1 year, maybe 1.5 years now. I am close to the last bit of clay in the packet, and the quality is still good. This is also why I do not buy different colours of clay and keep them. I rather buy acrylic or oil colours and knead it into the clay. Why? Acrylic and oil colours are so much easier to store and they take so much less space than packets of clay. When you live in tight living spaces like I do, you will probably appreciate this tip more ;) Besides, oil colours (as far as I know) have no expiration dates. And a tube lasts forever.

Here is how I store my air dry clay.

Every time when you take a small amount of air dry clay to work, use cling wrap to wrap the packet tightly, before putting it into a ziplock bag. Then put the whole ziplock bag into an air tight container. I've been using this storage method for years now, which helps to keep my air dry clay in great condition for a long long time.

The cling wrap tends to lose its “stickiness” after a while, so you can change the cling wrap once you find that it doesn’t cling onto your packet of clay after a while.

Practicing good storage methods can help your air dry clay to last longer. This tip should be good for all brands and types of air dry clay.

That’s all for this time! Hope this has been helpful!

Air Dry Clay - 10 Tips on using Japanese Resin Air Dry Clay

These are some tips and personal experiences I would like to share with you on using Japanese resin air dry clay, based on my own trials and error.

There are not many English tips on the internet for Japanese resin air dry clay and I hope this would be useful for you all.



1. Before buying, always press on the package to feel the hardness/softness of the clay. The fresher the clay, the softer it is.


2. I know the hard/soft part is not easy to gauge for a beginner especially if this is your first time buying/using them. But if you have already bought a harder packet of air dry clay by mistake, do not despair. Try using them for making cake shapes, cake decorations. (think of anything that is OK to dry quickly) Do not use them for intricate work such as flowers, pastries (anything that you want the texture to be obvious, or anything that you need more time to work on). When the clay is drier, any textures that you make on them will not stay on easily since resin clay by itself has a elastic feel during the process of drying. So whatever texture that you have put on, you will not get what you see upon drying.

3. Another tip is to take a little bit of the harder one to mix with a really soft wet pack of clay if you want something moderately easier to work with without getting too sticky. This is a really fabulous tip which I use it in the past.

4. A really soft pack is sticky. Now, there are pros and cons to it. It will mean you have to have really delicate fingers to control it. Your mistakes will be more visible since the clay is soft. That being said, they are good for making items that takes a longer time, since they dry out slower. I personally find them good to make creams, fruits, flowers, pastries. (Think of anything that you want for the texture to show or easy to shape the clay to what you want)

5. You can use a high grade watercolour, acrylic colour or even oil paints to mix the colour into your clay. I have tried all 3 types (separately of course) and they all work well.

6. After you have mixed the clay with color, you must now store it while you use it a bit at a time. Always use cling wrap to wrap up the rest of the clay which you are not working on. Another recent top favourite way of mine is to store the colored clay into a ziplock bag. Only use what you need and store the rest of the colored clay into the ziplock bag. This helps to prevent it from drying out too quickly.

7. Always expect your work to shrink slightly after drying.

8. When leaving your work to dry, it might be good to leave it in a plastic tray or a non-stick mat to let it dry, as the wet clay might stick onto the table surface during the drying process. Therefore it is not a good idea to leave it on the table surface directly. Sometimes I turn it over after a day to let it dry on the other side.

9. Depending on where you live, humidity/weather conditions, it might take more than 1 day to dry the clay completely.

10. An entirely dried piece is hard, but you can always use a pen knife to cut through it.


Well, I hope the above sharing will be useful for those who wish to try using the Japanese resin air dry clay. Personally I love them because they are so flexible, and there are so many ways to use them. Due to its versatility, there is really no hard and fast rule on using them.

If you have any questions, please always feel free to leave me a comment below.
Hope the above helps! Happy creating!