Curing polymer clay in a gas oven without thermometer/ Cum sa coci lutul polimeric in cuptorul cu gaz fara termometru

Because not all of you out there have an electric oven and can't really check the temperature in a gas oven without a thermometer, there are some tips that will probably help you. Also, you can't miss out on experimenting with this great medium just because you don't have an electric oven and you might also miss out on some skill development until you get one. Since I've been working with polymer, I've had some accidents regarding its curing temperature and I've learned a few things I want to share with you.

I've lived in various places and many times I didn't have the utensils necessary to craft with me (you can’t really carry everything around with you all the time) and I had to improvise. Since I've used many types of ovens for baking clay, there are some tips that apply to all.
 

1 - Always preheat the oven, it depends a lot on the gas pressure but usually you have to preheat it for about 10 minutes on minimum.

2 - After preheating the oven put your sculptures, jewelry, etc. inside and make sure that you keep it on the minimum. If you want to be sure that the temperature is over 110/130 degrees Celsius (230/266 F) you can put a bowl of water inside and when it starts boiling you know that the water has reached 100 degrees Celsius and you can put in your things. Remember to keep it on minimum.

3. I usually bake things for 15 minutes if it's a new type of oven I'm not familiar with, and inspect them closely afterwards to see if they are burned or cracked. Make sure that you do that. Afterwards you can bake them a bit longer until you are satisfied with the result with lower or higher temperature.

4. Place a bit of polymer clay with the items you bake and you can cut it or stick something in it to see whether is done or not. This way you won't risk cutting the good pieces.

5.You can also microwave your clay, but I never tried it. However, you can check out this page here where a few tests have been done.

6. Remember that some clays will change colors during baking, so you need to make a test with a few pieces of clay if the project you are making needs exact colors.

7. You have to keep in mind that polymer clay, when it’s just out of the oven, will still be elastic, so it might appear uncured. If you think it’s cured, you should wait for it to cool down and you can try and bake it again.

8. Polymer clay can be cured multiple times in the oven, even when it’s already cured and hardened; you will need this for some projects so don’t be afraid to do it, nothing will happen if you respect the temperatures and curing time. Speaking of temp and time, you should also keep in mind that some brands of polymer clay have different curing times and different temperatures, you will need this if you are trying to combine them. For example Cernit needs a higher curing temperature than Fimo.

I’ve made some charts that you will certainly find useful (scroll over the Romanian text):




Pentru ca nu toata lumea are un cuptor electric si nu prea poti sa masori temperatura la cuptorul cu gaz fara termometru, voi veni cu cateva sfaturi care sa va ajute in directia asta. De asemenea, nu trebuie sa pierzi experienta cu acest mediu minunat doar pentru ca nu ai cuptor electric si s-ar putea sa pierzi si cateva ore bune de dezvoltare a indemanarii in directia asta. De cand lucrez cu lut polimeric, am avut cateva accidente in timpul coacerii si am invatat cateva lucruri pe care vreau sa vi le transmit si voua.

A trebuit sa ma mut des si de multe ori nu am avut ustensilele necesare sa fac anumite lucruri (nu prea poti sa cari totul cu tine) asa ca a trebuit sa improvizez. Din moment ce am folosit mai multe tipuri de cuptoare pentru a coace lutul, am invatat cateva lucruri care se aplica la absolut toate cuptoarele.

1- Intotdeauna se va incinge cuptorul inainte de coacere; in functie de presiunea gazelor se poate tine mai mult dar in general aproximativ 10 minute este perfect.

2- Dupa ce cuptorul a fost incins, se pun proiectele inauntru si se da pe minim. Daca vreti sa fiti siguri ca temperatura a ajuns la 110 grade Celsius, puteti pune inauntru apa si atunci cand aceasta incepe sa fiarba stiti ca a ajuns sigur la 100 grade.

3- De obicei eu tin pentru 15 minute proiectele daca este un tip de cuptor nefamiliar mie, si dupa aceste 15 minute le scot si le analizez. Veti observa ca daca a fost dar focul prea tare, vor mirosi ciudat si isi vor fi schimbat culoarea. Dupa, le puteti pune pentru inca 5-10 minute in cuptor pana obtineti rezultatul dorit.

4- Pentru a elimina orice risc puneti o bucatica de lut polimeric pe tava de coacere si atunci cand nu sunteti sigur daca s-au polimerizat puteti intepa bucata respectiva. Daca se rupe foarte usor, mai trebuie tinute.

5- Puteti sa folositi si cuptorul cu microunde dar personal nu am incercat niciodata. Puteti gasi mai multe detalii pe aceasta pagina.

6- Tineti minte ca unele tipuri de lut isi pot schimba culoarea cand sunt coapte, asa ca daca aveti un proiect care necesita niste culori exacte, puteti face teste cu bucatele mici de lut inainte.

7- De asemenea, trebuie sa tineti seama de faptul ca lutul polimeric imediat scos din cuptor va fi in continuare elastic asa ca poate parea necopt. Daca credeti ca s-a copt, asteptati sa se raceasca si il mai puteti coace inca o data.

8- Lutul se poate coace de nenumarate ori in cuptor chiar daca s-a intarit, pentru unele proiecte este nevoie de coaceri multiple asa ca sa nu va fie frica sa o faceti, nu se va intampla nimic daca respectati temperaturile si durata. Si daca tot vorbim de temperatura si durata, tineti seama de faptul ca unele firme de lut au timpuri si temperaturi diferite, mai ales atunci cand incercati sa le combinati, de exemplu Cernit trebuie copt la o temperatura mai mare decat Fimo.


Am facut niste grafice utile mai jos: 

Marianam-H Easter Contest/ Concurs sarbatoarea Pastelui

I signed up for Marianam-H Easter contest on her great blog. She makes really cool boxes from corn husks leaves. I signed up with the following figurine:

M-am inscris la concursul de pe blogul Marianam-H. Ea face face cutii foarte interesante din panusi de porumb.M-am inscris cu urmatoarea figurina:

A little girl holding a basket of eggs/O fetita care tine in mana in cos cu oua

Challenge Revista Atelierul/Provocare Revista atelierul

Revista Atelierul has a cute challenge that involves making something that uses an Easter theme, so I did this figurine:

Revista Atelierul vine cu o provocare draguta pentru produse handmade si de autor de inspiratie pascala. Eu am facut figurina asta:

Some New Pendants

These are some new pendants, a ring, and hair accessories in the same style I made the previous rings.

Am mai facut  noi pandantive, un inel si cateva accesorii de par in acelasi stil ca cele din postul precedent.

New Stuff - A bunch of rings

I wanted to make some sort of quilling technique on my polymer clay jewelry so I came up with a bunch of rings that I'm going to show you.Some are with applique and this quilling thing while others are just with this quilling technique.

Am vrut sa aplic tehnica quilling la bjuteriile mele asa ca am facut urmatoarele inele. Unele au si tehnica applique in timp ce altele sunt facute doar cu tehnica aceasta de "quilling":

Armenian Inspired Part 6

Here is the last part of my Armenian collection. I saved the best for last. These are the Armenian pagan goddesses. My source for the descriptions is Wikipedia.

Aceasta este ultima parte din colectia Armeniana si am pastrat ce era mai bun pentru final. Urmatoarele pandantive intruchipeaza zeitele pagane armeniene si o figura nationala cunoscuta. Sursa pentru descrieri a fost Wikipedia. 


Anahit

Anahit is the goddess of fertility and healing, but also the goddess of wisdom and water. In Armenian Mythology she also appears as the goddess of war and by the 5th century she was the main deity in Armenia.

Anahit este zeita fertilitatii si vindecarii dar si a intelepciunii si a apei. In Mitologia Armeniana ea apare si ca zeita razboiului si pana in secolul al 5-lea devine una dintre cele mai importante zeitati din Armenia.

Asya

made with beautiful shades of blue and other colors that
make us think about water/ sea/ healing 

In the earliest prehistoric period Astghig, commonly referred to as Asya, Astghik, or Astlik, (Armenian: the later heathen period she became the goddess of love, maidenly beauty, and water sources and springs. Her Hence, the name is not believed to be related to Semitic Ishtar.


In perioada preistorica Astghig, Asya, Astghik sau Asktlik sunt nume pentru aceeasi zeitate. Astghig este zeita paganda a fertilitatii si dragostei cu cerul fiind considerat o personificare a ei. Mai tarziu devine zeita iubirii, a frumusetii tineresti si a apei si izvoarelor. Numele este diminutivul de la astg, care inseamna stea.

Nane

  

Pendant showing Nane, the war god.

Nane (Armenian: Նանե, Nanė; Georgian: ნანა, Nana; Bulgarian: Нане, Nanė; Russian: Нанэ, Nanė) was an Armenian pagan mother goddess. She was the goddess of war, wisdom, and motherhood, and the daughter of the supreme god Aramazd.

Nane looked like a young beautiful woman in the clothing of a warrior, with spear and shield in hand, like the Greek Athene, with whom she identified in the Hellenic period.

Nane este zeita razboiului, a intelepciunii si a maternitatii dar si fiinca supremului zeu Aramazd. Nane era o femeie frumoasa si tanara in armura cu o sulita si un scut in mana, fiind adesea comparata cu Atena.


Nar

Tsovinar or Nar was the Armenian goddess of water, sea, and rain. She was a fire creature, who forced the rain and hail to fall from the heavens with her fury.
Her name Tsovinar means "Nar of the sea".

Nar a fost zeita Armeniana a apei, a marii si a ploii. Ea era o creatura de foc care forta ploaia sa cada din cer cu furia ei. Tsovinar, celalat nume al ei inseamna “Nar a marii”

Armenian Inspired Part 5 - Semiramis

Semiramis

Armenian tradition portrays her as a homewrecker and a harlot. These facts are partly to be explained by observing that, according to the legends, in her birth as well as in her disappearance from earth, Semiramis appears as a goddess, the daughter of the fish-goddess Atargatis, and herself connected with the doves ofIshtar or Astartë.

One of the most popular legends in Armenian tradition involves Semiramis and an Armenian king, Ara the Beautiful. In the 20th century, the poet Nairi Zarian retold the story of Ara the Beautiful and Shamiram, in a work considered to be a masterpiece of Armenian literary drama.

According to the legend, Semiramis had heard about the fame of the handsome Armenian king Ara, and she lusted after his image. She asked Ara to marry her, but he refused; upon hearing this, she gathered the armies of Assyria and marched against Armenia.

During the battle, which may have taken place in the Ararat valley, Ara was slain. To avoid continuous warfare with the Armenians, Semiramis, reputed to be a sorceress, took his body and prayed to the gods to raise Ara from the dead. When the Armenians advanced to avenge their leader, she disguised one of her lovers as Ara and spread the rumor that the gods had brought Ara back to life, ending the war.

Although many different versions of the legend exist, they agree that Ara never came back to life.

The association of the fish and dove is found at Hierapolis Bambyce (Mabbog), the great temple at which, according to one legend, was founded by Semiramis, where her statue was shown with a golden dove on her head.


Considerata de traditia Armeniana ca fiind o desfranata, ea apare ca o zeita, fiica zeitei peste Atargatis. Una ditnre cele mai populare legende Armeniene este despre Semiramis si regele armenian Ara cel Frumos. Aceasta legenda, a fost recreata de Nairi Zarian poet din secolul 20 si este considerata una dintre cele mai bune drame literare armeniene.

Conform legendei Semiramis aude despre faima printului si il doreste. Ea ii cere sa se casatoreasca dar el refuza.Cand aude asta, Semiramis ea isi strange armata si marsaluieste spre Armenia. Ara este ucis in lupta si ea incearca sa-l readuca la viata. Pentru a stopa razaboiul ea il deghizeaza pe unul dintre soldatii sai in Ara si declara ca l-a reinviat pe acesta. Razboiul se incheie.

Desi exista multe versiuni din poveste, in niciuna Ara nu reinvie. Ea este adesea reprezentata cu un porumbel auriu pe cap.

Armenian Inspiration Part 4/ Inspiratii Armeniene Partea 4

For the other Armenian blogposts see: Part1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Nourie Hadig Story

Pendant made with steel hook, polymer clay, organza and a lot of love.
Pandantiv facut cu inox, lut polimeric, snur organza si multa dragoste. 

This is the Armenian version of the Snow White. A rich man with a beautiful dark haired daughter named Nourie Hadig takes a beautiful wife to wed. Every month her step mother asks the new moon if she was the most beautiful but it’s always her daughter who is most beautiful. The step mother, enraged, tells her husband he needs to take away the daughter and kill her and bring her bloody shirt as proof. However, he abandons her in the woods where she finds a house. When she enters the house the door gets closed behind her and the rooms are full of treasures. There’s also a prince there and a voice tells her that she has to cook for him for seven years. Meanwhile her mother again asks the mirror who is the most beautiful and receives the same answer she always did. Her husband admits he couldn’t kill her so she starts looking for her.

After four years, gypsies come to Nouri Hadig house and she buys a girl from them and they both serve the prince. When the prince wakes up after 7 years he finds the gypsy girl next to him and thinks she was the one serving him. He decides to marry her and during the arrangements he tells Nourie Hadig that since she helped the girl cook for him he needs to repay her somehow. She asks for the Stone of Patience. This stone apparently swells when a person tells a story and if the story is sad it will burst. But if the person made much of a little, the person would swell and burst, and so he must watch and ensure that the servant who asked for it did not burst. He gave Nourie Hadig the stone, and she told it her story. It swelled and was about to burst when the prince broke in and insisted on marrying her rather than the gypsy.

The next new moon, the moon said that the princess of Adana was more beautiful, so the mother knew where her daughter was. She had a beautiful ring made that would make the wearer fall asleep and had a witch bring it to her daughter, pleading that she had been out of her mind when she ordered her death. The gypsy girl persuaded the daughter to wear the ring, and she fell down dead. The prince refused to bury his wife; he would tend her as she had tended him. Many doctors were unable to heal her, but one tried to steal the ring. She started to come awake; he slid it back on and got the prince to promise him rewards for healing his wife. Then he took the ring off, which restored Nourie Hadig to life.

While the ring was on Nourie Hadig's finger, the moon had told the wife that she was the most beautiful one. After the ring was removed, though, it said that Nourie Hadig was. The wife became so angry that she died.

Aceasta este versiunea armeniana a Albei ca Zapada. Un barbat bogat cu o fiica foarte frumoasa cu parul negru pe nume Nourie Hadig decide sa se casatoreasca cu o femeie frumoasa. Femeia, narcisista, in fiecare luna intreaba luna plina daca ea este cea mai frumoasa, insa mereu luna ii spune ca fiica ei este cea mai frumoasa. Suparata femeia isi trimite barbatul sa o ucida pe fata dar acesta nu poate asa ca o lasa in padure. Fata ajunge la o casa care isi inchide usile dupa ce aceasta intra inauntru. Inauntru sunt multe comori si un print dormind; fata aude o voce care ii spune ca trebuie sa ii gateasca printului timp de 7 ani.

Intre timp mama afla ca fata este in viata si porneste in cautarea sa. Dupa 4 ani, Nourie Hadig cumpara o servitoare de la tigani care sa o ajute sa ingrijeasca de print. Cand acesta se trezeste o vede pe cea din urma si crede ca ea a fost cea care a stat timp de 7 ani cu el. Acesta o roaga pe Nourie Hadig sa isi aleaga un cadou deoarece considera ca i se cuvine din moment ce ea a ajutat-o pe fata. Ea cere Piata Rabdarii, o piatra care se umfla atunci cand grija cuiva este mare si explodeaza. Insa daca cineva face din tantar armasar, persoana se umfla si explodeaza. Printul afla asta de la pietrar si o pandeste pe Nourie Hadig in timp ce aceasta vorbeste cu piatra de frica sa nu explodeze. Aceasta spune povestea pietrei iar acesta auzind-o se hotaraste sa se casatoreasca cu ea.

Intre timp, mama vitrega afla ca printesa Adana era cea mai frumoasa si astfel stie cine este si unde este fiica ei vitrega. Ea creaza un inel frumos care il face pe posesor sa adoarma si trimite o vrajitoare sa il dea lui Nourie. Cand Nourie il pune pe deget cade intr-un somn adanc. Printul refuza sa o inmormanteze si cheama multi doctori sa o vindece. Multi medici vin iar unul dintre ei incearca sa-i fure inelul; cand il scoate de pe deget, aceasta se trezeste. Acum luna iar spune ca cea mai frumoasa este Nourie iar mama vitrega moare de suparare.

Armenian Inspiration/ Inspiratii Armeniene Part 3

Here is part 3 of my Armenian collection. I wanted to recreate some of the traditional clothes and traditional elements in my pendants.

Aceasta este partea a treia a colectiei de inspiratie armeniana. Am dorit sa recreez cateva dintre hainele traditionale si elementele traditionale in urmatoarele pandantive

Pendant:

Nazeli:

From Armenian adjective nazeli "gracious" which is spread now.

 Figurine:

Pendants: 

Agnes:

From Greek agne "clean", "saint", "modest". In Armenia the name of Latin St. Agnes was spread no less than Arm Srbuhi, Makruhi. It is also met in the forms Agnos, Agnaz. Now the form borrowed from Russian (Agnes) is used.

Alina:

is one of the diminutive forms of the Russian name Alevtina (Alya, Alina) which comes from Greek aleuo "inaccessible", "unattainable". It is in use since XX c. till now.

Shushik:

From Armenian shushan "lily" flower name+ik diminutive suffix. It is an old Arm name, which is spread. It symbolises tenderness, gentleness. 

I searched online for various inspiration sources that I used in this entire collection and I have compiled them on this pinterest board. 

Here are some of the images I used for inspiration:

Iata cateva dintre imaginile folosite ca inspiratie pe care le puteti gasi pe link-ul catre pinterest de mai sus. 

Source for names: http://www.armenians.com