Here is my method for making bricks. I use Das terra cotta air dry clay. I run a small amount through the pasta machine to the thickness desired.

On a sheet of paper I have drawn a whole sheet of bricks the desired size. I put a heavy clear plastic over this. The piece of clay is laid on this. I take a long straight sharp edge and line it up with my lines of bricks and slightly indent the clay. When this is partially dry I break it apart and turn it over to dry as the edges seem to dry first.

When completely dry I glue the brick to the surface to be bricked after drawing lines to ensure accuracy. When this is dry, I spray with a sealer.

Then I mix water putty and apply as mortar, wiping off the excess gently with a wet paper towel. When this is thoroughly dry, dry brush with various colors.

Juanita in Missouri

On making bricks: I have used Das terra cotta air-drying clay. I roll it between two sheets of wax paper. Score lines using the edge of a steel rule. When leather dry it can be cut with scissors.

It takes paint washing well for color variation and can be stippled for texture. I have also taken scored wood (very thin, maybe 1/32) and broken apart the strips. Painted them, snipped and glued individual bricks. I used the Rik Pierce techniques. Shape paper clay, stipple with a pouncing stiff bristled stencil brush and then paint wash. Both products are available at Joann.

Linda in Leroy, OH

The clay tools you need for Fimo and other polymer clays can be found at http://www.clayfactory.net/kempertools/index.htm

They are Kemper Pattern Cutters. I used these in another lifetime when I made bread dough (yes, that really ages me). You can buy them in sets or individually. I would buy them and then use needle nose pliers to reshape them. You then have to level them off with a file because the reshaping distorts the tube. Look at ceramic shops in your part of the world first. However, they aren't heavy for shipping.

Diane Foster, The Colony TX

I just read about suggestions for Rusty's Wizard of OZ poppy field and thought I would type my suggestion and a great hint for anyone who has never used it before. Crayola model magic - wonderful stuff. I use it for Landscaping all the time. It is light weight, it air dries over night, and you can add things to it, paint it, glue it, and plant your wire plant stems in it after it is dry because it is like styrofoam after drying.

I also used it as the base of my pond. I used a large Tomato Juice can cut down and molded the model Magic around it and even on the bottom of the pond part where the water went. I painted the bottom of the pond and then I glued the entire area with green flocks, added the accessories, and then added the water and the boat before the water firmed up.

Kathy in Cedar Springs, Ontario, Canada

Porcelain Look: To make an item appear as if it is porcelain or China, I made a bowl out of air dry clay. Painted it with white acrylic. Then using a very fine (000) liner brush I painted light blue design on white acrylic. When this dried I coated entire bowl with clear nail polish. No smudging of acrylics and it dried with a high shine.

Bob

To make the tile shiny and ceramic-y looking, use Sculpey glaze. Just one coat does a great job! Available where polymer clays are sold.

Alice Zinn

Fimo Tiles: The best way I have found to make tiles or sections of flat flooring with fimo or clay is to first make yourself some 'formers'. Just simply use different thicknesses of wood, from strip lengths, mine are about 6" long and thickness vary from 1/32" to 1/4" with other sizes in between. Find a small roller, like a plastic rod or a child's small rolling pin and place the strip wood to the left and right on your tile and you can then get very even strips by just rolling as you would pastry.

I usually use a plain white 6" square tile and roll out on this and then bake without moving the Fimo or clay. Very simple and very effective.

Kaye in L.A.

Das Clay: I wanted to clad the walls of my Tudor cottage, but could not find paper clay - so I experimented with DAS. The white clay can be used instead of paperclay on walls etc. Use white glue first and then apply in little balls. Smooth with fingers until the clay is as thick or thin as you desire. Dry overnight. The clay sets rock hard and paints up nicely - I was pretty impressed.

Lesley

Plaster moldings: I think Fimo or air-dry clay would be better for the method I use: Roll out your clay into a long flat strip; in scale. On a piece of scrap wood, draw your design for the molding (remember your design will be reproduced backwards). Paint the surface of the wood with Elmers glue and place string, or thread on the penciled design. What we are making is a stamp. When the glue dries the thread or string will be raised and firmly held in place. Now press the design into the Fimo or air dry clay. If the strip of molding is too long for the oven you use. (in the case of Fimo), use a sharp razor and cut it into sections. These can be glued together later.That is how I make molding with a repeat design.

Dr. Bob, Delray Beach, FL

Crumbling clay: [after baking at 275 for 15 minutes, the pieces were stillsoft. Those tiny fudge squares crumbled when I squeezed one with my tweezers]

Yes, they'll still be somewhat soft and quite flexible when they're hot from the oven. Sculpey III will crumble if it's hot and is fairly brittle even after it's cooled. The weak end-product isn't much of a bother with things that are this tiny and that won't be played with and subject to abuse by children. For particularly thin parts, it's best to use Premo, a much stronger clay that's also very flexible when it's cooled.

The other cause of brittleness or crumbling of cooked and cooled pieces is under baking, which you can get when you don't cook it long enough or at a high enough temperature. If your oven's thermostat is off, for instance, you could be cooking at only 250º and that's not hot enough to complete the fusing process between the molecules.


Elizabeth