Friday, October 10, 2014

Tip: Cut Down on Sanding

I love working with Creative Paperclay®, but I must admit that I'm not a fan of the sanding process. I've discovered a couple ways to eliminate some of the sanding.
  1. After I have a shape cut out, I dip my finger or a soft artist paint brush in water and gently smooth the edges. The paint brush is great for getting in small or intricate area of the clay design.
  2. For the larger surface areas I coat the clay piece with slip. I use a wet artist paint brush to apply the fairly runny slip. Here's a great blog post about slip—how to make it and what it does. 
When I do have to do finish sanding, I've found that jeweler's files and an emery board work on most of the small projects that I create. Every once in a while I need to break out the Dremel for serious sanding, but the two tips from above always cut down on the sanding time.
Carole