I have finished with my experiments with the Kato White which browned slightly during the baking process. I managed to find the scraps of the clay I used on my tutorial, and re-cured a small square from the different bits, one bit discoloured, but the rest were fine. In fact I can clearly see where there are 2 colours on one small square where I obviously mixed them slightly. To make sure it wasn't the tile or where they were placed in my oven, I then cured a whole tile of little pieces across the tile using the 'non' browning white. They were all fine. So, my conclusion is that there was one small batch of the white which for some reason (maybe I had stored it badly or contaminated it in some way - I may never know) browned slightly, but all the rest cured properly. I hope that has answered any questions that the tutorial results may have raised :)
Maybe the place you purchased it from stored it improperly. Maybe they had a power outage and an extreme temp fluctuations incurred. Maybe it was just a funky batch they mixed at the factory. I'm new in the clay world but constant inconsistencies in the clays I buy here is something im dealing with nearly every day..unfortunately.
This was absolutely fascinating! I have used Fimo, Kato and Premo for caning. I agree, I like Kato the best. And it’s no wonder. Donna Kato is a master at working polymer clay.
I must say, this was extremely informative. I have been learning so much from your videos and just need to say thank you. I cannot wait to see how well I do at making canes. With you as one of my teachers I am sure I'll thrive. 😊😁
Thank you Fiona. You are so generous with your time, effort and knowledge. I certainly understand more than I did before. It is quite a task here, comparing and showing to us methodically, what the differences are between the 6 brands of polymer clay. I deeply appreciate it. This is a very good video.
Thank you for a wonderful comparison and tutorial - fascinating to know. Really enjoyed the outcome of these and greatly appreciate the long amount of time it must have taken to do this. Thank you again Fiona and have a beautiful day.
Fiona, You are the person I want to watch and listen to after a long day. Thank you for taking the time to make fabulous tutorials. Im so grateful for you
This is a fantastic tutorial Fiona.so informative.Thankyou for your time and sharing it with .Absolutely love all your work and you are an excellent tutor. Can’t wait to try this.
I forgot to mention the color combing you did in the beginning of the video. This was very interesting; I wouldn’t have thought certain brand of clays would mix differently than others in the same proportion. I have truly learned a lot in this video and I appreciate the time you put into making it.
Just adore this cane as it to me has a tiny fox face when put together in two ways - gonna try make one with the fox 🦊 being orange 😍 thank you for sharing this
Thank you, Fiona for presenting a tutorial of scientific caliber. I would never have thought there would be so much difference in color strength between the various brands. I primarily use Katoclay so I don't much about the others. I have had the experience of having the white Katoclay "brown" to various degrees. Usually, it is a pleasing antique white after baking, but once it just looked scorched and that may well have been my oven, which is possessed and does what it will. When I want a pristine white, I use Sculpey Premo which is what I guessed for the pendant at the beginning. Once again, you have provided clear, easy to understand instructions coupled with your calm, no-nonsense assurance that everyone can create a beautiful kaleidoscope cane. Bravo!
Thank you so much Gritty Kitty. If I cure the Kato at the recommended temperature it does normally stay white - I honestly don't know what happened with this bead? If I cure the Kato at a higher temperature, it does go slightly off white, but like you, I normally use this to my advantage in a design, rather than a disadvantage. I do love using Kato, but then I also like the other clays too - what's a girl to do ;)
Wow this is an extraordinary video! The title is a bit misleading: there is so much information here about how to cane, how to match up kaleidoscope slices, how to mix colours, a book review, a clay brands comparison... and also how to make a hollow bead along the way! Thanks so much for all the work you have put into this, to give us a wonderful resource, all for free!
Just excellent! As ever Fiona, thank you for an extremely useful and informative tutorial. Your way of joining the two halves is new to me, love it! Went to bed last night and my head full of ideas of how that message could be use for dozens of things I would like to do so thank you again for your generosity.
What an extraordinarily in-depth, thorough, educational and inspiring video, Fiona! I'm so impressed by your knowledge and professional presentation skills, as well as your generosity in sharing with us so freely. I am so very grateful for all you do♡ and I am in love with this cane!
I really enjoyed this tutorial. I loved the way you did your comparisons in regards to the types of clay. I also loved the cane you made, and the fact that it was done in black and white.....always a wonderful combination! The resulting pendants are quite simply beautiful.
What a wonderful tutorial! I really loved how you not only showed us how to do this beautiful pendant, but at the same time gave us a look at the differences in each of the polymer clays. I am just starting out with the polymer clay and most of my clay that I have gotten so far is the Premo Sculpey. I also have never seen that technique with putting the halves together with the ring of raw clay and I thought that was just genius! Thanks so much for all of your hard work to bring us this very fun and informative tutorial.
Thank you so much for this very interesting comparison. Not really surprised at your findings, but like you, find the browning on the kato a big surprise!
Thanks Fran, yes I don't know quite what was going on there, I am going to do a bit more experimenting and see if maybe that was simply an 'odd' bit of Kato ? :)
Great video showing the differences! I've been on a clay hiatus lately, but watching your videos has got me wondering if I might not need to get back to it now lol. I did notice that when you showed the pieces together, I see a fox face, and in that spot, the different clays are really showing the changes. All I have used is Premo so I think I'll be sticking with it! Thanks for the hard work you do!!!
This is a great comparison video and obviously took a lot of time. Thank you for sharing this with us. Currently, I’ve worked solely with Premo, but I do have some Soufflé in my stash. After watching this video, I think I will continue my cane work in Premo because I’m still new at cane making and I need all the assistance I can get from the clay working with me. I think the Soufflé might be a little soft at this point because part of my issue in caning is losing the detail to distortion.
Once again, you have made me want to get my clay out! 😊 This just shows me that I'm doing the right thing, that is, using the clay I'm most familiar with for the majority of my projects! The Kato white has been a bit of an issue with me, so it's nice to know that it's not just me With the discoloration! Thank you for this tutorial, I hope you are enjoying your 'new' workroom! X
Thank you so much for sharing..I really appreciate your indepth teaching, especially sharing personal learned tips & tricks..that is invaluable knowledge..thanks again Good bless you
What an enormous amount of work! A HUGE Thank You for the great amount of time and work you did for not only yourself but for us, as well. Wonderful amount of knowledge. Awesome tutorial!!!
Thank you, Fiona, for this comparison video. I learned quite a lot. I have also used Kato and had the white turn an off white color. From what I've heard, it's more likely to happen with multiple bakings. I've not done my own research, so I'll be interested to see what you find out. And I love how you pieced the hollow beads together. I'm definitely going to use that technique!
That discoloration is fascinating. I actually love it but Im sure that if very white was the goal it may be a bit of a let down. Thank you for the intensive video!
Thanks Cindy, yes the off white is very weird, I genuinely have no idea why that happened, don't let it put you off. Normally if Kato is cured at the recommended temperature the white will stay white - I think this was just an annoying anomaly (although I quite like it in the actual design). :)
Wow, fabulous Fiona! That was a great comparison and a beautiful cane. I once ordered the Kato clay on-line, years ago when it first came out, but I found it was so rock hard that even with conditioner I couldn't get it to give. The retailer told me that there was nothing wrong with the clay, but I've always wondered. Maybe I will give it another go. I noticed the design on the Kato is very sharp and I actually like the discoloring of the white. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with all.
Yes I think the recipe has changed slightly over the years for Kato, I love using it, although it is still hard on the hands, if you are able to, and want really crisp canes, then Kato is great for that. Many thanks :)
I don't know what I enjoyed more....the beautiful tutorial on this fabulous cane, the colors of clay you used (I adore black and white) or your wonderful soothing lyrical voice!! I love your videos, and I appreciate the time you spend on each and every one. New subscriber here, I smashed the like button, and rang the bell too. A heartfelt thank you from a newbie who is purchasing her clay today!
Amazing video! I have that color book. It's fabulous! It helped me realize I wasn't imagining things and that the different brands DO mix differently. I just had to wrap my brain around it, especially when you are using one brand for a long time and then try another.
This is so very helpful! thank you for your generosity and sharing. I'm only using Premo right now (new to this) and wondered about the other brands. It's also very heartening to see what a combination of quite simple canes can produce. Love the little fox head!
Oh wow this was an awesome tutorial! I will for sure need to watch it more then once to catch all the learning! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us! ❤️❤️❤️👌👌👏👏👏🥰🥰🥰🥰
Thank you for a really interesting video, Fiona, and an impressive cane - I saw fox heads! I'm really surprised that you got such a crisp result with Premo - I think I must be too heavy-handed with it so I will try harder 'next time'! Certainly Meg Newberg's canes using it are wonderful. I love Cernit and Soufflé for caning and generally manage to avoid distortion with those. Oh - and your way of putting the two bead halves together was new to me and such a good idea 🤗
Interesting about the Kato white - I haven't ever really had a problem with discolouration of white. Be interested to see if you learn more. Thanks for sharing the tutorial.
I know, that was quite a surprise for me too, especially the difference in the same piece? I know, because I cure it at a higher heat often, that the white can go very slightly off colour, but I hadn't done that here. I had to mention it, as it was so clearly shown up in the finished piece. As you know, I love using Kato, and use it in most of my work these days. :) I will keep investigating.
Yes, it was very interesting to see, and I would love to know your findings on this. You might want to contact Kato, and see if they can give you some of their stock for experimentation on this as well!
@@Lahkendov as I said to Cara, I use Kato all the time, and although I do normally cure at a much higher temperature than recommended on the packet, I have never had this two colour in the same piece before. I didn't feel as though I could do a 'do over' as I was doing this as a straight comparison experiment in the video, but I really have no idea why this happened. However, if I hadn't mentioned it, I am sure eagle eyed viewers would have done, as it is so clear to see on the finished piece. I will see what I can find out :)
Thank you for this tutarial, Fiona!! I love my fimo soft and professional. Could be because i live in Germany, and we hardly get other brands in Stores! But still, your tutorial is very helpful. I hope to get my hands on Keto one of these days!
Thanks Cindylee :) Like you, I love my FIMO, but then I also love Kato and PREMO, and ………. ;) I am just very lucky that I can get my hands on all of them quite easily in the UK :)
Fiona Abel-Smith PolyOriginals i have to order other brands. I have a few blocks of Premo and i really like it.Oh and the Cernit Metallics, and i like them as well. But i am honest, fimo is my #1! :)
As always magnificent tutorial. I love how you teach and explain and show everything. By the time the video is over any questions I'd had are always answered. Thank you Fiona =).. I see Foxes in the cane. I love Foxes =)
LESCREAS D'EVE Merci pour ce comparatif très intéressant et comme toujours une cane très élégante et un résultat multiple absolument stupéfiant de régularité. Cordialement
Very interesting tutorial. I started out with Sculpey III that I received as a gift and do not like the results for jewelry. Switching to Premo, I will do a similar test.
Fiona, this is amazing. I love the comparisons and I am learning so much from you! Can I ask the brand of waxy paper you used for putting the slices on?! It looks really good and shiny for doing things like this. I’m in the UK too! Xx
Thanks so much Victoria :) At 36 minutes, I mention that it is baking sheet/parchment. You can buy it on a roll from loads of places and there are lots of different makes too. I simply cut it into squares to work on. It's the one you can put in the oven and bake cookies on and other things :) I hope that helps :)
I have just got my pasta maker and a few blocks of polymer clay, and so keen to begin my new hobby. I would love to create a rainbow cane, and make small earring, that would display the rainbow when the cane is sliced. Have I chose a difficult test piece, and have you done something similar? I do enjoy your site, and fingers crossed, have learned lots from you. Thank you.
Hi Maggie, so glad you are enjoying polymer clay :) Off the top of my head, I would get slices of the rainbow colours and make them into an oblong block. Make a similar block of your background colour. Wrap the coloured slices around a roller to get the curve to your rainbow block. Do exactly the same to your other plain block. When you put the two together they should leave a round hole in the centre. Roll a log of the plain colour to fit that, and put your two blocks around it. Finally wrap a layer of the plain colour round the whole thing, Once reduced you have a rainbow cane - hope that makes sense, have fun, experiment and enjoy :)
They are very nice but the design is too complicated for a beginner but you have done a very hard good comparison. I have bought Mont marte clay which is new from this company. I have not touched them yet but I hope next week I shall be able to try.
Dear Fiona,you are the best, thank you for sharing your knowledge to us, we are so greatful.I was just wondering if i can use sculpey liquid bakeable clay gold with fimo soft and fimo professional?
Thank you :) Yes, as long as the clays bake at the same temperature, in my experience, you can mix and match almost anything from the various brands, and they work well together :)
Do you know mc eschers work? This looks like his tessellations. I love your work. You certainly have a lot of patience. Do you keep the prices and Clay covered while your working? This is an observation and question...how many times /total time can you bake polymer? Did you cook the piece with the glaze on? In the order you did the kaleidoscope piece it looked like the final step was baked with the glaze on.
Thanks so much Joni :) No I don't cover the pieces or clay while I am working. If I am not using them for a while I will store them, not touching each other, in a plastic box, but simply to keep any dust off them. The clay remains usable for months/years until it is baked/cured. I did not bake with any glaze on, these were sanded and polished (with no glaze, just using a cotton polishing mop) after baking. No, I am not that familiar with his work, I will go and do some research, as soon as I get a chance ;)
Have you heard of Pappa’s Clay? It’s incredibly hard to work with until it’s well and truly conditioned. It would be interesting to hear your opinions.
Yes I do havce some and have tried it out. While I like it, and it does actually cane quite well, I find the conditioning a slight problem for me. Hand conditioning it doesn't work so well for me as I have some arthritus, and I have to condition small bits at a time. As I work in large amounts - my canes often have several packets worth of clay in them, it just takes to long to condition (I am not the world's most patient person in that respect ;) ) the amount I need to be viable for me. I do however like it, and am looking forward to perhaps using it on a sculpture type piece of work, where I use smaller amounts of clay at a time :)
This is an old-ish video, so do forgive me, but I wanted to ask a sort of follow-up question to the one you're answering in this tutorial. You say you use all of the types of clay shown here, and they all do well for different things, so a: how would you divide them in terms of "I prefer clay A for use X" (e.g. like Sculpey Premo for the dragon wings, I think you said)? and b: Assuming you had all varieties on hand in the desired colours, are there any uses that you'd entirely avoid using a particular clay for? (e.g. I would imagine Fimo Soft should be avoided for very detailed, intricate canes where keeping a specific design is important, because of how it distorts)
That requires an answer that would fill a book probably :) Yes, I would avoid FIMO Soft for any really complex cane designs, but I use it all the time for kaleidoscopes :) I use Kato if I need thin, strong elements to my piece - would avoid Fimo soft for those, Premo has more flexibility when cured etc. etc.... As I say this could go on and on. Also, each year more brands of clay are coming to the market with different attributes, and sometimes the main manufacturers change their clay formulas too, so it is a constantly changing situation. For a really complex insight of all the different clays do have a look at the Blue Bottle Tree. Ginger's work on all of this is second to none, I have put the link to her website in the video description above, just click on 'show more' and follow the link. I hope that helps?
@@FionaAbelSmithPolyOriginals Thank you so much for your answer! I'll definitely have a look at the Blue Bottle Tree. I'm a research-the-heck-out-of-a-thing-before-trying-it sort of person. My mother once told me I started speaking relatively late, but came out with complete sentences from the start, like I was waiting until I figured out what this language thing was all about before trying my hand at it. I seem to approach everything that way, including polymer clay. Thanks again for taking the time to reply, and for all your super helpful and inspiring videos.
It is the Sculpey Hollow Bead Maker and is available from many stores/online which sell polymer clay products. Here it is from the makers themsleves - www.sculpey.com/products/53-sculpey-hollow-bead-maker I hope that helps 🙂
You put a lot of work into this video! Thank you so much for it! Two questions 1. Where did you get the dome tray from (available in Europe)? And 2. How do you polish and varnish your pieces?
Thank you, the tray can be purchased form any good retailer who stock Sculpey clay and tools :) I sand my pieces, as mentioned in the video on wet/dry sandpaper, and then buff them to a high sheen using a polishing mop on a bench grinder. I rarely use varnish on my pieces, but if I do, then I use a type of varnish recommended by the producers of the brand of clay I am using. I hope that helps :)
these aren't glazed, they are sanded and buffed to a high polish. If you need to know about glazes for polymer clay, then check out the Blue Bottle Tree, and search under glazes :) thebluebottletree.com/?s=glazes I hope that helps :)
FIMO Professional is the second firmest clay that I work with on a regular basis. Once you get it going it is okay, let the pasta machine (if you have one) do the hard work for you, and it soon becomes lovely to work with. This is why I condition all my clay using the pasta machine ( check out my conditioning clay video) as the clay quickly becomes good to work with. I hope that is of some help? :)
I have finished with my experiments with the Kato White which browned slightly during the baking process. I managed to find the scraps of the clay I used on my tutorial, and re-cured a small square from the different bits, one bit discoloured, but the rest were fine. In fact I can clearly see where there are 2 colours on one small square where I obviously mixed them slightly. To make sure it wasn't the tile or where they were placed in my oven, I then cured a whole tile of little pieces across the tile using the 'non' browning white. They were all fine. So, my conclusion is that there was one small batch of the white which for some reason (maybe I had stored it badly or contaminated it in some way - I may never know) browned slightly, but all the rest cured properly. I hope that has answered any questions that the tutorial results may have raised :)
Maybe the place you purchased it from stored it improperly. Maybe they had a power outage and an extreme temp fluctuations incurred. Maybe it was just a funky batch they mixed at the factory. I'm new in the clay world but constant inconsistencies in the clays I buy here is something im dealing with nearly every day..unfortunately.
@@MisKandi Yes it could have been any of those - I will never know, it was just a little frustrating as it skewed the results slightly 😉🙃
This was absolutely fascinating! I have used Fimo, Kato and Premo for caning. I agree, I like Kato the best. And it’s no wonder. Donna Kato is a master at working polymer clay.
She certainly is, I am glad you liked the video, thanks so much Barb 🙂
I love how it looks like a stylized husky dog or fox in 2 of the 3 kaleidoscopes.
Another great video!
Thank you so much 🙂
You put a very large amount of time & effort into creating this video for our benefit. It is very greatly appreciated. THANK YOU so Very Much!!!🥰🥰🥰
You are very welcome, thank you for such a lovely comment Andrea :)
This was very interesting. Thanks Fiona
You're welcome, thanks so much 🙂
I must say, this was extremely informative. I have been learning so much from your videos and just need to say thank you. I cannot wait to see how well I do at making canes. With you as one of my teachers I am sure I'll thrive. 😊😁
Thak you so much, I am very glad it was helpful - have fun with your canes 🙂
I always enjoy your videos. You do wonderful work
Thank you so much Lynda 🙂
Thank you Fiona. You are so generous with your time, effort and knowledge. I certainly understand more than I did before. It is quite a task here, comparing and showing to us methodically, what the differences are between the 6 brands of polymer clay. I deeply appreciate it. This is a very good video.
I am so glad it was useful, and thank you for such a lovely comment 🙂
Thank you for a wonderful comparison and tutorial - fascinating to know. Really enjoyed the outcome of these and greatly appreciate the long amount of time it must have taken to do this. Thank you again Fiona and have a beautiful day.
Thanks so much Mandy, you too 🙂
great instruction and comparison
Thanks so much Lynette :)
Fiona,
You are the person I want to watch and listen to after a long day. Thank you for taking the time to make fabulous tutorials. Im so grateful for you
Thank you so much Cathy for such a lovely compliment :)
Beautiful thank you Fiona
Thanks so much Eileen 🙂
This is a fantastic tutorial Fiona.so informative.Thankyou for your time and sharing it with .Absolutely love all your work and you are an excellent tutor. Can’t wait to try this.
Thanks so much Christine :)
Amazing and beautiful. I don't use polymer clay but I find your videos calming during this difficult time Thank you.
that's so nice to hear, thank you, stay safe and well. :)
Loved the test. Great results. Love the cane and how they played out.
Thanks so much Jennie :)
Thank you so much for putting these together… I can’t get mine to look as perfect as yours but I’m learning :) you are a fabulous teacher
Thanks so much Elise, just have fun and enjoy the journey 🙂
I forgot to mention the color combing you did in the beginning of the video. This was very interesting; I wouldn’t have thought certain brand of clays would mix differently than others in the same proportion. I have truly learned a lot in this video and I appreciate the time you put into making it.
Thanks so much Liz :)
That's very beautiful. Thank you.
Thank you so much :)
Just adore this cane as it to me has a tiny fox face when put together in two ways - gonna try make one with the fox 🦊 being orange 😍 thank you for sharing this
Thanks Jezebel, yes I can see the fox faces too :)
I saw the foxes too! 😍
The Kato cane is so crisp!
Yes, I think so too, thanks Haffina :)
Thank you so much for your video, Fiona. It's very beautiful.
Thank you very much :)
Again, some more works of art. Thank you
You are welcome, thank you Sofia :)
Thank you, Fiona for presenting a tutorial of scientific caliber. I would never have thought there would be so much difference in color strength between the various brands. I primarily use Katoclay so I don't much about the others. I have had the experience of having the white Katoclay "brown" to various degrees. Usually, it is a pleasing antique white after baking, but once it just looked scorched and that may well have been my oven, which is possessed and does what it will. When I want a pristine white, I use Sculpey Premo which is what I guessed for the pendant at the beginning.
Once again, you have provided clear, easy to understand instructions coupled with your calm, no-nonsense assurance that everyone can create a beautiful kaleidoscope cane. Bravo!
Thank you so much Gritty Kitty. If I cure the Kato at the recommended temperature it does normally stay white - I honestly don't know what happened with this bead? If I cure the Kato at a higher temperature, it does go slightly off white, but like you, I normally use this to my advantage in a design, rather than a disadvantage. I do love using Kato, but then I also like the other clays too - what's a girl to do ;)
@@FionaAbelSmithPolyOriginals I've been wanting to get my hands on some Cernit to explore its unique properties. So much clay, so little time.
@@grittykitty50 Yes, Cernit is another wonderful brand :) I am like you, I need more time !!!!! :)
Wow this is an extraordinary video! The title is a bit misleading: there is so much information here about how to cane, how to match up kaleidoscope slices, how to mix colours, a book review, a clay brands comparison... and also how to make a hollow bead along the way! Thanks so much for all the work you have put into this, to give us a wonderful resource, all for free!
Thanks Janet, yes I had a bit of a problem trying to encompass everything in the video into a title ;) I am so glad you liked it :)
Well said, she definitely gave us a little bit of everything.
Wonderful
Thank you so much 🙂
well this is a LOT of work!!!! :) love the black and whites!
Thanks so much Lizzie :)
Very beautiful, informative and interesting tutorial. Thank you for sharing so much of your knowledge.
Thank you so much Miren :)
Just excellent! As ever Fiona, thank you for an extremely useful and informative tutorial. Your way of joining the two halves is new to me, love it! Went to bed last night and my head full of ideas of how that message could be use for dozens of things I would like to do so thank you again for your generosity.
I am so pleased, thank you Bella :)
What an extraordinarily in-depth, thorough, educational and inspiring video, Fiona! I'm so impressed by your knowledge and professional presentation skills, as well as your generosity in sharing with us so freely. I am so very grateful for all you do♡ and I am in love with this cane!
Oh wow, what a lovely comment Eileen, thank you so much :)
I really enjoyed this tutorial. I loved the way you did your comparisons in regards to the types of clay. I also loved the cane you made, and the fact that it was done in black and white.....always a wonderful combination! The resulting pendants are quite simply beautiful.
Thank you so much Marion :)
What a wonderful tutorial! I really loved how you not only showed us how to do this beautiful pendant, but at the same time gave us a look at the differences in each of the polymer clays. I am just starting out with the polymer clay and most of my clay that I have gotten so far is the Premo Sculpey. I also have never seen that technique with putting the halves together with the ring of raw clay and I thought that was just genius! Thanks so much for all of your hard work to bring us this very fun and informative tutorial.
You are very welcome, thanks so much Christy :)
Thank you so much!
Thank you Valerie :)
Wonderfully informative! I keep repeating myself with each new video you produce-you are an amazing teacher. Thank you!
Thank you so much Maude :)
This was a fabulous tutorial. I saved this information to use as a refence. Thanks for sharing.
You are so welcome, thank you :)
Thank you so much for this very interesting comparison. Not really surprised at your findings, but like you, find the browning on the kato a big surprise!
Thanks Fran, yes I don't know quite what was going on there, I am going to do a bit more experimenting and see if maybe that was simply an 'odd' bit of Kato ? :)
Great video showing the differences! I've been on a clay hiatus lately, but watching your videos has got me wondering if I might not need to get back to it now lol. I did notice that when you showed the pieces together, I see a fox face, and in that spot, the different clays are really showing the changes. All I have used is Premo so I think I'll be sticking with it! Thanks for the hard work you do!!!
So glad you like it, and yes, I see the fox face too ;) Thanks you :)
This is a great comparison video and obviously took a lot of time. Thank you for sharing this with us. Currently, I’ve worked solely with Premo, but I do have some Soufflé in my stash. After watching this video, I think I will continue my cane work in Premo because I’m still new at cane making and I need all the assistance I can get from the clay working with me. I think the Soufflé might be a little soft at this point because part of my issue in caning is losing the detail to distortion.
Thanks Liz :) Yes, stick with what you have, I found the PREMO to be a good all round clay, and it caned well, thanks so much for your comment :)
Dear Fiona, I wish you a wonderful Sundaymorning! Thank you for the video.
thanks so much Lilly :)
Thank you Fiona, really great tutorial. You explain everything so clearly in your lovely voice! ❤️
Thank you so much Luisa :)
Amazing again Fiona. Love the black and white. Thank you for your videos. So helpful for me as a beginner
Thanks so much Annelie :)
Thank you so much for spending all this time demonstrating and explaining this caning process !!! Such a wonderful tutorial 😍 !!!! I learned a lot 😃
Thanks so much Sabine :)
Once again, you have made me want to get my clay out! 😊 This just shows me that I'm doing the right thing, that is, using the clay I'm most familiar with for the majority of my projects! The Kato white has been a bit of an issue with me, so it's nice to know that it's not just me With the discoloration! Thank you for this tutorial, I hope you are enjoying your 'new' workroom! X
Thanks so much Liz :) and yes, I am loving my new organised room ;)
Thank you so much for sharing..I really appreciate your indepth teaching, especially sharing personal learned tips & tricks..that is invaluable knowledge..thanks again
Good bless you
That is so lovely to hear, thank you Tanya :)
What an enormous amount of work! A HUGE Thank You for the great amount of time and work you did for not only yourself but for us, as well. Wonderful amount of knowledge. Awesome tutorial!!!
Thank you so much Donna :)
Thank you, Fiona, for this comparison video. I learned quite a lot. I have also used Kato and had the white turn an off white color. From what I've heard, it's more likely to happen with multiple bakings. I've not done my own research, so I'll be interested to see what you find out. And I love how you pieced the hollow beads together. I'm definitely going to use that technique!
Thanks so much Carol :)
That discoloration is fascinating. I actually love it but Im sure that if very white was the goal it may be a bit of a let down. Thank you for the intensive video!
Thanks Cindy, yes the off white is very weird, I genuinely have no idea why that happened, don't let it put you off. Normally if Kato is cured at the recommended temperature the white will stay white - I think this was just an annoying anomaly (although I quite like it in the actual design). :)
Very interesting. As always, a pleasure to watch and listen to you.
Thanks so much Stephanie :)
Wow, fabulous Fiona! That was a great comparison and a beautiful cane. I once ordered the Kato clay on-line, years ago when it first came out, but I found it was so rock hard that even with conditioner I couldn't get it to give. The retailer told me that there was nothing wrong with the clay, but I've always wondered. Maybe I will give it another go. I noticed the design on the Kato is very sharp and I actually like the discoloring of the white. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with all.
Yes I think the recipe has changed slightly over the years for Kato, I love using it, although it is still hard on the hands, if you are able to, and want really crisp canes, then Kato is great for that. Many thanks :)
@@FionaAbelSmithPolyOriginals Good to know, thank you!
Thank you for the very detailed comparison! Much appreciated!
Thank you Sally :)
That was amazing! I really appreciate your experience and knowledge.
thanks so much Lisa :)
Thank you, Fiona. Another fabulous tutorial and a great comparison of the different clays.
Thanks so much Anne :)
I don't know what I enjoyed more....the beautiful tutorial on this fabulous cane, the colors of clay you used (I adore black and white) or your wonderful soothing lyrical voice!! I love your videos, and I appreciate the time you spend on each and every one. New subscriber here, I smashed the like button, and rang the bell too. A heartfelt thank you from a newbie who is purchasing her clay today!
Ahh bless you, you have made my day, thank you so much :)
Amazing video! I have that color book. It's fabulous! It helped me realize I wasn't imagining things and that the different brands DO mix differently. I just had to wrap my brain around it, especially when you are using one brand for a long time and then try another.
yes, once you realise that, it changes everything !! Thanks Andrea :)
This is so very helpful! thank you for your generosity and sharing. I'm only using Premo right now (new to this) and wondered about the other brands. It's also very heartening to see what a combination of quite simple canes can produce. Love the little fox head!
Thanks so much Linda :)
Very very interesting Fiona, Thank you. x x
thanks so much Jo :)
So helpful and informative. And your voice is so lovely! Thank you for this video!
Thanks so much Emily :)
Thank you for this video!! Very interesting how different the colors are between each clays! ❤️
Oh wow this was an awesome tutorial! I will for sure need to watch it more then once to catch all the learning! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us! ❤️❤️❤️👌👌👏👏👏🥰🥰🥰🥰
Thanks so much Donna :)
Thank you, so much. I am so impressed with your research and testing ... amazing.
That was amazing and so well done! Thank you for your time!!
You're welcome, thank you Deborah :)
A wonderful and informative tutorial, as well as a beautiful cane. Thank you so much for all your hard work
Thanks so much Leona :)
Thank you for a really interesting video, Fiona, and an impressive cane - I saw fox heads! I'm really surprised that you got such a crisp result with Premo - I think I must be too heavy-handed with it so I will try harder 'next time'! Certainly Meg Newberg's canes using it are wonderful.
I love Cernit and Soufflé for caning and generally manage to avoid distortion with those. Oh - and your way of putting the two bead halves together was new to me and such a good idea 🤗
Thanks so much Carrie, I am so glad you enjoyed it :)
Excelente y muy interesante video Fiona,gracias por compartir y seguir enseñándonos👏👏👏👏😘😘😘😘
usted es bienvenido Juana :)
Pharaonique!!! Et merveilleux. 🙌❤❤
Merci beaucoup :)
wow! so much work, and so very helpful too. answered many ? i had. thank you. and, yes, there be foxes!
Thanks so much Penelope, and yes, accidental, but definite foxes ;)
Inspiring! So precise and clearly explained. You've brought canes back to me (I fail at them usually, but this looks so clear!) Thank you!!
Excelent Video Fiona, as always.
Thank you so much Erika :)
Brilliant Fiona, thank you ♥
Thank you Jeannie :)
The bottom left one looks like a face 🥰! I love them, Thankyou x
yes, as many people have said, there are definitely 'fox' and other faces to be seen, thanks effeldog :)
Great tutorial 💗👏🏻💗👏🏻💗 thank you for sharing this 😊 You really do such a nice job explaining the process and the differences 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Thanks so much Shelly :)
What a great video! I’ve ordered some supplies and I can’t wait to get started!
I am so pleased, thanks Martha, and have great fun :)
Lovely! I really got into the video. I learned so much and got so many ideas! Thank you!
Thank you so much Leetzanna :)
I love this, very beautiful. Thank you
thanks so much MissMoan :)
Interesting about the Kato white - I haven't ever really had a problem with discolouration of white. Be interested to see if you learn more. Thanks for sharing the tutorial.
I know, that was quite a surprise for me too, especially the difference in the same piece? I know, because I cure it at a higher heat often, that the white can go very slightly off colour, but I hadn't done that here. I had to mention it, as it was so clearly shown up in the finished piece. As you know, I love using Kato, and use it in most of my work these days. :) I will keep investigating.
Yes, it was very interesting to see, and I would love to know your findings on this. You might want to contact Kato, and see if they can give you some of their stock for experimentation on this as well!
@@Lahkendov as I said to Cara, I use Kato all the time, and although I do normally cure at a much higher temperature than recommended on the packet, I have never had this two colour in the same piece before. I didn't feel as though I could do a 'do over' as I was doing this as a straight comparison experiment in the video, but I really have no idea why this happened. However, if I hadn't mentioned it, I am sure eagle eyed viewers would have done, as it is so clear to see on the finished piece. I will see what I can find out :)
Thank you for this tutarial, Fiona!! I love my fimo soft and professional. Could be because i live in Germany, and we hardly get other brands in Stores! But still, your tutorial is very helpful. I hope to get my hands on Keto one of these days!
Thanks Cindylee :) Like you, I love my FIMO, but then I also love Kato and PREMO, and ………. ;) I am just very lucky that I can get my hands on all of them quite easily in the UK :)
Fiona Abel-Smith PolyOriginals i have to order other brands. I have a few blocks of Premo and i really like it.Oh and the Cernit Metallics, and i like them as well. But i am honest, fimo is my #1! :)
As always magnificent tutorial. I love how you teach and explain and show everything. By the time the video is over any questions I'd had are always answered. Thank you Fiona =).. I see Foxes in the cane. I love Foxes =)
thank you so much Minky, and yes, I can see the foxes too :)
LESCREAS D'EVE Merci pour ce comparatif très intéressant et comme toujours une cane très élégante et un résultat multiple absolument stupéfiant de régularité. Cordialement
Merci beaucoup Fernand Janot :)
thank you so very much this was so interesting...
You're welcome, thank you Dagmar :)
Very interesting tutorial. I started out with Sculpey III that I received as a gift and do not like the results for jewelry. Switching to Premo, I will do a similar test.
Brilliant, thanks Just Having Fun (cool name btw) :)
really awesome video........i think that pendant was made by using Fimo soft......but i might be wrong as well...... :-)
Thanks Rebecca, the pendant at the beginning was PREMO, but it could have been any of them, as they all caned really well ;)
Fiona, this is amazing. I love the comparisons and I am learning so much from you! Can I ask the brand of waxy paper you used for putting the slices on?! It looks really good and shiny for doing things like this. I’m in the UK too! Xx
Thanks so much Victoria :) At 36 minutes, I mention that it is baking sheet/parchment. You can buy it on a roll from loads of places and there are lots of different makes too. I simply cut it into squares to work on. It's the one you can put in the oven and bake cookies on and other things :) I hope that helps :)
I have just got my pasta maker and a few blocks of polymer clay, and so keen to begin my new hobby.
I would love to create a rainbow cane, and make small earring, that would display the rainbow when the cane is sliced.
Have I chose a difficult test piece, and have you done something similar?
I do enjoy your site, and fingers crossed, have learned lots from you.
Thank you.
Hi Maggie, so glad you are enjoying polymer clay :) Off the top of my head, I would get slices of the rainbow colours and make them into an oblong block. Make a similar block of your background colour. Wrap the coloured slices around a roller to get the curve to your rainbow block. Do exactly the same to your other plain block. When you put the two together they should leave a round hole in the centre. Roll a log of the plain colour to fit that, and put your two blocks around it. Finally wrap a layer of the plain colour round the whole thing, Once reduced you have a rainbow cane - hope that makes sense, have fun, experiment and enjoy :)
Fiona Abel-Smith PolyOriginals thank you so very much. Keen to give it a try.
Wonderful "commission" album . . NY-USA
Thank you Roberta :)
They are very nice but the design is too complicated for a beginner but you have done a very hard good comparison. I have bought Mont marte clay which is new from this company. I have not touched them yet but I hope next week I shall be able to try.
Thank you Lilette, that is not a brand I have used so far, but I am sure you will have fun using it :)
Dear Fiona,you are the best, thank you for sharing your knowledge to us, we are so greatful.I was just wondering if i can use sculpey liquid bakeable clay gold with fimo soft and fimo professional?
Thank you :) Yes, as long as the clays bake at the same temperature, in my experience, you can mix and match almost anything from the various brands, and they work well together :)
Thank you very much, we love you
thank you
Thanks Audrey :)
Hi, great information. Would like to know where u got your baking mould from. Thx
Thanks Diane, go to any supplier of Sculpey products, and it should be part of their stock :)
Really nice... I love that dome tray! Where did you find it? I'd love to order one.
Thanks so much, it is the Hollow Bead Maker from Sculpey - search online for places near you to get it 🙂
@@FionaAbelSmithPolyOriginals Thank you. I will find it.. I really love your technique and want to try it. Thanks again!
Do you know mc eschers work? This looks like his tessellations. I love your work. You certainly have a lot of patience. Do you keep the prices and Clay covered while your working? This is an observation and question...how many times /total time can you bake polymer? Did you cook the piece with the glaze on? In the order you did the kaleidoscope piece it looked like the final step was baked with the glaze on.
Thanks so much Joni :) No I don't cover the pieces or clay while I am working. If I am not using them for a while I will store them, not touching each other, in a plastic box, but simply to keep any dust off them. The clay remains usable for months/years until it is baked/cured. I did not bake with any glaze on, these were sanded and polished (with no glaze, just using a cotton polishing mop) after baking. No, I am not that familiar with his work, I will go and do some research, as soon as I get a chance ;)
Have you heard of Pappa’s Clay? It’s incredibly hard to work with until it’s well and truly conditioned. It would be interesting to hear your opinions.
Yes I do havce some and have tried it out. While I like it, and it does actually cane quite well, I find the conditioning a slight problem for me. Hand conditioning it doesn't work so well for me as I have some arthritus, and I have to condition small bits at a time. As I work in large amounts - my canes often have several packets worth of clay in them, it just takes to long to condition (I am not the world's most patient person in that respect ;) ) the amount I need to be viable for me. I do however like it, and am looking forward to perhaps using it on a sculpture type piece of work, where I use smaller amounts of clay at a time :)
You are a modern M.C. Esher in clay.
Oh wow, thanks so much Shucky ducky :)
Thanks Fiona, interesting project. Shame the foxes heads got chopped off two versions.
Thanks Ann, I know, I was thinking maybe I could elaborate on that cane a bit to get an actual animals head ;)
The book is great. I don't speak english very well but I understand everything in this book.
Your video is very interesting thanks ! Kissss !
Thank you :)
This is an old-ish video, so do forgive me, but I wanted to ask a sort of follow-up question to the one you're answering in this tutorial. You say you use all of the types of clay shown here, and they all do well for different things, so a: how would you divide them in terms of "I prefer clay A for use X" (e.g. like Sculpey Premo for the dragon wings, I think you said)? and b: Assuming you had all varieties on hand in the desired colours, are there any uses that you'd entirely avoid using a particular clay for? (e.g. I would imagine Fimo Soft should be avoided for very detailed, intricate canes where keeping a specific design is important, because of how it distorts)
That requires an answer that would fill a book probably :) Yes, I would avoid FIMO Soft for any really complex cane designs, but I use it all the time for kaleidoscopes :) I use Kato if I need thin, strong elements to my piece - would avoid Fimo soft for those, Premo has more flexibility when cured etc. etc.... As I say this could go on and on. Also, each year more brands of clay are coming to the market with different attributes, and sometimes the main manufacturers change their clay formulas too, so it is a constantly changing situation. For a really complex insight of all the different clays do have a look at the Blue Bottle Tree. Ginger's work on all of this is second to none, I have put the link to her website in the video description above, just click on 'show more' and follow the link. I hope that helps?
@@FionaAbelSmithPolyOriginals Thank you so much for your answer! I'll definitely have a look at the Blue Bottle Tree. I'm a research-the-heck-out-of-a-thing-before-trying-it sort of person. My mother once told me I started speaking relatively late, but came out with complete sentences from the start, like I was waiting until I figured out what this language thing was all about before trying my hand at it. I seem to approach everything that way, including polymer clay. Thanks again for taking the time to reply, and for all your super helpful and inspiring videos.
@@FlailTV You are very welcome, enjoy Ginger's site, you may be there a while, it is packed full of the most useful information :)
❤❤❤
Thank you so much 🙂
anyone know if that curved mold is available anywhere?? I love this bead!!!!
It is the Sculpey Hollow Bead Maker and is available from many stores/online which sell polymer clay products. Here it is from the makers themsleves - www.sculpey.com/products/53-sculpey-hollow-bead-maker I hope that helps 🙂
@@FionaAbelSmithPolyOriginals thank you so much!!! I am fascinated by your canes. I watch in complete awe.
@@lauriesmith3672 Thank you 🙂
You put a lot of work into this video! Thank you so much for it! Two questions 1. Where did you get the dome tray from (available in Europe)? And 2. How do you polish and varnish your pieces?
Thank you, the tray can be purchased form any good retailer who stock Sculpey clay and tools :) I sand my pieces, as mentioned in the video on wet/dry sandpaper, and then buff them to a high sheen using a polishing mop on a bench grinder. I rarely use varnish on my pieces, but if I do, then I use a type of varnish recommended by the producers of the brand of clay I am using. I hope that helps :)
What do you use for a glaze
these aren't glazed, they are sanded and buffed to a high polish. If you need to know about glazes for polymer clay, then check out the Blue Bottle Tree, and search under glazes :) thebluebottletree.com/?s=glazes I hope that helps :)
Fiona Abel-Smith PolyOriginals thanks 💕
Fimo for the one at the beginning as you started with fimo and I've never used anything other than fimo and my phones colour contrasts isn't very good
It was actually the PREMO Ben, hopefully you could still see it okay on the phone :)
Is it normal for Fimo Professional to be so hard to work with? It's extremely tough and unyielding.
FIMO Professional is the second firmest clay that I work with on a regular basis. Once you get it going it is okay, let the pasta machine (if you have one) do the hard work for you, and it soon becomes lovely to work with. This is why I condition all my clay using the pasta machine ( check out my conditioning clay video) as the clay quickly becomes good to work with. I hope that is of some help? :)
Fiona Abel-Smith PolyOriginals Thanks for your advice Fiona, much appreciated. Keep up the lovely creations