I love the “conversation” of the blog format. I don’t have to sit around and think of what to write about next, because when I send something out there to you, you come back with questions and ideas that keep things going.

 

You all remember our bowls made of Celluclay?

Well this weekend, my friend Linda, way over there near Dallas, Texas, thought she’d start her Celluclay projects, but she ran into some trouble and sent out an SOS. She was suffering from “sticky-ness”. Was the clay supposed to be like that? I remembered that it was somewhat sticky, but certainly not *that* sticky.

 

Linda wanted to make some pieces like handmade paper to see what would happen. Well, I’ve been wanting to do that too - mostly because I’d like to see if Celluclay can take a Sheer Heaven transfer. I thought I’d better just go do it so I could help Linda out (and refresh my own memory about the sticky-ness thing).

 

I shredded about a cup of Celluclay into a Baskin Robbins container - aahh . . . the fond memories of my favorite flavor - Baseball Nut - cashews and raspberries in vanilla. It only comes around for a short while in Spring (thank heavens)  - and I don’t even use a bowl. I just strap that quart container on like a feedbag. People think it’s an allergy mask. Little do they know!

Anyway, I digress. Back to the Celluclay . . .

 

So I ran a little water into the clay and kneaded until it looked like that egg shaped ball above. It wasn’t sticky. I wondered if maybe Linda had too much water in hers.

I covered a couple pieces of cardboard with plastic wrap and cut the ball of clay in half. Just in that much elapsed time, I had “sticky” happening. I misted with my water spray bottle - no more sticky. I wondered if maybe Linda had too little  water in hers.

 

I flattened a bit by hand and then put another piece of plastic wrap on top of the clay and rolled it out like pie dough until it was the size and shape I wanted.

I then took off the top sheet of plastic wrap. misted the clay with water and smoothed with quick movements of my fingers (like a windshield wiper on high).

 

This gets a lot of the bumpiness out and results in about the smoothest surface you can get from a paper maché clay.

 

If you find any *major* lumps that you can’t smooth out, remove them and smooth the clay over the empty spot. Keep misting.

 A deckled edge is characteristic of handmade paper, and while we could pull away the edges of the bowls we made because they hung off the edge of the support bowl, this is different because the clay is lying “stuck” to a surface.

 

So the best method here is to dab and pull away at the edges with the tip of your index finger. Keep misting as you go.

This entire procedure took only 20 minutes! My two sheets of “paper” are lying on a table in my hall - still on their Glad Wrap covered cardboard. The reason they are not in the studio is that I have to keep an eye on them as they dry. If you keep them in a place you walk past all the time, you won’t forget to flip them.The sheets curl as they dry and they have to be flipped over frequently to give each side equal exposure to the air.

 

Already this evening the edges are beginning to curl away from the Glad Wrap (Santa Fe is dry!), and I was actually able to do my first flip.

 

You can never get the sheets to dry perfectly flat, but you can steam iron them flat after they have dried completely (or so I’m told).

 

I have lots of ideas about what might be done with the sheets when they are dry. Stay tuned.