Polymer clay is so versatile and strong material if baked correctly. Last night I made my first handmade soap dish out of polymer clay. I used Kato polymer clay. Why I chose Kato? Because according to many polymer clay experts, Kato is one of top polymer clay brands out there. I was just taking their advice. I like the fact that Kato clay colors stay true after baked. Not darkened like other brands. I'm still green in polymer clay, so don't take my word, try for yourself :)
This soap dish is a blend of 4 colors, red, turquoise, white, and magenta. This blend created a muted yet somewhat vibrant maroon-ish purple. I ran it through pasta machine probably 50 times if not more. One of the downside of Kato clay is that they sometimes really hard to condition although I did ran across a few that were quite "soft" out of the wrapper. But the end result is well worth it. So after the clay is well conditioned, supple, and pliable, I cut it into shape and starts adding designs to it. You can see one of my little birdies is standing next to a couple of flowers.
The center of this polymer clay soap dish has holes for drainage. I made a mistake by not giving it a little lift underneath the drainage while baking. The heat from the oven made it changed shape a bit and the middle touched the ground, which means it wouldn't drain well. Luckily Kato clay is still quite flexible when warm. Carefully, I put a stack of paper underneath the drainage and yay! It had a little raise after it cooled down and hard like intended. Glad it was quite forgiving!
I'm quite satisfied by the end result! One tiny annoyance though, It had a tiny ball stuck underneath. That sneaky little bugger! Oh yeah, I dusted mica powders to antiqued it prior baking. It looks tons better!
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