Stuck on sticks…

Oh the little wonders that are cocktail sticks or, if you prefer, toothpicks! Whatever you call them I am sure that you have your own list of top uses for them when mini-making or crafting. Do you use them for dotting glue? I do. Painting with? Done that. Keeping your hair pinned back? LoL yep I have a cocktail stick keeping my fringe held back right now. There are probably a million uses for these little gems of the mini-making world. Do you do something mini related with your cocktail sticks that possibly no-one else does? My favourite use is…
Minis on Sticks

…sculpting on them! They are perfect for creating mini pumpkins and cauliflowers on and a whole lot more too. I have a whole pile of cocktail sticks ready with balls of scrap clay clagged on to the end of them (a great use for the wrongly mixed and mucky beyond salvaging polyclay), baked once to give a firm base, I can then apply the top layer of clay and sculpt to my hearts content whilst holding the stick without fear of squishing the clay with my clumsy fingers! AND check out my nifty cocktail stick holder… totally stable and bakeable… a re-purposed metal shaker top! cool huh?

What is your favourite use for the indispensable cocktail stick?

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The sticky stuff that keeps me unstuck…

blu-tackBlu-Tack

…for me it is a real time, angst and life saver so I thought I would share my uses and reasons for loving this blue and sticky stuff so much and of how I use it every single day… scratch that… every few minutes of every single day.

Firstly, it’s great for removing particles of dust from my hands before beginning working with clay… I keep a great big ball of this stuff on my work table and give my hands a good rub down with it before commencing.  I follow this hand cleaning ‘ritual’ by cleaning down my glass worktop in the same manner, picking up the dust and stray crumbs of clay and then I use it to clean my clay tools:  tissue blade, silicone tipped shapers and even my brushes for pastel powders.  I also use my ball of blu-tack to pick up dust from the surface of my clay (works like a dream on dusty Kato clay).

Working in miniature scales, as you can imagine, there are lots of fiddly bits to finishing mini-food… the green spider like tops on tomatoes for example… there is no way I could manage those without the trusty blu-tack holding my tomatoes in place while I apply to tops… my fingers just aren’t nimble enough (tomato ping pong comes to mind!).

And then for final finishing touches, such as varnishing, the blu-tack comes to the rescue again holding those tiny pieces in one place on a wooden lolly stick so that I can work with ease… and without cramp in my fingers!

Thought it would be good to share a few little tips starting with this one :)

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August AIM imag is out NOW!

click on the cover to read this issue

And a must read for anyone interested in modern miniatures!

The cover image, hard to tell that it is miniature, is by AIM member Peter Tucker and you can read more about him and his work inside.  Also, inside, you will find a wide array of modernism from artisans such as Christa Chayata, ELF Miniatures, Richard Kuehn, Linda Master and Ana Maria Villalon Fuster to name just a few!  Along with galleries, projects and our regular features it’s proving to be one of my favourite issues to sit back and read from cover to cover so far.

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