"Designed and Made" by Gill from "Pen Lady Downunder"

Gill started working with polymer clay back in July 2014 and quickly found it an amazing medium to work with. Gill uses Kato Polymer clay which is an artists quality clay and has a very unique smell that she loves. Gill says there is so much you can do with clay but she has found a love for the making of millefiori canes and then turning these into beautiful pens and pen blanks. Gill makes all her own canes and then slices them into tissue thick slices which are then applied to a sheet of thin clay before then being applied to the brass tubes of various different pen kits. Each and every individual pen blank is then baked in an oven to cure the clay.

Having made some of Gill's polymer pen blanks here are my tips to help you when making your one of a kind polymer clay pen.

1. Gills polymer blanks are slightly over size compared to the length of the tube so gently and carefully square the ends of the tube/s.

2. Mount the blanks either between centres or onto your pen mandrel using the appropriate bushings and ensuring they are at the correct end if the kit as different sized bushings may be required at each end of the pen blank.

3. Once the blank/s are mounted, you will need to remove a very small amount of polymer clay by either using very sharp turning tools or by wet sanding to the finished size of the bushings. Being careful not to sand through the polymer clay pattern. Do not allow excessive heat build up during the sanding process.

4. When wet sanding it is recommended to sand correctly using very high grit levels such as Micro-Mesh sanding pads. Your Polymer clay blank if sanded correctly will finish with a very nice sheen. However for a high gloss finish you may CA finish over the polymer clay. Very light buffing will also achieve a better finish.