Boni's method is pretty much exactly what I do for hand conditioning. And yes, mixing colours is a great way to learn how long it takes to truly mix up the clay.
Fran - enough now! Get those coloured clays open and start using them. ALLOW yourself to waste two packets of clay just farting about. What does it cost? A few quid / bucks?
Okay okay already! Sheesh!
Lol.
Actually I just did exactly that. Went to a craft crop on Saturday and took all my clays and my new extruder, and played!
I find going to this craft crop very freeing, I've noticed before that I do a lot more or get more done anyway, when I'm there than I do at home.
Just being set lose and allowed to do what you like is wonderful.
And on this particular day, it was just really good having an entire desk to work on – at home I only have a very small area to work on, if I remove my tablet and my keyboard first. So Saturday was wonderful.
I did waste quite a lot of the time trying to condition that old block of black Premo. And I'm still not sure if I managed it or not. I wonder if it's worth bothering with the copper and the white?
I'm hesitant about using the white at all because I live in such a very hairy atmosphere with a black-and-white sheepdog who sheds all the time.
I do try to keep clay under waxed paper when I'm not using it or after I've made it into shapes and prior to baking. Otherwise I put it away.
But I've been working with the ultralight which is white, and that just picks up every single scrap of anything from everywhere. I cannot keep it white. I did try swabbing everything down with alcohol wipes before starting but it still picked up bits.
I don't think I want to work with white at all. Grump grump grump!
Lol!
Think how much you would pay for a class for someone else to teach you stuff.
At most I've paid £15 for a journalling workshop on a Saturday or Sunday – but after the 2nd one I stopped as I just wasn't learning anything new and didn't feel I could justify the money.
Yet you can teach yourself SO much just by investing a couple of hours and allowing yourself to WASTE clay. (Hint - it isn't actually wasted - that is my whole point!)
So, get those clay packs open or I will be angry!
Well! Thank goodness I opened some then! Lol!
At the very least, get the black clay open and experiment with using your guilders waxes and whatever over them. Try out doing it before baking and after and see which works best for you.
Yes ma'am!
Um... can I wait until I get my new pasta machine?
Aim to get some stuff wrong
Oh that's alright then, I do that all the time. ROFLMAO!
[/quote]And remember - any clay you don't like, any colours you mix that you hate, any muddy brown scraps are STILL really useful. You will always find a use for scrap clay as you progress as a polymer clayer. So trust us, NOTHING is wasted[/quote]
Ah well in that case then I've already got a packet of scrap clay – I bought that pack of 'Tranquillity', and not knowing any better I bought it based on the colour of the photograph. I am such an idiot! The photograph actually looked more like blue translucent looks in real life but a little lighter in colour. In real-life 'Tranquillity' is more like a sort of muddy grey with a hint of blue. Mud basically. So that's scrap clay is it?
If you make something and you don't like the look of it before baking - just don't bake it. Squish it up and start again.
Well yeah, but isn't that what everybody does anyway?
But get those clay packs OPEN!
Oh yes ma'am, right away ma'am! (sheesh, it's like being back in the army!)
In many ways, it is great that you have been using one colour so far, because it has forced you to really focus on technique and on shape and texture. That has worked really well for you because you have done some great projects.
I have? Oh, um thanks. (wondering about this)
But, maybe it is time to inject the options of using multiple colours into your work. You are denying yourself an important part of polymer clay life - the way we can use any and every colour. And if you leave it too long, you'll get really hung up about it.
Get those packs open and make a mess, have fun, and enjoy colour! It is what polyclay is all about!!
Emma 
*Salutes, smartly*
