Fimo is not poisonous (Polymer clay)

One of the most pervasive myths about polymer clay, is that it is poisonous.  I am telling you now that it is not.

How this myth got started 

I have heard that it was spread around by the first generation of polymer clay artists, because they saw that the clay was so perfect that the market could very easily get flooded with competition.

There is no actual proof of this that I have seen and even if it is true,  they where not successful. There are tones of excellent artists selling their creations.

I think it is more likely that it was a combination of the fact that it is a plastic and the fact that responsible sellers say  ( like I do in my literature) that their clay products are not to be in contact with food or drink.  When you put clay on the outside of glass or ceramic,  it's OK. Here is why we say this;

If you put baked clay under a microscope,  you will find it has a pitted surface.  This means that it is hard to get the surface germ free.  See porous, not poisonous.

But what about the fumes when you bake it? 
While it does omit a slight chemical smell while baking, fumes is really far too dramatic a word.

If you chose to spend the whole day huffing them,  you would have no effect other than waisted time. If you don't like the smell in your oven,  simply cover the tray with foil.

Certified safe for children 

 Above is a pack of Fimo.  If you look in the bottom left corner,  you will see the symbol below.

The AP (Approved Product) Seal 

This identifies art materials that are safe and that are certified in a toxicological evaluation by a medical expert to contain no materials in sufficient quantities to be toxic or injurious to humans, including children, or to cause acute or chronic health problems. Such products are certified by ACMI to be labeled in accordance with the chronic hazard labeling standard, ASTM D 4236, and the U. S. Labeling of Hazardous Art Materials Act (LHAMA).



And finally....
The last bit that should convince you.  I  have eaten Fimo myself and I am fine. 

I do my clay work from my bed and I also have a snack supply (some healthy and some naughty). I have lost count of the amount of times that I dropped a bit of chocolate and found brown clay. I  know my mistake only by the fact that it basically is tasteless. 

So let your kids loose on some Fimo.  You will then get to treasure their creativity forever. 

Why I want to be a polymer clay teacher

If you decided that you liked to mess around with polymer clay,  you might consider methods to learn more about it. While there are a range of books out there  (your local library will have some), online tutorials, websites, if you encounter any problems then you are left asking around on forums.

So, it is worth paying for lessons.  There are some who run online courses and others who teach in person.  I am planning to become the latter.

My main reason for wanting to become a teacher,  is actually to get to know new people. I know that there are a lot of teaching roles where you are not allowed to make friends with the students, but since this is a adult teaching adults and there is not any big power difference,  then this is fine.

Having a lot of long term health problems prevent me from getting out and about, so I don't get to meet people that way. Since I work for myself from home,  that takes away all the people who we meet through work.  I am not Billy no mates by any means, but I think I really need to work at that part of my life.

I have looked around the UK and found that there are quite a few teachers out there, but none of them are in Surrey and there is no clay groups either.  The teachers I did find, teach either jewellery and bead making,  canning, flower making and one or two who teach various model making or sculpting. I plan to be a little different.

I am planning to run classes for 8 people at a time. They will pay for one lesson a few hours long, rather than a long course,  but I also plan to run a much larger clay group, which I will explain more about at the end.

Lessons 

I  will start the lessons the same,  with showing how to use the clay and tools properly.

The main body of the lesson will have several options. I am making worksheets that are the step by step process to make different items.  Each step will have a photo and a explanation. The help sheets are divided into two types;

1) Design
How to make a type of pattern or effect with the clay.

2) Project 
How to make a home decor item from clay, either patternedor plain. These will be things like bud vases, little boxes, tea lights, decorative bowls etc.

I know that I will need to have all 8 students working from the same 2 cards, but I am not sure how I am going to do this.  These are the options,  let me know which one you think is best;

1) The democratic option 
Once 8 people have signed up,  allow them to vote between them.

The benefits to this is that I can run a class as soon as I have 8 people.  The down side is if someone want to do one in particular and it doesn't get voted for.

2) Advertise them as different courses
I would permanently pair the designs and the projects and then advertise each option as individuals classes. When I get 8 people I run the course.

The benefit to this, is that everyone gets what they want.  The downside is that it will take a lot longer to get 8 people who want to do that specific course,  so it would make organising the dates for the class very difficult.

3) Cycle the lessons  
This is my least favourite option. Like before, I pair off the designs and projects,  I then run each pair one after the other.

The reason why this is my least favourite option,  is that I really am not sure how to deal with it if I have too few people who sign up for the class.

So....
I will need at least 6 people attending in order for me to make it so that I make any money for my time.

I have already bought all the tools and equipment needed to teach 8 people,  so that I know that I will definitely be doing this as soon as I am well enough.

Clay group
As I said,  there is no clay groups going on locally, the nearest is London.

One of the first places I checked was with The British Polymer Clay Guild.  Since they had nothing in Surrey,  I have decided that I am going to do it myself.

A lot of the different guild groups organise tutors for each of their meetings and charge  £10+ for members to attend the meeting/ lesson,  but I as usual want to do it different.

My plan is that everyone comes along and works on their own thing in a social environment.  I  will keep a loose eye on things and help anyone who wants some help,  but I will not be a tutor.

I  will be happy to supply the clay  (which I will sell to people at the price I got it.  They will get to use my tools on a "you damage any,  you replace it" basis,  but it will be encouraged for them to bring their own.

Doing it this way,  all people would need to pay, is enough to cover the room between them. If I get a church hall or scout hut,  then this should be very cheap.

This really would be me on my own time, organising a social event for like minded people to have fun claying around.

The difference between a business and a hobby

There are always going to be differing opinions on what makes your status change from hobby to professional. This is my opinion and it will probably change over time.

If you really want to be black and white about it,  anyone who calls something art and offers that something for a price that someone else pays,  is a professional artist.

This includes all manner of things; a stack of bricks, a messy  (and gross) bedroom,  a single line of paint on a bare canvas.  I have no idea how the "artists" manage to get these things seen as art.  

The first thing that you need to bear in mind, is that it has nothing to do with talent.  There are some amazingly talented artists who are in the hobby group.  So with that in mind,  here is my jurney into the professional world. 

Step one is the most important;

You have to see yourself as a professional artist.  Like in all areas of life,  you are what you believe you are.  I know many extremely skilled sculptors who cannot see that anyone would be interested in buying their creations or feel that they don't want to sell their work for all sorts of reasons. 

Although that first step is really vital,  you are still a long way from it being true.  

For me,  I  found that I had to fundamentally change my relationship with my art form.  When it was a hobby,  I  would make only what I felt like,  I would work at a very slow pace,  not worrying that much about the quality.  So long as I liked it,  then that was fine.  I never spared a thought about what I spent,  as I got so little.  I was not bothered about having the right tools or about studying the subject.  It was just play.

Now, I had to get my materials for the cheapest price possible, I have to become a marketing expert,  a excellent customer services personnel,  a book keeper,  a market resercher and analyser and I have to make things that are low cost and worth the price.  I have to think about what people want.

I found out that because I am disabled and can only manage around 12 hours of work a week,  that the benefits system had catered forme  (I was very surprised). The rule is called Supported Permitted work (different from Permitted work).

If you work for less than 16 hours a week and earn up to £115.50 a week. This must be part of a treatment programme, or supervised by someone from a local council or voluntary organisation whose job it is to arrange work for disabled people.

I found out that a charity called EmployAbility was Surrey's only organisation that fulfilled this.  I got onto their books and got assigned an officer. 

They helped me do the paperwork for the benefits agency and register with the inland revinue.  He helped me with a few other bits as well.  

I started doing my research.  I  found the cheapest supplier of Fimo professional. As well as placing my first large order, I got in touch with the owner of the business and started to build a friendship.

Robbert is very important to my business and I wanted to get to know him. He is actually a wonderful, kind man who also feels as strongly as I do about customer service and business integrity.

I recommend him to anyone I can, as the price difference is astonishing and there is no hassle  (even if something goes wrong,  he does all the legwork).  I have had people accuse me of being on his pay roll. I assure you that I am not.

Check out the price difference for yourself;

http://www.tumdee-dollshouse-miniatures.co.uk/contents/en-uk/d351_FIMO_Soft_350g_Blocks_Polymer_Clay_For_Moulding_Modelling_Jewellery_Craft_Art.html

I  decided to focus on Etsy because it was cheaper than eBay and Amazon to list your stock and where eBay and Amazon focused on the cheapest prices possible, Etsy focused on hand made items.

This meant that eBay and amazon's clay items are all from moulds.  The speed at which you can knock out a finished product is so fast,  that they can make a charm in a couple of minutes.  It takes me a few hours.

I personally defined my start date;  on 1st July 2015, I  had made 10 different types of charms  (4 of each sort, so 40 in total) I had a cousin who had a etsy shop,  so she was able to send me a link that gives you 20 free listing (if you want to start a etsy shop,  then message me and I will share the link with you).

I  then spent the first 2 weeks nervously watching the etsy app on my phone.  Fortunately, I did have a few kind friends and family who bight bits.

I worked from my bed,  making more stock, setting up a Facebook page and getting my shop looking ad good as I possibly could get it.

Over time, I have set up this blog,  a Pintrest account,  a LinkedIn account, a Instagram account and I do post on Ebay when they have free listings months  (I have never sold a thing on ebay). I do find it difficult to keep these all up to date, but it is important.

I have sold at 3 fairs over the last year,  but all made me incredibly ill.  I have joined The British polymer clay guild and a lot of clay groups on Facebook.

I have had several sales now and even a few commissions.

You have to be quite self disciplined to make sure that you are always doing something in your allocated work hours. No matter how boring, if it could help you get on with it.

Don't forget to keep your receipts and make a table of all income and expenditure.  You will need this for the tax and benefits.

Also, don't forget insurance.  You need public liability and product liability.  The public bit,  protects against accidents in your work area and the product bit protects against someone hurting themselves on something you have made.

I have loved the journey so far and I have a lot of plans for the future.  But it really is not easy.