What do you think of videos like this to break things up?? I really enjoy making them! Thanks for watchin' 😁

@shockbolt875

3 ай бұрын

It’s a good idea

@caribkidful

3 ай бұрын

The break up videos are good

@caribkidful

3 ай бұрын

The blade sucks as well I have one again not enough rigidity

@kimieatsu

3 ай бұрын

I think it’s a great video!

@Jay-mo1cs

3 ай бұрын

I was thinking of getting into sculpting so this is perfect

2:24 you should create a character that survives on eating the silica gel packs!!! That was to funny 😂😂😂 also captures intrusive thoughts perfectly!!!

17:00 if you use a lot of wire, I'd say just buy a spool at a hardware store. I bought large spools of thin and thick gage wire at Tractor Supply store, they sell it with fencing / electric fence supplies for $30 USD when i bought it. it's probably 20-30 times the amount in that $8 package.

I love seeing you do videos like this from time to time! Edit: Oh no, you & Jackie both out here waving sharp pointy things at us!😂

@LaurenVanDerHoven

3 ай бұрын

I agree with you on that we are getting the sharp pointy thing waving at us😂😂

I watch the whole video to get to the end “Thanks for watching” it’s so wholesome and nice

It’s sad about JoAnns. I worked there for over 15 years and saw the writing on the wall a few years ago and quit. I think Michaels (and JoAnns) justifies their prices because of sales and coupons 🙄

@PumpkinPails

3 ай бұрын

Joann's is so overpriced! Even with a 50-60% off coupon it still comes out to much more than anywhere else. Like, I want to support them, because they just opened this massive, beautiful store in my town, but they don't make it easy. I usually only buy decorations from them after holidays when they're at least 75% off.

I love and shop at Joann’s so much over Michael’s

The bite out one is good for making collars and blending the apoxy sculpt I use into the figure/toy/doll i'm working with.

@ArtomatonLG

3 ай бұрын

How exactly do you use it? Like which part of it do you angle at the clay for which purpose? Ik kind of hard question to answer but I'm just trying to get a better picture of how you'd use that tip.

For those new to polymer clay, you can also make your own tools. There are videos out there showing how. @AceofClay you and other polymer clay KZreadrs have taught me so much over the years. I'm so very thankful for the knowledge you've shared! ❤

6:19 I use this to make a deeper recess when sculpting muscles. Best example would be the going around the outside of the arm. bicep to the tricep. Gives a nice crease by without reforming anything. I'm sure you can use other tools to do this but I wanted to try it out and I found this works well. Damn this was amazing to watch! Kudos on the shopping 3 stores!

Totally agree about Michaels. Hobby Lobby is usually cheaper but they have stopped selling so many art supplies it's not even worth it unless you are doing home decor or jewelry.

So many tools that looked promising only to fall way below what can be used for clay. Thank you for sharing this!

The prices for those items, if purchased here in Australia, would be about 30+% more expensive. 😭

@neverwares

3 ай бұрын

Same in Canada! I never buy anything from Michael’s without a coupon

@Bellusinlove

3 ай бұрын

​@neverwares fellow Canadian here, I totally agree. I was so sad when the 40% off coupon went down to 30%.

i love a good Anthony calmly roasts products video

For the 3 pack blades myself and a lot of polymer clay jewelry/minature makers like having the blade with a sharp edge for getting unbaked clay up without mushing edges or leaving bits behind off our work surface, while the dull blade is nice if you just want to cut or make straight lines and not have to worry about slicing ourselves in the process. Honestly in the 3 packs I find the wavy blade more useless than the two straight blades.

Don't hate me, but I actually recommend the blue tool set for starting sculptors. Mind you, I also state off the bat that they are not the best - but they are better than the purple set that come from Sculpey - I believe it was called the "firefly" set. As I tell them, these and a sampler set of colored clay (which is what I use) will give someone the basics... from which they can then figure out which tools they will use most, and get the better versions of. Oh, and I have use the texture wheels, but not very often. When I do, I do so on a thin strip that will be used as a trim piece. Run the wheel, trim off the sides, drape where it needs to be, bake... then fill in the indents with a different color, scrape off the excess, bake again. As you can see, it's fiddly enough, and the wheel options are limited enough, that I maybe use them once a year. Maybe.

You could totally use the tire mark rollar if you were making a roadkill sculpture xD

@claressadubs

3 ай бұрын

That's a hilarious idea! A roadkill zombie would be great

Thank you so much for telling us about the tools. I am so happy that you did this. I am on a set budget so I am not able to get the tools that you have and deal with I can get.

This was fun and informative. I can actually put many of these facts to use. About Michael’s, I even use their crochet needles for sculpting

This is a great video! It'd be fun to see you testing non-tools as tools (plastic knife, bamboo skewers, etc) and see how they compare to the actual tools.

Heh! I was that commenter about cleaning the paint tubes hahaha. Amazing

Wow! I had no idea about JoAnns going belly up. I worked there for a couple of years about 10 years ago. I was into a lot of crafts but never found polymer clay a medium I could use. Basically, I like having fingernails and you can't really make good stuff with nails.. Enjoyed your review of the products. Have found the same for painting supplies at all the various crafting stores from Michaels to Joanns to Hobby Lobby. Great video. Thanks!

Loved this video. Your commentary was hilarious and on point. Would love to see more videos like this.

I appreciate the receipt just hanging on the side lines.😂 And 9 dollars? For the first package? I thought Finland was expensive to craft, but boy. You could get those so much cheaper here, the 9 dollars sounds like the places schools are required to buy them from. They always have crazy markups, so no wonder we never got any new supplies if our teacher had to get something special for a lesson project.

I won't say where I work (requires a hashtag I don't like using) but I know Michaels. I also have PERSONALLY recommended this channel to customers starting out with polymer clay who need tutorials. (Just to be clear, this is ONLY my PERSONAL suggestion to customers who ask for polymer clay modeling tutorials and resources online, nothing more). I also warn parents with young kids to preview the "scary" stuff first just in case. I tell them this channel is family-friendly. p.s. My experience in retail is that almost everyone knows you can get stuff from Amazon "cheaper" or "better", but so many people have to have it NOW so ordering online is not an option. p.s.s. I use Craftsmart AND Artist Loft from Michaels. Yes, low quality but cheap as heck and easy to replace. Mostly paint brushes.

The drill & hole punches are useful for leather-hard ceramics and airdry clay/ The metal scratching tools with multiple wires are good for texture. but are primarily used for scratching and scoring ceramic / airdry clay to bond multiple pieces of clay together when water is added!

It's definitely helpful and good to let us know what to get so Thank You. 👏🏻

Yeah Michaels used to be my favorite craft store,but i feel like since covid thier prices have gone crazy and their coupons suck now. thanks for this video!

For short handle shapers go to the drawing section of a craft store and get a pencil saver it's a extra handle that clamps onto short pencil to be able to hold them just put the shaper in and now it's 5 inches longer

I recently went to Michaels a few weeks ago, i did pick up the rock texture roller, the small metal loop carving tools (have had issues with finding the small ones) and the small rubber shapers. Pretty happy with what i found.

Thanks for showing all the different tools and giving your feedback on them. I have very few tools and have been contemplating if and what to buy. You’ve given good advice.

Haha “ needed poster board for projects that were due the next day” 😂 Cute baby pic and yes, love these videos, informative and entertaining .

The package you opened at 3:08 is are items potters use. The tool you suggested to use for texture is used to score 2 pieces of pottery to attach them together with slip, such as adding a handle to a mug. The tool with the twisted ends is to put holes in salt and pepper shakers.

This is so helpful!!! Thanks!!!

This was such a great video! So glad you’re honest and funny too!!

Love these kinds of videos!

I love these candid videos! Thank you for your honesty and advice. Really helpful for those of us less experienced viewers. And the little bit of "saltiness" made me giggle.

Very informative i watched it twice and took notes thank you for making this one

I absolutely adore your videos! I thought I was going crazy when I saw the prices at Michael's. Then I looked at things I had purchased before and realized...nope, they're crazy and left. Lol! You also saved me a lot of money with this video because I used to love shopping there, and I was thinking about going back. I am sure I will if I really need something, but they had long lost being my favorite place to shop. It hurts the $$$$$ too hard.

This was very helpful. I like Craftsmart acrylic paint. It’s VERY matte. I’m looking forward to seeing what you will offer in YOUR kit when you’re ready to share!

how lucky you are to having those decent craft shops in your area, where i am, it is chock full of betting shops, hair/tanning shops, nail bars and that is it

The sense of relief on seeing you trash all the brands I don't like, and validation on the ones I use you like was amazing. I'm also cracking up everytime you realize the price!!! ..... real talk, that rewards voucher you earned hopefully makes it worth it. 😂😂😂😂😂

the one you called tire tracks reminded me of a braid

Thank you I own a number of the fails. Wish I knew more before I went out to buy my first tools. I now have a couple of reliable sets that are my go to tools.

I agree with everything you said. I have a lot of the Michael's products you showed. I have the wax carving tool set I bought years ago that I covered the handles with the brain cane. lol I LOVE them. I kinda find a new favorite with every project. lol As for the silicone tools- I have several brands my favorites are by Clay Shapers brand? It's good to have multiple ones, shapes, sizes and soft to firm. My problem is the size to fit my hand. I have large hands and a lot of the products either feel too light, are too short and are not comfortable. I am super excited to see what products you bring out. I really want some of those seamless steel sculpting tools you alluded to in previous videos, I hope you sell some AOC approved ones! I agree with you about the Sculpey tools and accessories, they definitely tend to lean towards their home decor/jewelry creators. Anyhow thanks for sharing!

Good to know. I was asked to make a representative sculpture of a tomb with a circular “door.” Went to Michaels to get tools and supplies. I bought some of those sets. I too found most of them to be less than useful for working in a stiff paper maché material. Thanks for pointing to better tools. Any advice for judging tools before you buy them?

I use the bite taken out one to blend in curved crevices. The pointy tipped one's so soft. It could blend delicate spots without having to worry about pressing too hard

So glad you made this video despite the murmuring :)

"thank kinda looks like a weird, really, really wrinkly skin texture." Xipe Totec!

your commentary on the sculpey tools has me rolling 😂❤ seriously what are they thinking when they are planning these out?? 💀

I find myself that if you use dental tools and regular ceramic carving tools for clay, I find them to be fairly reasonable and that’s what I have used especially the dental tools those😊😊

I love ur videos. Thank you and God bless you and your family. I am very surprised that you have not sculpted any schooby doo ones.

Thanks for this. It is useful if I ever get into sculpting. I don't think I've been to Joann. I Google the and I love the yarn wall that I would love to try. I like to make pompom crafts, and I'm learning to crochet.

The two blades in that package may have been a rigid blade and a flexible one. For crafters who do Momume Gane in polymer clay, the different blades are sometimes preferred.

I bought the sculpey magnetic tool and it’s amazing

I like the silicone molds especially because you can bake them before popping them out

I use the sculpey ball stylus’ alot. They are a go to for me. 🤓👍🏻 Great video

Lul a Michaels ad popped up while I was watching the video.

I absolutely love this video type

I'd like to see how the Micheal's tools compare to tools from places like Amazon or Ali Express (or some other Chinese site) and then how they compare to better quality tools, and the cost difference between each.

I noticed at Michael’s the foam heads that used to be $6 are now about $9! Forget that! No wonder amazon is killing off stores.

The push mould had me chuckling like you felt dirty playing with it XD

I love that neon pink clay lol

I'll give a thumbs up for the topic today! I've had more luck sourcing supplies online, frequently going by reviews and hoping, but generally much better prices. I've also found that heading to the actual websites for items like Sculpey clay is far better for prices than someplace generic like amazon, even with shipping. I have no craft stores in my town, and none that don't require at least an hour's drive one way, and given the cost of gas I'm good with waiting for things to ship. Sadly, I've got one grocery store (W) and they gouge on prices something awful just because ... they can. Based on the prices you've discussed, I'm not sure I'd shop at Michael's even if I had one locally. Wow! I'd much rather spend my money on clay and other supplies ~ not on the tools.

This needed to happen... Thank you! Im sure you have way better sources to tell us about, and how much better their products are. Ima use what that guy uses... look at what he made 😲

The first sculpey texture roller you tried is a baseball stitch. And it may actually be useful to you... A baseball stitch is the most common stitch used by morticians to suture areas post embalming (granted, we do a tight version that hides the stitch). The sizing would probably be wrong for your sculptures, but the pattern may be useful to you.

Thanks for your sharing this

I love watching your videos I'm a beginner at sculpting I just don't know where to start

Hullo Anthony, I have been disappointed on more than a few occasions by Michael's! They do have some pretty good classes taught by Artists, but their stores are not truly full service nor are their prices reasonable! I am surprised you could find anything worth buying! Thanks for showing us you opinions and I did enjoy this video and Please do another "What is available from" Video!

Something I recently noticed about Michaels on their website SPECIFICALLY (but which I'm certain applies in their stores as well) is that they will slap a sale price on to some of the most expensive things or just things they DON'T want to give the current coupon on for whatever reason (it's usually pricey stuff or I guess best sellers) and naturally their sale price is by a lot less than what you'd get if the coupon applied. But what really pisses me off are the "buy 1, get one 50% off" sales because if they're the same price it's just 25% off both (and if they're not the same price it will always be the lower priced item with the discount) and this overrides the coupon codes. Sometimes it's still the best deal you can get but obviously the coupons tend to start at 30% off unless it's on the entire purchase, then it might be 20-25% off instead. Every now and then they do coupons on top of sale prices but that's the best deal you can get so it's also typically pretty low so their sales plus the coupon don't add up to that much off. This is how I realized over time the percentages of the coupon don't make much difference, no matter what the coupon is because the sales fluctuate by about the same amount. If you don't believe me, try an experiment by adding stuff to your cart and observe it and the coupons available over the course of a month or two (you don't have to buy them, just take note of the total price at least.) This happens on the things Michaels is selling directly; I almost never put stuff from resellers into my cart because even if they have better pricing the shipping is counted differently and unfortunately the website doesn't make this incredibly clear, which is frustrating when you're trying to get free shipping on everything. And of course they will sometimes give you those 5 dollar off vouchers to incentivize you a lot more. I like Blick much better. Mind you, Blick does this too, don't get me wrong, but they handle it differently. Their prices also fluctuate quite a bit. HOWEVER they're almost always cheaper than Michaels by default, even when they would allow you to use a coupon on the item, so unless Michaels will also let you use their current coupon on it, you're typically better off with Blick. (There are random exceptions to this but it's usually by a negligible amount of cents or maybe one dollar. It's extremely rare Michaels has a much better deal and normally it's the case that Blick doesn't carry that exact item lol.) Also, you have to go out of your way to find Blick coupons aside from the nice shipping discount code which is always on their website. Your mileage may vary as to whether this bothers you. Personally I prefer that Blick sells most things for the price they're willing to sell them at. These items are discounted by as much as they're willing to (no coupons can apply) and yet they DO fluctuate so also YMMV but sometimes they will DROP the price much further than what it already was. That sounds scummy as well but again, their coupons are harder to find online (you have to go off-site) so I appreciate that they just change things and if you're lucky enough to stumble upon a Blick coupon, it's usually not complicated to use if you're going to be spending a bunch all at once anyway since their free shipping without the code starts at 69 dollars (you can't use their percentage off coupons along with the shipping code.) Most of the time their sale prices are really good and I value the amount of information they give and how many useful reviews they usually have.

@dragonflower17

3 ай бұрын

I get basically all my printmaking linoleum blocks, inks, and sharpeners off of Blick! Even getting stonehenge paper and stuff like that from them isn't generally too bad though I tend to do "big" purchases instead of individual. Not sure how well they do with international/stuff outside the US though : /

This is why I get my sculpting tools and other art supplies from Etsy.

Michaels is the closest craft store to me, which sucks. They've cut the sculpting section down so much in my store. The only thing I've gotten was the shaper tools (which I still use), the glow in the dark and translucent clay. Now I just go there during Halloween or when I need certain niche things for commissions (like a wooden chest, yarn, or whatever fun things i see that would work in clearance lol).

Can you do Hobby Lobby next please? Since they are a little cheaper than Michael's.

Cool tools 🛠

I’m here for the critical break down. A lot of this stuff is junk. I wouldn’t use the wood tools for apoxie clay. The sculpting set you recommend is still my fave set and I use it in my videos. I still haven’t found silicone tools I love 😩

ur acc rlly hilarious, i never realised bc of ur other types of videos

@sumpengnim5705

3 ай бұрын

i acc cant stop laughing

Those curved rubber shapers, I use them to make rounded corners on my journals and to smooth out clay while it's on the tile I'm working on. Like if I'm making a dragon necklace it helps to make the curvature nicer, it just pushes clay into right directions. But I use giant ones, I assume smaller ones do the same on smaller scale. Ps. that wrinkly nuts texture got me. I'm tempted to re-create it as background and like...no one would know 🤣🤣🤣

The shapers suck as well they don’t have enough rigidity I have some

👋🏽😁 How do you guys store and organize your leftover clay? My original packaging is a mess. Ziplocks and a bin are an option, but I'd like something better for travel. I want to use a plastic organizer box, like the ones for bead storage or a tackle box, but read that the clay reacts to some plastics. Any suggestions or advice?

loved:"Hey look a snack. Don't eat that.😅"

Oh hey look a snack!… don’t eat that 😂

I think you should make some short videos of techniques to making different things like fingers. I can't make fingers for the life of me. I've tried several times, but they always get smushed before I get them all on my hand. I have only been at it for a few months, but there are lots of things beginners need tips on doing.

AY UP ACE OF CLAY

Hobby Lobby is the same way. Brick & mortar can not compete with online stores. It's just plain cheaper. It's like Michael's, etc, make you pay more for right now convenience.

I quit shopping at Michael’s ages ago when I started seeing the exact same products at the Dollar Store for 80% less.

I've used those first rubber shapers and they're awesome, not cat proof though 😅

I really wish craft stores would branch out with all the amazing brands online. Almost every serious, career crafter I watch has started manufacturing their own tools because they don't want to recommend anything. And buying supplies online can get so expensive when you add on the shipping DX

I work at Michael’s and this is fascinating 👀

The texture roller was a really good price. I have paid upwards of 30 for these mind you they are hand carved wooden ones

Thanks,❤

At least Michaels almost always has a 20-30% coupon that you can use. I still go there for art supplies way more than Joann (but only when Amazon doesn't have what I need)

I'm new to clay..love all your videos...I want to make nativity figures..but don't know where to start..any advice

The blade set having the 2 sets of similar blades, there is one of then that is more flexible than tbe other kne 😁

Had to laugh i have that interchangeable magnetic tool set and don't have any idea where i put it!!! It was annoying.

The problem at Michael's is the lack of other brands. Getting started is ok but being able to keep those customers with better quality tools would be great.

In the set of three blades, of the two straight ones, one is flexible.

My mam gave me the sculpy blades, the 2 straight ones are different lengths and also 1 is more flexible. Not sure if that was the same with the version you have.

i just started sculpting and i bought the first set of tools cuz i thought it was decent 😭 my hopes and dreams ripped to shreds

Right now earrings are the big thing that people are making with polymer clay. Michael’s seems to be only catering to what’s trendy. Even then some if their stuff is so expensive. It’s ridiculous. I went to hobby lobby and paid half the price for some if the things Michaels was selling for much more!

I don't count those wooden tools as "polymer clay tools". I worked with earth clay in high school and they're great for that. Polymer clay is more of a plastic, metal, and rubber sort of clay.