We-R Memory Keepers Glass Mat (Polymer Clay Tools)
Video #578: My new favorite studio bench top surface for working with polymer clay… borrowing from the Scrapbookers.
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IN THIS POST: — work surface — cutting board — we r memory keepers — precision glass cutting mat — glass mat — non-stick craft mat — craft mat — (Topics marked with an asterisk* are discussed in the Comments Section below).
Topics Covered In This Video:
- Review of the We-R Memory Keepers – Precision Glass Cutting Mat.
- In the past, I have been using the Ranger Non-Stick Craft Sheet as my work surface for polymer clay.
- When I saw this new Glass Cutting Mat at Michaels, I just had to buy one for my polymer clay studio.
- Glassy smooth. No texture on your clay.
- Non-porous surface. Great for inks, paints, liquid clays, etc.
- Tempered glass. You can use your heat gun to melt embossing powders, cure liquid clays, set paints, etc.
- Wipes clean easily with baby wipes or paper towel.
- Great cutting surface for Exacto Knives, Clay Blades, and Cookie Cutters.
- Printed (on back of glass) grid and ruled edges for measuring and cutting straight lines and angles.
- Angled lines would be great for shaping Kaleidoscope cane sections.
- Glass will hold onto clay, doesn’t slide around and is helpful for ‘pulling’ clay out of silicone molds.
- Large size, originally designed for Scrapbooking, 13" by 13" (33 cm by 33 cm).
00:00:03 –> 00:00:08 Hi guys, its Cindy Lietz, your Polymer Clay Tutor, and in today’s PcT Product Demo,
00:00:08 –> 00:00:15 I’m talking about the We- R Memory Keepers Precision Glass Cutting Mat.
00:00:15 –> 00:00:20 Now, what I’m talking about today is this glass mat here, now in the past, I’ve been
00:00:20 –> 00:00:28 using this…you can see it underneath here, it’s a Ranger non-stick craft mat, and when
00:00:28 –> 00:00:33 I saw this new mat…this glass mat, at Michaels, I had to get one.
00:00:33 –> 00:00:42 And what I love about it is, as a work surface for Polymer clay, it is just glassy smooth…
00:00:42 –> 00:00:48 of course, being glass, so you’re not getting any textures on the back, it’s non-porous,
00:00:48 –> 00:00:55 so you can use inks and paints, your Liquid Polymer Clay, and because it’s tempered
00:00:55 –> 00:01:01 glass, you can also use your heat gun, so if you’re doing projects with embossing
00:01:01 –> 00:01:04 powders and all that kind of stuff, it’s perfect for that.
00:01:04 –> 00:01:11 Also, you can just wipe it right up with your…with a baby wipe or even some paper towel.
00:01:11 –> 00:01:16 And you can cut on it, you can cut on it with exacto knives…and that was one of the things
00:01:16 –> 00:01:22 I couldn’t do on my previous mat, and you can use your other clay blades and stuff like
00:01:22 –> 00:01:23 that.
00:01:23 –> 00:01:30 But the cool thing about this one is that the grid in the back is really nice for setting
00:01:30 –> 00:01:37 it up so that you can cut pieces that are equal sizes, or if I wanted to cut a square,
00:01:37 –> 00:01:46 or if I was making a Skinner Blend and I needed 2 rectangles exactly the same size and that
00:01:46 –> 00:01:48 kinda thing, I could use the grid on here.
00:01:48 –> 00:01:55 It also has angles on it, so if I needed to cut something at the right angle…here let
00:01:55 –> 00:02:02 me just lay it along here, and I’ll trim it so that its square starting from the corner,
00:02:02 –> 00:02:08 you can just follow any one of these angles by going to the corner…my head might get
00:02:08 –> 00:02:12 in the way here, but if you look over it properly you’ll get it straight, and then you can
00:02:12 –> 00:02:17 cut right down to it, so that’s quite a neat thing, I think that would be very handy
00:02:17 –> 00:02:21 if you’re making Kaleidoscope canes and that kind of thing.
00:02:21 –> 00:02:28 But one other little neat trick for using these kinda mats is to use it…because this
00:02:28 –> 00:02:36 is…the glass has a bit of a tension to it, it’s a little different than the non-porous,
00:02:36 –> 00:02:42 non-stick sheets, it’ll actually grab on to something, so I’ve got a little bit of
00:02:42 –> 00:02:47 clay I’ve pushed into a silicone mold, and then I trimmed it off, and sometimes it can
00:02:47 –> 00:02:51 be hard to pop them out of a mold, but if you stick it to glass like this…and of course
00:02:51 –> 00:02:57 you could use a different kind of glass, but this mat is really handy for that, you can
00:02:57 –> 00:03:01 just kinda stick it to the glass and peel it right off, so that’s very handy as well.
00:03:01 –> 00:03:09 So, I really, really enjoy having this mat, it’s a nice size, its 13”x13” so if
00:03:09 –> 00:03:12 you’re doing…it’s actually designed for scrapbooking… so if you’re doing a
00:03:12 –> 00:03:17 large 12”x12” sheet, you can… it’ll fit on there.
00:03:17 –> 00:03:24 And what else…it’s got inches across the front, Centimeters across the sides and you
00:03:24 –> 00:03:26 can use that for measuring and lots of handy things.
00:03:26 –> 00:03:33 I’m just really pleased with having this on my work surface, and I am using it every
00:03:33 –> 00:03:35 day for my Polymer clay.
00:03:35 –> 00:03:41 So I hope you enjoyed that, if you did, please let us know in the comment section below.
00:03:41 –> 00:03:44 And you know, if you’ve ever used one of these mats, or seen them before…they’ve
00:03:44 –> 00:03:50 just come out this summer, so let us know about that in the comment section as well.
00:03:50 –> 00:03:56 If you have any products, ideas, tutorials, that type of thing that you would like to
00:03:56 –> 00:03:59 suggest, leave that in the comment section.
00:03:59 –> 00:04:05 And don’t forget about our great resource over at polymerclaytutor.com where you can
00:04:05 –> 00:04:10 use the search box there to find all your answers to your Polymer clay questions.
00:04:10 –> 00:04:12 We’ll see you next time, and bye for now.
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Resource Links:
- Amazon: We-R-Memory Keepers Glass Mat **
- Related Video: Studio Work Surface Mats 3 Brands Compared
- Related Article: 5 Tips For Using Acrylic Craft Paints with Polymer Clay
- Related Video: Silicone Molding Techniques for Polymer Clay
- Related Video: Krafty Lady Art Moulds for Polymer Clay
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I always love your reviews! Very informational and complete! Thanking for taking time to educate everyone!
Cindy, I’m new both here and in polymer. Thank you for explaining what all the angular lines are for on these types of “mats”. I enjoy your tuts very much and find they help me more than many that I have found for free online. Great job!
Jane
Just want to add my 2 cents here. I bought this during Thanksgiving from Joann along with a bunch of other clay stuff (I’m a supplies junkie!) and so far I’m loving it!! My most favorite part of this is the clingy nature of the mat. It holds on to square canes nicely while slicing. I’ve also used it to hold small cane components uprights while I decide how to put them together. The grid is just great! I’m using the little squares to standardize the amount of clay I use in all my beads. It cleans up really easily too! Thank you for the great recommendation Cindy!
Thanks Krithika for coming back here and giving your own personal review of the Glass Mat! I am really loving mine and am very happy to hear that you are enjoying yours too. I like how it looks too. Givings a fresh clean space to work and is just the right size to leave in its place without getting in the way. Money well spent in my opinion!
Thank you so much for doing the Product demo on this !! I was like “HEY that is better than my white board I am using” and the next day ran down to Michaels .. normally they are 16.99 but used a 50% off and now I wish I had bought both of the ones they had (no worries though as I will go get another one down the road) I LOVE IT!!
Have a wonderful day
Sherrie Jo
Just bought it from Joann Fabrics online. Sale @10.19 and 1.99 flat shipping through Oct. 13th.
Great product and great price.
Hi Priscilla, that rose mold was from the Martha Stewart Crafters Clay collection. I got it at Michaels, but I don’t think they are carrying any of the clay line anymore. At least I haven’t seen it in my store lately. Just Google it and you may find some places that you can still buy it.
Hi, Cindy: I’d like to know who makes the flower mold (and perhaps the name or item #) you were using. It looks perfect for a project I’m planning.
Ooh I forgot in my previous comment. I know nothing yet about how to start learning ANYTHING about polymer clay. Do you have a video of ‘first starters’?
Thanks,
Janice
Hi, Janice!
Welcome! I’m sure Cindy will get back with you soon, but if you click on the link at the top of the page that says “Basics Course,” you’ll find just what you are looking for! I learned a lot from that.
Once you are done with that, I highly recommend subscribing to Cindy’s tutorials. You can’t beat the price and you’ll get lots of tips and tricks! You will probably want to purchase the back issues as well. Lots more good stuff there!
Betty
Thank you Betty for giving Janice such a great answer!
I just found your website through twitter, then your You Tube video. It is so what I need and have looked for to learn polymer clay. Thank you very much for having a teaching heart of what you have learned.
Hi Cindy, ran out to Michaels after watching this Video and they had about 6 in stock!
With coupon they only cost $9.08 This is really nice. I got rid of all my old ceramic tiles and cleaned up everything. Much more room, cleaner, easier space to work on and I love the new work surface. Thanks for sharing this terrific new tool.
That is so awesome! You Americans are lucky with the prices… we have the same products from the same stores but because we are a smaller country with less consumers our prices are always about 30% higher, even when our dollar is the same. I got mine for about $16 with the coupon… and I was still thrilled. It looks so nice too. I think a lot of clayers are going to end up buying this one!
Looks like I need to run over to Michaels! That is a great price! Thanks for sharing that, Dixie Ann!
Betty
Hi CIndy:
What a simple trick: to use the glass surface to pop out those pesky clay molds that stick. I have given up on using them because it was so hard to get the shapes out. Thank you for this idea!
Maria
Thanks Maria, I figured you guys would like that trick!
That is a great tip. I thought it was just the mold I had being pesky and just ordered some more. I was wondering how difficult it would be to get them out. I definitely need to pick up one of these mats!
Betty