Why do we do it?   I bought yet another diet book! I swore I wouldn’t, I know better, but there it is sitting on my kitchen table. I read it in the morning with my coffee, probably hoping for some osmosis-like effect. Why, beyond the obvious I’m fat did I buy yet another this book?

In my 60 some years I have been on my share of diets.  I wasn’t always on a diet; when I was a kid the word wasn’t even in my vocabulary unless it refered to my uncle who had gout. Certainly it wasn’t anything to do with me.  As a kid I wasn’t skinny nor was I fat. I was healthy, but I did eat prodigious quantities of food.   I was always active, always running around engaged in some activity that kept me moving-and burning calories.  My weight was always good and as I got into my teen years the only thing I added was boobs.  This lasted until my first “real” job a desk job and my own apartment. I still stayed at a reasonable weight because I did lots of  walking to the bus, to my job, to the nearest laundromat.

Then husband and children entered the picture. All of a sudden my time was not my own, food issues that I had when i was a kid came to surface.  Clean your plate meant don’t waste food.  So if someone else wouldn’t eat it I did.  Slowly the weight crept up on me; then like a ninja, wham there it was!  Of course when I look back now I would love to be that weight again. But that was the start of dieting for me.  If I could go back like Kyle Reese warning Sarah Connor, to warn the younger me I might never be writing this.  But alas I couldnt so here I am .

So my long love/hate affair with diets began. I think I went on every diet the industry cranked out. There was the grapefruit diet, the cabbage diet, the soup diet, and of course all the variations of the Atkins diet.  I tried a milk and honey diet (with some disastrous results).  The diet industry, I think, plays on our eternal optimism.  We always think we’re going to find the pony in the poop, the prize in the Cracker Jacks or the perfect diet to make us look 23 again.  What we always fail to consider is that we are all individuals.  The very thing we prize about ourselves is what makes diet books fail.  While one book may work for one segment of people, it won’t work across the board.

Worse yet, I have read that our genetics also make us fat. Great! Now not only are my jeans tight, but my genes are making them that way.  So, optimistic as I am, I have also finally learned acceptance.  I will find some good recipes, make some healthy food, and try to walk away from the table and any other diet books that may beckon me in the future.

P.S. It seems I am not completely cured; I bought a Vitamix to make healthy smoothies. I have tried a couple but have found that it also makes killer Margaritas!

This is the second part of my review on Relief Beyond Belief.  The first part was the ebook itself; this section covers the dies and burnishing papers. I didn’t bother photographing the die kits; if you go to Dan's website you will see comprehensive pics there.  Each comes in its own storage box, with its own glass tile.  You get nine sizes in each box with the corresponding centers.  It is laminated so the clay wipes off easily to prevent transfer.  I bought three styles, a rectangle, the “stamen” sort of oval and a “pod” shape. It is almost a must to get the ebook and the dies; you need the instruction to use the dies.  You need the dies to implement the instruction.
Dan recommends using scrap clay while you are learning; wisely I took his advice.  Perhaps it’s just me but there seems to be a steep learning curve with this product.  It could be the number of steps (more than ten) that threw me for a loop.  I don’t cook anything with more than 8 ingredients in it; and I am pretty much the same with my clay.  I realize the need for the steps; I understand the process; the results are worth it.  Do I want to spend the time?  …..meh.
The process is just that, a lengthy process that until I used the dies didn’t seem that long.  As I have mentioned in previous posts-I have the attention span of a flea.  So for me I really tried to go through each step; and it is necessary in order to get the smooth look that Dan achieves.
One thing that is immediately apparent to the student is the veneers that are used absolutely “make” the bead.  While varied in shape (over 18 different die shapes) they are pretty basic in that it makes a shape that is easily embellished with knock-out veneers.  As I mentioned in the previous review Dan does not cover veneers; only the dies.
 I really don’t want to give a step by step description of the process but after making the veneer, burnishing it and cutting it out-then it is finally ready to lay on the die and begin the work of smoothing with your fingers.  This part takes a lot of practice.
You are in effect stretching out the “skin” of the veneer to create the curve and it takes a lot of practice to make it even. I made several beads and still haven’t got the hang of it. Sometimes my finger would stick so I used cornstarch to make it glide better.  But you have to be sure to wash it thoroughly before the next step so the raw clay sticks as it should.  You can also see in this shot how essential it is to sand, and sand and sand!  The bottom must be absolutely flat in order for there to be no gaps! As I said I was cutting corners a couple times and it does show in the results.

I briefly mentioned the burnishing papers. I did order a pack with the dies.  Before they arrived I tried doing the same thing with parchment paper and the results were not as good.  Unfortunately the burnishing pack is ten dollars and I do think with a bit of searching you could find a sturdy rag paper that would work as well.

In conclusion, I think that to learn this technique it would take a lot of patience plus a lot of practice.  It isn’t cheap, so if you are on a budget you might want to wait a bit. Dan and Terry are great people (they immediately got back to me with answers to all my questions) and I certainly don’t begrudge them making money.  BUT if you can at all do it-take the class from Dan and Terry personally instead of sending for the book and dies. It could be like a mini-vacation. You will have fun (they seem like a hoot) and you can decide without an investment.

** Editors note: There are slight changes in this blog as it was transferred from my original site; nothing has changed about the process though or the final review. 

Dan Cormier has just released his new ebook Relief Beyond Belief and I purchased it along with a set of the recommended dies. I am still waiting for the dies to arrive from Canada but since it’s an ebook I had instant gratification by just downloading it.
I have to say that I am a relative newcomer to this medium and am reviewing it from the standpoint of a newbie with a working knowledge of polymer clay. Also it is the first ebook I have ever purchased so I wasn’t sure just what to expect.

I had the sense that this book wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be an art book, a history of jewelry book, or an instruction manual. However, I have to say, I have never taken a master class from Dan and Tracy; I am unfamiliar with their style of instruction. After getting through the obligatory forward and preface then came an introduction to metal die-forming in jewelry. I enjoyed the background on die-forming in metals but didn’t think it was necessary to using the technique with polymer clay.Once I got into the “meat” of the instruction I felt as though I were actually taking a class. Dan lists in great, clear detail all the supplies needed, the timeline and any other little asides he happens to think of, which is why it feels like a class. At one point we are instructed to make sure our nails are clipped short lest we mar the surface of our chosen veneer.  While it may seem silly, it is just the sort of thing a teacher would interject casually while instructing a student.  Scattered throughout the text these little asides made it feel more personal, as if Dan were standing over your shoulder. Even though I realize this book was about die-forming I was hoping to get a little on veneers; but alas only a few glimpses of eye candy teasing us with his smooth, sleek designs.

I was asked if I thought it was worth the price of $35; I have to say I am a book addict so I don’t feel bad about it.  Others may not want to pay that much for something you can’t put on the coffee table.  But that’s not what this is about.  It is about instruction and it does fulfill that promise. If you download it to a reader or iPad it “talks” to you as well.  I found it helpful to be able to make notations on my pdf just like highlighting or circling in a real book.  Again, I am a novice in the world of polymer clay; and so my review is colored by that.  A veteran clayer may feel differently, although it might be a good reference book if you have ever taken a class from Dan and Tracy.

At the end of the book there was a bit of a tease about future things to come. I am anxious now to bring this instruction to life with my own veneers.