How To Get Started In the Polymer Clay Art Form

Maybe you have never heard of polymer clay and just happened to stumble upon my blog. Or maybe you've been researching what polymer clay is and want to learn more. Maybe you've wanted to try out polymer clay, but don't know where to start. In this post I want to introduce the polymer clay art form to anyone who fits in one these categories.

Polymer clay is a super fun art form. Different from a normal grey, heavy, sculpting clay, polymer clay is colorful, firm, and doesn't need water. It's super easy to use and super fun. There's so much you can do with it! You can also simply cook it in the oven! No high heat kiln required! User friendly and fairly priced, polymer clay is a wonderful craft worth your time. Now the only question is where to start?

Unless you're only buying clay for a certain project, I would recommend at the least buying the following colors to start:

Primary Colors: Blue, Red, and yellow.

These colors are the base of almost all colors. On a cost efficient scale, these clays can be mixed together to form your own coustom desired color. If you're looking for a more definite color, go a head and buy it, but at the least, you should purchase these base ones. It would be smart next to purchase the base colors of the rainbow

Black and white

After the primary colors, black and white are the most important. These can be mixed with the     other colors to either lighten them or darken them which is a high necessity.


After clay comes tools. Basic tool sets can be purchased easily and cheaply online. Much more cost effective than from a craft store. Wax carving tools work as well as are nail dotting tools helpful. Along with basic tools, you will need an exacto knife, or something similar. This will be extremely helpful for cutting definite pieces out for your creations. Also, make sure to look around your house for helpful tools. Tinfoil, sandpaper, cloth and many other things are useful for adding texture to a creation. Straws, toothpicks, and old knives can also be useful. Warning: if you plan on using a tool associated with food for your clay, be certain never to use it for food again, as the tool will become contaminated by the clay.

Finally with basic polymer clay crafting, you will need something to cut on, and something to bake in. To cut on, tiles, thick plastic sheets, and cutting boards work well! Just make sure they are smooth! To bake on, stone tiles, aluminum foil, baking pans, and cookie sheets work well. Just make sure not to use pans for food, after using with clay because the clay will contaminate the pan. For baking, any oven or craft oven will do. Set oven for 275 degrees Fahrenheit. Leave in 20 minutes for every 1/4 inch of thickness your clay project is. If you have trouble figuring out what to make, many easy craft tutorials are available online and on youtube for free using basic clays and tools.

Clay softener

Clay Softener?

Clay softener is essentially what it looks to be: a clay or liquid that when mixed with another clay makes it softer. I have found a loophole around these cosiderably expensive products. Yep! Baby oil. Its super cheap and works just as well as any brandname product. You simply mix the two products together until you have the consistency you want, and viola! Softened clay! And with a lot of oil, one may mix the clay into a lovely faux frosting or sauce, replacing also expensive liquid clay. Warning: Using a lot of oil (For frosting) sometimes tends make the clay a little stringy after it has set for a couple days, so if you want best results, use the (very) softened clay the day you mix it! If you want to use the mixture over a duration of time, make the "sauce" in a container with a lid and place one extra drop of oil on the mix before sealing and storing. It will look a little "separated"when you use it next, but after you mix it back up, it should be fine.

Along with baby oil, scented oils work well. I have used scented candle oil and scented soap oil, also relativity inexpensive in comparison ($2.5 at Hobby Lobby) to clay softener (and not to mention completely awesome and delicious!). Both work well and give a fun dimension to any project. Note: You don't need a lot of oil so I highly recommend purchasing a travel size bottle ( $1 at Target and Meijer). Also: I want to warn you about a strange occurrence I had. While mixing Candle oil and clay in a small plastic container, I noticed after a few days the the very thin plastic part started the become "bendy" and pliable. I recommend using a plastic container at least 1/10 inches thick or another durable type of canister. I often use old plastic contact cases for mixing faux sauces and frostings for miniature food. They're perfect for storing and are just the right size for most of my projects.  Enjoy your Thrifty Crafting!

Premo Review

Clay #3. Sculpey Premo

Different from Sculpey III, Premo is a much firmer and tougher clay. I really enjoy this clay as it takes up a majority of my clay stock. I love this clay mostly because of its being harder than another clay I enjoy, Sculpey III. It is different to work with and is better for a lot of sculpting methods if you don't mind successive kneading to get it to a pliable consistency. Also, this clay is quite a bit stronger than others and wont break as easily. When I first tried out this clay, I really was in a bind because when I made rather thin projects from other clay, they easily cracked or broke under pressure. This clay stood up to the challenge much better, especially with a good glazing for extra protection. I highly recomend this clay to anyone, beginner or expert! It's simply fantastic. Retail price starts at about $1.50

Photo Credit: http://www.stuff4cakes.ie/images/premo-orange_61352.jpg

Translucent Liquid Clay Comparison

I've very much enjoyed the benefits of liquid clay. It's great used as a sort of glue. It hold eye pins in the clay very well if you dab some on were the clay and metal meet. It also works well to just bond two pieces of clay together. On more delicate projects, it can be hard to keep pieces together without messing up the project or it falling apart. If you place translucent liquid clay between the pieces, they stay hard and stuck together after baking. Also, if your into miniature food making or looking for a liquid like effect in your projects, you can mix liquid clay with chalk pastel power or a small piece of clay to color it. This is useful for sauces and glaze on small foods. On that note, added to a larger amount of clay, the two can be mixed together into faux frosting. Below I will introduce you to my favorite liquid clays. Both these brands are very useful in their own cases, so I cannot pick a favorite.

Translucent Liquid Sculpey (also commonly known as TLS) is a great tool in clay sculpting. This brand comes in a small bottle, about 5", and the liquid clay itself appears thick and white before baking. After baking, in a thin layer, the baked liquid clay appears almost totally clear, though usually produces a matte Finnish.  In thicker proportions, or contained, it appears very white. This is great for miniature food. It makes a great fake sauce when mixed with pastels (mix with pastels to get a more transparent look, mix with a small amount of clay for a more opaque look), and also works well in making faux frosting. This product, due to its viscosity is easy to control and won't run off very easily in controlled projects. This was my first brand of liquid clay to ever try, and I very much love it! Even after exposing myself to different brands, I very much still use TLS, as do most people, being over all the most popular brand of Translucent Liquid clay, due also to it's being inexpensive compared to it's competitors and it's great quality. I highly recommend not to buy this product online, but at a store. The pricing is significantly different.
Liquid PolyClay created by Kato Clay is slightly different compared to TLS. The bottle which it comes in is slightly shorter than that of TLS, but wider. The Liquid Clay itself has a much lower viscosity (Not very thick), though annoyingly comes out of its bottle extreamly slow. It still holds a white color in an un-cooked form but it is not so stark as that of TLS. This is a very good Liquid clay. It's absence of thickness makes it good for sauces, but beware! It runs off projects if not in a stable state. I just had this happen and it was quite distressing :( . I find in fact it cooks clearer than TLS as its viscosity can be very useful. Also nice about this brand is that after baking, it has a shiny finish.

I hope this post was helpful in your search for liquid clay. If you have any questions regarding translucent liquid clay or any other polymer clay related question, comment below and I will answer to the best of my abilities. 

jn

Bake Shop Review

Clay #2. Bake Shop

Now introducing one of my least favorite types of polymer clay. Made by Sculpey and inexpensive compared to other types I thought I'd try it out. I was walking down the walmart craft isle,  just burning time, when I noticed they sold clay! It wasn't my usual sculpey III or any of the other polular brands, it was Bake Shop, selling only for $0.99! I thought I'd give it a go. I picked up two white blocks and a skin tone, being low on both colors at home, and the store's color selection was very minimal. I was surprised when I opened the package, slightly different than the newest packing rendition, shown in the picture above. The clay almost felt as if it were covered in a very thin layer of moisture. I easily squeezed (notice that verb) a piece off. It stuck to my hands in some places and it was certainly the softest clay I'd ever worked with! After kneading it (which didn't take long), It became extremely soft and very hard to work with, almost like playdough. Fingerprints showed up very clearly on projects I tried to make with it. I've tried working with it in various ways, but the clay has few purposes. I've found the best use of it is in making faux frosting for miniatures and fake food. Because of it's extremely soft texture, it easily breaks down and mixes into fake frosting. I did find, due to my buying of the color white and using it to lighten other colors, that when mixed with a different type of clay, it softens it tremendously. Over all I wouldn't recommend this clay, except for frosting making. Have any recommendations or options about this product? Comment below.

Photo Credit: http://raw.rawmaterialsarts.netdna-cdn.com/catimg/syba1802_x.jpg

Sculpey III Review

Clay #1. Sculpey III

This clay is rather popular with most basic polymer clay artists. I personally have been using this type of clay for a long time, first due to my neglecting of other brands, and my already large stock of this type. Don't get my wrong- this clay is great! I have a lot of experience with it already and I know plenty of it's limits and capabilities. For one, this clay is great for basic projects and very easy to work with. I've made plenty of beautiful pieces using this clay, including one of my favorites, miniature realistic food. On the other hand, more meticulus work is not suited with this clay. Sculpting people or faces is very difficult with this semi soft clay (softer when kneaded) due to exactly that; its softness. Now, I've seen worse (Bake Shop), so don't go assuming this is not the clay for you! Also it is EXTREMELY difficult to create canes (minnefori art, as I believe it's spelled) with Sculpey III. It's possible, but the colors bend to together easily, and only the most basic canes can be made in their simplest form (lace cane, as I've discovered). Also dark or bright colors (red) will leave colored residue on your hands, so be careful! Over all, this is a great clay I highly recommend to you. Most of what I make is created from this clay, but I will say as I've developed my skills, I've gained a new interest in different brands and types, which I will cover in another review.

Photo Credit: https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/shopping?q=tbn:ANd9GcSnmMRX2uh7JbqjWKXsqDgsFtXIE706hKbCwGNDayEJ3S6Nkd3-JnCbsQlvF5TYHUJl9DCqqNtJ&usqp=CAE

New Video: how to draw a basic manga face

This video tutorial is super easy to use! Learn how to draw a basic manga face! This base can be used to create multiple characters, male or female with slight alterations. Never tried drawing manga? Well here's where you start! Watch Video Below

Video not working? Click the link below to see the video tutorial on my Styled by Sophie youtube channel.
Basic manga face tutorial