On the subject of polymer clay...

I am not about to declare myself one of the best or foremost polymer clay artists. I'm not saying I'm bad, either - I'm just saying that I do not do the best work in this community. For examples of artists a million times better than I could ever hope to be, check out monsterkookies, aquanina, lololollipop, PookieTookieJewelry, PORGEcreations and many others in the "<a href"shiverstheninja.deviantart.com…">Polymer Clay and Jewelry" section of my faves.

Having said that, I wanted to share some of the techniques I've learned with other people who might be just starting, or who have been using clay for a while but are wondering about some things. I learned the good majority of these things from other artists, but these are some of the best tips and most important information I've found and I thought I'd gather them together.


Safety

Polymer clay is toxic and everything I've ever read has made this point, so you probably know it already but I will point it out - do not use any of your claying tools for food, EVER. It's okay if it used to be used for food and you've cleaned it and start to use it for clay, but you CAN NOT do it the other way around. You do not want any risk of mixing clay with food and making yourself sick.

Along with having separate tools, you should also have something separate to bake it on. I bought a glass pie plate to use exclusively with clay pieces. I keep it up in my room with my clay materials, away from the kitchen, to make sure that it does not get used for food by mistake.

It is also important to wash your hands thoroughly after using clay. This is probably obvious (your hands will probably feel kind of gross when your done, but maybe it's just me that thinks that) but it is necessary.


Clay

There are two major brands of polymer clay - Sculpey and Fimo. (There are other brands but they are less common in the States and I know nothing about them.) Each brand comes in several varieties. I have never really used Fimo so I can't tell you much about it, but I have heard that it is stronger and better for certain techniques.

Sculpey, on the other hand, I do know quite a bit about. There is original Sculpey, which only comes in a couple of colors and is, in my experience, hard to work with (the one package I got of white Sculpey is very crumbly and basically unusable, and it was that way when I got it from the store - I may have just had bad luck though). Original Sculpey is usually baked then painted when making charms.

I use Sculpey III, which comes in a pretty wide variety of colors and is very easy to work with. I've heard bad things from some artists about it but I really see no problems with it. Mixing colors is fairly easy, as it is just like mixing paint colors. Even if you aren't experienced with doing that, it's pretty easy to pick up on and you can make educated guesses about what might work to get the color you're looking for.

Another Sculpey type is Premo. I understand it is stronger after baking and there are more colors to choose from, as well as some very specialized ones. I also don't know much about Premo, but I have heard good things about it.


Baking

The instructions for baking are on the package for any kind of polymer clay you purchase. For Sculpey III, you bake your pieces in a 275° oven for 15 minutes per 1/4 inch thickness of clay. This is generally a pretty good rule to follow, but don't go getting out your ruler and measuring how tall your piece is. I usually just take an educated guess about how long a piece will need to be in the oven depending on the overall size and thickness. Most of my pieces I don't bake any longer than 30 minutes and they are fine.


Tools

There are a lot of tools you can use for polymer clay - in fact, virtually anything! There are some basic tools you'll find in the clay aisle at the craft store that are good to have, but they are very basic and in order to get a lot of really cool stuff done you might want to get more creative.

The most important tools are a rolling pin and something to cut with. I got my rolling pin at the craft store, and it is a clear acrylic rod that was with the clays. I have seen people using all kinds of things to roll out their clay, though, including a piece of PVC pipe and a battery. Most artists also have a pasta machines, which helps to quickly roll out uniformly thick sheets of clay (and can also be used for making color gradients in what is called a "Skinner blend" - Google that if you want to know, I haven't done it yet because I don't have a pasta machine).

You can use all kinds of instruments for cutting. Some people use plain razor blades, and there are also longer blades you can purchase. You can use a hobby (X-acto) knife as well, but I have an odd personal choice: a palette knife. I happened to be at my grandma's house the weekend I started claying, and while looking for tools she gave me a couple different things to cut with and I found the palette knife to be best. I still use a hobby knife for some things, but the palette knife is nice because it's flexible and sturdy. I don't know how easy it would be to find one exactly like what I use, but you could look at the palette knives at the store and try to figure out what would work best for you. It's nice to be able to make a curved cut (handy for making "bites" out of chocolates).

You can also find small cookie cutters and fondant cutters in some stores. I have a set of simple round fondant cutters that are very helpful for making all sorts of things.


Glazing/Glossing/Finishing

When I first started claying, I thought the only option for finishing your pieces was Sculpey Glaze. It took me a long time to realize that it's not the best solution, as it's too expensive for such a small jar, you go through it REALLY fast, and if you don't go through it fast enough, it'll get too gooey and thick to use.

What I use now - and a lot of other artists as well - is acrylic floor finish. The brand that is generally considered best is usually referred to as "Future". It turns out that company was bought out by Pledge, so you need to look for "Pledge with Future Shine Premium Floor Finish". It's a HUGE bottle so it's much cheaper in the long run, and it's a lot better, in my opinion. The only issue is that it'll take two to three coats before your piece really starts to shine, and it takes some getting used to because it's very thin so it feels like you're painting your piece with water. However, the bottle will last you FOREVER and it really is worth it.

A lot of people glaze the whole piece when they make something, but I feel like it makes a piece more dimensional and realistic if you only glaze the parts that should be shiny (for example, if I make a slice of cake, I don't glaze the cake - just the frosting).


Liquid Clays

The two liquid clays I'm aware of are Translucent Liquid Sculpey (TLS) and Fimo Decorating Gel. I have only used TLS so far, but I will be ordering some Fimo Gel soon.

The main difference between the two is the amount of transparency. Fimo Gel is very clear, from what I have seen, and is good for making sauces and syrups. TLS is more opaque and is more useful for other things, which I will discuss later. Basically, if you are looking to make syrups and sauces, you need to get some Fimo Gel. It doesn't seem widely available where I am so I have to order it online, but depending on the craft stores around you and the country you live in, you may be able to find it very easily.

TLS is good to make more opaque sauces and other opaque liquids, and you can use it as a sort of a "glue" between clay pieces.

Both can be colored with dry pigments (I use a cheap set of chalk pastels) or oil paints then brushed or drizzled on to pieces before baking.


Translucent Clays

The only translucent clay I have used is the Sculpey III version. It's not extremely clear, but it works well for certain things. I've used it for squid on sushi, and just today I used it for cheese on pizza (it looks REALLY good on pizza - when glazed in that situation it looks good and greasy). It's good for mixing with colors to tone them down a bit instead of using white, too.


Frosting and Whipped Cream

This bothered me for a long time - how do so many clayers make such peaky, realistic whipped cream and frosting? It turns out the trick is to mix a bit of regular clay with some TLS. It'll take quite a bit of TLS in proportion to the clay - I never really make it exactly the same, I just kind of wing it every time, but I'll estimate it's about one part clay to two parts TLS. There are different ways to mix and apply it to your pieces, but I like putting it in these little baggies I found at a store in my town, zipping the baggie closed and mushing it all together until it's mixed, then cutting the tip of a corner off of the bag and squeezing it out like a pastry bag. If it needs to be spread (like on a cake) you can use a toothpick (flat toothpicks are really good for this). I think some artists use actual pastry piping instruments on their pieces, which gives them a cleaner look. If you plan on doing this, do not use piping instruments you have used for clay with food. I know this is going back to the safety section, but I felt the need to bring it up again because it's very important.


Canes (Strawberries, Kiwis, Bananas, Oranges, Lemons, Limes, etc.)

Another thing that bothered me was all these artists making cupcakes and waffles and all sorts of things with these amazingly detailed fruit slices on them - and it was pretty clear that most of them were made completely out of clay. These are made through a process called "caning", in which long strings and shapes of clay are grouped together to make a picture then stretched and rolled out until they make a long rope, which can be cut to make several uniform pieces containing the picture. This is a technique often used for making beads. Something you can compare it to is making salt water taffy that has a picture or design in it - you may have seen the process on television before, and it is the same general technique (they're just using candy).

Caning can actually be fairly simple. The first thing I made was a very, very simple sushi cane. Looking back on it, it is very cartoony and I'm not too fond of it anymore, but at the time I was amazed that I could make something so good-looking.

So we have figured out how to make canes in general, but how do they DO it? How do they make their canes so realistic?

There are some tutorials on the internet, but they're very few. The only canes I have successfully made are sushi and citrus - both of which are round. I haven't taken a shot at banana or kiwi yet, but I will probably try someday.

The main problem? Strawberries.

I found a tutorial and I tried to follow it but it didn't explain things well enough and I failed so badly I had to mash it all up and twist and swirl it make it into a lollipop. I just don't understand how they reduce it and keep that shape. Fortunately, last night while browsing I found a solution.

A very talented woman named Angie Scarr sells amazingly detailed, realistic food canes on her website - including strawberries. I'm not sure how many popular artists actually order from her, as I do know a few who definitely make their own strawberry canes, but I think there are a lot of people who are buying from her and not admitting it. I ordered strawberry, banana and kiwi from her last night and I can't wait to get them and start using them. I personally don't see the shame in buying these things from other people... I've just given up trying to figure it out. Maybe someday I'll get it, and then I'll make tutorials... but for now I'm just going to order them from Angie. She has more than just juicy fruits - she also has salad and pizza toppings (how does she make canes with holes through the center?!).


Scenting

Scenting clay pieces is fun and interesting, but I don't do it too often. The trick is using the oils you use to scent candles. To get most scents you need to order them online (they don't usually have a wide variety at the craft store). I only have vanilla.

There are a couple of problems with this - the first being that the scent wears off after a while, the second being if you glaze over the part of the clay that has the scent mixed in, it will cover up the scent.

But how do you do it? Just dip a Q-tip in the oil and spread it around on the clay you're going to use, then knead it into the clay. It will get a little sticky and some of the color might come off of your hands, but once it's all worked in it will be fine. After that, mold, shape and bake as normal.

Like I said, the scent won't last very long, but it's a fun little trick.


Texturing

Texturing is something that can add even more realism to a piece. The main place I've used it is on cakes - I have this little brush made of wires and I poke at the sides of the cake over and over and over again, creating a bunch of little holes in it. You can use all kinds of things to texture clay, like rocks and other found objects. You can also add things to clay, as long as they are things that can go through the oven. Some add-ins I know of are spices, poppy seeds, certain types of glitter, and glass seed beads.


Chalk Pastels

While they can be used for coloring liquid clays, your chalk pastels have some other uses. To make a piece look baked/browned, you can use a clean, dry brush and gently brush some brown chalk pastel on the places the piece needs to be browned before baking. Chalk pastel can also be used as powdered sugar - just make sure you put down a thin layer of TLS where you want the powdered sugar to stick if you're going to do this before baking so it will stick and won't smear around.


Lollipops, Popsicles, and Anything With a Stick

My first attempts and making things that had sticks failed miserably because the clay was too weak and so the stick broke. Then my mom came up with the idea of using flat toothpicks. You can just cut the end off so you've got that nice rounded end sticking out, put a little bit of TLS on it, and stick it into your piece. It's much stronger and looks a lot nicer.


Making Your Pieces Into Jewelry

For your pieces to become jewelry, you're going to need to head to the jewelry-making section of the craft store. The main thing you'll want are things called "eye pins" - they are long thin pieces of metal with a loop at the top. You can trim these down and stick them into your pieces to give you a base for making them into a charm. Most eye pins don't really have a good way of staying in the piece, so I like to put a little bit of TLS on the part that will stick into the clay to make it stay there.

Next you're going to want some "jump rings". You gently pry these open with tweezers or pliers, loop them through the head of the eye pin, then close them back up, and this is what the chain (or whatever you decide to use) will go through if you are making a necklace.

If you are making earrings, you do not need a jump ring. Get earring hooks, and these will open the same way jump rings do, and you can feed these directly through the head of the eye pin then close them up the same way you would with a jump ring.

As for bracelets, you will need to make your pieces into beads by putting them on something while they bake that will make a hole through them (I use thick sewing needles). Then you can get some thin elastic, thread it through and tie it. There are other ways of making bracelets, but I prefer quick and easy elastic bracelets with beads.


Tutorials

Here are some of my favorite tutorials that I've learned a lot from:

~Fruit Slice Tutorial by QueEnOfNights
~Milkshake Poly-Clay Tutorial by paperfaceparade
~Ice Cream Poly-Clay Tutorial by paperfaceparade
~PB+J Polymer Clay Tutorial by paperfaceparade
~Cake Charm Tutorial by whitefrosty
~How to Scent Polymer Clay by monsterkookies
~Chocolate Charm Tutorial by chat-noir
~Cake Tutorial by HanaClayWorks
~Cheesecake + Plate Tutorial by HanaClayWorks
~How to make a Lolli Pop Charm by chat-noir
~Sushi Cane Tutorial by chat-noir
~Jelly Donut Tutorial by chat-noir

For more, search "polymer clay tutorial" here on deviantART.

There are also some really amazing tutorials on YouTube - I recommend the users GardenOfImagination and GentlemanBunny. Both do amazing work and offer some really great tips. (GardenOfImagination makes a lot of useful food canes, too!)

I hope these tips will help you, whether you're just beginning or you've been claying for a while and were missing some of this knowledge. If you've got anything to share with me, I'm open to tips!