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Sunday 11 May 2014

Working with Polymer Clay


Hello my friends!

Lately I have been having a lot of fun playing with polymer clay. I can't wait to show you the miniature cakes I have been baking! But first I thought I would share some tips with you. Most of these tips came to me via my brilliant friend Pat, who is a crafster extrordinaire.
Lets start with:

Tools

  • Polymer Clay in a wide variety of colors (Fimo and Sculpey are two common brands)
  • Liquid Sculpey for making things like icing
  • Clear Polymer Clay Glue or Clear Tacky Glue
  • Texturing tools. These can be purchased at a craft store or be creative and use common household items like peppercorns!
  • Cheap Plastic Placemat
  • Pasta Maker
  • Roller
  • Small Plastic Bags
  • Shape Cutters 
  • Chalk Pastels and small applicator brush
  • Cornstarch
  • Baby Wipes

Tips

  • Make sure your workspace and hands are as clean as you can get them before you begin. Any dust will show up in your work and we don't want that!
  • Work on a cheap plastic placemat, which protects your table and wipes down easily.
  • Keep Baby Wipes on hand to clean your hands as needed.
  • Keep a small jar of cornstarch on hand and frequently dust your hands with it. This makes the clay much more easy to work with.
  • Your clay will have to be softened considerably before you can work with it. A fast way to do this is to put the clay in a small bag and place it in your bra or under your armpit. Seriously! Leave it there for about five minutes.
  • Roll the clay out using the pasta maker to further soften it and to achieve the desired thickness
  • Use a small roller if you don't have a pasta maker.
  • Apply cornstarch to your hands to gently manipulate the clay and even out rough edges on your miniature creation.
  • Apply chalk pastels with a small brush to add color and realism.
  • Use clear polymer clay glue to attach embellishments to things like cakes. If you can't get your hands on some, let the baked miniature cake sit for about a day and attach decorations with clear tacky glue.
  • If you mess up, don't sweat it! You can always try again.
  • Remember that if you are storing your polymer clay in plastic drawers you must first put the clay in plastic wrap or a small plastic bag. Otherwise your clay will be ruined and degraded.
I hope these tips have been helpful. Go have fun!


8 comments:

  1. Hi Ruth,
    Sounds like you are having lots of fun! Thank you for the wonderful tips. I am looking forward to seeing all of your creations.
    Have a great week!
    Lisa

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Lisa! I will post some pics in another blog post this week.
      Ruth

      Delete
  2. Ruth
    LOL..Im going to have to try the "bra" trick :) it's good to see you posting again and here is a little tip that I found out about PC you can gloss it with Mod Podge Luster Gloss and it will glisten like crazy..you can also use it on printies too and for Frosting you can use good old dap acrylic latex caulk * you can color it and it's pretty cheap* I wish I had known about it when I was working on confections here are some DA Tutorials that are a lot of fun http://semi-sweeties.deviantart.com/gallery/9582525#

    Crazy Hugs from your Beastie
    Marisa :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Beastie! I prefer my clay creations unshiny for the most part. Sometimes they need a good coat though. Will check out the link,
      XOXO
      Ruth

      Delete
  3. Thanks for the tips. I haven't attempted any playscale items but I will keep these in mind.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Do you watch the you tube channel My Froggy Stuff Brini? They are for barbies and American Girl dolls. I love her tuts. There are a couple for food items where she uses easy to make dough. Maybe start with that! I wish I'd started ages ago, I was so intimidated by it but it's not so bad and really fun.
      XOXO
      Ruth

      Delete
  4. Great tips! I wonder what you have cooked up?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll be blogging about my creations later in the week!
      XOXO
      Ruth

      Delete

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