Tips and Tutorials for Creating Faux Stone With Polymer Clay

Do you want to create gorgeous, glistening stones with polymer clay? Follow these tips for creating faux stones with polymer clay, then use one of our tutorials to make your favorite precious stones in a few simple steps. 

4 Tips for Creating Faux Stone With Polymer Clay

When making your faux stone, we recommend these four tips for the best results:

1. Choose Earthy Polymer Clay Colors

Different mineral compositions give stones their unique colors and aesthetics. When creating faux stones with polymer clay, choose clay colors that reflect the earth's natural hues. This creates a more realistic final product that looks as valuable as Mother Nature's precious stones. 

Pick shades like brown, gray, blue, emerald and white. The Sculpey III® 12-piece pack has all of these and more.

If you want to work with products you already have, you can also color polymer clay using pigments, paints, powders and tints. 

2. Create Texture With Tools

Tools bring depth and texture to your pieces, making them look realistic and revealing the beauty of the colors and technique. The options are endless. You can use everything from the Sculpey Tools™ Essential Tool Kit to plastic lids and popsicle sticks. 

Stones aren't usually smooth. They have curves, dips and layers. Tools can help you create these features seamlessly.

Use the Sculpey Tools™ Oven-Safe Work Mat to make polymer clay faux stones easily. It takes your piece directly from creation to baking, so you can bake your item right on the mat. 

3. Use Paint for Added Features

Without the proper techniques, painting your clay instead of using pre-colored clay can result in a shiny, unrealistic look. However, painting is also one of the best hacks for working with polymer clay when done correctly. To achieve more detail and subtle shades, you can apply acrylic paint. 

4. Condition Your Clay

Conditioning is a necessary step to remove trapped air and make the polymer clay more workable. This helps make the material more malleable and creates a uniform-looking piece. 

The easiest way to condition clay is to roll it back and forth in your hand. Once it starts warming up, roll it into a ball and then into a log. Repeat this process until the clay feels smooth, soft and pliable. 

Faux Stone Polymer Clay Tutorials

Once you've gathered all your polymer oven-bake clay products, choose your favorite stones from below. Follow these easy faux stone polymer clay tutorials for quality results.

African Turquoise

An important tip for creating a beautiful African turquoise is to avoid over-conditioning the clay for a more rustic, stone-like effect. Don't skip conditioning, as the clay will be difficult to handle without it. Here's how to make this faux stone: 

1. Roll a thin log of Sculpey Premo™ turquoise clay. 
2. Chop the log into chips.
3. Apply a generous amount of black paint onto the clay chips and gently mix. 
4. Put the coated chip pieces into a plastic bag and twist them into a corner. This spreads the paint into all the gaps and creates veins. 
5. Remove the lump of clay, then allow it to dry for at least an hour or until the outer layer is dry to the touch.
6. Roll the clay lump into a cylinder and allow it to dry for two days. 
7. Slice your log into bead-size pieces. 

Spiderweb Jasper 

These spiderweb jasper stones are perfect for making polymer clay jewelry to gift to loved ones. They're unique, elegant and incredibly easy to make: 

1. Spread a thin layer of black paint on a tile and leave it aside to dry. 
2. Turn a ball of dirty white Sculpey Premo™ clay into a log. 
3. Chop the log up into fine chips. 
4. Dust the chips generously with black mica powder. 
5. Add a dollop of black paint and mix in with a skewer. 
6. Allow the clay to dry until the paint is no longer wet. 
7. Bring back the painted tile and scrape off the black paint. 
8. Sprinkle the paint specks onto the clay and mix.
9. Roll the clay into a cylinder and slice or turn it into cabochons. 

Iridescent White Stone 

This polymer clay faux stone tutorial rewards you with an elegant item that looks like a mixture of milk quartz and pearl. You can create it in a few easy steps:

1. Condition a ball of translucent clay. 
2. Finely chop the clay into small chips. 
3. Add pearl white mica powder and mix. 
4. Squeeze in translucent liquid clay.
5. Toss in a sprinkle of gold leaves.
6. Roll the clay into a firm rectangular cylinder. 
7. Allow the paint to dry. 
8. Slice the clay into thick pieces. 
9. Lay all the pieces down and flatten them to your desired thickness. 
10. Cut the pieces into shapes. 
11. Bake and sand the pieces for a smooth and glistening finish.

Red Tiger Eye

If you're looking for a fiery and mysterious stone, this tutorial is your match. It's best for slightly more experienced crafters, but newbies can give it a go with a little extra focus.

First, prepare five layers of clay according to the following ratios using the clay colors translucent, bronze, cadmium and black, respectively:

• Color one: 20:12:1:8
• Color two: 20:12:1:4
• Color three: 20:12:1:2 
• Color four: 20:12:1:0
• Color five: 20:12:1:4 

To make the equivalent of one part in the ratio, you'll need to roll a thin log about 0.40 inches long. Simply roll the logs together according to the ratios. For example, color one needs 20 translucent logs, 12 bronze logs, one cadmium log and eight black logs.

When you've finished all five colors, flatten each one out.

Next, follow these steps: 

1. Use a pasta machine on the thickest setting and roll out each sheet separately. 
2. Make two separate balls of black and translucent Sculpey Premo™. Roll those out, too. 
3. Roll each sheet into cylinders and press them together. 
4. Flatten and roll them out and pass them through the pasta machine again. 
5. Fold the sheet in half and run it through the pasta machine again. Do this until the colors start to blend into one another. 
6. Use the needle from your clay tool starter set to drag lines along the sheet to make streaks. 
7. Cut the clay into desired shapes. 

Freestyle Fun Stone 

With this polymer clay faux stone tutorial, you don't have to replicate any stone. Use your imagination and pick your favorite colors. The only tools you really need are cutters, like Sculpey Tools™ Mini Metal Cutters, and you'll be ready to follow these steps: 

1. Make cylinders of different widths using various colors. 
2. Roll each cylinder in a layer of translucent clay. 
3. Firmly press each cylinder together to form one large cylinder. Squeeze it tightly. 
4. Twist the cylinder to swirl the colors. 
5. Cut the cylinder lengthwise to reveal the stunning blended hues. 
6. Place the half cylinders next to each other, color side facing up. 
7. Roll them down until flattened to your desired thickness. 
8. Press down with the cutters to create different shapes. 

Create Beautiful Polymer Clay Stones With Sculpey 

Follow our tips for creating faux stones with polymer clay, and you'll have a dazzling collection of precious stones in no time. Our products, such as Sculpey Premo™ polymer clay, tools and kits, help you create whatever you can imagine, from elegant spiderweb jasper to whimsical freestyle stones. We offer the best clays on the market in terms of color, strength and flexibility. 

Sculpey has something for every level, from kids' polymer clay products to artists' polymer clay items and tools. Shop our selection of products and fulfill your creative dreams!