Before you work with any kind of polymer clay, it's important to keep a few considerations in mind to ensure a seamless crafting experience. Here's a few simple tips to get started! 1. Use Baby Wipes Baby wipes are invaluable when working with polymer clay. Use them to clean your tools, work surface and remove the oily, waxy residue from...
There are multiple ways to work with polymer clay to deliver stunning results. Although your options are virtually endless, there are five essential techniques involved when making polymer clay jewelry. 1. Conditioning Before starting any jewelry project, you'll have to condition your clay to make it soft and easy to work with. To do this: Knead it with your hands...
Okay, all three of these mixes were surprises. I don't know what I was expecting, but they still surprised me. I can finally see a small shift to a green in these three mixes. But the Orange/Mint? It's almost a mustard color! #1 I really kind of like these colors together. It's a happy Summer palette with a bit of...
I first heard the term “flow state” in 1986 from Dr. Ruth; (and she was not talking about clay). It was Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi who coined the term in 1975. According to Wikipedia: “… a flow state, also known colloquially as being in the zone, is the mental state in which a person performing some activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full...
I decided to give some Premo colors that I really like, but seldom use a little love this week. Not really sure why I don't use these colors more, especially in mixes. I love Raw Sienna and Spanish Olive together and Spanish Olive and Alizarin Crimson are super rich together - toss in a little Premo Gold and instant luxury...
The right techniques, tools and practices can help you make beautiful clay creations. There are various helpful materials that can simplify your claying process, such as when you're protecting your work surface, baking your creations and storing unused clay for your next project. Many people wonder whether parchment paper, plastic wrap or deli paper is the best for these steps...
I have studied at the feet of the masters. I’ve read, literally, every single clay book and I’ve watched nearly every clay video; but it took a three-year-old to teach me how to freely create. My granddaughter, Jolene, will be three in August. She’s been claying since she could sit up. She crafts about six inches from my left elbow...
Okay, now I'm really trying to challenge, but I also really like those four colors together in a palette! Great colors for a transitional baby to young girl room. #1 What run colors together and I love the pop of texture that the Turquoise Granite provides to the palette, since the Blush and Ecru appear so smoooooth. #2 Another great...
I tried to throw a few soft curveballs this week and Mint tossed them to left field on me. Fuchsia and Mint - I thought it would create a grey-ish WRONG! It created a soft purple that is really quite lovely (for a purple). Sunshine and Mint - I thought would make a yellow-green, but it created a fairly vibrant...
I was really excited to mix with this new Premo Mint color because I wasn't quite sure what it would do in mixes. Was it going to act like a light neutral and just lighten the colors? Was it going to act like a light grey and lighten and neutralize the colors slightly? Was it going to create a green...
Are you interested in crafting with polymer clay? How exciting! More and more artists are experimenting with polymer clay, and they all have the same question — where do I start? Polymer clay is an extremely versatile medium. You can do and create so much with it, including jewelry, bookmarks, science fair projects and much more. It makes sense why...
Keep your polymer clay canes safe with this storage tip from Sculpey. We offer high-quality tools and crafting materials to ambitious artists. Learn more here!
Oh I DO love to mix Souffle with Premo for all new color palettes. I love the way the Mauve muted the strong colors of the Souffle. All three of those mixes AND the Mauve are really lovely together as well. #1 An unlikely team of colors, which is probably why I like it so much! #2 Oh! Classic color...
I had a hard time only picking three sub-palettes from this group. Those three mixes together are amazing. And a shoutout to Copper/Copper/Mauve and Orange/Mauve as an amazing palette as well! #1 A cool, soothing palette! Kind of different tones for an Early Spring palette. #2 Oh! This palette makes me smile! Great colors for a mirror frame or to...
If you're like the crafters at Sculpey®, you love experimenting with different mediums. Crafters have so many mediums to choose from, like watercolors, fabric dyes, markers, polymer clay and more. You've likely seen two vocabulary words thrown around in the craft world — pigments and dyes. They're often used interchangeably to describe a medium that's colored, but they're two completely different...
Well, THIS week sure brought the surprises! We now have a Lavender Granite, a Blush Crème and a New Leather. Seriously, Wasabi NEVER fails to throw a wild color in a mix, but I sure was NOT expecting this rich, warm light brown mix! And these sub-palettes? Well, I just can't pick a favorite (but I'm leaning to #2). #1...
Now I am the first one to admit (scream from the rooftops actually) that I am NOT a fan of PINK. But as a redhead, I *could* wear Mauve. But I struggled a bit with what to wear it with - Ivory? Black? Bluejeans? So I KNEW this month was going to be a challenge for me! I purposely tried...
Of course I had to throw a little of my beloved Sculpey Soufflé™ into the mixes! The texture of the Soufflé really adds to the illusion of stone in the marbled mixes as well. #1 Ohhhh Latte! I love this color with the TG. And the mix? Wow, it looks like sandstone mixed into the granite! #2 This is a...
First of all, I don’t think of scrap clay as SCRAP. I usually think of it as “Round Two” of my designs. And Sometimes, I even try to purposely create scrap clay – that’s a lot harder than it sounds actually! This is a 1:1 mix of these 2 colors for a NCT post. Every month when I go through...
Now here is an interesting and diverse combination of colors that have created some equally interesting marbled mixes. And each color adds its own visual texture to the mixes as well. From these mixes I can tell that Purple Pearl (PP) and Turquoise Granite (TG) are going to make a kind of Violet Granite (if there is such a thing...
Ten Tips for getting the best results when baking your clay creations! It's safe to bake your polymer clay in your home oven or toaster oven!Always use an oven thermometer when baking polymer clay.Always pre-heat your oven prior to baking polymer clay.To keep the back of your clay from being shiny, bake on a piece of copy paper or an...
These three colors mixed into the marble really nicely - giving us both the marble and a change of color for the Turquoise Granite. Wow! Pearl added a frosty look to the Turquoise Granite in the marble mix. I love the soft moss green color that the Antique Gold created in that marble mix. That Peacock Pearl is such a...
If you know me, you know that I love the Sculpey Tools™ Etch n’ Pearls. Those odd little metal pokey things that are sold in a set of 3. Most of us bought them before we really even knew what they did – besides poke holes. But it is the magical cupped end that is really the workhorse of our...
It's a New Year. It's a New Color. It's a New Mix - a MARBLED mix! But only for this month...well, maybe just this month.. As I started to make the first couple of mixes, I was so amazed at the gorgeous marbling happening that I was cutting off small pieces to bake and save when I realized that YOU...
September 2020 NCT mixes I thought this palette would be perfect for the end of December when we are all looking forward to Spring. These seem to be some really nice early Spring colors to me. I think that the Premo Mustard mixed to make these original cool colors warmer and more hopeful - just like Spring! My mix scraps...
November 2020 This all- Soufflé palette was a close second as my favorite palette of the year. The cheerful exuberance of the entire palette just makes me smile. And I'm still surprised that Orange OWNED Wasabi in a mix. I really like that color and it surprisingly goes with just about any color combination you could make with this palette...
I love #HowDoYouSculpey! What a great way to learn and share projects and tips and tricks within the Sculpey community. I’m a figurative artist and I use Living Doll and Super Sculpey to create my figures and my portraits. In this blog post, I want to share my creative process, especially when I am working on portraits. First things first...
August 2020 Soufflé Mixes I know, ME calling out some neutral(ish) mixes as some of my favorites? It can happen. Especially when all 3 mixes are in a palette- I like the calming warmth of the palette. A little Premo Copper or Soufflé Poppy Seed to make them pop and Wow! They just remind me of a walk on a...
It’s been over 25 years since I first discovered Polymer Clay. It was such an “ah-ha” moment for me and I haven’t looked back since. My specialty is figurative work, portrait commissions and Christmas characters like Santa and Elves. My style leans towards realism and I also teach my techniques to aspiring figurative artists. Although most of you have some...
June NCT 2020 Souffle Mixes Let's have a little flashback to Summer. First of all, I kinda dig the 3 main Souffle mix colors together - Latte, Turnip and Cornflower. Toss a dash of Igloo, maybe a tiny bit of Poppy Seed? That would be fun! I was REALLY surprised that Canary yielded such lovely SOFT color mixes. OF course...
