Creative Polymer Clay: Over 30 Techniques and Projects for Contemporary Wearable Art

By Heidi Helyard

Discover a world of inspired and colourful jewellery-making from the comfort of your own home. Just make, bake and wear!
 
In this comprehensive guide to modern polymer clay techniques, artist and designer Heidi Helyard reveals the simple techniques that can be used to create one-off, contemporary jewellery pieces with minimal tools and equipment. 
 
Polymer clay, which has been around for nearly eighty years, is currently finding itself popular amongst contemporary jewellery makers as the bright colours and sheer versatility of the material allows makers to create bold and graphic modern designs. 
 
The beauty of polymer clay is that it presents so many opportunities to explore colour combinations, patterns and texture. In this book you will learn ten easy yet exciting techniques including slab and cane making, marbling and colour mixing, inlay techniques, printing onto clay, surface embellishments and more to create twenty unique jewellery pieces. 
 
The projects in this book vary in complexity, but are accessible to both novice and advanced makers alike. If you are a beginner, the extensive step-by-step photos and instructions will help you develop your polymer clay skills and complete the projects with confidence. As you build your skills and learn the techniques via the book, you will realise that you can combine techniques to create all-new results. 
 
The skills you learn in this book will open up a limitless world of further experimentation for you to discover.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: May 7, 2021
• ISBN: 9781446379981

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

Polymer clay is one of the most accessible yet versatile art materials currently on the market. As readily available and easy to use as paint, you can make everything (and anything) with it, from sculptures and figurines, to artworks, decorations, homewares and wearable jewellery. It’s lightweight, flexible and strong. No special tools or equipment are required, it is relatively cheap, and you only need to start with the true primary colours, plus black and white, to mix any shade you desire.

Polymer clay, which has been around for nearly 80 years, is currently finding itself popular amongst contemporary jewellery makers, as the bright colours and sheer versatility of the material allows for the creation of bold and graphic modern designs. New polymer clay products, tools and colours are being released all the time, which is exciting for designers like me.

I believe that experimentation is important to creativity and it plays a huge part in developing my new collections. It is how ‘happy accidents’ occur, a pathway to unique techniques and aesthetic styles being formed, and at the very least, a lesson in what not to do next time! And polymer clay is a perfect material to experiment with as it’s such a forgivable medium: when you ‘fail’ you can recondition and re-roll and start all over again – paint can always be scraped off and the clay salvaged.

In this book, I’ll be introducing you to some of my favourite techniques, and following these tutorials are projects that allow you to practically apply these new capabilities. Extensive step-by-step photo instructions will give you confidence to complete the projects and develop your polymer clay skills, even if you are a beginner.

Once you’ve tried the techniques and made the projects, I hope that you will be inspired to explore further. Try your own ways of incorporating chalk into clay, for example, or attempt a different way of texturing a mokume gane slab. Combine techniques to create all-new results. Take what you learn and go beyond, to experiment, to play, to push yourself and, above all, to develop your own original work.

THE BASICS

CLAY BASICS

In this section, I will be covering types of polymer clay and the main brands available. There’s advice on safety and storage too. I’ll introduce the basic tool kit as well as some additional beginners’ tools, with a few more equipment choices to support your developing skills. To finish, there’s an overview of essential techniques.

TYPES OF CLAY

Polymer clay is a synthetic modelling material formulated from polyvinyl chloride (PVC), with the addition of plasticisers to keep it pliable until it is cured using a low heat. The main terms used to describe the different types of polymer clay are detailed here:

Opaque Solid coloured clays to which dyes and pigments have been added. These are the core clay products of all brands.

Metallic Clays that mimic metals. The metallic look has been achieved by adding mica particles to translucent clay to give a sparkly effect. The final cured result is an opaque but shimmery finish. Most clay brands carry metallic clay lines, though some are more extensive than others.

Translucent Clay with no pigments added; this is used for certain techniques where translucency is desired.

Liquid Polymer clay but in a liquid form. It can be used to decorate, glaze or seal finished pieces, as well as for construction purposes.

BASIC SAFETY INFORMATION

Polymer clay is classified as a non-toxic substance but it’s not food safe, so here are a few important rules that should be followed:

Do not use polymer clay to make any type of vessel or utensil that will come into contact with food.

Do not eat while working with raw clay, and be sure to wash your hands often.

Keep dedicated tools and equipment for polymer clay work separate and never use them to prepare food or in the kitchen.

While curing polymer clay in your home oven is perfectly safe, do keep the area as well-ventilated as possible.

CLAY BRANDS

Small blocks of polymer clay are inexpensive and easy to come by, but how do you decide which to choose when there are so many different brands available? Start by taking a look at the summary of the main brands below. Here I outline their basic properties to help you choose which ones best suit your purpose. Is it possible to mix different brands of clay that have different curing times and temperatures? The answer is yes! I often do this and simply split the difference between any variables.

Sculpey

Sculpey III Very soft and easy to condition and available in a wide variety of colours, a wonderful clay for children and beginners. When cured, however, it’s brittle and prone to cracking so has limitations, but can be used for decorative elements, for surface patterns and shapes on slabs, and to tint other brands of clay.

Sculpey Premo This readily available all-purpose clay is easy to condition and very strong when cured. There’s a great colour selection, including gorgeous metallics and glitters in the Premo Accents range.

Sculpey Soufflé Lightweight yet very strong, this clay has a matte finish, which is great for hiding fingerprints! The range has a lovely yet limited colour palette, but as there are no true colours (i.e., colours closest to primary colours, see Design Basics: Colour Theory), it’s not designed for colour mixing.

Fimo

Fimo Soft This all-purpose clay is strong when cured and super versatile. It is marketed as being a softer clay than the Fimo Professional range, so easier to sculpt by beginners. It is available in many colours.

Fimo Professional This top-grade clay is incredibly strong and durable when cured, making it ideal for sculptural work, as well as cane-making and jewellery pieces. True primary colours are available, so it is designed for predictable colour mixing.

Fimo Effect This range includes some granite, glitter and coloured translucent clays.

Fimo Leather-Effect A clay that, after curing, looks and feels like leather. Cured sheets can be cut with scissors and stitched.

Cernit

Popular in Europe and known for its porcelain-like finish when cured, this clay is extremely strong and flexible. There’s a huge range of colours, spectacular metallics and granites, and Cernit Translucent is one of the best translucent clays on the market.

Kato Polyclay

A line of clay developed by American polymer clay artist, Donna Kato; it offers a range of bright, muted and metallic colours, with true primary colours designed for colour mixing. When cured it is one of the strongest clays available.

STORING CLAY

The beauty of polymer clay is that it doesn’t dry out, so it can be successfully stored for a long time. However, it will need to be protected from dust and lint and it must be kept away from heat sources, as if it gets too hot it can partially cure.

Clay must not be stored in containers made from porous materials, such as wood, as the oils from the clay will leach out. Plastic containers are best, however you need to be aware that some plastics will adversely react to raw polymer clay. In general, rigid or hard plastics are problematic, whereas pliable, soft plastics are okay. Plastics that bear the recycling number 1, 2, 4 and 5 should be compatible as are most zip lock bags, but I recommend you test any containers first with a little