20 Polymer Clay Tips and Tricks for Beginners

I've got a colour mixing tip for you all: If you want to make a colour darker, don't add black. If you want your, for example, blue to be darker add a little bit of red to it. This will make your blue look more purple and dark and less gray. Of you want your yellow to be darker add a little tiny bit of red. If you want your red to be darker add a little bit of blue to it and so on. If you already darkend your colour with black don't use white to make it lighter, use the same technique as the darkening one, but instead of adding more red to your dark blue, add yellow to it and so on. White and black are technically not colours, so try not to use them too often, only for making your colours less vibrant(more gray-ish) and lightening primary colours. I've learned this trick a few years ago and it made my art look waaay better. I hope I helped you, have a nice day! 😊

It’s never too late to teach an old dog new tricks! I am 70 years old and just beginning with polymer clay. Your excellent video was a big help. Thank you young lady! Dave

🙋🏼‍♀️Hello Again Everyone, I have commented on this wonderful video before with some extra tips, but I’d like to add a few more tips for your viewers. I have been a professional, clay artist for over 30 years now and during that time I have made every mistake you can make with polymer clay, but I have also learned from my mistakes and from other artist (like yourself). So I hope that anyone and everyone who really wants to become GREAT at polymer clay with watch your videos and read the comments (like mine). Anyway, my other tips are….you mentioned painting over your clay piece if you burn it, however, you can also sand it off with a low grit sandpaper or nail file. You can also use acetone (nail polish remover) to rub off some of the burnt areas, but be careful not wet the paper towel too much with acetone or you might soften baked the clay too much. Acetone and sanding also work to remove surface dust. Then you mentioned glazing your pieces. Polyurethane is a great glaze to use but make sure it’s not a spray on version because the chemicals used to propel it from the can will make your clay melt and become sticky over time. Another good way to glaze your items is with a UV glaze. It creates a nice hard glaze to the surface of your clay piece. I have a million more tips I’ve learned over the years but just haven’t had the time to put them in a video. But fortunately.y there are wonderful artists like Rachael who will give you wonderful information and ideas and I can just add a few things in the comments. So, I’ll end by saying HAPPY CRAFTING EVERYONE, and Take care, Dee😊

If you notice your purples, greens, sky blues, and pinks to be muddy or dark, get magenta, yellow, and cyan clay. They're kinda considered to be red yellow and blue, the "primary colors", but red is more pink, and blue is brighter and more green. This helps give you brighter colors when mixing, since the primary subtractive colors (used for painting, drawing, or anything other than light) are magenta, yellow, and cyan.

Mixing colours and brands 0:35 Adding eyepins, glitter, toothpicks and other details 1:50 Buying polymer clay 2:53 Storing your clay 3:20 Liquid polymer clay 4:16 Securing eyepins 4:59 Creating a works surface 5:42 Rolling out an even sheet 6:13 Creating your own tools 6:35 Colouring and shading your clay 7:03 How to soften clay 7:49 How to harden clay 9:13 Using cornstarch 10:20 Using sandpaper 10:56 Baking your charms 11:17 Broken charms 13:00 Burnt charms 13:27 Painting polymer clay 13:55 Cleaning your clay 14:26 Glazing your creations 14:55

Hi, I am a professional sculptor, and I have been using polymer clays for years. I still learned something from your video here! The corn starch trick is cool. And the polyurethane glaze is a good one too. I rarely glaze my pieces as I generally do realistic figures. I do paint these figures with acrylics. And once they are painted in acrylic you can use clear nail polish over the paint for eyeballs and such. Also, working on a project for Universal, I designed some alien plants that lit up -- long before the film Avatar. I would simply use a translucent Sculpey with light tints of color and build the plants around a grain of wheat LED bulb. As the bulb has wires with plastic on it, I needed to avoid the oven. That is when I discovered that you can harden polymer clay by putting it in boiling water. I still use boiling water when I want to harden globe shapes because these often get a flat spot in the oven. I also find using a heat gun right at my work table when doing multiple cooks on small figures is very convenient. Thanks for you video! Willy Whitten - \\][//

Tip for the cornstarch tip: Don’t use too much, and if you do, dust or wipe it off before baking or else it will show up after you baked it, and it will not come off no matter how hard you try. Don’t ruin your piece like I did!

I have been so nervous about starting with polymer clay. It's a whole new world to me and I have been feeling so anxious. Thank you so much for this video, I feel so inspired and excited to get started

I tuck my clay in a bag behind my knee if I'm sitting cross legged to soften it. Learned that AFTER making my poor fingers and thumbs sore...

When I don’t have liquid clay I make my own with baby oil mixed with a tiny bit of clay. Works great.

This REALLY is the best beginners polymer cay video out there. I am going to create one too, however wont hold a candle to this legendary one. Just so quick, snappy, informative, colourful and fun. Well done Rachy. :) QUICK TIP: I have chronic pain in my hands and found that the Premo Sculpey through Pasta machine works best for me and the Original Sculpey (really soft and commonly used with kids) if hands really really sore.

New to polymer clay creations here. =) TY for all your tips! Also, you said a glass surface is good to work on. For those who want a larger work space to spread out, I just went to Lowe's and bought a 24" x 12" piece of porcelain flooring tile for $5 and it works wonderfully! Super fast clean up with a spritz of rubbing alcohol and wipe down before or after working on the surface.

How I warm up some clay: Step 1: Place the clay inside a plastic bag Step 2: Fold the bag inside some cloth Step 3: Go to youtube & pick a video Step 4: Sit on cloth/bag Step 5: Once done watching for a few minutes or hours the clay is soft DONE! Tip: You can also have your cat lie down on it since their technically warmer than us XD

Years later and still changing lives for people who are starting! Thank you! ❤️

I'm rewatching this (and your other videos) in 2022 because I dabbled in polymer clay years ago and then moved on to other types of crafts. I just wanna say this video is so helpful! Thank you so much for sharing your rich experience with beginners like us so generously; what you made almost 6 years ago is still making a big difference in the polymer clay world :D

I've just started thinking about getting into making polymer clay earrings. I have never used polymer clay before, so thank you so much for the great tips. You are super informative. ❤️❤️

I'm a beginner, and I cannot thank you enough for these fabulous tips!!! These will help so very much. Bless you! Cheers!

13:21 correction for baking on low heat: "they'll become more flexible and LESS prone to snapping easily."

i learnt SO MUCH, complete newbie here trying to make a personalized gift

As a polymer artist of 15 years, please don't advise using glass from a photo frame. 1.) The edges are extremely sharp and 2.) The glass of much more delicate. I've met more than a few new artists who have ended up with stitches when trying to roll on that type of glass. Just a word of warning to new users. You are better to hit an old habitat for humanity store or other second Cisneros store and get a12x12 tile. Very cheap and much safer. Have fun!