First off, I don't remember when I started out polymer clay, but I do remember how I came into contact with it. I wanted to make something for my friend's birthday, so I thought, 'hey, why not make something out of clay?' And so my journey with polymer clay started from there. I did plenty of research on polymer clay, Youtube and google have been very helpful ^^ . I strongly urge you to research if you're interested in this hobby! It gets slightly annoying if people keep asking questions without first doing their own research.
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Alright, so let's start with the serious stuff!
1) How do you bake your clay?
Polymer clay requires baking to harden, as it is unlike air dry clay which, as its name suggests, air dry. I bought my second hand toaster oven at a shop called 'cash converters'.
You'd want to get one with the temperature control and a timer. (shown below)
Toaster ovens nowadays are pretty affordable, and you don't have to get a new one. But I do strongly suggest that you get one JUST for polymer clay. You don't want to use the same one for food, trust me.
The timing to bake the clay and the temperature varies for different brands of clay. Many people go by the rule of the thickness of the clay to determine the temperature and timing, but for me, since the stuff I bake are pretty small, I generally bake my clay for 30 mins at around 150-175 degree Celsius.
2) I keep burning my clay! what's wrong?
Investing in a oven thermometer is the key!
Even though you've set your oven temperature, the real temperature of the oven is another factor that will affect the results of your clay. Oven temperature will tend to fluctuate hence getting a thermometer is good as it will help you adjust the temperature of your oven during the baking process so that your clay isn't over or under baked. I also like to bake my clay on a piece of tile or glass covered with baking paper.
The tile will help prevent the bottom of your clay from getting burned and the baking paper will:
- Help to leech extra grease from your clay
- Prevent an shiny surface on the bottom of the clay.
If your oven comes with a tray, I suggest you wrap it in aluminium foil like me :D
3) What brand of clay is good for beginners?
I started out with Fimo clay, but it is a bit hard to condition, hence if you're not someone who likes to pound at the clay, I would suggest Sculpey clay as it is relatively softer and easier to work with. Many people say that Fimo is sturdier than Sculpey after baking so if this is a matter of concern for you, then I suggest go with Fimo if you require a more sturdy end product.
You can buy Fimo at Popular bookstore outlets and Sculpey at either Art Friends or Spotlight. Personally I would suggest going to Art Friend as Spotlight sells Sculpey at least 2 times more expensive than Art Friends. I might do another post of details of where to get these if highly requested...
4) How do you keep/store your clay?
I would make a video of my craft area and also tips soon!
5) My clay is too sticky!
Many people over condition their clay, leading to the clay becoming too soft and hard to mold. What I would do is to place the sticky clay between two pieces of parchment/baking paper and apply pressure by placing something hard on top of it.
Let it sit for a few hours (if you cannot wait) or one to two days to allow the 'oil' in the clay to be pressed out.
So thats all for now, if you have any questions feel free to comment below or contact me at any of the links at the sidebar! Hope this helped (:
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