Types of Polymer Clay

Brr. These past few days have been so cold, rainy and dreary! Here is so information on the main types and brands of polymer clay!

There are so many different types of polymer clay and with online shopping, it is very easy to order different types of clay online. The most commonly used types of polymer clay.

1. Sculpey III: Sculpey III comes in many different bright colors and since the colors blend nicely, they are good for mixing. Sculpey III is soft and very easy to work with although it is not great for cane-work. Since it is so soft, it is usually the best type of clay for experimenting and usage in projects. In addition, Sculpey III is very brittle after baking so you should handle creations made with this type of clay carefully.
2. Sculpey Ultralight: Sculpey Ultralight is an unique type of color due to how light it is. It is very soft before baking but after baking, it becomes very strong. The only setback is that this type of clay is only available in white as it can be painted after baking.
   
   
3. Original Sculpey: This only comes in the color white in 2 pound boxes. It is very soft but becomes brittle and chalky after baking. However, this is the cheapest of all polymer clays.
   
   
4. Super Sculpey: Super Sculpey only comes in flesh-tone colors such as peach, tan, etc and arrives in 1 pound boxes. It is much stronger and more flexible than the original Sculpey and it is sometimes used for doll-making because of the colors it contains.

5. 

   This is a realistic baby made from Super Sculpey . 

   Premo Sculpey: This brand is pretty soft and one good thing about this clay is that it holds the details in canes very well helping you produce more realistic looking canes. The colors consist of different shades of blue, red, and yellow as these colors are very easy to mix together in order to produce new colors.
   
   
6. Fimo: Fimo is the most popular brand among clay artists although this brand may not consist of all the colors you might want. Fimo has a very beautiful selection of colors with many cool effects such as metallics, glow-in-the-dark, etc. This is the stiffest out of the clays and because of this, its firmness allows it to hold details very well. It is highly recommended to use Fimo for cane work as all the details show clearly and smearing of the clay is rare. When baked, Fimo looked very shiny and it is also very strong.
   
   
7. Promat: Promat is very similar to Sculpey but it differs in that it has a firmer texture and is less likely to smear. Promat only consists of a small selection of colors which include pearlescent colors.
   
   
8. Cernit: This is the strongest of all clays and when baked, it has a porcelain waxy finish when fired. It is often used in doll making because of the nice results when baked.

Polymer clay all depends on your preference and the type of clay you like working with. It is good to experiment with different types and brands of clays to find out what you like best.

Polymer Clay: Canework

OMG! I can’t believe it’s already December… Time passes by so quickly! Here’s some information about canes while I wait for my clay to arrive.

What is a Cane?

Basically, caneworking is a technique used to make complicated designs and are usually cylinder-like in shape with one design running through the entire cane. This means that each time you slice your cane, each piece will contain the design of the entire cane. Usually, when people make canes, they start out larger and flatten the clay to make it thinner and smaller as they go on. The larger the clay is, the easier it is to handle and the size of the clay should gradually be reduced by pinching, rolling, or pressing it down. This then makes the overall, general design smaller. Canes can contain so many different designs ranging from fruits, flowers and even some complicated figures such as faces. Canes can even vary in size although a cylinder is the most common.

This is an example of an orange cane and how to make one! Look at his orange cane above. It differs from the strawberry cane as it is much more rounder. It is very detailed too as the colors of the orange and the clay blends and fades giving it a very nice effect. 

How Do I Make a Cane?

To make a basic cane, you must put together little rolls of clay and arrange them into a specific pattern so that when you slice it, the image can be repeated and show up. You can do the simple cane below.

1. First pick out two colors: any colors you want. Take one color of clay and then roll in into a cylinder shape.
2. Afterwards, take the second color of clay and wrap it around the first clay cylinder you made.
3. Roll out the clay until it is the size you want it to be.
4. Take a blade and slice your cane. A very simple bull’s eye design will be revealed.

As you become better at making canes and visualizing where to place each roll of clay to form a pattern, your designs will get much more complicated and detailed. Good luck!

How do I Reduce the Size of my Cane?

When you first make your cane, you should start with a cylinder as a round cane is much more easier to roll out. Simply roll the clay in your palms or on top of a work surface. Gently apply a bit of pressure so that you do not squash your clay but at the same time, you can also make your cane smaller. If your clay is too thick to roll on your palm or your work surface, roll the clay at the middle and produce an hourglass shape. Later on, move towards the end parts of the clay until it is at the size you want it to be.

• However, when you have a triangular or oddly shaped cane like the strawberry, you can simply tug the ends of the clay very gently. You should tug and pull in order to reduce the size. (some videos of this can be found on youtube)
  
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et1DVw8dWd8
                                This is a tutorial on making lime canes on YouTube

This strawberry cane is not circular as make it shaped closer to an oval makes it much more realistic. 

How Can I Slice a Cane Evenly?

In order to slice your cane, a very sharp blade is needed. You must not drag your blade around as this motion can blur your designs. Instead, use a back and forth motion to make a clean cut. If your cane is too soft to cut, you might want to let it rest aside for a while or chill it a bit in the refrigerator.

If I Have Leftover Clay, What Should I do?

Leftover clay can be used as a base for making your creations. You can layer other clays on top of it and use the leftover clay as a model as people will not be able to see the inside of the can anyways. In addition, you can mix your leftover clay and create a marbled effect which looks very cool. However, don’t mix too hard or the colors will completely blend. Mix it just right so that the colors begin to blend but are not completely the same color. In addition, if you ruin your cane, you can twist it together to create an interesting effect. It creates abstract unique designs.

This is a nicely marbled blue and white clay. There are some traces of a sky blue color that was created from mixing the white and the blue together.