Polymer Clay Beginner Tutorial

Polymer clay is an amazing medium, you can create all kinds of things from jewelry, to keychains, sculptures, trinkets and more! This page is for those who are starting polymer clay for the first time and covers the basics of it. I linked all the tools needed along the way, or you can find them all here (cutters & rollers are on our website). Let's get into it!

Work Surface & Tools
You will require:

1. A clean, flat and glossy surface to work on. Something like a ceramic tile or glass is perfect. This ensures that the clay will stick to the work surface instead of pulling out with the cutter when you go into that later on.

2. A roller to create a flat and even slab. You may want to invest in a pasta machine in the future.

3. Some tools such as a tissue blade (the shorter one is easier to work with), essential for lifting the cut out clay from the flat work surface. Polymer clay of course, I personally use Sculpey Souffle most. And an oven to bake and harden up the polymer clay. You need to bake it!

4. Fun tools like cutters, stamps and texture rollers to create many different styles! Of course I recommend our tools on this website or on our Etsy. Note that cutters have different difficulties, please choose basic shapes with no additional patterns within as a start. You may view our Instagram @cutterglobe for many process reels & tutorials on various designs. Feel free to recreate them!

Clay Conditioning
If you're lucky, the clay you receive will be easy to work with right out the pack. However due to environmental changes, the clay may also arrive too hard or too soft.

If it is too hard, condition it by rolling it kneading it with your hands. Or, use your roller and roll out a flat slab, fold it into half and roll it out again. Repeat the process till it gets malleable enough and the edges of the clay look smooth.

If it is too soft, it will tend to stick to cutters and your hands and be difficult to work with. In this case, leach it between 2 computer paper to remove excess oil. You may have to wait a couple hours for this.

Using Clay Cutters
The quality of your cutters will determine the amount of time needed to clean up the edges of the cut later on. So I recommend investing in good quality cutters to save time (our cutters)! If you find that the clay is still stick to your cutters, here are 2 easy solutions:

1. Cornstarch: Dip your cutter in cornstarch and brush away any excess before cutting. This acts as a barrier between the cutter and clay and allows for easier release. Tutorial here.

2. Cling Wrap: This again acts as a barrier between the 2 mediums, but note that it will give your clay a "puffy" or rounded look to it. Example here.

Texturing & Details
There are nearly infinite ways of adding these!