Polymer Clay: 5 Things I Love

I started working with polymer clay in 2017, with no intention of this ever turning this into a business. Let’s travel back in time…

I was soon to be 17 - and struggling greatly with my mental and physical health. With a life-changing diagnosis the year prior, and unknowingly battling anxiety and depression quite severely, I began reaching out to some random arts and craft projects. I didn’t expect it to go anywhere past the means to kill time, and I certainly never could have imagined myself writing this blog for my very own small business eight years later!

One project that caught my eye was YouTube tutorial by Flying Mio to make a donut-holding Pusheen plush.

The Pusheen plush that introduced me to polymer clay!

It was a simple and cute craft involving few materials – a fluffy sock, felt, some safety eyes, scissors, needle and thread, and so on. Though three of the items I did not have were felting needles (and the accompanying fibre) for the donut and polymer clay to create the sprinkles. Still, I wanted to give it a try and eagerly began getting the necessary equipment I needed!

I made my own Pusheen! And I was super proud of it, though it left me with a dilemma and one that unknowingly would start my small business just two years later. Since I had purchased a multi-pack of pastel coloured clay, I still had plenty of it leftover, and I knew I didn’t want it to go to waste. And so, I began experimenting!

Over the years I have trialled techniques and tried a handful of polymer clay brands. I have mixed various mediums with polymer clay and experimented with creating, learning everything independently. I have made mistakes – oh so many mistakes! But the mistakes are also what have taught me the most about working with polymer clay.

What is this? A recipe blog? Without any further ado, here’s 5 things I love about working with polymer clay!

1. With polymer clay, you can make (almost) anything. I want to start with the obvious – you can do a lot with polymer clay. I think it’s one of the reasons why I fell in love with the craft.

A collection of our moon pendants, made with polymer clay.

When I was coming out of my darkest moments, polymer clay was always there to offer a distraction or a sense of comfort. It was a craft that was sacred to me, and I knew I could experiment with whatever I wanted. I could make jewellery or experiment with making miniature examples of food. Hotdogs, donuts – I even attempted to make a couple of bowls of spaghetti (the key word being attempted!)

In time, I tried making my own jewellery. I began with very basic shapes and designs and eventuated into the kinds of products you see today as my hobby turned into my livelihood. I’ve made jewellery, magnets, miniature figurines, polymer clay centrepieces and more! For such a simple substance, it truly has so much to offer – all you need is some patience and some inspiration!

2. There are so many colours to choose from – and you can make your own! Most polymer clay brands have a pretty good selection of colours, and from them, you can mix them together to make new colour blends.

I designed the colour gradients of every dahlia magnet - which I wrote about in Redesigning Our Dahlias!

I primarily use Sculpey clay, which have a huge range of colours. Some have pearlescent hues, others are glittery – there is a whole spectrum of colours to choose from which are regularly updated as well. I have my own colour recipes that I have trialled with my own bare hands. Some creatives make colour recipes and sell them – which is fine if that is your thing – but I know that would significantly reduce the joy I have in creating. I want to experiment, I want to get my hands dirty, and I want to continue to learn how all the colours interact with one another. I pride myself as a self-taught artist, and I feel that buying colour recipes from another person or business takes that away from me.

Two octos, made with a mixture of polymer clay and resin.

3. Polymer clay can be mixed with a variety of other mediums – which opened up the world of crafting and creativity to me even more! Polymer clay is the craft that lead me down the wonderful rabbit hole of working with resin!

As a self-taught artist, I began exploring with various ideas and trialling the art mediums I could mix with polymer clay. Resin, glitter, mica powder, foils, metals, shells, acrylic paint and more! Polymer clay can be combined with various other mediums to achieve different styles and designs. It’s a versatile craft that opens up a world of possibilities!

4. Prior to baking, working with polymer clay has very low stakes. Unhappy with it? Start over! Changed your mind on the project? Squoosh it! Something else? Just tear it apart – it’s ok!

This design didn't go to plan - but I love how it turned out! It was a happy accident!

I grew up around a lot of judgemental people and inherited a lot of their unrealistic expectations which I placed atop of myself. I have anxiety. When I’m not on the top of my game, I am more susceptible to the fear of failure and dread making mistakes in case of criticism.

Polymer clay has helped me to significantly improve and abandon that belief system. I have learned I can make mistakes and it’s not the end of the world. I can tear things apart and make mistakes and try again without the world collapsing around me. I can drop a project and still salvage it.

5. Something else I love about working with polymer clay is getting colours all over my hands. It can be a messy craft when mixing and shaping colours for hours on end – which I often do.

It was only recently that I realised how much I love to get my hands dirty, particularly when it comes to gardening. There is something inherently natural and calming to have my hands in the dirt, connected with the place I came from and gives me life, and I think working with polymer clay has the same impact on my mental health.

Various pendants awaiting to be baked!

As I mentioned previously, polymer clay has given me a second chance at life and has pulled me out of dark corners and into the light of possibility and hope time and time again. Creativity has always been a natural and important part of my life, and getting my hands dirty is one of the perks.

I love seeing the colours on my hands and the texture of the polymer clay. Even on days that I don’t have the spoons to be creative enough to make a product, I enjoy just taking the time to mix together colours or sort through my stash of colours. Sometimes, this process is even enough to spark enough creativity or motivation to be productive – whether it’s in a creative field or practical field (like doing a load of washing or going to make a decent meal to eat). As a whole, it’s a very relaxing and inspiring craft to work with, and I’m so very thankful that I stumbled across that random Pusheen video in 2017.

Thank you for reading this week’s blog post! Have you ever worked with polymer clay? Is this a craft you think you’d be interested in? Are you going to try making your own Pusheen cat? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Kimberley (they/them)

Accessories by Antoinette