POLYMER CLAY CANES

Polymer clay canes can vary in complexity depending on their intended use - and the skills of their maker. Here's a good cane to make when you're just starting out.

Polymer clay canes are an ingenious way of making many identical (or almost identical) patterns and images. Here's some basic information and a few tips to help your cane-making go more smoothly.

Translucent polymer clay contains no pigment. On its own it seems - well, boring. So why would you want to work with it? What's so special about translucent, anyway? Here are a few ideas for what to do with it.

In this guide, I'll show how to make a simple bud vase from Sculpey Clay. The same process can be used to sculpt from any clay, but the baking instructions are specific to Sculpey. And don't worry - you don't need any skill or experience to come up with something fabulous.

Artist trading cards, or ATCs, are a great way for artists to meet and communicate with each other. And even though they started with artists working in other mediums, they're easy to make with polymer clay.

Perhaps you've just created a beautiful sculpture out of polymer clay and would like to copy it. Or you'd like to do more stamping but can't find the designs you like. What do you do? Make your stamps or a mold from polymer clay itself.

You can create some magical effects just by using different mixtures of polymer clay. But if you'd like to make your items even more interesting, read on. Here are some suggestions for surface treatments for polymer clay objects.

Polymer clay is an adaptable medium. It can be made to resemble many different substances - including metals like gold, silver, and copper, which is very useful if you're making jewelry.

When polymer clay first became available there was no good way to make shaded colors. Then Judith Skinner came up with a method that produced a fast, easy, and gradual color change.

In my last article I covered the basics of working with a pasta machine. Here are some tips intended for those who have moved past the basics and need more specific information.

In the 15th century, the millefiori technique of glass bead making was developed in Milano, Italy, but it was not used in the United States until the 1850's. The alternate polymer clay technique is more recent.

The tradition of giving family members started with my great grandmother who despite being blind made beautiful painted ornament out of canning lids and has passed from generation to generation.

One of the best ways to give a thoughtful, inexpensive (in terms of money laid out by you) gift is to make it yourself. Homemade gifts are not all about food, although food certainly ranks high in the satisfaction ratings by the recipients.