Cute clay tutorials: More tools

The essentials on making cute jewelry

Welcome back to cute clay tutorials! I hope I’m not going too slowly for some people that want to get to the good stuff. Please bare with me ha-ha its all will be fast and painless. So now you know what polymer clay is, the next step is to get some tools to help you sculpt, paint, add effects, and glaze your cute clay creation then finally make some jewelry out of them!

First you’ll need some cheap acrylic paint to paint your cute clay charms after its cured (meaning baked). These go around 50 cents a bottle depending on brand and size. What a treat! Any brand will do its all pretty much the same. Here are some brands of acrylic paint: Folk art, Apple Barrel, and Delta. The brand I use is the Craft Smart.

Some cheap set paint brush to paint with. Get the ones that have numerous sizes it will make it easier to paint bigger and smaller charms. When I started making my clay charms I already had a paint brush set. Originally for using watercolor but that never happened so they were perfect for painting charms with! If I remember the set cost around 10 and 15 dollars. I’m sure that got kids set too I you’re a cheapo like me so just look around at what’s available.

Some glaze to protect your charm. This is very important to have if you want that glossy shiny finish to your piece also. If you’re in the clay section and see that Sculpty brand of gloss, DO NOT GET IT. The kicker with this is that it’s WAY over pieced for such little quantity. You can get much bigger sizes of gloss for a much better piece. Just get a glossy interior varnish from the brand “Delta Ceramcoat” or anything of the sort. Another gloss you can use is the Krylon triple-thick crystal clear glaze. Get the jar kind so you can just paint it on. They have the spray on kind as well but in my experience you have to use it outside because the strong fumes that is harmful to you. I use to get head aches because of the smell and that scent stays on your cute clay charms for a long while too. Not fun if you’re making these for a friend or business. There are more kinds and brands out there just make sure the kind your using won’t ruin the paint or clay and is safe to use.

Jewelry Findings for attaching your charms on to bracelets, ear rings, pins etc. There are dozens and dozens of brands that sell these but the kind of findings that you want starting out are head pins, ear rings, jump rings, eye pins, and clasps. If you can’t find a set that sells these together at a good price, you can simply get head pins and ear rings to start.

Jewelry chains that you can make necklaces and bracelets out of. Once again there are many kinds and brands so just shop around. Also, I would recommend a jewelry making tool set. So you can cut and bend jewelry wire as well as chains to make bracelets and necklaces.

Whew, that was harder then I thought but I made it through. All these items can be found at any craft and art store. And everything I listed here I’ve gotten for no more then 10-15 dollars. I will go over more tools of interest later on. Remember, I’m starting at the very beginning for the beginners as well!

Thanks for visiting cute clay tutorials and I’ll see you tomorrow!

Cute clay tutorials: What is Polymer clay?

The basics on making cute jewelry and charms

To start making cute clay charms you’ll need polymer clay. But what is it? It’s a type of clay that you can sculpt and mold then throw into the oven to bake and harden. You can find polymer clay in any art and craft stores. Its really cheap around 2 bucks depending on brand you use. Speaking of which there are a few you can test out. People use different brands depending on personal tastes and what they are making.

The best brands for beginners and the one I use personally was Sculpey III. It comes in 44 colors, shades, and special effects. It’s easy to handle and mold, perfect for a beginner like yourself. It comes in a block that you can break off into 4 rectangular pieces also. Doing research on the brands and such they say that’s its more brittle then most clay brands and likely to break especially when you’re making thin sheets and extensions. But in my experience it held up pretty well so I think that should be the least of your problems.

Another really popular brand to start with is Fimo classic. It comes in 24 for colors. It’s much firmer and tougher to soften up but it’s harder and sturdy after it’s baked. If you want a softer version they have Fimo soft. It comes in over twice as many colors then Fimo classic and even has special effects kinds. I never used the Fimo brand because it costs a bit more and the tougher quality of it. Still, a lot of crafter used it with great results.

There are more brands of clay out there and both brands holds a lot of other types of clay as well, depending on what you what to do. But as far as making cute clay charms and jewelry, Sculpey III as well as Fimo does really well.

Another thing I want to point out is the translucent and pearl kinds of clay. Those are really useful in getting awesome effects like using translucent for making sundae glasses and cups. The pearl is great for mixing so that your cute clay charm has glittery effect. We will go over this more as time goes on but I just want to get the bare basics out there.

All in all, polymer clay is the kind of clay you want to use for making clay charms. Try and test out many out to see which one you like best.

Thanks for taking the time to visit cute clay tutorials. And I will see you tomorrow!