Ask Eugena - Polymer Clay Help

Every so often I get questions about polymer clay from my students or simply from people who found one of my web sites.  As I was responding to one of the recent e-mails, I thought it may be useful to publish some of my questions and answers here.  I hope someone will find this information useful.

So, here is an excerpt from an e-mail I received from Cynthia W.: "I have a lot of problems doing sculpey clay...I am just a beginner, but end up with rubbery, bendy beads or pendants...or the bead holes chip away when I add a wire...i do want to learn this but am having trouble...already threw away a lot of stuff."

This is what I wrote to Cynthia (among other things):

Sculpey is one of the softest and most brittle clays, so it may not work well for pendants - it is good only for small sculptures and for round beads.

Also, if your clay ends up too rubbery, you may not be baking it properly (not enough time or the temperature is too low).  You may find more about baking your polymer clay items here in my tutorial How to Bake Finished Polymer Clay Items.

Tutorial Mixed Media Beads

My new step-by-step tutorial is ready and available in my Etsy shop.

In this tutorial, I explain how to combine polymer clay, glass, and metal parts to make beautiful focal beads.  Three types of beads are described in this tutorial, but the number of variations possible for this technique is simply endless.

To complete this tutorial, I also included detailed explanations of haw to use these beads for making earrings and necklaces. 

One of the beads shown in this tutorial is decorated using my own cane.  Detailed instructions for building this cane are also included in this tutorial.

This tutorial consists of 25 pages and includes nearly 70 full-color pictures.

Instant download on Etsy

I am very happy to announce that my polymer clay tutorials are now available on Etsy immediately after purchase.

Here is how this instant download option is going to look like for the buyer perspective (I copied the following description from the Etsy forum post by Tim Holley the Team Captain for Digital Items Etsy team):

- Immediately after a buyer purchases your digital item, they're shown a link that leads them to the downloads page - the page where they can download files associated with a specific order. If their payment hasn't been confirmed, they won't be able to download the files. As soon as payment is confirmed, the downloads will become available from the downloads page. If a buyer paid with Direct Checkout or Paypal it can take a few minutes for their payment to be confirmed. This screenshot is an example: cl.ly/image/0z0P2z471P1E.

- Buyers are also sent an email that lets them know their files are ready to download. This email is only sent after their payment has been confirmed. This screenshot is an example: cl.ly/image/3T0G0u3Z1X05.

- Clicking the "View your Files on Etsy" link in the email will bring them to the downloads page, from which they can download each file individually. After downloading, they'll see the last date on which they downloaded it. This screenshot is an example: cl.ly/image/0W272F1s0o2D.

- The downloads page is also accessible from the buyer's Purchases page and Receipt for that order.

For clarification: as far as I understand, this option is still in testing and available to the Etsy sellers who participate in the corresponding team.  In the nearest future, it shall be a standard feature on Etsy available to everybody who sells digital items.

Mixed Media Beads, Finished Necklace

I am having so much fun with my new mixed media beads!

Here is a finished necklace that will be described in my next tutorial.  The tutorial is almost finished, too!

I am including three different types of mixed media beads in this tutorial:  the first one is when polymer clay clay plays only a structural role and cannot be seen in the finished bead, the second one is when polymer clay is used in design as well, and it is textured, and the third one is when polymer clay canes are used in the design. 

The bead with the canes is used in this necklace.  In the tutorial, I will explain how to make the cane, how to construct the bead, and how to put it all together into a necklace.

As always, I am trying to describe a technique, a general approach rather than a particular project.  The projects in my tutorials (including this new one) are just examples of what can be done with the approach I am explaining. 

In case of the mixed media beads, the number of designs and variations that can be made is simply endless.

I hope to finish the tutorial before weekend, but I cannot promise.  Too much is going on in my life that distracts me from polymer clay...

Mixed Media Beads, Revisited

Polymer clay, glass, and antiqued brass - I love this combination. 

This is my new take on the technique originally described in my tutorial for Pandora Beads.  I made so many modifications to this project that I want to capture them in a new tutorial. 

Stay tuned!  It's coming this month, I promise.

Oh, and this bead is currently in my shop on Etsy, by the way.